The Moon Stealers and The Children of the Light (14 page)

They stayed together as they walked through the trees
towards Osborne House. The access road remained hidden beneath the shadows of
the trees all the way, but occasionally the gaps would be large enough to betray
the presence of a cleanly painted house that reflected the limited light from
the moon. Silhouetted against the sky above the house were several creatures
taking it in turns to swoop towards the ground in a frenzy of squeals.
Steven
,
Georgia
and Tracker followed a small narrow path that took
them towards the formal gardens at the back of the house. The path became exposed
by a wide lawn on the right. They crouched down amongst the shadows of what
trees remained and watched the creatures diving towards an ornamental figure in
the centre of a dried up fountain and pond, almost as if they were trying to
eat the statue.

As this was behaviour that they had not witnessed
before, they were curious to know what the creatures were doing, so they left
the security of the tree cover and crept beside a low wall topped with a
lattice trellis. Through the diamond shaped gaps in the trellis they could see
into the terraced gardens at the back of the house. The neatly trimmed and
organised ornamental hedges were in complete contrast to the frantic and
chaotic attack that was happening at the fountain. The creatures took it in
turns swooping down to attack the fountain, before climbing back into the air
for another creature to take their place. Steven watched the statue carefully.
When a break in the frenzy allowed, he was sure he saw the statue move.

They edged closer, carefully trying to keep out of
sight of the windows in the house, which was almost impossible. There were so
many windows looking out onto the gardens that every step they took brought
them into view of one of them. Their progress was slow. They jumped from shadow
to shadow, constantly trying to keep themselves pressed against a wall or tall
plant. The clock tower provided a particular problem. They couldn’t be sure
that every member of the community had moved into a secure wing of the house
for the night or whether guards had been posted around the building.

Steven crept towards a pergola, quickly followed by
Tracker and Georgia who joined him beneath a dappled canopy of plants and
creepers that had grown around the upright posts to form a natural roof.

'Are there chains around the statue's hands?' asked
Georgia
, catching a glimpse of the statue as a creature
pulled away.

'Yes,' replied Steven. 'The statue is Andromeda,
daughter of a Greek king. She was chained to a rock and left as a sacrifice to
a sea monster.'

'But why would the creatures be trying to eat a metal
statue?' whispered Tracker.

'Is the other figure the monster?'
Georgia
added, noticing another figure chained by its arms to
the statue.

'I don't think the creatures are interested in the
statue,' replied Steven in a solemn voice. 'It's the second figure that has
their attention. And that one is not a statue.'

'What?' said
Georgia
with a quick intake of breath. 'You don't mean…'
Georgia
was unable to finish her sentence as the shock of
what Steven had just said slowly sank in. As the creatures swapped positions
they could see the fountain statue, but hanging forward, arms tied behind
Andromeda was a lifeless figure of a man, clothes and flesh torn and tattered.
As a creature bit into his shoulder and pulled back with a strong beat of its
wings, the figure was pulled limply into the air, like a puppet having its
strings pulled from above. As his flesh ripped, the man fell back down beside
Andromeda. The body was lifeless and still and didn’t respond to the creatures
attack. If he had been chained to the statue before night fell, his life would
have ended in a cruel way as soon as the creatures came out to hunt. In the
empty pond beneath the plinth, the surface glistened with a dark tar-like
substance, as blood trickled continuously off his feet.

Georgia
turned away.

'Do you think he was put there as a sacrifice?' asked
Tracker.

'No,' replied Steven quite definitely. 'What benefit
would there be in encouraging and feeding the creatures. This is punishment.'

Georgia
reached up and touched the wound in her right arm
recalling the time the three of them had come face to face with the creatures
themselves. 'It seems that Coldred has taken a liking to feeding the creatures
with people who don't fit in with his vision of the future.'

'How could we forget
Greenwich
Park
,' said Tracker.

'This is barbaric,' added
Georgia
. 'To allow this man to be killed so close to the
house also serves as a warning to other survivors. No one would want to suffer
the same fate as this man?'

'Any survivor will be living in fear from the monsters
inside the house as well as outside.'

'Even if we find Annie we can't leave the others to
this fate. No one deserves to live like this,'
Georgia
said to Steven.

The air was suddenly torn in two by the sound of
gunfire.

The bang echoed and rumbled across the sky as it
bounced into the distance. The creatures leapt off the statue, startled by the
loud sound but only as far as to scatter them into the sky. They circled above
Osborne House waiting to judge when it would be safe to return and continue
feeding on the corpse.

Instinctively,
Steven
,
Georgia
and Tracker threw themselves down on the ground,
crouching against pillars and plants with fingers on the triggers of their
handguns.

They waited and listened. Had it been aimed at the
creatures, or them? Where had it come from?

The creatures continued to circle in the sky, round
and round like a flock of birds circling their prey.

But they were hesitant and kept a safe distance.

Tracker stood up and peered around the side of one of
the pillars towards the land away from the house. Apart from manicured lawns
and woodland in the distance, he couldn’t see anyone that could have made the
shot. He moved over to a pillar that was thickened by the twisted trunks of an
ancient plant that grew high above him. Tracker looked towards the pavilion,
checking each window systematically. Every one appeared shuttered, and
lifeless. His eyes glanced up towards the roof that was edged by a shallow
columned parapet, but he couldn’t see any movement silhouetted against the sky.

