The Citadel and the Wolves (24 page)

After our efforts the previous day, the water tank was full. Father was planning to pipe the water directly to the big house soon. He had the boiler going downstairs, so I ran the bath for Kim and Jenny.

I soaped Kim.

“Jade, do you have a fella or something?” probed Kim.

The thought amused me. “Oh, sure, we go out regularly on dates to a night club or restaurant.”

She blushed. “I meant…What-What about my brother Mark?”

“He’s got his eyes elsewhere. It doesn’t really bother me. I never had a boyfriend before the comet. I was too busy studying hard for my exams. I wanted to go to university then.” I sighed. “The comet put paid to all that and everything else.” I caught myself. I was looking back again. I must stop doing that.

After I’d bathed Kim and Jenny, I used the same water. Kim sat with me. She wanted to know everything about me and the old days. If she was prepared to be bored, then I was prepared to tell her.

After breakfast, Kim and I spent sometime in my room listening to the radio before my morning chores. I twiddled with the tuning dial till I found the BBC again.

Kim and I thundered down the stairs white-faced. The others were in the kitchen.

“What is it, Jade?” asked mum who wore a puzzled expression on her face.

“It’s the Russians, Mum,” I answered breathlessly.

“What about them, darling?”

“They’ve dropped an atom bomb on the Southern Republics!” gasped Kim horrified.

OH, DROKK!! ZOOTWOSOME!! VENUS PEBBLES!!!

13. KIDNAPPED

When I woke that morning, I picked up my diary before the thought in my head had gone forever.

Wendy once described our fortress home in Crown Dale Close as a prison when she was in one of her darker moods before Mark Taylor came onto the scene. That was an unfair comparison, I thought. I reminded my sister that a prison kept evil people in to stop them from harming people on the outside; whereas, our fortress home,
The Citadel,
protected us from the barbarians at our gates. No, our home wasn’t a prison. My sister was wrong about that. It was a castle.

I blinked with surprise when Kim, the newcomer to our growing family here in the fortress home, our castle, entered the bedroom with a breakfast tray.

“Kim, what’s all this?” I asked amused.

“Breakfast in bed, Jade,” she replied cheerfully, crossing to the bed with the tray.

I was puzzled. “It isn’t Sunday today, is it?”

She giggled. “No.”

Kim set the breakfast tray down in front of me, dropped her dressing gown, and climbed under the covers with me.

“You’re starting to spoil me, Kim. I don’t deserve it.”

She disagreed, “You do, Jade. You’ve been good to me and Jenny these past few weeks, taking us in and everything.”

“The others?”

“Everybody here has been so kind to me and Jenny,” bubbled Kim happily, “but you in particular, Jade.”

Jenny, who had been sleeping a moment before, stirred in the cot when she smelt the food.

Kim said, “I boiled an egg for Jenny’s breakfast and made her some toasted soldiers. She likes them.”

I was curious. “What did my mum say, Kim, when you made the breakfast in bed for me?”

She admitted, “She made most of the breakfast. I did make the toasted soldiers, though.” She laughed.

I rolled my eyes, nudging Kim playfully; however, it was the thought that counted.

I shared breakfast in bed with Kim and Jenny, who ate the toasted soldiers, dipping them in her egg.

Kim and I have become very good friends since she and Jenny arrived not long ago, though she can be demanding at times. She reminds me of an affectionate puppy. She demands love and reassurance constantly, though I’m not complaining. It’s nice to have someone who hero worships you around the house. I look upon her as a kid sister as I’m the older one.

She fondly nuzzled my neck as we lay together, resting awhile after our long, lazy breakfast in bed. Kim has lost the thin, gaunt appearance on her first day here. She has put on some weight, and she has rosy cheeks. She’s eating properly.

She spoke, “Jade, I’m still worried.”

“What about?”

“The atom bomb that the Russians dropped on the Southern Republics. It really scares me thinking about it too much. I’m worried for Jenny too. Will she have a future and that?”

I sighed. “I thought we already talked that one over, Kim.”

She wrinkled her small nose. “I know, Jade, but it still sort of bothers me a bit. What if the winds carry the radioactive dust cloud over this way?”

“Fetch me my old school globe, Kim, and I’ll show you why it isn’t likely to happen.”

