The Repossession (21 page)

Rian pulled up more ferns and exposed a stainless steel encasement and a strange-looking object with the Fortransco logo half obscured by mud.

‘We installed these receptors around here about five years ago for another project. They didn’t work. Like I

said, they were supposed to boost the signal and prevent data dropout. Didn’t do squat. They must have forgotten about them. There’s several out here in various arrangements. I can’t believe they’re still powered up.

They tried everything to make it work.’

‘And now it has,’ Genie remarked.

Rian started and swung the flashlight over in her direction. It found her by a tree, Moucher all over her like he hadn’t seen her in weeks.

‘I got lonely,’ Genie confessed.

Marshall hardly registered her presence; he was so absorbed by the working receptor.

‘It worked, well, to a point. No, I think it’s stunning actually. Never thought I’d live to see it happen. Not in my lifetime. It’s amazing. I think you’re right, Rian. The storm must have triggered the receptors. It was just one of those happy accidents. Everything coming together at a certain point in time. Remarkable.’

‘I don’t think the dog would agree it’s remarkable,’

Genie mumbled, ‘or happy. Imagine if they had got hold of Moucher here and transmitted
him
?’

Rian shook water droplets out of his face. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

‘We should head back,’ he stood up. ‘It’s going to rain again.’

Genie hung back. She didn’t like the enthusiasm in Marshall’s voice.

‘You going to tell them about it?’ Genie asked as they moved off.

Marshall could tell there was an air of disappointment in her voice.

‘Genie, I’m a scientist. I’m just excited, that’s all.’

‘But you think it’s possible it might work – one day?’

Rian asked.

Marshall shrugged. ‘Yeah. Clearly sooner than I thought.’

‘But why’s it so important? The experiment went wrong, didn’t it?’ Rian led them back the way they came.

Genie followed closely now, Marshall behind them.

‘You heard of Einstein, Rian?’

‘Of course.’

‘What about Tesla?’

‘Tesla’s an electric roadster. Pretty cool. Not seen one around here though.’

Marshall sighed, he’d forgotten about that. ‘Well, the car is named after a pretty important inventor called Nikola Tesla who invented alternative current – all modern industry owes a debt to him. What about Crick and Watson, who jointly discovered the DNA molecule?

What they’re doing at the Fortress is as important as

anything those scientists ever achieved. Science is ninety per cent experiment and ten per cent sheer chance. If the Fortress went public with this they’d get the Nobel Prize for sure.’

‘But they won’t. They can’t,’ Genie said, her voice flat and distant. ‘They can’t say anything to anyone. They’re running an illegal experiment using humans and live dogs. They’re criminals, Marshall. You know that. They still need to be shut down.’

There was an awkward silence for a while. Just the swish of their legs brushing through bracken audible.

‘You’re right, Genie. You’re right. I’m just amazed by it all, got carried away by the science.’

Genie suddenly felt Rian’s hand in hers. He squeezed it hard. Comforting as it was, she had a terrible foreboding now. Something very bad was going to happen.

‘Promise me you won’t tell them about the dog, Marshall. Please don’t tell them.’

Genie wanted to cry. Had no real idea why, but she’d heard Marshall come alive for a brief moment and even though he’d lost a leg, been badly affected by the experiment, he was still as much in love with it as he had always been.

Dr Frankenstein apparently loved the monster.

An hour later, the rain and lightning came back more fiercely than before. Genie couldn’t remember a summer like it. She’d experienced floods, heatwaves one day, freezing cold nights the next, and now these intense storms with freezing rain that fell like hard sticks hitting the ground with such force it flooded everything in just minutes. It just seemed to dump on the house all at once, arriving with a sudden wind rush that blew through the forest with astonishing ferocity.

Marshall had been in the barn when it arrived, trying to close the doors. He was trapped there now, as water literally gushed past the buildings, taking anything not nailed down with it. Genie fretted about him. This wasn’t a secret he could keep. Instinctively she knew he’d called the Fortress, or at least someone he knew who worked there. It was too much to resist. He’d want to reconnect with scientists he’d worked with. They’d be really interested too. She and Rian had made a big discovery.

