Pickers 2: The Trip (2 page)

"You know what I miss when we're away from civilisation? Bread." Remy announced, when he could scoop no more of the stew from his bowl.

"I'll fix the bread maker. One day." Maxine said.

"I thought you threw the bread maker away when it broke, to make space." Tony said.

Maxine thought for a moment. "Oh, yes, I did, didn't I."

"Is there any more of the stew?" Remy asked. "It was delicious." He studied Maxine's expression and the direction of her gaze as Chloe blushed at the praise. It confirmed what he had thought. His daughter's eyes flicked in his direction, like she could tell he was looking at her, and her brows lowered as she considered his little smile. She turned her head to Tony, and Remy could feel, just, the shrug he gave.

Chloe, oblivious to the family interaction around the table, was ladling more stew into Remy's bowl. "You had a bread oven, in one of the wagons?" she asked.

"A bread making machine." Veronique said. "It could be programmed to do everything, all we had to do was put the ingredients in and turn it on. The loaves were all the same shape and size, but we changed the recipe sometimes."

"It was one of those bits of technology that most people abandoned as everything collapsed." Maxine said, still flashing suspicious looks at her father. "When the crops have failed and governments are falling over and you don't know what the heavy weather's going to do from season to season, the ability to make a small loaf of bread in your own kitchen mustn't seem so important. But I liked the idea, and once I had a transformer hooked up to it, it was quite useful for us."

"I don't know where these two got their skills from." Remy pointed at his daughters with his spoon. "Max is a mechanical genius, and you don't want to know what sorts of things she can dream up for weapons, and Vee has the knack with computers and the sciences. Almost no-one uses computers any more, another thing that didn't seem so important as the weather was trying so hard to kill everyone."

"I have seen some of Maxine's tricks with the bow." Chloe said. "Would anyone else like some more?"

"Oh, that fast firing trick?" Tony mimicked drawing and releasing a bow multiple times, before handing his bowl up the table. "There are some who weren't so impressed by that trick. Of course, they were on the wrong end of it."

Was that awe, fear or something else that Chloe tried to hide as she turned away to fill bowls, Remy wondered. It was an interesting one Maxine had picked this time. He didn't want to think about his little girl having sex, but Remy wasn't so blind that he never noticed when it was happening. Maxine had fallen for that boy who had been only interested in an easy fuck with no commitments. That had ended in sulks and sadness and, no doubt in the privacy of her bed, tears. And there had been the girl from the other picker caravan, though Maxine had been so sure that no-one else knew what was going on. They had obviously parted on far better terms.

"I couldn't do what you do. It all seems so dangerous. I would never survive out here." Chloe said, and Remy didn't want to see how his youngest daughter reacted to that.

Maxine recognised the expression on her father's face, even in the limited light from the moon. He wanted to ask her personal questions, ones about her sex life, and that made him uncomfortable. Perhaps to put it off a while longer, he opened with, "All quiet out here."

"A few wild dogs somewhere out there. And those bloody chickens. I swear they're making a fuss because we've taken over their home." Maxine got up from the captain's chair for her father, and handed him the hunting rifle that had been across her lap. "You know, I had a chat with Tony earlier. About Chloe."

"Did you? What was the conclusion?"

"She's not coming with us past Zaragoza. You heard what she said, she could never be one of us."

"I'm more interested in how you feel about that."

Maxine shrugged, but she kept her face away from her father's gaze, just in case it gave anything away. "We are fast friends and, what is that phrase you remembered one time? Friends with benefits. I like her, and I'll miss her when we drop her off. But we have a pick to get to. A big pick."

"The biggest pick. But, cherie, the pick will still be there next year, if you want to stay in Spain for a while. To test the edges of your friendship. Town types can become perfectly good pickers. I did, after all."

"Didn't you tell me there's a blight in France? If this pick is as big as promised, they need it even more than we do."

"The blight is just a rumour."

"Because people aren't being allowed into Spain from France, so the news is just whispers. If they're not being kept out in case they bring it with them, then why?"

"Perhaps...."

Maxine knelt before her father. "Papa, Chloe is good people, but I see no way she would come with us any further than Zaragoza, this year or next. And we can't afford to put off the pick. If we do find some blight proof crops, there are some places that will just be able to get a fast harvest in to see them through winter."

"That.... Sounds like the sort of argument your mother would have made. I hope it means you've inherited more of her sense than my stupidity."

"About equal measures, I think."