Kim obeyed. She opened my cupboard where I keep all of my old stuff from my school and college days, my past life now. She took out the globe, bringing it over to me. Kim needed some reassurance again. Perhaps I did too. I showed her where the Southern Republics were in Russia.

I explained, “The Southern Republics are over five thousand kilometres away from us in the Asian part of Russia, so it’s highly unlikely that the radioactive dust cloud will be blown this way. Harmless, minute particles perhaps in the upper atmosphere, though most of those would probably be trapped in the thick clouds.”

“I wish I was clever like you, Jade, but I’m a bit dim. My brother says so.”

I was annoyed. “Never say that about yourself, Kim. Besides, what does your older brother know anyway?” I could boil Mark’s brains sometimes. What did my older sister see in him?

Kim confessed, “When I was small, I was a sickly child, missing a lot of school. Perhaps that explains why I’m not as bright as other people.” She squatted on the bed. “Jade, tell me about the atom again.”

She’s eager to learn from me, the scientist’s daughter; however, I suspect that she doesn’t understand most of what I tell her. She’s a bright girl nevertheless, and I’m patient with her.

I began: “All matter is made up of atoms, the building blocks of the universe, yet the atom itself is made up of even smaller particles, a nucleus of protons and neutrons. Most of the mass of an atom is in the nucleus at the centre of the atom. Electrons are negatively charged. They’re held in the atom because protons have an equal but positive charge. In some ways, the atom could be likened to the planets orbiting the sun.”

I was puzzled when Kim picked up a butter knife from the breakfast tray. She stabbed the air with it.

“What are you doing, Kim?” I asked amused.

“Splitting the atom, Jade,” she replied with an impish grin on her face.

“Oh ha.”

We both laughed then.

After a quick wash down together, Kim and I dressed in my room by the warmth of the fire.

“Jade, I overheard Mark earlier mention to Wendy that you’re going out today on a trip,” said Kim slyly.

“Yeah, my father wants to strengthen the outside wall, create a double wall in fact, so we’re going out to collect bricks from building sites around here. There are a lot of bricks lying around out there.”

She clung to my neck.

“That sounds like great fun to me. Can I come too, Jade?” She sounded like a small child.

When I shook my head, her face dropped.

I explained patiently, “The outside can be unpredictable, often dangerous. You know this yourself, Kim. You were outside once yourself. The VPF who are meant to be the law are untrustworthy. They can’t be relied upon to protect us. I wouldn’t want to risk it for your sake and Jenny’s. She needs you here.”

“I wouldn’t be scared with you and the others, Jade.”

But I was adamant. I had to be. It wasn’t my decision to make. It was daddy’s. I knew what his answer would be. If Kim is my kid sister, then she’s his youngest daughter. My parents have become very fond of Kim and Jenny. They would never allow any harm to come to them.

“Besides, who would make my breakfast in bed?” I asked light-heartedly.

Kim laughed, for she understood.

Kim and I fed the animals in the back yard later. Following recent visits to the farms, we returned with two pigs and a sow, hens for our fresh eggs, and ‘Sandra,’ a nanny-goat, who’s our latest arrival. She gives us fresh milk and cheese. The animals should save us further visits out to the farms. Tommy and Jenny play with our animals, but they’re not pets. They’re livestock!

As father, Mark and I pulled out of the big gates in the Land-Rover and trailer, the others saw us off. Kim and Jenny gave me a little wave. I ignored the look on Mark’s face. As we drove down the empty street, I kept my loaded rifle in my lap.

The VPF
had gone when the Close could no longer afford their protection. We protected ourselves behind our high, electrified walls.

As we drove on, carefully avoiding the deep and damaging potholes in the roads, I stared at the dark windows that we passed. Some were boarded-up. Many were broken. The houses looked abandoned. How were others coping after the comet? We rarely met them on our travels as we rode through the deserted streets of London. We did pick up the occasional strays like Mark Taylor, though I don’t think of Kim, his sister, as a stray. Perhaps the others had all died in their homes. It was a chilling thought. I pushed it into the back of my mind.

We turned into Knight’s Hill by the blackened shell of St. Luke’s Church, which was once a local landmark proudly standing for nearly two centuries. It was always a sad sight whenever we passed it on our journey. We saw something else that made us all think, an overturned and burnt-out VPF
vehicle. Until then, I’d always thought of them as being somehow invincible. Silly really, I know.

