be here somewhere?
From Kurt, “is this Dad's house?” Finally, the correct question.
“What's going on?” Daniel asks deeply frustrated. Daniel strides back into the front room stands before Steffi, “where are the people who live here Steffi?” His voice no more than a hissed whisper, “Who was here when you got here?” She defies him and purses her lips and shakes her head, looks over at her Dad for reassurance and remains stoic. “Tell me what you know,” he appeals to her. She doesn’t bite, but I can tell she wants to. Stay away from him my look is telling her, she looks down at her lap. Good girl.
The older man nervously laughs, he’s in his late fifties I’d judge, lived somewhere without orthodontic expertise or maybe he's scared of the dentist? Strange to think a man who brandishes guns at strangers could be scared of anything, but I guess that’s why they carry weapons, they’re scared of everything! “We say nothing,” from the big man.
Deep breaths grammar police, I clench my teeth and ball my fists, then just as I’m about to melt-down my phone rings.
Wow! It really is a smart phone!
“Hello?” I answer, turning my back on the room for some privacy, “Tharie speaking.” All I can hear is a crackle and some broken words, a loud hiss then silence. I swipe the call ended. The screen had told me the call was out of area, well, it might be smart but that's hardly helpful is it?
Overweight, his khaki stained shirt strains at the buttons, and it has epaulettes at the shoulders, with darker khaki sections from missing decoration, suggesting this once was a military or police. His uniform once had rank pips and chevrons at the shoulder and breast, unpicked now the shadows show how the old garment has faded in the sun. I look at him and wonder whether he is the police, I hope not.
My phone vibrates an incoming message:
HC: “Single has gone gold” a sudden break from the now is very welcome.
TC: “Wow, that’s great news Bro, well done” he’s going to get laid.
HC: “I am so going to get laid” so predictable, my Brother, Mum would be so proud.
TC: “Celebration when I get back” how many bottles of Jack do I have?
Note to self, stock up on Jack Daniels, duty free.
HC: “Forgive me if I start without you…” bloody hell.
TC: “Don’t tell Mum” can you imagine?
HC: “Ha! Can you imagine?” Bye Bro.
I decide cooking for us all would help me stop questions bouncing about up there, and return to the kitchen, chopping and peeling, yes, that’ll help. The rest of the group do their version of waiting, Kurt snoozes on the sofa his feet up on a stool, hasn’t he just had a lie-down? He really is cool isn’t he? Stan checks and rechecks his equipment, weapon, reloads, cleans, always the same thing in the same order. Liza chats with Nigel about symbology yawning periodically, hasn’t she just had a nap too? And they make several trips into the other room where there's a well-stocked library and there they sit discussing under their breaths and in whispers. Fine.
Daniel is outside checking the camel Landrover, I watch him from the kitchen window, he crawls about inside, checking all the storage compartments, the boot, everywhere a clue to its origin might be found. He climbs onto the roof bars, I enjoy watching his body moving about, it’s a welcome seductive distraction. He is using the little ladder attached beside the back door as it was originally fitted from the factory in Birmingham, clever devils. Daniel carefully looks around the items strapped to the roof, finding nothing, the things up there must be exactly as they appear to be, not everything is a fraud. I could have told him, that at least is real.
Watching him makes me hungry, food, that’s what I’ll do, finish making dinner. I can't believe I’ve put myself in charge of cooking, but here I go again. I find fresh vegetables in the fridge and decide to make a stew. Pumpkin, swede, parsnip, sweet potato, carrots and leeks, chopped onions, the kind of autumn soup we'd be eating at home since these are all in season. I add a large glass of red wine I find open already with a couple of glasses missing. I cut some herbs from the garden, sage and oregano I recognise from my own garden, I add them, making it up as I go. I find some potatoes