My Name is Stab

Chapter Two - The Long Walk

They went to bed early that evening. They didn't have any choice; there were no lights and so they couldn't do anything after it got dark. But, the next morning, daddy woke them up even earlier - well before dawn. Theodora didn't know what time it was but the moon had just risen so there was a tiny little bit of light. "We need to get out of town before people start moving about," he explained. "We're taking as much food as we can carry and they might try to steal it."

That, coupled with Old Ghastly's warnings about ne'er-do-wells, was enough to convince the two girls that they really ought to be worried.

Theo knew the first few miles of the walk - she had gone out running this way loads of times with her daddy. So, even though they were travelling by moonlight, they were quite easy. They soon left the suburban streets and cut through a park and onto footpaths.

But, before long, they had left the familiar area and they had to move back onto the roads. That was quite frightening. The streetlights were not working, of course, and, after all the scary words, it felt as if there was danger lurking around every corner.

They were all carrying heavy packs - all the food they could find in the cupboards plus a few spare clothes and, after just a couple of hours, they started to get tired. However Daddy insisted that they keep moving. "It's just not safe to stop here," he told them. "About five more miles and we'll be out of the built-up area and we can find somewhere to rest for a bit. We just have to keep going now, though."

They trusted him and so, in spite of their aching legs, they kept moving.

After another couple of hours, as it was starting to get light, they emerged from the built-up area onto some rugged moorland. Daddy scouted ahead and found a quiet hollow, out of sight of the road, where they could rest for a bit. He sat for a while with Mummy, exchanging a few quiet words, and then, after giving her a kiss, he came over and squeezed in between 'his two favourite girls'.

"How are you two doing?" he asked, putting his arms around them.

"Tired," Theodora answered, "and a bit scared."

"I'd be lying if I said you weren't right to be just a bit scared," he responded, "but the most dangerous part of the trip is behind us. Getting out of town was always going to be the tricky bit. I'm hoping that, from now on, we'll be well ahead of anyone who might want to cause us trouble."

He reached down and started rubbing his girls' legs. Any other time, that might have been a bit uncomfortable for teenage girls but it was a frightening time and he was their Daddy, after all. And anyway, their legs were achy and it felt good!

"Come on," he said to the two of them with a final pat on their thighs, "We better get moving before your Mummy falls asleep. She was up all night packing."

He stood up and hauled his two girls to their feet then they all went across and did the same for Mummy.

The rest of the day passed in a bit of a blur with lack of sleep and the constant pressure to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Occasionally they would be allowed to stop to have something to eat but those rests were never long enough and there was never enough to eat. As dusk fell, their father led them off the road, down into the car park of a nature reserve. There was a bird hide there and, after checking that there was nobody about, he casually forced the door.

"You broke in!" Theodora exploded. Even in her exhausted state she was shocked that her father would do something like that.

"We all need to rest and we haven't got tents or anything," he explained. "I'll pay to have it mended when this is all sorted out."

"'If', Daddy, not 'when'," she told him firmly.

He paused for a moment, studying her, then leaned down and kissed her. "You're right, of course, my little Dormouse" he said with a sigh. "It is 'if' not 'when'. I sometimes forget that you two aren't babies anymore. I can't protect you from the truth so I should stop trying."

He paused for a moment then added. "There's a fair bit more to say but this isn't the time or the place. We'll tell you everything when we get to the cottage. I promise."

"But Daddy...

"No buts, Dormouse." He leaned down and gave her another kiss. "Please don't nag."

She could tell that that was the last warning before she officially had a grumpy Daddy on her hands so she let it go for now. And he had promised to tell them once they got to the cottage.

There wasn't enough room in their packs for sleeping bags and things so they just had to lie on the hard floor with their coats over them. They all cuddled together for warmth. It was strange and uncomfortable but, in spite of that, the girls were so exhausted that they fell asleep.

Theodora woke once in the night and found her Daddy had gone from her side. There was just enough light - probably starlight - filtering into the hut to allow her to see that he was sitting by the door, looking out through a hole.

She turned over and fell back to sleep, comfortable in the knowledge that Daddy was keeping them safe.

It took another two days of unrelenting walking to reach the cottage. By now, they were well away from the industrial towns and out into the open moorland so it would have been quite a nice walk if it hadn't been for the huge packs they were carrying.

At least the weather stayed dry but they were all very relieved when, at last, their familiar holiday cottage came into view, up at the top of the crumbling decaying track. Daddy had been talking about sorting it out for years as he struggled to even get the Range Rover up there but he never got round to it. There were always so many better things to be doing when they were there. Now they could only be grateful. Nobody was going to guess that there was anybody living up there.