We turned into a street where some of the derelict buildings had collapsed into the road. There were plenty of bricks lying around here.

“This looks okay,” said father.

We stopped.

“Mark, take only the unbroken bricks,” instructed daddy.

“Yes, Mr Robinson,” he said enthusiastically.

While the others loaded the unbroken bricks onto the trailer, I watched over them, constantly sweeping the deserted street with my rifle. There might be someone hiding behind one of the dark windows with a gun, a would-be sniper. I wasn’t taking any chances. He’d think twice about it.

“We’ve got enough for the time being,” decided father as he loaded the last of the bricks onto the trailer.

Mark Taylor didn’t disagree, for it was too much like hard work, and he hated hard work.

My eyes narrowed darkly. “Father.”

The ragged youth or boy appeared on the corner. He stared at us for a long moment. Maybe he was just being inquisitive. We were suddenly worried that there might be more around. He fled when I pointed my rifle at him darkly.

“I don’t think we should hang around too long,” advised father wisely.

We climbed into the armoured Land-Rover. The engine wouldn’t start the first time. Daddy tried it again. She stubbornly refused to start.

I glanced at him anxiously. “Dad?”

When Daddy turned it over once more, it rumbled into life, sounding like a small explosion in the silence of the empty street. We were all more than a little relieved.

Daddy chuckled. “No problem.”

We moved off quickly with our bricks. The four-wheel-drive took the load in her stride.

“Who was he?” wondered Mark Taylor after some moments.

“A curious bystander or a Roamer on a scouting mission looking for easy victims,” I answered with my own theory. “When he saw my rifle, he realised that we weren’t easy victims.”

“Would you have shot him, Jade, if he had posed a threat?” quizzed Mark Taylor.

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation, “I would have shot him dead.”

I remained wary, keeping my rifle close to me. But we returned home without further incident.

Father frowned when he crunched the gears. “When we get back, I’m going to take a look under the bonnet. Spares are a problem. It will probably mean cannibalising another Land-Rover.”

“It could be just the cold weather, Dad,” I said.

“Maybe.”

I suddenly had an idea. “You could always swap the Land-Rover for another, Dad.”

Daddy’s eyes darkened. “What exactly are you suggesting here, Jade.”

“There are plenty of abandoned vehicles on the streets, Dad, and some of them look in perfectly good condition, and it wouldn’t be stealing. We salvage things all the time.”

Daddy murmured.

As I climbed out of the Land-Rover inside the safety of the big gates, Kim and Jenny came running out. They greeted me like a long-lost friend, hugging and kissing me. I was mildly embarrassed in front of the others.

“Me and Jenny missed you, Jade,” said Kim.

I’d only been gone for a few hours.

As we unloaded the bricks in the front yard, mother came out with the hot drinks. Tommy gave Jenny a ride on his red bike. I wasn’t wrong about them. They had become firm friends. He was the older one looking after her. Jenny was good for him too.

We took a break from our labour. I sipped mum’s hot, beefy drink gratefully.

I smiled as Kim came up to me.

“Jade, I…”

The words died on her lips as she looked past my shoulder with an odd expression on her face.

“Kim, what is it?” I asked puzzled.

When I looked over my shoulder, I saw it too. Someone had left the big gates open. Tommy and Jenny were missing!

Father suddenly noticed it too. “The gates!”

“Tommy and Jenny were here a moment ago, Dad,” I said, feeling sick inside. “Now they’re gone.”

“Oh God,” whispered Kim as the colour drained from her cheeks.

“It was my responsibility,” admitted Mark Taylor sheepishly. “I should have closed the gates. I’m to blame.”

“Don’t panic,” said father in a calm voice. “They’re probably in the back somewhere.”

Why didn’t I believe that?

“Jade, check the street first,” instructed daddy urgently.

I nodded, taking my rifle. When I gazed out of the big gates, I prayed that I would see them. I didn’t. I sprinted down to the corner. I couldn’t see them anywhere. Then I saw something in the long grass and weeds by the road that puzzled me. I went cold inside when I realised what it was.

The others, who had searched the back, failing to find Tommy and Jenny, were waiting for me when I returned. When Kim saw Tommy’s red bike, she screamed and fainted.