Interrupted Journey

Chapter 6 - Lizzie

It was dark the next morning - pitch black - when Alice woke us and I was still dog tired. In spite of the continuous exercise over the last couple of days, my sleep was being torn apart by nightmares.

"Come on, you two," she greeted us gruffly, though the two mugs of tea she was holding took the edge off the gruffness. "I need to be back in time for t'milkin'."

"How is she managing it?" Mike asked when she had left us to get ready. "Two days ago the power failed, kicking us back by a century. Yesterday she buried her husband and her youngest son. I know they breed 'em tough up here but..." he trailed off.

"She's dealing with it in her own way and in her own time," I answered, as I hunted around in the dark for my boots. I hadn't bothered undressing. "We need to give her space."

Alice surprised us right from the start of the journey. Instead of turning left to follow the only road out of the little valley, she drove across it into the field opposite. Here she dropped down to the stream, fording it by some mildly perplexed sheep, and climbed up the other side, the van wheels slipping on the damp grass. At the top of the field, a disused gate led us onto a forestry track.

Alice had promised to take us to a viewpoint just west of town. Though we never touched anything but the narrowest of country lanes, we made good time. It was still dark and quite chilly when Mike and I climbed out of the van.

With the briefest of farewells, Alice was off but, as she drove out of the car park, Mike and I paused and looked at each other. Something was wrong.

"I can smell burning," Mike said at last.

We climbed up to the lookout point and peered out into the darkness. A dull, red glow showed us that a large part of the town was on fire but it was still much too dark to see exactly where.

We had an agonising wait as the morning light crept in from the East - was Lizzie safe - had our home been destroyed? I paced around nervously in the dark.

As the dawn light broke through the pall of smoke, details began to emerge. Our house was safe; it was well away from any of the burning. A few more agonising minutes then relief. Though closer to the fire, the Culshaw's house, where Elizabeth was staying, was safe too. We were going to have to use a slightly roundabout route to get there but that was a price I was happy to pay.

I quickly planned the new route and we set off. We dropped down to some playing fields then down a footpath that led past James's school. We hurried across a main road then climbed up a small rise that led us past the front of a row of shops including a small supermarket.

We had just reached the end of the row when we were startled by a calm, authoritative voice from behind us. "Please stay where you are, gentlemen."

We turned, startled, but were relieved to see it was a young policeman. I guessed that he was guarding the place.

"Good morning, officer," I said. "How can we help?"

The policeman appeared surprised by this response. "You're carrying a rifle," he managed to answer at last.

"Yes?"

"The laws on firearms are very clear. You can't just go carrying them about in public like that!"

"I think we're a long way beyond that," Mike told him. "We need the guns for our own safety." He had moved slightly to the side and drawn the pistol he had taken from Ken's cache. Though he was not pointing it toward the young officer, it was clear that pointing was an option.

"That makes no difference," the policeman insisted. "You have to hand them over?"

"Listen," I said, working hard to keep my tone calm and level. "I need to go and make sure my daughter is safe and nothing is going to get in my way... nothing. We need the guns for that. We don't want any trouble but we are certainly not going to give them up. We are prepared to use force, if you make it necessary."

I could tell that his resolve was wavering so I made him an offer. "How about we show you some ID and then we can deal with this when it all blows over?"

The young police officer held his ground for a few moments then nodded.

"Listen, son," Mike said adopting a much friendlier tone as he put his pistol away. "You really need to start giving some serious thought to your own safety. Are you in contact with your senior officers?"

"No, sir, I haven't heard from anyone since just after it all started." He seemed to shrink as he said it and it struck me that he didn't look much older than James. "I was told to come here and stay until I was relieved but nobody's come..."