The Recruit

31. Night

Ash found Misty and Scargill sitting on Misty's bed smoking. Scargill looked like a geek: spindly arms and legs, greasy black hair tied back in a pony-tail. He wore a kitchen uniform from his job at Green Brooke.

"It stinks in here," Ash said, stepping in through the hole between the old and new parts of Cathy's hut.

"This is my little brother, Benjamin," Misty said. "He's a whiny little shit."

"You're harsh, Destiny," Scargill said, laughing.

Ash was hurt. They had to act like brother and sister, but he didn't see why she had to be nasty. He was also jealous: Scargill was getting to spend all his time with Misty.

"Why are you here, Benjamin?" Misty asked.

"This is my room as well," Ash said.

"Scargill and me want privacy, so get what you came in for and sod off."

"Did you get a job?" Ash asked.

"I'm an attendant at Green Brooke spa," Misty said. "Four days a week." Ash started rummaging through his stuff.

"What do you want, Benny?" Misty asked.

"My mobile," Ash said. "I was gonna see how Mum is."

"Take mine, it's charging up in the car."

"Thanks, Destiny," Ash said.

Ash sat in the front seat of the Land Cruiser and made a call to Augustine Sycamore.

"Hey, Ash, how's it going?" Sycamore asked.

"Not bad, Misty's pissing me right off."

"She with Scargill?"

"Permanently," Ash said.

"That's her job, Ash. She's got to get as close to him as she can."

"She told him I was a whiny shit."

Sycamore cracked up. "That gives Scargill a sign that she prefers him to her kid brother. She doesn't mean it."

"Scargill must be in heaven," Ashbsaid. "Scrawny little nerd and he's got Mist all over him."

"You've got a bit of a soft spot for Misty, don't you?" Sycamore asked. Ash's instinct was to deny it.

"A bit," he admitted. "If I was older I'd ask her out. How did you know?"

Sycamore laughed. "You get this glazed look in your eyes when she's in the room."

Ash panicked. "What? Is it that obvious?"

"I'm joking, Ash," Sycamore said. "So how's Cathy?"

"Seems OK now," Ash said.

"How did you get on with Sebastian and Clark Dunn?"

"Bad," Ash said. "They're weird kids. Tough-looking and smelly. They talk to each other as if you're not even there. None of the other kids hang out with them much either."

"Keep trying, but don't force it. Any other news?"

"I got one good break," Ash said. "I made friends with Gregory Evans, Bungle's son. I spent nearly an hour with them. Bungle gave me a book called No Logo to read."

"Good book," Sycamore said. "Read it. Go and see him, pretend you don't understand something and use it as an excuse to hang around."

"There's not much about Bungle on file, is there?" Ash said.

"No. He's been seen with all the bad guys, but he's never been arrested. There are over a thousand people called Brian Evans in Britain; we don't know which one he is. We don't even know exactly how old he is or where he comes from."