The Dust: Book Three - Sanctum (25 page)

Still firing, the bullets ricocheted all over the granite. ‘Put me down!’ He ordered.

Yanto dislodged the gun from the Doyen with a small swipe of his large right hand. He then started to walk towards the gorge.

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ The Doyen was kicking and punching Yanto, but to no avail.

‘Look!’ Angel pulled Jake’s arm back over to where Yanto had been.

‘Oh my God. He’s remembered us.’ He then sprinted over towards the gorge.

Angel followed close behind. ‘Yanto!’ She cried. ‘It’s us, Jake and Angel!’

Yanto got to the ledge and looked down. It was quite a drop. He lifted the Doyen up in the air as if he was an Olympic weightlifter.

‘I’ll give you anything you want.’ The Doyen begged. ‘Money, women, land, anything.’ He could now see what Yanto had in mind.

Ignoring the woeful appeals of the once great man, Yanto with all his might, thrust the Doyen into the air.

The Doyen could see his fate. There was no way out, it was over.

As he flipped into the air he fell forward, and then downwards. Reaching out with his hands as he somersaulted, he felt material. He grabbed it.

Jake was only yards from Yanto when he could see the Doyen being tossed like a ragdoll into the gorge. He also witnessed Yanto stumble to the ground, and then follow the Doyen over the ledge.

‘Noooooo!’ Angel cried, and dived to save her friend.

She skidded across the rock, and if it wasn’t for Jake’s quick thinking and grabbing her leg, she would have surely fallen to her death too.

Angel hands grappled with thin air. She couldn’t believe it. Just as Yanto had come back to life, back to their reality he had gone.

Jake covered Angel’s eyes as the two bodies smashed onto the jagged rocks below.

Both the Doyen and Yanto were dead.

Their sadness and despair was short-lived. Down below they could hear a voice. Jake stood up and looked to the entrance of the ravine.

‘It’s Naomi.’

The young girl was waving her arms and pointing.

Angel looked in the direction that the girl’s finger led. ‘Shit.’

‘What?’ Jake asked.

‘The woman; she had gotten away.’

Jake, shielding his eyes from the sun, looked out over the moor. He could see a truck bouncing down the dirt track. ‘That’s not right.’

‘What’s not right?’ Angel asked.

‘She should be driving in that direction.’ He pointed to the east. ‘But she’s driving south west.’

Angle looked at Jake. Surely she didn’t know.

‘She must have been in the helicopter.’

The words sent a shiver through Angel’s body. ‘Old Mill?’

Jake nodded.

‘Have you got him?’ Roger was helped to the transit van by Naomi.

Jeremiah, still feeling the strains of battle, struggled with his breathing. ‘Yes.’ He huffed ‘Are you sure it’s him?’ Roger stopped, Naomi assisting him into the passenger seat.

‘Yes!’ Jeremiah was getting fed up with the constant questions. ‘He was large, a big man. I saw him. I have also dragged his body to the back of this van, ok?’ He stared at his friend.

‘Yes, sorry mate.’ Roger realised he was being a pain in the arse.

Jeremiah also suddenly realised that his friend had been hurt in the fight. ‘I’m sorry too. It’s been a bad day. We have lost Yanto.’ He looked in the back of the van and studied the two bodies, both wrapped in bloodied overalls. ‘Harry James was a good lad. Perhaps we were a little hard on him.’

Naomi, fighting back the tears, had heard enough. ‘Just get in the van please.’ She gave Roger a gentle nudge.

‘And you.’ She looked over to Jeremiah. ‘We need to get back to the others. They are in danger.’ Her thoughts then moved to Harry James. ‘We have lost two too many today. We don’t want to lose anymore.’

With that she slammed the door and jumped into the driver’s seat.

***

‘Step on it.’ Angel gripped the inner door handle. ‘Can’t we go any faster?’

Jake held on tightly to the steering wheel as the truck bounced around on the rough terrain. ‘I’m trying my best.’

‘How far do you think she is in front of us?’ Angel checked a hand gun she had found on the rocks.

‘About seven or eight minutes, maybe more.’

‘Fuck it.’ Angel felt helpless. All she could think about was Lou Pepper. She felt slightly guilty that Amber hadn’t been her first thought. She was now basically her step mother. Jake had teased her about that the previous night.
The wicked step mother!

