Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (11 page)

‘
But I’m just
…’

She’d gone before he had a chance to reply,
her feet clomping back up the stone steps. Ben grumbled to himself
and powered down the laptop. He dragged himself up the stairs and
into the kitchen where Esther was unloading the dishwasher.

‘
With Morris gone
gallivanting, I need a bit of muscle to help me out.’

Ben waited for her instructions. He knew she
was humouring him – even though Esther was small and trim, she was
as strong as an ox.

‘
How’s that hand of
yours?’ she asked.

‘
Fine.’ It was still a bit
bruised that was all. He was a bit embarrassed about the whole
‘punching the door’ thing.

‘
Good. There’s a pile of
wood in the shed that wants bringing in. And when you’ve done that,
the bins need emptying. I’ll make us a spot of supper for when
you’ve finished.’

Ben wanted to argue, but he couldn’t be
bothered. What else was he going to do? And she’d never asked him
to help out around the house before. He supposed he was lucky
really.

‘
Morris’ gloves are in the
shed. Put them on so you don’t get splinters.’

Ben trudged out to the hall.

‘
And don’t forget your
coat! It’s freezing!’ she called after him.

Ben grabbed his parka off the
peg. She treated him like a two year old, but he didn’t mind too
much. He knew she meant well. She drove Maddy nuts though and he
sometimes worried that Maddy would be so rude, the Foxtons would
leave. He opened the front door and a sharp gust of wind hit him
full in the face. God, it
was
freezing and he’d lost his hat. He zipped up his
parka, lowered his head and battled through the wind towards the
outbuildings round the side of the house.

The shed smelt of creosote and wood
shavings, a great smell in Ben’s opinion. He spied Morris’ work
gloves on one of the shelves, picked them up, put them on and
grabbed a wheelbarrow. He headed back out to the wood pile and
spent the next forty minutes filling up the huge log baskets in the
four main reception rooms. It was warm work, but his face, hands
and feet still felt like slabs of ice.

‘
Can I take the rubbish
out
after
we’ve had dinner?’ he asked Esther, shrugging off his coat
and putting it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs before
plonking himself down at the table.

Esther pointed to the coat and then to the
door. Ben sighed and took his coat out to the hall when he shoved
it back on the peg. He came back into the kitchen where a haze of
delicious cooking smells made his stomach gurgle.

‘
It’ll take you two
minutes to empty the rubbish, by which time supper will be
ready.’

‘
Okay,’ he replied and
went into the utility room. ‘Where do I put it?’ he called
out.

Esther came into the utility room. ‘Put the
normal rubbish in the wooden store outside the back door and put
the recycling in the green box next to it.’

Ben picked up the first of the trash bags
and lugged it outside. He wished he’d kept his coat on. He flipped
open the lid of the wooden store and heaved the bag inside,
wrinkling his nose at the sour smell. He chucked the last two
plastic sacks in and then moved on to the recycling, dragging the
box outside. Nearly done and then at last he’d be able to eat
something.

A piece of screwed-up paper stuffed down the
side of the box caught his eye and made him suck in his breath. It
looked like the note from Maddy’s kidnapper. But Alexandre wouldn’t
have thrown that away, so what was it doing in the recycling? Maybe
Alex had misplaced it. Ben reached down and picked it up. He
flattened it out against his leg. It was blank. He turned it over,
but that side was blank too.

Ben frowned and examined the paper. There
was no doubt in his mind that it was exactly the same kind the note
had been written on – a small rectangle of white mottled paper. It
didn’t make any sense for the paper to be here in their recycling
box. Had the kidnapper written the note here? And if they had, why
would they have bothered to put this blank page in the recycling?
What did it mean? Ben didn’t know what to do.

‘
How are you getting on?’
Esther called from inside. ‘Supper’s ready!’

Ben stuffed the paper into his pocket.
‘Coming!’ he shouted.