His eyes flashed along to the part of the house that
was nearest to them. Again the windows appeared lifeless. The sky reflected in
the glass, mirroring the shadows that flashed above the fountain waiting for a
safe time to continue their feast. But still the creatures stayed in the air,
conscious of a threat that Tracker couldn’t see.

Tracker leant further out so he could look up towards
the clock tower that loomed above them. There were two arches above the clock
face. One was dark, but the other appeared to have horizontal slats covering
it. Tracker looked back at the darker arch. A glint of metal flashed in the
moonlight. It was immediately followed by another gunshot and a shower of
splinters that exploded from one of the beams above their heads.

Tracker ducked his head back beneath the roof of the
pergola.

'There's a gunman in the clock tower,' whispered
Tracker. 'I think he's spotted us.'

'Let's hope no one else joins us,' said Steven. 'We
better find somewhere safe to stay until daytime.'

'Once the survivors come out of hiding we should be
able to integrate ourselves into the community without being noticed,' added
Georgia
.

Steven nodded. 'There's a walled vegetable garden on
the other side of the house that will be out of sight of the clock tower. If
Coldred has any sense he will still be using the garden to grow vegetables.
When the sun comes out and the survivors go to work on the garden we can blend
in with them.'

'But how are we going to get away from here without
being shot?' asked
Georgia
.

'Follow me,' said Tracker.

He dashed along the length of the pergola taking him
nearer to the house and a wall that held back a raised section of the garden.
He crept along the side of the wall, keeping himself as close to the cold stone
as possible. The wall curved round until it was almost directly below the clock
tower.

Steven and Georgia watched as Tracker pressed himself
hard against the wall. He was relying on the fact that the gunman would not be
able to see directly beneath him without leaning out of the window and over the
stone ledge.

Georgia
followed the same route whilst Steven waited beneath
the pergola. Tracker had now reached the corner of the building. Another few
steps and he would be hidden beneath the trees and out of danger, but to do
that he would have to break cover momentarily exposing him to the gunman at the
top of the tower. Tracker beckoned Steven to start making his way along the
wall, whilst he waited for them to join him.

Steven slipped out from between the thick posts of the
pergola and edged his way along the side of the retaining wall following the
same route the other two had taken.

A crackle of gunfire echoed once again in the night
sky.

From the corner of his eye Steven saw an orange spark
exploding from one of the top windows in the tower then, just above his head, a
small shower of stone dust rained down on him. The gunman must have spotted
something that alerted him to Steven's presence. He crouched down as low as he
could making sure he kept his head below the level of the wall.
Georgia
was now directly beneath the tower whilst Tracker
still patiently waited, his body pressed tightly against the side of the
building.

Steven slowly moved along the wall, using whatever
plants he could as cover, but being careful not to disturb them and attract attention.

Eventually
Georgia
, closely followed by Steven, made it to where Tracker
was waiting.

Across an open area of grass was a group of trees that
would provide enough cover to enable them to reach the walled garden at the
front of the house without being seen by the gunman in the tower.

To get to the trees would only be a matter of running
for a few seconds but it would expose them to the gunman.

Steven took
Georgia
’s hand in his. He nodded at her with a reassuring
smile. ‘Ready?’

Georgia
nodded back.

They leapt from their hiding place, ducked their heads
down and ran towards the nearest tree. Tracker immediately followed. Steven
felt like he was running so fast that he could easily stumble forward and lose
his balance. To his left he could hear Tracker breathing heavily. There was a
loud crack like a branch or twig shattering beneath a heavy foot. He glanced to
his left and saw Tracker falling forward with his hands stretched out ready to
protect him from the fall.

The trees were just a few steps away.

Steven let go of
Georgia
’s hand. He turned to Tracker who was already picking
himself off the ground, and helped him up. As they stumbled into the
undergrowth a bullet thumped into the ground at their feet, kicking up a small
clump of earth that flew into the air and scattered dirt against a tree trunk.

They quickly moved away from the edge of the trees
until they couldn’t see the house at all. That way they would know they were
out of sight of the gunman and had reached a safe place. Only then could they rest
for a moment and catch their breath. They leant against the tree trunks and
gulped in the fresh night air with a mixture of relief and exhaustion.

‘We must keep moving,’ said Tracker in a pained voice.
In the shadow of the trees, they could only make out the outlines of each
other, but Steven could see that Tracker was holding the leg he twisted when he
fell.

‘Let me help,’ said Steven, putting Tracker's arm over
his shoulder.

From the safety of the trees they slowly followed a
path that took them away from the house and towards a low walled structure with
an elaborate entrance. Every couple of minutes Tracker paused to rest his ankle
by holding onto a tree for support, but within seconds he stubbornly pushed for
them to continue.

The outside of the walled garden was constructed from
yellow coloured sandstone uprights and plants trained to grow against the brickwork.
The entrance was a grand and ornate triangular roofed porch with columns and
archways framing the gate into the walled garden. The three of them crept
slowly and cautiously amongst the plants that bordered the wall until they
reached the lighter coloured and exposed stonework of the porch. From there
they looked back up the slope towards Osborne house. They could make out the
top of the tower on the right of the house, which meant that whoever had shot
at them, might also be able to see them enter the garden and send guards in to
find them. In the sky beyond the tower the creatures appeared to have resumed
their feeding on the dead body that was chained to the statue. Black shadows
hovered in circles before dropping weightlessly towards the ground as another
one flapped its way back into the sky.