She wondered if that kind of thing had ever happened

before? Some unfortunate kid, or bits of them, left dying on the forest floor. But then again, it would need the lightning to strike just so and she guessed it was a one-time thing. Marshall had tried to hide his excitement and she could see that he didn’t want to bury the dog. It was pioneer science. It was something to be poked and prodded and sliced up – research, don’t you know.

Rian had found a box of old shoes in the back room upstairs and was trying them on. It worried him he didn’t have decent footwear. The blisters on his feet told that story well enough.

‘You OK down there?’ Ri shouted out over the rain drumming on the roof. ‘I think I got two good pairs. They don’t match exactly but . . .’

Genie smiled to herself. Rian would look ridiculous, but at least he might be more comfortable.

She turned, her eyes attracted to a flickering light behind her. Denis was suddenly standing there. He looked terrible. He seemed to have aged ten years. Genie’s heart skipped a beat.

‘Denis? God, what happened to you?’

‘Genie.’ His voice seemed strained as well. ‘You’ve got to get out of here. They’re coming. They’ve got guns.’

Genie closed her eyes and cursed. She knew this would happen.

Denis seemed to be fading right before her eyes.

He looked sick. How was that even possible for digital boy?

‘Something is going wrong. They are shutting servers down. We’re losing kids. Something has changed. You have to go
now
! They’re coming. They know about the dog. We heard them. They don’t want witnesses. You have to
go
!’

Genie felt a heart rush, looked up the stairs and called Rian. ‘Ri?’

Rian appeared, Renée in tow. Obviously she had delivered the same message.

‘Go now,’ Renée urged them. ‘Please. You’ve no idea what—’

There was a sudden power cut, plunging them all into darkness. Denis and Renée instantly vanished.

Abruptly the rain stopped. The last sputter of lightning flickered outside, revealing Genie at the bottom of the stairs. Thunder rolled overhead, shaking the whole house.

Rian sat down and put on the shoes he had found.

‘Damn. I knew that dog was bad news.’

‘We go?’ Genie asked, unsure.

‘Damn right, we go. You were right. You heard them.

Marshall must have told someone, I guess he couldn’t

keep it secret. We have to get out of here, Genie. Now.’

Genie knew it and was dreading it. She swore under her breath. Why, oh why, had they gone into the forest?

Why did they have to find the dog?

‘We need stuff,’ she declared. ‘We’re a long way from anywhere.’

‘No time,’ Rian answered, starting down the stairs.

‘Where’s Marshall?’

‘The barn.’

‘Grab water, some food. I’ll get a blanket and a couple of sweaters. Wait by the door.’

Genie ran into the kitchen, colliding with a chair.

‘Damn.’ She rubbed her shins, her eyes watering with the pain.

Moucher whined. He was sitting in his basket. He’d taken to it the moment the first crack of thunder had shook the house and lay there, quaking with fear.

‘It’s OK, Mouch, it’s just me. Power’s out.’

She groped her way to the larder and grabbed water, a plastic bag, cookies. She looked for the flashlight, but couldn’t find it. Always the way, you need a flashlight to find a flashlight.

‘Genie!’ Ri was calling.

Genie spun around. Time to leave. She made her way back towards the door.

Rian was waiting. Door open, rain dripping off the porch. ‘You got shoes on? It’s going to be muddy.’

Genie whispered, ‘Yes,’ and moved outside. It seemed wrong to leave without saying goodbye to Marshall. She felt something brush by her legs.

‘Eew, what . . . ?’

The dog barked once.

‘No. No. You can’t come, Mouch. You can’t come.’

Rian was already walking away. ‘Genie, come on. Ignore the dog. He knows where he lives.’

Genie ran to catch up. It was pitch black. No stars. No moon. The dog close at heel, happy to be with her. Perhaps feeling guilty he’d abandoned her before.

‘Which way?’ she asked.

‘The track up the hill. We get up high and then wait in the cave.’

‘There’s a cave?’ Genie asked, looking at him with surprise.

‘There’s a huge rock with a hollow. I found it a few days ago. Was going to surprise you with a picnic there on Monday.’

‘You were? How many other secrets you got, Rian Tulane?’