*

The first thing Alexandre saw when he opened
his eyes was the grey felt roof of the van. He sat up and gazed
beyond the open van door at a quarter moon, its surface pockmarked
with orangey craters. He still had difficulty believing than Man
had walked upon it. Imagine that.

Morris Foxton stood to the side of the van
door and then leant forward, holding out his hand. Alexandre didn’t
need the caretaker’s help, but took his hand anyway out of
politeness.

‘
Thank you, Morris,’ he
said, lightly exiting the vehicle. ‘I trust everything is going
according to plan?’

Morris gave a nod.

‘
Let’s open the other
crates.’

Alexandre glanced around. The night was cold
and still, the air cleaner and sharper than in England. Morris had
parked their silver hire van behind a stand of trees set back from
the main road. Mounds of cliffs and lumps of rock jutted out behind
them. He remembered this strange jagged landscape from his last
visit. It was like nowhere else. One hundred and thirty years had
passed since he was last here. That long-ago time had turned out to
be the most eventful few months of his life. So much excitement and
adventure, before the terror of that awful night.

He and Morris set to work opening the other
crates. This morning they had flown from Birmingham Airport to
Istanbul and then taken an internal flight to Nevsehir Airport in
Cappadocia. Morris’ plane had landed at seven o’clock in the
evening, but it was ten fifteen by the time he had collected the
hire van and loaded the five crates. They had decided it would be
wise for Morris to drive to a secluded spot before opening up the
crates.

‘
We’re about half an hour
from the hotel,’ Morris said.

Alexandre glanced at his watch. It was
already eleven twenty. The night was rushing past. As they levered
open each crate, Alexandre was relieved to see everyone safe.

‘
Sunrise is at half past
seven,’ Freddie said, hopping out of his crate.

‘
So we still have most of
the night,’ Isobel said.

‘
Come on, let’s get back
in the van,’ Alexandre said. ‘We can’t afford to waste any time.
I’ll drive.’

Morris didn’t protest. He climbed into the
back with Freddie and Jacques, while Leonora and Isobel sat up
front with Alexandre.

‘
Do you think they know
we’re here?’ Isobel asked.

‘
I am sure of it,’
Alexandre replied.

He drove quickly along the empty road. He
didn’t speak, although he could hear Jacques and Freddie chattering
in the back. Lights glowed in the hillsides. It didn’t feel like
the Cappadocia he knew. This place felt tamed with its tarmac roads
and electric lights. Soon, however, they crossed a small bridge and
he took the turning for the village of Ayvali. Here, away from the
main road, their surroundings became more rustic. The road narrowed
and soon it became apparent that the van wouldn’t make it.
Alexandre swore, reversed and got out of the van. He opened the
back.

‘
We’ll have to find
somewhere to park. The road’s not wide enough.’

‘
You go up on foot,’ said
Morris. ‘I’ll park it and join you later.’

‘
Thank you,’ said
Alexandre, handing Morris the keys.

The five vampires walked up the lane towards
the hotel. A large squarish building at the base of the hill, gave
way to rising tiers of rock behind which housed a honeycomb of
rooms carved out of the side of the steep hill. Winding staircases
crisscrossed in front of the caves and skinny trees shivered on the
slopes.

They would check in and then scout out the
area. This place wasn’t what he had expected. If felt like a
beautiful tourist resort, not like the wild and strange place it
had once been. But if Madison was here, he would find her.

Chapter Thirteen

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

The months blurred and Aelia’s life took on
a pattern which she accepted. This was her life now. The days and
nights grew chillier, and soon, another bright, cold winter was
upon them, polishing the air and giving the barren landscape a
sparkling clarity. Widow Maleina thrust a handful of blankets in
Aelia’s direction and in amongst them was an extra thick woollen
tunic and hood, for which Aelia was very grateful. She had been
with the widow for over three years now and, although she wasn’t
exactly happy, she wasn’t exactly sad either.

