The Village King (15 page)

T
he forest burned brightly for two days until finally
heavy rain, the first for months, came in from the west before the fire could
catch further down the hill. It had lit up the night sky. A few refugees made
it to the village and were quarantined in the church until they could show they
were not infected. There was no sign of Joseph.

Lying in bed with Alana next to
him, Stephen was awakened by a loud knock on the door. Startled, he bolted up.
Alana was ahead of him and gathered Karen to her in the bathroom. Stephen ran
to the front room where Gary was looking out the window. Still in his shorts,
Gary gestured casually with his thumb.

Stephen looked out. Charlie was
standing in the garden looking up. Behind him were Pullman and Talbot, holding
their rifles across their fronts. Moore and Gibson had taken up positions to
the left and right, their rifles ready at their cheeks, pointing up at them. A
look out the back window showed O’Neill and Mills in a similar position.

Charlie shouted up, “It’s time,
Stephen.” His voice was muffled by the window, but they heard the words and
understood their meaning. It was the day after Phil’s funeral; at least they
had waited for that, thought Stephen.

Stephen opened the door and they all stepped out.
O’Neill and Mills had rounded the house, from the back, and trained their
weapons on the group. Talbot and Moore had closed in. Behind them, Pullman and
Talbot supervised their men. Charlie stood behind them. “It’s time for you to
go, Stephen.”

They had gathered together their
belongings, including all their tins and carried them across their bags on army
packs. They waited by the door, calm and restrained. Stephen breathed in
through his nose, and walked forward, but not quickly, so as not to startle the
soldiers.

He went towards Charlie. Moore
and Gibson tracked back, all the while their weapons on him, while the rest
were covered by O’Neill and Mills. Charlie swallowed. Pullman and Talbot stayed
in position, and kept their attention on Stephen, but did not make their
weapons ready. This told Stephen they genuinely wanted him to leave and not
start a fight; a lesson learned from Alana perhaps.

Stephen reached Pullman. “Colonel?”

Pullman looked him in the eye and
he saw the soldier there, professional and sure. For the first time, she wore the
two silver pistols at her waist. “You told me the council were the Government.”

Stephen glanced at Talbot before
giving his attention to Charlie, who said, “You’ll leave your guns and horses.”

Stephen turned the sides of his
mouth down and shook his head. He waited. Her attention still on Stephen,
Pullman said, “Sergeant Talbot.”

Talbot nodded once. “Yes, ma’am.
Gibson! Moore! The stables!”

The two soldiers lowered their
weapons and double-timed it over to the former village hall. Stephen kept
staring at Charlie. He was raging inside and wanted to smack him in the teeth
but found comfort in the uneasy look on Charlie’s face as the soldiers returned
with four horses; one on each hand and already saddled. This had all been
planned. Stephen imagined Charlie saying he wanted them to leave with nothing,
while Pullman argued they might fight otherwise, and arranging the backup plan.

Alana and Karen ran forward where
Alana helped Karen onto Cloud before she in turn mounted Terror. Gary mounted
his horse and held the reins of Sabre. Gibson and Moore melted back but readied
their rifles. Alana quickly led Karen away towards the cattle grid which they
navigated around.

“Good luck, Charlie,” said
Stephen. He took the reins from Gary and pulled himself up onto the saddle. He
looked at Colonel Pullman. She patted Sabre’s neck and, with only a nod of her
head, she wished Stephen luck.

Without looking back, Stephen
trotted Sabre round the cattle grid and around the gate. The ditches had never
been finished and it was simple to reach the road. Gareth and Derek manned the
gate, avoiding Stephen’s eyes as he passed.

As they headed up the road, away
from the village, Stephen saw Suzanne in her back garden, waving. He raised an
arm in reply and clicked his horse to catch up with Alana and Karen. Gary
trotted behind.