"Go to bed, cuddle up with our passenger. But don't make enough noise to get the chickens going again."

"I can't make that promise Papa. But I'll try."

Maxine slid down the ladder and let herself in through the door at the back of the wagon. They had hung the double hammock in the space between the racks of salvage wagon one carried. It was swaying gently from her and Remy's movements on the roof. The movements broke from the rhythm as Chloe stirred and drew back the thin cover. She eyed Maxine and smiled. "Take your clothes off." she said.

It was an odd thing to make her nervous, Maxine thought, but getting naked and climbing into the hammock was outside her comfort zone. When they were on the road, she tended to sleep at least partially clothed. If there was an alarm in the night, she preferred to be running around wearing something. That Chloe was watching as she shed all her clothes gave her a strange thrill as well.

Maxine stood naked at the foot of the hammock, letting Chloe look at her. The low light hid more than it revealed, touch would be a better way to find out her shape. Chloe's arm reached out, but not too far, she didn't want to tip herself out of the hammock. As Maxine started climbing the racking, both Chloe's hands went out to the side to brace the unstable bed. Maxine slid across the taut fabric, and they settled the swinging platform into a new equilibrium.

Chloe pressed her skin against Maxine's, and ran her fingers over the other woman's body. "Been lying here thinking about you. I couldn't sleep." Her knee moved up, squeezing between Maxine's legs. Clasping Chloe's thighs between hers, Maxine ground against it. She closed a hand over a lovely breast, testing and savouring the weight of it. They kissed.

Zaragoza was rebuilding itself from the river Ebro outwards. The heart of the redevelopment was the centuries old basilica, now given over to secular use. The traders hadn't moved in, but the bureaucrats had.

They had entered the town slowly, escorted by armed cyclists, and parked up on the space between the basilica and the river. The cyclists sat on the wall above the water and watched- not threatening, but with their weapons at the ready- as two transit officials walked from the cathedral to the wagons. This was the greeting every traveller received when they entered Zaragoza, so there were no nerves in the wagons.

The family left their weapons behind as they dismounted. Remy sauntered toward the officials, meeting them halfway. "Hola Jorge. Nothing to declare, of course."

"Ah, Remy, you tell us that every time. We shall check your wagons the same as every time, as well."

"Of course. And then some wine."

"Manuel," Jorge told his colleague, "Remy is a regular trader. A picker, he calls himself. He gets me terribly drunk every time he visits, then he sleeps with my poor, widowed sister. Then he leaves, and she has a strange smile for weeks. You would think his behaviour would break her heart, but, no. Because of his immoral behaviour with a member of my family- and the blasted hangovers- we always check his family's vehicle thoroughly when he comes here to trade. Get to it."

Manuel wavered for a moment, then nodded and strode off to the nearest of the wagons. "You put my relationship with your sister in a bad light." Remy said.

"My sister is as bad as you. She says she will only ever love one man, and he has been dead for years, but that she has physical needs that you satisfy." Jorge tutted theatrically. "You have one more than normal." he observed as they walked toward the wagons.

"Let me introduce you to Chloe. She may be interested in settling in your city."

"We do have a number of single men at the moment. Including my own son, as it happens. A pleasure, Miss Chloe." Jorge offered his hand. When Chloe took it, he bowed forward to kiss her knuckles. "There are formalities for anyone wishing to settle here. We can deal with them once Remy has settled his trading levies." Jorge spread his arms wide to take in the whole family, and said, "Come inside and I shall give you drinks and you can tell our intelligence ladies tales of life in the bad lands."

There was still water in the river, though the level was low. There had been years, Maxine remembered, when that had not been the case. A pool had been dug out and partitioned from the main flow and they could look down on children splashing in it.

Chloe leant in so that her shoulder rubbed against Maxine's. "I've been given the keys to a place to stay. I'm told it's quite large and rather nice. Would you help me move in? And we could...."

"One last time." Maxine had a wistful tone. She turned a little smile to Chloe.

"Maybe. Until the next time you come through town."

"Beautiful girl, by the next time we are here you will have broken hearts and had a dozen offers of marriage. You'll have forgotten all about me."

"No I won't. I'm never going to forget you."

Maxine kissed Chloe's cheek. "I should hope not. But.... Well, I don't know how long it will be until we're back here. Papa wants to go over the hills into France. He wants to go home, and help with the blight that we keep hearing about." It was the story they were telling people now, loaded with enough of the truth that it hid the specific details of the pick to come.