Aelia had learnt a great deal from the widow
and she enjoyed the freedom she’d been given. Her only causes for
concern were thoughts of her family and the loneliness of her
current life. She was lucky if she spoke more than a sentence to
the widow in a day and she rarely spoke to any of the patients who
visited the cave. If anyone addressed her directly, the widow would
interrupt them, or send Aelia off to do a task elsewhere. She often
ended up talking to herself for comfort.

One morning, she awoke as usual, but
something felt slightly different. It was always quiet in here, but
today it felt more so. There was a hush. The widow had already
left, so Aelia stretched her body and hurriedly dressed. She
splashed her face in the icy spring and walked down the narrow
passageway towards the entrance. Feeling a crunch beneath her foot,
she looked down - Snow. It had drifted into the passage and as she
stepped outside she was greeted by a world in white. Swirling wet
flakes melted onto her cheeks. She smiled and pulled her hood up.
Then she set off to catch up to the widow, whose small footprints
were barely visible.

She hadn’t walked very far, when she heard a
shout. Aelia turned to see a cloaked figure standing near the cave
entrance. A man. He had called out her name. Aelia’s heart sped up.
She recognised that voice. She ran towards him, her heart full of
joy.

‘
Father!’

He looked hesitant for a moment and then he
opened his arms to her. She fell into them, warm tears streaming
down her cheeks. She had tried not to think too much about her
family as it only made her sad. But now, faced with her beloved
father, she let herself give in to the feelings she’d been trying
to block out - a mixture of loneliness, humiliation and
anxiety.

‘
Come now,’ he said,
holding her close and then stepping back from the embrace. ‘What
are these tears? I thought you would be pleased to see me,’ he
said, trying to lighten things.

But Aelia could see the emotion in his
eyes.

‘
How did you find me?’ she
asked.

‘
That’s not important,’ he
said. ‘But I promised your mother I would find you and now I have.
My little Aelia, you have grown into a beautiful woman. A little
thin, but beautiful nonetheless.’

‘
Come, Father. Come in out
of the snow and warm yourself.’

What did it mean that her father had come to
find her? Had she been forgiven? Would she be allowed back into the
village? She busied herself stoking up the smoldering fire and put
some water on to heat. Her father drew closer to the flames and
held his hands out to warm them.

‘
I was told you live with
a healer,’ he said.

‘
Yes. She found me after …
after … Father I’m so sorry for everything. I’m ashamed at what I
did. I hope you and mother and my sisters didn’t suffer for my
actions.’

‘
That is in the past.
There are now more urgent matters to attend to.’

Aelia handed her father a cup of tea and he
cradled it in his hands, blowing on it.

‘
How did you find me?’ she
asked again.

‘
It took me a while. I
asked around and picked up a little gossip here and there. Does the
woman treat you well?’

‘
Yes. She is strict, but
not too unkind.’

‘
I trust you’ve heard
about the barbarian invasion?’

‘
Widow Maleina says it’s
nonsense.’

‘
Well it’s a good thing
Widow Maleina isn’t in charge.’

‘
I think she knows things
others do not,’ Aelia said, surprised to find herself defending the
widow to her father.

‘
That’s as maybe, but
there is no time to debate the wisdom of your wise woman. Everybody
knows the barbarians are coming. They are close now and will be
here before a year is up. We have almost finished our preparations
and I have come to tell you there will be a space for you when we
descend.’

‘
A space?’

‘
Yes. Below the ground, we
will have our own room and there will be space for you.’

‘
For me? But I was
banished. How did you manage it?’

‘
Never mind how I managed
it,’ he said. ‘You must come at the appointed time and we will all
descend together. The entrance to the underground settlement is
located outside the village, at the cave with the chimneys. You
must be there at sunset on midsummer’s day. That is the hour we
shall descend.’

Aelia knew the cave well – an eerie place
surrounded with rumours. As children, they had all believed it to
be haunted. She had only seen it a few times, but everybody knew
about the cave with the five stone pillars. It was said they were
the chimneys of an ancient god who had been banished underground
for all eternity.