Rian took her hand and squeezed it. ‘Remember I asked you to make a cake?’

‘The one I put in the freezer ’cause you said you weren’t hungry.’

‘And you sulked for about three hours.’

That
she remembered.

‘That was for Monday. Been building up to it.’

‘But why?’

‘Anniversary, Genie Magee. And I thought you were the romantic one.’

‘But we didn’t kiss until . . .’

‘We met. We talked outside the ice rink exactly twelve months ago on Monday.’

Genie shook her head. Unbelievable. He was right.

She was supposed to be the romantic one. ‘We should have run away then. First day. I should have grabbed your hand and made you run.’

Rian took her hand again and held it firmly. He kinda wished they had run. Might have avoided all this.

Would have been living in Florida or some place by now.

Moucher suddenly stopped beside Genie and let out a whimper. Genie turned her head to see what he was staring at.

‘Ri, look.’

They were already above the farmhouse. In the distance they could see three distinct pairs of car headlights making their way towards the farm. Engine

noise was only just audible. No one, but no one, came out here for anything. It had to be the men from the Fortress. It would be a struggle. The road would be mush and mud after all that rain.

‘Renée was right,’ Rian muttered.

Genie was suddenly thinking of Denis. How ill and pale he looked. Like part of him was missing.

‘Keep moving,’ Rian told her, moving off. ‘We got to put some space between us.’

Genie followed. She needed no telling. The dog seemed to know where they were headed and moved on ahead.

She wondered how they’d feed him or how they’d feed themselves. It was a distance to the next town. Two days walking in these conditions at least and all they had were cookies.

‘I hope Marshall knows what he’s doing,’ Rian remarked.

Genie stopped a moment, a stone in her shoe. She looked back down the slope. The car headlights were getting closer. She reflected on the fact that there always seemed to be someone to be scared of. Always.

They reached the cedar forest just as the cars arrived.

Even from up on the hill they could hear car doors slam and voices calling out. Genie felt relieved they had gotten away. If they started out after them, they had a

good headstart and they were fit and young and the Fortress men wouldn’t be. She drew comfort from that.

Rian moved right, scrabbling between rocks. Up above them the cloud cover was clearing, stars could be glimpsed in places. ‘Come on. Not far now,’ Rian whispered. ‘Say nothing. Voices carry at night.’

Genie nodded briefly. She wanted to see this cave.

She was still slightly annoyed he’d kept it secret, even if it was for their anniversary.

By the time they reached the rock, the cloud cover had gone entirely. The night was filled with brilliant stars and below them they could see the farmhouse reflected in the car headlights. Hear angry shouting too.

Genie looked into the dark cave and smiled. Rian had carried two old canvas chairs up here and made what looked like a picnic table. He hadn’t been joking.

‘Cute,’ Genie whispered, her hot breath on his neck as she kissed him.

A sudden shot rang out below them. Another. A car exploded. Another shot was fired and then they saw the first flicker of flames from the barn. They had torched the barn.

‘Damn,’ Rian mumbled, instinctively wanting to run and help.

Genie grabbed his arm, held him back. She began

to shake. She imagined all kinds of things. All scenarios had Marshall lying there dead. ‘You think they’ll come looking for us?’

Rian held her tight. Didn’t know any more than she did but he kissed the top of her head. He was worried about something more immediate now. ‘The forest could burn.’

Genie had thought about that too. But the rain would have soaked everything earlier. Nevertheless, it was still late summer and it had been dry before today. It depended on how wet the forest floor was, she guessed.

She wondered where her pig was. She prayed she’d run away but feared not; the pig liked to sleep in the barn.

‘We safe here?’ Genie whispered.

‘For now. We wait and watch. All we can do. Wait and watch.’

The barn burned quickly, roaring and popping with all kinds of things exploding and showering the yard with sparks. Luckily the wind had dropped completely.

Trees behind the barn burst into flame, but by chance Marshall had clear cut the old growth beyond that just a week before. The fire wouldn’t cross that empty space.

By a small miracle the forest didn’t catch, even though sparks flew high into the sky. Hot cinders and ash climbed vertically and drifted over towards the

farmhouse rather than the forest. It was sheer chance everything was soaking wet.