Winter Went | #2 Winter Series

Chapter 19

|| Amelia ||

Zach's words hit me, sparking the confusion receptor. A cure? To what? All of a sudden, apprehension vibrates through me, churning in my stomach, and I don't want to hear the answer. Whenever Sarah's involved, it can't be good.

"What cure?" Amelia leans in, looking interested now.

"A cure to the Power. It's been what I've been wanting to tell you since last night."

"What? No!" interjects his sister. "I like my power!" As though to justify her point, the straw underneath her begins to turn white. "It's fun!"

"But it's no use," Zach objects. "Why can't we just have our lives back the way they normally were?"

Even though I don't say it aloud, I agree with him. Before I was dragged into this mess, everything was going so well for me. And now others have got this awesome power that I don't possess.

Yet, I tell myself. It won't be long now.

"Let me show you around the farm," Zach says. "It'll be fun."

Curious, we follow him out in the morning sunshine. I pass the metal bucket he placed at the door and peer inside to see a creamy, white liquid. Milk.

Outside, all around us, there are green fields stretching out as far as the eye can see. It's a breath-taking sight. The way the sun shines on the crops makes it even more spectacular.

"I'll show you the cows," Zach says happily and begins walking down the path to the right.

"There are animals?"

"Yeah," he replies, throwing the comment over his shoulder. "A farmer owns this land. We help out with the farming, and he gives us the barn free of charge."

"So it's not abandoned?" I ask.

"No, though that was a good guess."

Excitedly, we hurry down the path to where the cows are. The smell of them makes me want to permanently clip a peg to my nose. They gaze at us through the field gate, tails swishing, mouths moving continuously, all of them looking like they're going to be sick.

Zach begins to moo at one of them, which after a while moos back, and makes Angie and I collapse with laughter. For a few minutes, it feels like the old days.

After listening to a mooing conversation, Zach leads us round to a small shelter where the pigs are, snorting and snuffling at the earth. To the side, raking leaves together into one huge pile, is a small, stout man. His chequered jacket blows in the wind, and it's something that jogs a memory.

The last piece of the puzzle slots into place when he turns. His round face is one I recognise. His hands are the ones that pushed the barrel of a rifle into my face.

It's the man from the Scottish Highlands who we met a few weeks ago. The one who ratted us out to the police.

But what is he doing here towards the south?

"Zach, old boy!" he calls out in greeting and then ambles his way towards us. His eyes skim over Angie and me, recognition sparking in them. "And these are...?"

"My sister and her friend. They were all there the first time we met."

The man nods. "Of course." He turns to me now. I flinch a little under his gaze, body twitching as a sign to get away from him. "I know you must have very confused thoughts about me, but I was foolish then. Believe me, I'm an old man, stuck to old ways. I thought this sudden change with the Power was bad, but then I met this bad boy."

I think he's pointing to Zach but then I realise he's flexing his hand. A shoot of mist erupts from it. "I eventually got the Power too." He closes his palm. "And, of course, I realised not all Elsa's are bad." He grins at Zach. "Your friend here has been of so much help to me. I didn't think I'd be able to harvest all the crops until he came along." The man clamps his hand on Zach's shoulder. "He's like my little farm boy."

Zach, clearly embarrassed, shrugs him off. "That's enough, Jim."

"Aye, the little kid's shy."

"But weren't you in the Highlands?" I ask. "What made you want to move down here?"

"Weather's awful up there, and because of the concentration of Power people, everything's too cold and icy. My animals were lucky to make it out alive." He glances at the pigs snuffling behind him. "And anyway, I prefer Devon to the heights of Scotland."

Zach asks him if there're any more jobs to do, and the man readily agrees. I'm soon kneeling in front of a cow's teats, unable to stop myself from giggling as I disastrously attempt to milk it. The majority of the milk lands on some area of my clothes and the rest in the actual bucket.

The farmer sets us to do tasks all day, letting us stop for breaks when we're tired and a hearty meal at midday. I find myself enjoying it, and soon I can forget about the shock of this morning, and the realisation that I'll have to return to Sarah-territory in the barn.

By the end of the day, we all return smiling but worn out. Angie bumps my shoulder playfully on the way in.

That's not the only thing. It feels like the old times. And that's something I relish deep down inside.

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