‘Well, thanks for everything,’ said Ben when they arrived at his house. His head was still a little muddled, though the Box seemed to understand this and was trying to be reassuring. He wanted to be on his own, to figure out what had happened and to listen to the Box. ‘I’m home now, so . . .’
‘I can’t leave you now,’ said Lucy. ‘I promised you animal biscuits. Besides, you haven’t paid for your order.’
‘What order?’
‘Didn’t I say?’ She held out the other carrier bag. It was full of ageing stock from Out-the-Back. The sun-faded box of Villagers and Townsfolk stuck out the top. ‘That’s why I’m here. I was coming to deliver this. Teg said you ordered it.’
‘I wish he’d just leave me alone.’ Ben rummaged through the bag for a minute before trying to hand it back. ‘This is junk. I didn’t order this.’
‘He said you did.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘Well, I can’t go back without the money, can I? He’ll go mental.’
‘How much is it?’
‘Fifty quid, he says. Special offer.’
‘He’d need to give me fifty quid to take it. I don’t need any hedgerows, thanks. And there’s even a viaduct in here. What am I supposed to do with that?’
‘I don’t know. Can’t your trolls live under it or something?’
‘It’s an accessory for a train set.’
‘Don’t they have trains in Battle Axe? They had trains in World War Two. For supplies and things.’
‘First, no, we don’t have trains. It’s a fantasy game. Second, it’s called Warmonger. How can you work at the Forge and not know that?’
‘I didn’t want to work there. I was supposed to be going to the Sun Centre, but that fell through. Then I was placed at this shoe shop in town, but the old bag who ran it wanted me to wear red, so I told her where to stick it. I don’t know anything about Warmonger, and Teg doesn’t want to show me.’ She shrugged. ‘All I do is write down numbers and make tea, anyway. My dad says it’s pretty much the perfect experience of the world of work.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Ben, and went to shut the door. Lucy stuck her foot inside.
‘Maybe you could show me? In exchange for saving you from – what did you call them? The gorgons?’
‘The Furies.’ Ben screwed up his face. ‘Are you going to go away if I say no?’
Lucy smiled.
‘Fine,’ sighed Ben. He held open the door, and Lucy ducked inside.
‘Put the kettle on then,’ she said.
After Lucy had drunk her tea, and shared out her biscuits, and asked him a billion questions about the Furies, and Druss, and his mother, which Ben was surprised to discover he didn’t mind answering at all, they had gone upstairs. Ben got everything ready (including the appropriate codex for civil war, since he only had skeletons to battle with) while Lucy squinted at various figures through the magnifying glass. If he’d have thought about it, he’d have realized that this was the first time he’d ever had a girl in his room. In fact, it was the first time he’d had a human he wasn’t related to in his room.
She was currently enamoured with a Necromancer. ‘These are really good. Did you paint all these yourself?’
‘Yeah. They’re not as good as Tegwyn’s, though. His attention to detail is amazing.’
‘Yeah, right,’ sniggered Lucy. ‘Wait, you don’t know? Teg doesn’t paint all his models himself. His mum lives in a home in Denbigh. Once a week he takes a big bag of orcs round, and there’s a little group of pensioners that does them for him. He only does the big showy things himself. Dragons, stuff like that.’
‘Wyverns,’ said Ben, quickly. He blushed, then mumbled, ‘Orcs have wyverns.’
‘You don’t need to be embarrassed. There’s no point pretending to be something you’re not because you think it will make other people more comfortable.’ She picked up his zombie dragon and pretended to fly it through the air, making growling noises. ‘Can I have this wyvern on my side?’
‘Yes,’ said Ben. ‘But that’s a dragon.’
They played for an hour, and despite the Box burbling along impatiently in the back of his head, Ben was enjoying himself. He wanted the game to go on, so he had been playing purposefully badly, but when they came to the end of a combat phase which obliterated the last of Ben’s troops Lucy put the dice down.
‘I’d better be going then. Thanks for the lesson. And the tea.’
‘That’s all right. It was nice, you know?’ He mumbled the end of the sentence into his chest, and felt his cheeks turn red.
‘We can hang out again if you like. You doing anything Monday?’
‘Don’t think so. Gran probably wants us to visit something educational at some point, but that’ll be later in the week.’
‘You know the Old School Youth Centre in Towyn?’
A cautious new melody wheedled its way through the score. ‘Yes?’ he said tentatively.
‘You should come to druidic circle. It’s a lot of fun.’
‘You’re a druid?’ said Ben.
‘Yeah, didn’t you know? That’s how I ended up at Teg’s shop. The Grand Druid sorted it out. But it’s not weird or anything. Not culty weird, anyway. It’s mostly nice people getting together to drink tea and talk about the nature. And magic, but you already know all about that, don’t you?’
Ben sighed and shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I fell for that.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Is that why you’re being nice to me?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m not stupid, OK?’ His shoulders tightened as the music grew prickly and paranoid. ‘Pretending to be interested in Warmonger. I know they sent you.’
‘Who?’
‘I’ve not been doing animal sacrifices or whatever it is they say I’ve been doing, OK? I just want to be left alone. Tell Tegwyn to stop ringing, tell him I’m never going back to his stupid shop, and tell him I don’t want him sending his minions to my house.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Lucy. Her voice was quiet, and she lowered her head. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I don’t know what I said, but I’m sorry.’ She picked up the bag of Villagers and Townsfolk, and left. Ben listened as she ran down the stairs. He waited for the front door to slam, then retrieved the Box from his satchel.
It brightened at his touch, and the horrible throbbing went away. His fingers tingled as he touched it, and a smile formed on his lips. He didn’t need anyone else. Why would he? He had the Box. He eased the lid back, and as it yawned open, the melody exploded, and Ben felt full up. He put his hand inside the Box and rapped his knuckles on the base in time to the music.