A Kingdom of Our Own

Chapter Twenty - Injured

THUD

A door slammed to one of the houses in the central courtyard and Dalton looked up eagerly as a group of bewildered looking people rushed over. They were muttering amongst themselves and made sure that they kept a safe distance from Dalton, not knowing quite what to make of him. He heard one of them say rather sincerely, “You’d better go and get Jacob.”

“Help, my friend is hurt!”

Dalton looked at them pleadingly and pointed urgently towards the limp body lying on the ground next to him. Still none of them advanced to help. This angered him. How could they just stand there and do nothing? He kept his hands pressed down on the wound to prevent any further blood loss, mumbling and crying to himself, but turned when he heard approaching footsteps.

Three more men had dashed over to the scene, one slightly older than the others, and as he passed he waved for everyone to gather around, as if to say “Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite!”

The same elderly man with a stretched, worn face and a long grey beard knelt beside them, who he presumed must be Jacob. He leant down and examined Harry with his steely grey eyes for a moment and then turned to face Dalton with a firm expression, as if he were completely to blame for what had happened. “Where have you come from?” he asked.

“We’ve come to see my Godfather, Skandar, our business is our own.” Dalton began to explain. Immediately on the mention of Skandar, the man’s face darkened, but Dalton kept on talking. “He lives here. Can you help him?” he asked, changing the course of the conversation all of a sudden, as he pointed towards his pale-faced friend, his skin drained of all life and colour. He looked like one of the cast from a Dracula movie.

“This boy needs to go to the hospital,” Jacob replied simply. “There’s nothing we can do for him here.”

Dalton’s eyes widened at this in horror. There was no way in hell they were going to the hospital. They’d get sent back home to Portland by the authorities and then Harry would be in danger again. Once he was back there he’d be a sitting duck waiting to be slaughtered. “No! No hospital!” Dalton yelled suddenly, on his knees now, practically begging for the man to conform. “Surely there’s something you can do for him.”

Jacob was suddenly curious by this strange boy and his spark of defiance. He wasn’t any ordinary English child to say the least and so he decided that it would be for the best if he waited until he knew more about what was going on and the nature of the boy’s injury before he made a firm decision. He let out a sigh, placed a finger on his chin thoughtfully and turned to his wife.

“Miriam, go and get Skandar would you?”

She bowed, nodded obediently, and then rushed off.

So he was still living here! Thank goodness! Dalton thought to himself. That was one thing he could be thankful of. At least they were safe now, with someone who would care for them and take their side when times were bad. There would be no more risks and danger now they had Skandar to make all the big decisions for them. All he needed now was for Harry to hold on and then things would be perfect again, just like his life used to be.

He pulled up just moments later in a beat-up Pontiac Tempest and Dalton almost laughed when a couple of the Amish people dived out the way as if they were face to face with an alien being from Mars. Dalton had been told by his Godfather a couple of years ago that the Amish deeply resented any use of automobiles and had tried to force him to sell his car on a number of occasions. But really, what could they do about it? Skandar was one of those stubborn sorts who didn’t care for the opinions of others and owned a plot of land near the estate, so they couldn’t kick him out for his defiance.