Trouble was, Lou felt like her daughter. She knew she would never replace her mother, but now, at this precise moment in time, that’s who she was. Angel knew they would all have to rub along, like a typical, dysfunctional step family.

She paused in her thought.
That’s if they were alive.

Leila K. That’s what Jeremiah had called her. A cold hearted, callous killer.
She silently shook her head. She swallowed hard. If that bitch harmed one hair on Lou Peppers head she would kill her in the most painful way possible.

The truck swerved from the dirt track onto asphalt. The acceleration made them both fall back in their seats.

Angel unclipped the safety catch on the hand gun. She was going to be ready as soon as they hit Old Mill.

***

‘Children, please, you must come in.’ Klaudia’s head was still pounding from last night’s alcohol abuse.

‘In a minute!’ Amber shouted.

The three children were down by the river making a dam.

‘Not a minute, you come now.’ Klaudia’s shouted back in her broken English. Her patience levels weren’t what they normally were. The kids hadn’t listened all morning, and now she was taking action.

Storming across the lawn, she twirled her tea towel as if it were a leather belt.

‘You three, I’m not telling again. You come now.’

Oskar didn’t like to see his grandmother upset, and he stepped out of the shallows of the river Lemon.

‘Oskar, come back.’ Lou Pepper moaned.

The young boy ran up the lawn to give his grandmother a hug. Klaudia wasn’t having any of it; she clipped him around the ear and sent him to the house.

‘You two girls. Out now.’

Amber mocked Klaudia by doing a
funny
accent.

‘You’re funny.’ Lou was beginning to warm to her new friend.

Klaudia was now at breaking point. ‘In, now!’ She screamed.

The two girls both jumped. Lou’s bottom lip wobbled. The tone of the older woman had scared her.

Amber was first to skulk out of the water.

Lou followed slowly, and both of them walked past Klaudia without looking at her.

‘Get in.’ Klaudia ordered.

Young Red then came bounding out of the river, soaking wet. Stopping on the edge of the lawn, he shook himself dry.

‘You, get away.’ Klaudia pointed back to the river as she snapped at the small terrier.

‘Leave him alone.’ Lou said meekly.

Klaudia just turned and looked at the girls. She pointed to the house. No more words were said; the two girls ran to the back door.

‘And you are not coming in like that.’ She turned her nose up at the dog. ’The English and their dogs.’ Klaudia tutted. ‘Dirty dogs. They belong outside.’

With that she slammed the back door.

Young Red lowered his head and whined. He then about turned and scampered back down onto the lawn.

‘I wanna go outside.’ Amber whinge,d as she left most of her stew.

‘You are not going anywhere till you eat your food.’

‘I hate it.’ She shoved the bowl halfway across the table.

‘I like it.’ Oskar lifted the bowl up to drink the stock. He really didn’t like to see his Grandmother upset.

Klaudia smiled. She had found some painkillers earlier, and they seemed to be doing the trick. She felt slightly guilty at how she had shouted at the girls.

‘Okay, if you eat some cake then you can go back outside.’

‘Yes!’ The two girls shouted in unison.

Klaudia placed a large wedge of boiled cake in front of the kids. She became more distracted though, at the constant barking that came from outside. ‘Stupid dog.’ She muttered.

Then a loud bang came from the garden, followed by a squeal.

The girls jumped up.

Klaudia ran to the window. It sounded like a car back firing.

She could see the little dog lying in the middle of the lawn. He was dead. Half of his body was missing.

Before Klaudia could usher the kids out of the kitchen, she caught a glimpse of a shadow standing by the back door.

She didn’t know how, or why, but she knew instantly her life was over. She looked at her little grandson. How she loved him.

Klaudia could see the figure had a gun. She could then see the back door handle turning. She didn’t have to time to grab the gun that was leaning up against the wall by the back door.

Without hesitation she threw a large china vase at the window. The almighty smash was deafening, but it did the trick.

Climbing out of the window Klaudia, ran like the wind.

The figure followed her.

The children were in complete shock; but Lou Pepper, who had seen some pretty horrific things in her short life, knew exactly what to do.

‘Hide!’ She yelled at the others.

