Devil to PayPart 15Our hour alone together was soon over. Apparently, the guys had been to look at Tino's cave. Never folk to commit themselves without examining the possibilities, they all came back looking as pleased as Punch. "Come on, you randy buggers!", Billy called to us as they came in. "Conference time. Cast your votes now." Lighe stretched in my arms, and smiled at me, sleepily. "You're still very hot, Dom", he said quietly. I was. I knew that, I was still shivering, both from my fever and from the joy I had found in him. We went over to the fire, which Viggo was relighting. "You could have kept the fire going, men", he said, breaking little sticks, and poking them into the logs. "Yeah", Billy winked at us. "After all, you had nothing better to do". "Sod off, Boyd!" I hit him on the arm. He was grinning at me like a lunatic. Perhaps he could see something in our faces, I dunno. I sat down on the ground, leaning against Lighe for support. Orli brought my blanket over, and tucked it round me. "Still, shivering, man", he said, looking concerned. Tino glanced anxiously at Viggo. "Did you like the new place? Will you go?" Lighe looked questioningly at Viggo. I looked at Lighe. "Will it be okay, Viggo?" he asked. Viggo nodded. "Near a farmhouse, but not obviously so. It's the other side of this hill. But well hidden. If you didn't know the cave was there, you'd never fucking find it." That was good. We didn't want to be found. Not by most of the folks we thought were looking for us, anyway. "When do we go?", I asked. Viggo sniffed. Billy said, "as soon as possible, if what Tino said is true about them coming for us." Tino glanced at Andy, and then looked away. "Yes, they will come. We should go soon..." They all looked at me. "Okay - let's go!" I said. "Sblom!", Lighe protested. "You can't just up and go, dude. You're not well!" I rubbed my hand up his arm. "I'm not so bad, now, Lighe. We need to go." Orli nodded in agreement. "We'll all help you, Sblomie. It's not that far". Lighe glared at him. "How long does it take to get there?" Orli shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno, didn't think to time it, mate. Couldn't, anyway - they took my fucking watch." Billy frowned. "About half an hour, I think. And once we get down this hill, it's all on the flat. That's a bonus, at any rate." I wasn't sure. We had a vantage point here. We could see the entire valley. But they'd seen the other place, and I trusted their judgment. "Look", I said, trying to stop trembling for Lighe's sake. "I can stand up, now, and there's six of you to help if I ...need help. Fuck knows what tomorrow will bring" - I kept my eyes on Viggo's, I couldn't bear to see the pain in his - "let's strike while the fucking iron is hot". "Lighe?", Billy said softly, waiting for his answer. "Okay", Lighe sighed. "Let's go!" They packed up the stuff after we'd eaten, and Tino and little Andy carried what would have been my share, as well as their own. "We will not need the old tin things. We can get new pots at the farmhouse. The old couple there will be glad to exchange rabbits for them. They are too frail, now, to go out trapping. Rabbits will supplement their meat supply." We went slowly down the hillside. Tino and Andy walked either side of me, when Lighe was struggling to fix Orli's loose pack, and plied me with questions about the decadent West. I explained that I was British, not American, but Andy didn't seem to know where Manchester was, so I gave up. The level of education in this part of the world seemed like shit - but they both spoke good English. I asked them where they'd learned it. Tino looked at the ground in front of him, as we walked through the grass. "Our mother spoke it - we learned from her", he said, helping me over a rough patch of grass and reeds. Lighe came from behind us, and took my arm. "Hold onto me, Sblom," he smiled. "Why do you call him that silly word, when his name is Dominique?" Andy was puzzled. Lighe laughed. "You're too young to know!", he said, ruffling Andy's blond hair. He was a pretty boy, like Tino. I could see why Smiley wanted him...and I couldn't help the shudder. "Where is your mother, now?", Lighe asked Tino, picking a few berries from a bush, and shoving them in his mouth. "She died... spit them out!", he screamed at Lighe. "They are poison!" Lighe spat. My God, that was close! My knees went from under me. The sky began spinning round my head. "Dommie?", I heard from a distance. It was fucking cold. Where I was ? - God only knows. I managed an answer. "I'm okay, love." Viggo lifted me to my feet. "Not far now, Dom, hold on to us." I held. I walked. Then I stopped walking... * We were in a nice, dry cave, with blankets and pillows, and a fire. How long had I been out? I asked Bill. He said "a few minutes", but it must've been longer than that. Lighe wasn't there. Orli said he'd gone outside to piss. I wanted to piss, too. I asked Bill if they'd brought the bottle. They had. I was relieved, in more fucking ways than one. Lighe came back, and sat by Viggo, who was roasting some rabbits in a tin baking tray. Billy was peeling...potatoes? God - potatoes! And Lighe was doing something to Orli's arm. I couldn't see what. He went to wash his hands in a plastic tub of some sort, and came over to me. His head was down; he wasn't looking at me. "Lighe?", I asked, reaching for his hand. He sat down beside me, and took my hand in his, and stroked it. "Shit - I'm sorry, Sblom", he whispered, still not meeting my gaze. What the fuck...? "Sorry for what, Lighe? Fuck it - what have you got to be...?" I didn't understand. "The berries", he said, in a small, tight voice. "You were doing fine until I nearly ate the fucking things." He finally turned to face me. I could see, then, why he'd hidden it from me. He'd been crying. Crying! He'd been beaten, terrorized, assaulted physically and emotionally, and not a tear. But now, now, for fuck's sake - he was crying because I'd...because I wasn't strong enough to... shit, I was in a fucking mess. |