Heat Gauge

Chapter Fifteen

The pair of them sat up and quickly scooted across the mattress to press their backs to the cold wall. They had nowhere else to go. Despite herself, Nikki found herself hugging Rook for support. He wrapped a comforting arm around her. She felt fear slowly spread through her veins like an icy poison and dreaded what was to come.

But when the door opened it revealed a short, squat woman in a shapeless dress the colour of potato sacks carrying a flat wooden board. On the board were two bowls. Nikki could see the gentle curl of steam rising above them and her heart jumped. Food.

A suit-clad man followed her in and stood beside the door, guarding it, as the woman slowly shuffled between the workbenches. Her frizzy salt-and-pepper hair was haloed around her head in the dying light from the windows. Her heavily aged face wore a warm smile as she approached Nikki and Rook. Rook positioned himself in front of Nikki.

“Hello, Lidiya,” he said in fluent Russian.

She nodded to him. “Hello, Mr. Rook. How are you today?”

“I am well, Lidiya. I have your pleasant company to look forward to. What else could a man want for?”

Lidiya blushed and giggled slightly. “Oh, Mr. Rook, but you are charming.”

Rook grinned. Lidiya bent down and place the tray and bowls in front of him. They were filled with what looked like grey paint. On closer inspection there were bits of gristly meat floating like bloated carcasses in the oily film. Lidiya pulled three thick doorstops of bread from a pocket in the front of her dress. She gave one to Rook, and offered the other two to Nikki.

Nikki looked up at her and didn't make any attempt to take the bread.

“No fair, why does she get two?” Rook complained, an expression of jealousy on his face.

“She needs it more than you do,” Lidiya replied. Nikki met the Russian woman's eyes. Lidiya knew. Nikki shifted uncomfortably on the mattress and averted her gaze to her feet.

“But I'm a growing boy,” Rook said, pouting.

Nikki heard a rustling of cloth as Lidiya knelt before her. Tender, callused fingers gently lifted her chin. Nikki found herself staring into Lidiya's murky, deep brown eyes once more.

“Eat, my child. You need it,” Lidiya said, offering her the bread again.

Nikki hesitated for a fraction of a second, then reluctantly took the bread. Lidiya smiled a grandmotherly smile and lifted one of the bowls off the tray. Nikki took that, as well. There were no spoons, so she balanced the bowl in her lap and tore a small chunk of bread off and used it to soak some of the greasy liquid up. Rook had to get his own bowl.

Lidiya watched from nearby as they silently ate. Despite it's unappetising appearance, the broth was surprisingly good. Nikki saved the chunks of meat, using the extra slice of bread as a plate to hold them, and drank as much of the soup as she could stomach. Rook wolfed his down in mere minutes and struck up a conversation with Lidiya about Chechnya. Nikki guessed that was where the old woman hailed from.

When Nikki could eat no more Lidiya came over and collected the bowls and tray.

“Don't get yourself into any trouble. They will not hesitate to punish you,” she told Nikki. To Rook it would just sound like a normal warning, but Nikki knew it held more meaning. She just nodded. Lidiya smiled once, then left. The guard left with her and a key scraped in the lock on the other side.

Nikki reached for one of the chunks of meat and put it in her mouth to chew on, both to take the edge of the hunger she still felt despite the sloshing in her stomach, and to avoid talking to Rook. Thankfully he was oblivious and and shifted to stretch out on the mattress. That left Nikki plenty of time to contemplate.