landowner for over a hundred miles, having somehow convinced everyone inside his domain that he, and he alone, held rights to its bounty.
That was just the way the dice had landed. It could have been far worse. So long as those who worked his land paid their duty to his inner circle, they were left in peace.
But that didn’t mean things were fair. The town was Malverston’s throne, and it didn’t pay to forget it. By now, many of the locals were already filing back to their homes, the fields, or the tavern. James searched for Beth among them, but he knew he wouldn’t find her. She never let him see her until she was ready. By now she could have hidden herself anywhere, fetching water or working the farthest orchards.
Fire stoked in his gut, squirming and tingling like a glug of fine whisky. He had to bide his time and wait for her to come to him, when the excitement had waned and they could be alone. He just hoped Alex could entertain Malverston long enough. He couldn’t bear not seeing her—he would wither as a summer flower succumbs to a frosty night.
A little crestfallen, but still excited, he dawdled a minute to make sure a gunfight wasn’t about to kick off inside. But no, from the mayor’s house came only rancorous laugher, and the sound of plenty of drink being decanted.
James finally let his fingers fall away from the safety catch on his rifle, and slung it over his back. Then he returned to his mount, lifted the duffle bag off the saddle, and set off towards the nearest house. Before he could rap his knuckles on the door a second time, a milky-eyed old woman in a patched tunic opened the door with trembling fingers. Her face screwed up into a mask of wariness and suspicion until he touched her on the arm and said, “Mrs McKinley, it’s me.”
She snuffed, jerking free, squinting and pursing her ancient lips at him.
He blinked. “Mrs McKliney?”
His heart sank. Didn’t she recognise him?
Her squint persisted a moment longer, then her myriad wrinkles smoothed with delight, and she tugged him inside, a great croaking laugh storming from her lips. “Gotcha, sucker! I’m not that old yet.”
He grinned and stooped into the gloom, taking in the dust on the mantelpiece, the halo of soot around the fireplace, and the musty odour of unwashed skin and stale urine. The flames in the grate were the only source of light, but still it was obvious nobody had visited in some time.
Anger flashed in the soft membrane behind his eyes. It was all too easy to forget the elderly, he knew that, but this was more than that.
She was clutching at his sleeve still, caressing it, her eyes swimming, searching his own. A crooning whine rattled deep in her throat, pining like a puppy. She squinted, inching closer, scrutinising his face through thick cataracts. “So handsome,” she muttered, taking his chin between claw-like fingers.
“How are we today?” he slurred around her hand.
“Hip’s killing me.” A phlegmatic grunt welled in her throat. “Girls will eat you up in no time.”
Beth’s face flashed before his eyes. “I don’t know about that.”
She cackled, showing rows of brown rotten teeth. “We’ll see.”
James blinked in surprise when her fingers pinched his buttocks. For a moment, he was aghast, disbelieving, then he smiled helplessly. He watched her hobble, and his heart sank at how far she stooped, how slow she moved.
She was tough, but alone out here … He could see her time was running out. When they had first discovered Newquay’s Moon, she had been at the helm, a straight-backed pillar of strength who had held the wolves at bay since the End. This place had been her reason for being.
Then Malverston had moved into the area, and age had taken its toll on her energy. As she had slowed, the landowner’s influence had grown. And one day, he had simply claimed the town for his own, rigging an impromptu election to pacify the populace. Since then, Alice McKinley had remained here in this hut, slowly fading.
James suspected he was one of few to ever visit. He was drawn to her door more than any other. There was something about her, some sliver of the Old World that seemed alive in her despite her filmy corneas and drooping jaw, some secret wisdom that had vanished from so much of the land since the End. He smiled as she tugged him to