"You will come back, though? One day?"

"I don't know. Papa might want to settle down in our old home."

"Oh." Chloe looked away. "So.... I may never see you again?"

"It is possible."

There was only the splashing and happy shouts of the children for a while. "When are you leaving?" Chloe asked.

"A day or two." Maxine said. "Papa is going to see if he can buy some seeds to take into France. Maybe they'll be blight resistant." It was another part of their cover, made up on the fly by Remy when he had been gossiping with Jorge.

"Well, I suppose we should make them memorable." Chloe turned back, forcing a smile.

"The Goat Track? That is a crazy route." Jorge was shaking his head. "You seriously think you can get over the Goat Track?"

"You would be surprised what our wagons can climb. You can almost control each wheel motor individually. They are nimble." Remy poured himself some more wine.

"They are houses on wheels. Houses on very big wheels."

"We will make it."

"Well, I certainly hope so. I suppose you are going to ask for some of our seed reserve? As far as I know, we have the same strains that the blight is affecting over the hill."

"We'll take anything you have spare. From as many strains as you can give us, some of them have to be immune."

"Perhaps not. Now, I did not know anything about farming, until news of the blight started coming in. I schooled myself quickly. Just a rough understanding, but, it seems a lot of what we sow now, for all their fancy names, is derived from just one or two old seed lines. They may have enough in common that the blight will take them down as well, or it could easily adapt. And then, if it does come over the hills...."

"So, you won't help us?"

"Of course we will help you. I remember when you first came over the mountains. You and your two little girls and a freezer full of vaccines. You helped us save this town- you and the Frenchies who filled your freezer- and there are a fair few folk still around who remember that. We're not happy at the bastards on the border. They're not just keeping French refugees out, but they aren't letting us send help into France, either. We trade seeds with all the local farms, and we always try to hold a surplus. It won't be enough, but you can take as much of that surplus as we can spare and try to make a difference with it."

"You're a good man, Jorge."

"I try. I mean, I used to think I had to be the tough guy and intimidate everyone, but I was never much good at that. Now, stop drinking my wine and go away and fuck my sister, or she'll moan at me for months."

"This bed is huge!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing out her arms and legs and rolling around on it. "I have never seen a bed so big, let alone slept in one. Or made love in one."

"Neither have I." said Maxine, hopping off the bed to escape as Chloe made a grab for her ankle. She skipped a few steps back as Chloe came up onto all fours and poised on the edge of the mattress, looking ready to dive after her.

"This whole apartment is huge. How can they give me something so big? Why don't any locals live here?" Chloe wondered, giving up on pouncing and sitting back.

"There still aren't enough locals to fill all the accommodation in the city." Maxine said. She sat beside Chloe and rubbed skin against skin. Chloe leaned in toward her and made a sound that might have been a purr.

"Why not?" Chloe nuzzled against Maxine's shoulders, then moved lower, to nip and suck at a taut nipple with her lips. Gentle pressure against Maxine's chest encouraged her to lean back, until she was lying on the soft mattress and Chloe could move around above her, kissing all over.

"Because.... Just there's good.... No, not.... Oh, there works too." Maxine laid a hand on Chloe's head, hoping to guide her movements, but sure she couldn't. "Because...." she started again, after a little sigh. "Because, about six years ago, the town was hit by cholera, and a lot of the townsfolk were killed. We came over from France with a vaccine, which helped, but the population was still halved. That is why Zaragoza is so keen to take in new people, to build their population up again." Maxine's exposition became ever more breathless as Chloe kissed down toward the prize, following her fingers, which had already slipped inside.

Chloe stopped kissing down Maxine's stomach and lifted her head. "How did I never know about this?" Her fingers were still moving inside Maxine, making it hard for her to reply.

"Because.... I don't know.... Because people don't like to talk about that sort of thing. Maybe no-one wanted to put you off coming here."

"That's...." Chloe stopped sliding her fingers in and out of Maxine. "Does that mean this is a dead person's home?"

Maxine grasped Chloe's wrist, to hold the fingers inside her, and started pushing her hips up and rotating them. "Yes. Yes it is."

"That's.... creepy." Chloe looked around.

"No. No, it's not. Don't think about it and concentrate on me."

Chloe kissed Maxine. "I'm sorry, you distracted me with your story."

"I won't tell you any more stories, I promise. Just keep doing what you were doing."

"With pleasure." Chloe started kissing down Maxine's body again.