Part 19 (1/2)
Nilda agreed. There just wasnt much she could do about it. She searched around for a change in subject and realised that Chesters eyes were glued on a point in the courtyard.
”What are you looking at?” she asked.
He pointed at one of the deeper puddles. ”Its one of the dosimeters we took from the airport.”
”Is there a problem?” she asked, feeling that old fear that had been with her since the Isle of Scaragh resurfacing.
”I dunno. Lets see,” he dashed out into the rain, grabbed the small device, and darted back into the lee of the doorway.
”Its okay. I mean its high. Higher than we got down in Kent, but its still well below dangerous. I think the rains was.h.i.+ng down radioactive particles caught up in the stratosphere.”
”The stratosphere?” she asked, failing to keep the smile from her lips.
”What? A man cant read a book?”
”There was one on nuclear war?”
”No,” he admitted. ”It was just a physics textbook. I was actually looking up radio signals. I was thinking about the gear they used back in Kirkman House and the stuff I drove down to Crystal Palace. I was thinking, well, how hard could it be to make one?”
”A radio transmitter?”
”Well, yeah. I mean, two-way communication is going to be difficult, but just sending out a radio signal on a wide frequency, that should be possible.”
”And is it?”
”Ive no idea. I gave up around the time I got to wavelengths. Thats when I started looking up radiation.”
”Ah.” She stared at the rain and considered what hed said. ”You were looking for a way not to go to Wales?” she asked.
”No. A backup plan. In case I dont make it.”
”Oh,” she said, and tried to work out what to say next.
”But Ill leave as soon as the rain stops. Im all packed.” He gestured at a pair of bags. The rifle was leaning next to them. ”Ill use the lifeboat to drift downriver and go ash.o.r.e somewhere east of the airport. Ill find a car and a bicycle and be ready to set off tomorrow at dawn.”
”Yes. Okay.” She wasnt sure what else to say.
”If you want, I can get rid of McInery before I leave.”
”You mean...”
”You know what I mean,” Chester said. ”I dont think you could do it, not in cold blood. Tuck could, but I dont know if she would. No one will know.”
”Except you and me,” she said. ”Why havent you already done it?”
”Because I dont think she was involved. Shes not a nice person, not deep down. In fact, shes the old worlds definition of a bad one. But she wasnt here to steal that food. She was in the British Museum. So if you want her gone, Ill do it, but not on my own account. Its not easy taking a life. Graham, well, well never know what he was up to, but he was dangerous. We all saw that, and you didnt want him killed.”
”McInerys dangerous too,” Nilda said.
”Right, but not to us. I think her sights are set on Anglesey and the prize there. This place is never going to be big enough for her now.”
”Youre not sure?”
”Im not sure about much these days. But like I said, you need to sort out whos running this place, and if its going to be you, then youve got to take the hard choices. If you think everyone will be safer without her then youve got to make the call, youve got to say the word.”
”I... I dont know,” she said. Nilda wished Chester had just acted, that shed woken to find McInery missing. ”Someone stole some food,” she said. ”Thats all. Grahams taken the blame, and hes gone. We should leave it. Move on.”
”Fair enough,” Chester said. And she couldnt tell whether he thought that was the right decision or not.
After an awkward few minutes of silence, Nilda went to find Jay. She found that he, too, was lurking in a doorway, watching the rain pound down on old stone, as restless as she was. The drone was at his feet. Tuck was by his side, sharpening an axe. Kevin, Aisha, Greta, and Finnegan loitered nearby.
”Whats going on?” she asked.
”As soon as the rain stops, Im sending up the drone,” Jay said. ”If its clear, were going to get the food.”
”Just the six of you?” she asked.
”Well get more when the time comes,” Jay said. ”I didnt want to tell everyone in advance. Didnt want them worrying while they were waiting.”
She wasnt sure if they would follow him outside when he did, but the five people there didnt seem to mind obeying his instructions. One more parental string was cut. Feeling increasingly useless, she went to the kitchens and spent a satisfying hour chopping vegetables.
Around two p.m. the storm slackened. Nilda helped Chester carry the bags and fuel down to the lifeboat. Then began another awkward few hours of near silence as they waited for the tide to turn. Before it did, the clouds exploded, this time accompanied by wind and lightning. They were forced off the boat and into the relative shelter of the gatehouse. Afternoon wore into evening, and the storm raged on, showing no sign of ceasing as night fell. Even Tuck was forced to eschew her bivouac and find shelter indoors.
”Tomorrow, Ill leave,” Chester said, around midnight.
”Tomorrow,” Nilda said, and again wished she could have found something, anything, else to say.
26th September Chester woke and didnt need to look at a clock to know the time. A beam of daylight had crept around the edge of the imitation tapestry hed hung over the window, and speared down on his face. He pulled himself out of the rough nest.
”Electric lights,” he muttered. If all went well, he wouldnt spend more than an hour on Anglesey, but he was going to spend as much of that time as he could staring at a light bulb.
He kicked the sheets into a pile by the wall. The people whod arrived from Kirkman House had claimed the small grace and favour cottages that had been the homes of the warders and their families. Those who had arrived from the British Museum had their choice from the scores of offices, ancient chambers, gift shops, and exhibition rooms. There had been some movement so that the children could sleep in the warmer, more habitable parts of the castle, but none of them had wanted Chesters room.
People had relocated voluntarily, and it was good to know that generosity could be shown when needed. It gave him hope that the Tower might not self-destruct in his absence.
He picked up the jacket from the bed. That had been volunteered as well. There had been offers of all kinds of a.s.sistance that stopped short of accompanying him to Wales. Part of that was just an excuse to talk and confirm he really was leaving, but part was a genuine desire to help. He hoped.
”No,” he said. ”I think it was. Theyre good people for the most part, and no worse than anyone else.”
He stretched and found himself looking down at the fake bed. ”Fit for a king,” he muttered. ”Says it all.” The room in St Thomas Tower and the chambers leading from it had originally been built for the monarch, though Chester couldnt remember which one. When he and Nilda had arrived, it had been unoccupied. Partly because he knew his stay was going to be temporary, partly because hed always been fascinated by how the other half lived, but mostly because there was a bed in the middle of the room, hed claimed it. The bed was a fake. A mock-up based on the historical record. The wood in the grate was real, but the chimney had been sealed, so his attempt at lighting a fire to keep out the interminable chill from the old stone resulted in filling the room with more smoke than heat. Hed taken to sleeping on the floor, but hed slept in worse places these last few months and probably would again.
”Not after I get back from Wales,” he said. ”That times over. No more wandering.”
Hed resisted finding better lodgings because he knew hed be leaving, and hed not been sure he would come back. Now he was certain that he would try and return, the question that remained was whether hed be able to.
He reached down to pick up the revolver and remembered it was gone. Well, that was good in a way. It was his last connection with Cannock, now forever lost. He pulled back the curtain and looked outside. The storm had pa.s.sed. The sky was clear, bright blue as far as he could see.
”What was that line?” he murmured to himself as he strapped on the belt. ”The one that was in Bill Wrights diary? If a jobs to be done then its best done quickly. Something like that.” He pulled on the trainers. They were an odd colour, and the last thing hed have been seen wearing a year ago, but he could run in them, and he would need speed. He left the room, and he didnt look back.
”I made you breakfast,” Nilda said. ”Its the last of the bacon. At least until we kill another pig. I think well try not to do that for a while. Perhaps not until Christmas. We need to keep what little electricity we generate for making hot water.”