Barb was the first to stir the next morning. It had been a horrible night of unfamiliar noises and unknown threats. It hadn’t rained, but she was damp through from the morning dew and cold to her core.
She scrambled to her feet, alarmed to hear her joints rubbing together like unoiled metalwork. The hunger reminded her that it had been a full day since she’d last eaten. You’ve got soft, she thought. Time was that you could go a few days without food. However, she knew that was only bearable when her stomach was full of water, and so she looked around for something to drink. A nearby puddle looked muddy, but most of the sediment was settled at the bottom, so tentatively she got back down and took a few mouthfuls. The activity stirred up the soil, putting an end to that. Around her, there was dew on the grass, so she pulled up a handful and sucked on it. Then, finding that quite sweet tasting compared to the puddle, she chewed on it. Once all the moisture had been extracted, she swallowed the pulp. She’d eaten worse.
Stamping her feet and waving her arms around, she began to feel the blood move. Time to go. She had no idea how much further Marinda had gone or what would happen next, but standing around here wouldn’t get any answers.
She felt for the gun in her pocket and for a moment was thrown into a panic when she realised it wasn’t there. It must have fallen out in the night.
Retracing her steps she found it pressed into the hollow where she’d slept. She took the hem of her coat and hurriedly wiped the worst of the mud off. There was no time to clean it more thoroughly; she had to find the older woman.
Up ahead, the road curved to the right, so she crossed and skirted around the sharp edge of the bend, peering around to what lay next. The barn seemed to rise up out of the ground mist as if it were floating or coming in to land from the sky. Further along and slightly up the hill was the house. Everything was still.
She couldn’t see Max and his father leaving the back of the house, with Max dragging his feet like a stroppy teenager being made to help with the chores.
Nor could she see Marinda finishing her regime of exercises after eating the rations she’d brought in her bag.
Marinda had never visited this farm but had enough dealings with food providers to know that all competent hands would soon be at work, doing the daily tasks that made even this run-down plot stagger on.
She pulled herself up straight into a stretch that lengthened her spine, before looking around to take stock. Grabbing hold of the broken rake in the corner, she started to pull the scattered hay into a pile. There were a few poles and boards lying around, which she stacked onto the top before throwing the rake on for good measure. She pushed the door ajar and peered out. The sun was truly up now, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught the movement of her stalker edging towards the barn.
Ready to go.
She took out the box of matches and ran her finger along the rough side, enjoying the shiver that ran down her back. She held it to her nose and inhaled the tang of all the matches that had been scraped and ignited on it. There were two matches left in the box. For a moment, she thought about saving one. No, she was feeling wild today. It was a two-match kind of day.
She took out the first and struck it. It gave her such pleasure to watch the sudden light flare and then settle to a flickering, lazy yellow flame. Ah, it was the simple things in life that made it all so worthwhile. She dropped it into the hay and, for good measure, lit the second and pushed it into the other side of the kindling.
The straw was old and tinder dry, so it guzzled the flame, taking hold quickly.
Marinda slipped out of the door and headed up to the house.
She expected Mary to be sitting or lying somewhere safe in there. It was unthinkable that she would be out on the farm, so now all she had to do was find her.
The front door was locked, so Marinda quickly walked around until she came to the back door and let herself in. The kitchen was empty and had two doors leading off it. She chose to look through the smaller door first, expecting a cupboard. As she pushed it open, she was smacked in the face by a large pan, which knocked her out cold.