The Village King Read Online Free Page B

other went out alone. “I’m all ears.”
    Alana shifted her weight from one
foot to another. “You leave me and Karen here to guard your stuff. The three of
you go and get as much as you can carry. We’ll need it for the winter. Deal?”
    Stephen looked at Gary. The
younger man had cooled and he looked resigned, grudgingly agreeing it made
sense. Stephen said, “We’ll think about it.”
    “Okay, okay,” said Alana. “But
the bullets.”
    Gary agreed with a curt nod and a
sigh. “Give me the shells now and I’ll go get your bullets.”
    Alana made a show of considering
it but she lifted her head at Karen who reached into her coat and brought out
the tatty box of shells and shook them at Gary. He snatched them off her and
lifted the shotgun. As he left the room, nudging Alana with his shoulder, Phil
went to get up and follow. Stephen raised a hand to stop him. He didn’t want
Phil seeing what Gary was doing and where he stashed the shotgun.
    “So,” said Alana, breathing
deeply in relief. “We going for that walk or what?”

9
     
    T hey
walked through the
high street, leaving the wash-houses, the village hall and parish church
behind. Phil and Gary walked up ahead while Karen held onto Alana and Stephen showed
them the sights.
    The old tea-room sat abandoned,
its windows broken and the contents trashed inside; Morgan. Jeff’s Barber’s
shop was still in the business of trading haircuts for produce and cutting
soldiers’ hair. Standing in the doorway, Jeff nodded to Stephen and smiled at
the new woman and child, no doubt calculating Stephen’s business. Iqbal’s shop
was empty but the door lay open as usual, facing the Police Station. Across the
street, the Excise House was quiet but they could see a couple of figures, Dan
and Jackie, tending their plot. The door of the Manager’s House was thrown open
and Suzanne ran out.
    “Good morning, Stephen,” she said
pleasantly. “And who do we have here?” She leaned on her knees and smiled at Karen.
The girl hid behind Alana.
    Stephen introduced them, pointing
out Phil who had wandered off with Gary behind Suzanne’s place to the other
houses. Suzanne had been the Manager at the distillery and had assumed the
leadership of the village. She shook hands with Alana, whose tough demeanour
contrasted with Suzanne, her larger frame having shrunk inside her casual wear.
Alana said nothing.
    After the introductions,
Suzanne’s eyes narrowed at Stephen. “Three more mouths? You can feed them if
you like.”
    “Funnily enough that’s what
Gareth said,” smiled Stephen, thinking how much influence she had here. “You
worry about your business and I’ll worry about mine.”
    Suzanne allowed her head to lean
back and a corner of her mouth pulled back into a sort of smile. Not for the
first time, Stephen saw the toughness there, the unwillingness to back down. It
was what had helped this place survive five years, he thought.
    “Do you think it will rain,
Stephen?” she asked him directly.
    Stephen said, “Couldn’t say but it
rained a bit further south yesterday,
    “Well, it was lovely to meet
you,” said Suzanne, switching into sweet old lady mode to end the conversation.
She waved at them as they moved on. “You come and see me with a few of your
tins, why don’t you?”
    After a quick look at the village
houses behind Suzanne’s place, they picked up Gary and Phil, and went back to
the high street and headed for the path between the Police Station and Iqbal’s
shop. Paul, the only officer of the law left, stepped out the Station door and
leaned on the frame. He was chewing something and he watched them without
saying anything. Stephen ignored him as they walked past him. Karen was
fascinated with his worn and frayed uniform.
    Gary and Phil bounded down the
steps which were placed in short bursts in between the longer, twisting, ramp.
Alana and Karen followed Stephen down the gentler path. Alana asked, “What is
the script with this place? It’s so