George had aimed perfectly. Used all his strength. Kept the sword ready, even after the wanderers had fled.
Right now, he was restless, filled with energy. He put on a mask and goggles, fearlessly dug into the dirt in his bedroom and found the hammer. He took a leg from a broken stool, nailed one end to the floor in the hallway and wedged the other against the inside of the front door. It wasn’t perfect, but it would stop anyone pushing the door open from outside.
He calmly picked up the wanderers’ knife and lined it up next to the sword on the servery, where he could easily grab them if needed. Then George blocked the smashed day room window with shelves from the wardrobe. He scraped up the sticky mix of blood and dirt from the floor into the bucket, and threw it against the back fence.
Beeper and Emily sat close together on the back patio. Silently. Their eyes followed George as he emptied the bucket. Back in the day room, George grabbed the sacks left by the wanderers and upended them on the dining table. Out tumbled several tins of food; two wrist watches; a brooch; coins; saucepans; cutlery; a small bundle of notes; some ration coupons; a packet of cashew nuts in silver foil. There were cans of soft drink. A squashed packet of cigarettes. A squared-off bottle without a label, filled with a dark brown liquid.
‘Come in here,’ he said. ‘See what they’ve left behind.’
‘It’s not ours,’ Beeper said softly as they all stood around the dining table.
‘We’re keeping the food and soft drink, Beeps. We deserve that.’ George picked up a can of cola and pulled up the tab. It fizzed, and bubbles poured out the top. He handed the can to Beeper, who sat and stared at it blankly.
‘One for you, Emily?’ George asked.
‘Yeah, sure. Please.’ Her voice was as hollow and weak as Beeper’s.
George slid a can in Emily’s direction. ‘Is your neck okay?’
She sat, tilted her head from side to side, then rubbed her throat. ‘Yeah. You did good, George.’
He didn’t reply. Just ran through the events again in his mind. How he kicked away the chair at the right moment, brought the blade hurtling down. How he didn’t hesitate. Not once.
Emily managed only a tiny sip of her drink. George opened a can of cola and took a generous mouthful. His whole body shuddered; he’d forgotten how sweet and fizzy it was. He quickly tore open the packet of cashews and swallowed some.
‘Did you notice Mr Carey out the front?’ he said at last.
Emily gently shook her head to an offer of cashews. ‘Sorry?’
‘Mr Carey. I told him we didn’t need his help.’
Emily rubbed her throat again. ‘That might change at some point,’ she muttered.
George pulled up the seat at the head of the table and drank more cola. He wasn’t really listening to her. In his mind he was still holding up the sword, chasing out the wanderers, doing something that would make his dad proud at last.
‘One day a sword may not be enough,’ she added.
George tipped up the cashew packet so the broken bits would fall from the corners. ‘What are you talking about?’
Emily’s voice was still uncertain. ‘Tomorrow could be different. Next time, you might be needing this Mr Carey. You’ve got to be careful who you’re rude to.’
George finished his drink. He gazed out into the back yard and tried to ignore her. She had no right to tell him what to do, especially now. And as for being rude to people …
‘That man,’ she said, ‘could help protect Beeper.’
George coughed into his hand. She should be giving him thanks, not this. ‘Don’t you reckon I’ve thought of things like that? I spoke to him. I went to his house in the night. But he’s a drunk.’
‘He seemed okay just now.’ Emily’s voice was finding its old strength. ‘He’s probably just been having a horrible time like the rest of us. If you — if we — were nice to him, he might join the team.’
‘What do you mean we? I can take care of my brother. I can protect my family.’
George said it so forcefully he surprised himself. But he was angry. Emily had done some good things, it was true. She might even be right in what she was saying. But you can’t break into someone’s house like she had, and then just expect to be let into their lives. That wasn’t how things worked. He lowered his voice. ‘Anyway, I thought it was everyone for themselves in your world.’
‘Why are you being so mean, George?’ Emily’s voice cracked. She cleared her throat. ‘I’m trying to help. That stuff I said about everyone for themselves was just some nonsense. Some stupid thing I said to make it seem like my parents taking off, my sister Laurissa choking on dust … that things like that wouldn’t crush me, wouldn’t stop me trying to survive as best I could.’
George said nothing. Emily sniffled and blinked, then dropped her gaze. Beeper shifted off his seat and put his hand on her shoulder. She wrapped her thin arms around him.
‘Welfare’ll come back one day, George,’ she said. ‘You’ll start running out of food …’
‘Calm down!’ George looked at her tear-streaked face and tried to set the right tone. ‘Listen Emily, I’m not going to kick you out.’ He squeezed his cola can as he worked out what to say next. ‘I’m sure we can help each other. Until Dad comes back. Even if it’s a year.’
Emily stood up. ‘Your dad? How do you know he’s coming back in a year, George?’
‘Because he’s been conscripted.’
‘You don’t have any proof of that.’ The old strength was back in her voice. ‘I’d be betting you still haven’t told Beeper that all that talk of secret agents is make-believe. That his father may never be coming back!’
Beeper pushed himself away from Emily and faced George. ‘What does she mean?’
‘It doesn’t matter, Beeps. Don’t believe her.’
‘Is Dad not coming … Is he … Torgie … Is she saying he’s dead?’
‘No, Beeper, she’s not. He’s working in a mine. But he could escape. There’s still a chance any minute, any day, he’ll just walk through that door.’
‘He’s not going to, George!’ said Emily. ‘Deep down, you know that.’
‘Torgie!’
‘Listen to me, Beeper, not to her.’ George grabbed his brother by the shoulders and pulled him away from Emily. ‘Dad’s held up … but he’s coming back. He is. I’m sure.’
Emily sat back down, took a deep breath and spoke more gently. ‘We should be planning for the future together.’
‘It’s my job to take care of Beeper, Emily. We are family. Me, Beeper, and …’ George’s voice faltered. He let go of Beeper.
‘That might not be enough,’ she said. ‘Sometimes you have to make family out of whoever’s about.’
‘Torgie! Tell me the truth!’
‘Stop all this, Emily. You’re scaring Beeper. I said I wasn’t going to kick you out, didn’t I? We probably do need you. There, I’ve admitted it.’
‘It’s not about being kicked out or being not kicked out, George. It’s not even about being needed. Not any more.’ She pointed to her swollen eye. ‘Do you have any idea of the risks I’ve run finding food for you?’
‘I just saved your life,’ George blurted out.
‘They would’ve let me go if I’d given up Beeper. But I wouldn’t be giving up Beeper. Ever.’
George slumped into a chair opposite her. He’d offered her what she said she wanted, and now that wasn’t enough. ‘I don’t understand what you are trying to get from me.’
‘Are you stupid, George?’ Emily slammed her can of drink on the table. She grabbed her bag and picked up a couple of tins of food. ‘I had this mad idea that something might have changed.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘That maybe you’d come to care … to care about me.’ Emily stood and threw her bag over her shoulder. ‘But you can’t make someone care about someone else. It just doesn’t happen that way. I was right first up: it’s time to be trying my luck somewhere else.’
‘You’re not going to leave,’ George said.
‘Try me!’
Before George could reply, Emily marched down the hall and kicked the stool leg so it flew away from the front door. She pulled the door open and used both hands to swing it shut behind her. It bounced on the door frame, swung open again and thumped back against the hallway wall.
George stood, stepped towards Beeper and tried to put his arm around him. Beeper pushed it away. ‘We need to get her back, Torgie!’ he said as he ran down the hallway.
George stared around the empty room for a few seconds and wondered how his success could have so quickly become so sour.