***

Emma Davis dragged the body of the old woman into the shed.

It hadn’t been much of a chase. She had taken her by surprise, but only for a split second. The woman had managed to get around the corner of the building, but that’s where the running stopped.

Davis had shut the side gate and pulled the latch across.

The time it had taken for the woman to try and yank the rusted latch free was more than enough.

Two bullets to the back of the head did the job. Nice and clean.

Now all she had to do was to find out if the woman had been alone.

She knew some of them were at the rocks, but she didn’t see any children. The helicopter crew had definitely seen children. A few of them.

As she walked back around the cottage to the back door Davis could hear a vehicle.

She had been followed.

She eyed up the house, sure that there were more people inside. She couldn’t risk it though. A trap needed to be set, and there was only one way into the cottage. Through the side gate.

Jake stopped the truck at the top of the small lane, which was the main driveway into Old Mill.

‘What are you doing?’ Angel couldn’t believe he had stopped.

‘She’s there.’ He nodded towards Old Mill.

‘I know, so let’s go.’ Angel slammed her hand onto the dashboard.

‘If we go roaring in she will hear us.’

‘She already has. The sounds of any transport carry for miles now. Noise pollution is virtually zero. It’s one of the good things that have happened.’

Jake raised his eyebrows. Meeting Angel had been the best thing that had happened in his life since the birth of his daughter. The rest of this disastrous world they now found themselves in was crap. Nothing in his mind was actually good.

‘Fuck it. Let’s do this.’ His change of heart had been rapid, and he stomped on the accelerator.

Sliding to a halt at the cottage, they both jumped out of the truck. They could see the side gate was ajar.

Jake eyed his girlfriend and mouthed to her.
Be careful. I will go first.

As the two crept slowly to the wooden gate their hearts raced. Inside the cottage was precious cargo. Amber and Lou.

Lou Pepper knew something was wrong. It was deathly quiet.

They had been hiding for several minutes and no one had entered the house.

She had heard more bangs, and then she had heard a car pull up outside the cottage.

Amber was hiding in the wardrobe and Oskar under the bed. She had been hiding in the laundry basket. Just like all those months ago when she had found mummy sleeping and couldn’t wake her up. She remembered the Candy man coming to get her.

This was different though. She knew her friends were in danger.

Opening the lid she slid out of the basket and quietly shuffled down the first five steps of the carpeted stairs, to where the big window lay. This overlooked the side entrance and the garage.

At first she could see nothing. Then she could see movement from the other side of the gate. She instantly recognised the jacket. It was Angel. She was filled with glee, but that was soon doused when she could see a figure crouching by the sycamore tree.

Blink and you would miss her, but there she was. Kneeling against the tree, gun pointed at the gate.

Lou wanted to scream, but she knew that would make it worse.

Now she bounded down the stairs. This was no time to try and tread lightly.

Skidding into the kitchen, she grabbed the gun that Klaudia had kept by the back door.

Was she going to be too late?

Jake kicked open the gate and the bottom hinge snapped. Splintering wood filled the air, causing him to lose his direction.

Angel was only seconds behind him, firing above his head.

A loud blast was heard and both of them hit the deck.

Jake rolled towards the house, firing in the direction of the blast.

Angel swerved over to the garage, continually firing at the sycamore tree.

Bullets filled the air, for a few seconds it was complete mayhem.

Both of them lay on the floor. The dust settled.

The minute of complete silence felt like an hour.

Angel looked around. She could see a body lying on the floor. It was a little girl.

She ran over and suddenly realised who it was. ‘Noooooo!’ She cried out. It was Lou Pepper. She scooped the little girl up in her arms. Blood was streaming down the left hand side of her face.

Jake ran over to the body slumped against the sycamore tree. He wanted to make sure it was dead. He walked steadily over; it was a woman. He recognised the outfit, it was Leila K.

‘My baby, please don’t die.’ Angel sobbed, trying to kiss away the blood.

Jake looked over, he then looked back at the dead Leila K. Half her face was missing. His gun hadn’t done that, and Angel was only using a pistol.

He ran over to Angel and Lou. ‘Is she…’ He stopped

‘Look!’ Angel cried. ‘I can’t believe we were too late.’