Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
Isla
Everything around me speeds up as the threat of danger quickens my pulse. Besides me, Liz already has her bow notched and in position. Fauna has her new axe gripped tight with both hands.
I can feel the others all palming their weapons, looking around for the threat.
But the threat comes in a different form, one I don’t think any of us were expecting.
A small bolt of colourful fabric and a large black hat sprints between our legs. A slight sting blooms across my calf as the small child passes straight through us.
Ruaridh has launched himself between where the girl ran to and us, him wrestling with Luna.
‘Put it down, Looney Tunes.’
‘How was I supposed to know that noise came from that?’ Luna points her knife over Ru’s shoulder and towards the little girl.
The little girl who has launched herself into Liam’s arms. He shifts his grip on her sides, throwing her up in the air in the process, causing her to let out another squeal. This one ends on a giggle.
‘You’re back!’
Her hat hangs on by a thread, now clearly a pirate's cap dotted with an assortment of greyish-blue feathers. And she is dressed in vibrant purples and blues, all continuing down through her tutu skirts and ending with a pair of scraped-up walking boots.
Liam smiles wide as he throws her back up into the air earning another happy giggle and my stomach sinks.
I look for the resemblance between them. How her hair is a much whiter blonde than his, but that’s common in kids, isn’t it?
Pressure builds in my chest and the backs of my eyes begin to sting. I swear, if this guy is some post-apocalyptic player obsessed with repopulating the world, I will castrate him myself.
‘How ya been, little lady?’ Liam asks, setting her back down on her feet.
‘Maw Maw made me a dress!’ She fluffs her outfit out for him to see, proud of her stylish clothes.
‘You look beautiful, Elsa.’ Liam motions behind the girl, straight towards us. ‘Why don’t you show our new friends?’
Elsa whirls around, mouth wide open as she takes us all in.
And screams.
Again.
Liz groans, covering her ear with one hand the other still clutching her notched bow and arrow.
How we never heard her back at the school is a mystery. She’s like a bloody foghorn.
‘What did we say about the screams, Elsa?’ Ruaridh grabs her attention.
Practically vibrating with what I can only assume must be excitement Elsa’s mouth opens and closes but no words come out.
Liam takes her tiny hand in his, well his finger and gently whispers, ‘remember to breath, just like we taught you.’
She nods, her mouth closing as her nostrils widen on a deep breath in and on her exhale she lets out a loud roar.
I smile, amused by the little girl calming herself down in such a way — the same way my big brother taught me to when I was little. But it doesn’t last long, that lightness fizzles away as soon as I spot Liam’s gaze right on me, watching.
He can fuck right off with his cheesy player smirk.
‘I’m Elsa.’ The girl, who must be around four or five years old waves and I try to soften my distress a little.
It wouldn’t make the best impression — me scowling at a child, all because she's associated with the knob head I thought it would be a good idea to fuck.
Really what was I thinking? I should have taken one look at that stupid mask and seen the red flags dancing around it, never mind the cringeworthy crown he has painted onto it.
I must have been really desperate. So desperate that my standards ran away and have only just started to come scurrying back.
‘Hiya, Elsa. I’m Fauna and these are my friends.’ We all oddly wave at the child, none of us quite sure how to interact with a little human.
Nobody can blame us. We can barely socialise with other adults as it is without attacking them first and saying hello later.
I smirk, glancing at Ru as the memory of Luna and the others’ first reaction to seeing my brother. He glances back at me, eyes curious, but I don’t hold his gaze, sickness rising to my stomach. I’m not ready to let him back in, not after spending so many years fending for myself.
‘Elsa!’
Elsa shrugs her shoulders up as she holds a small fist over her mouth, doing a terrible job at concealing an expression that can only be described as oops.
‘Girl, you better get your little butt over here or you'll be sleeping with the pigeons,’ an elderly lady croaks as she waggles a finger at the girl. A tea towel hanging from the fist that is pinned to her hip.
‘I love the pigeons,’ Elsa chirps, skipping over to the elderly woman. ‘Sorry maw maw.’
‘Looks like you need to work on your threats of punishment, Pam. I’ve been talking her out of sleeping with them most nights since I showed her them.’ Liam laughs.
‘Don’t you start,’ her finger waggles some more before she takes us in, her expression morphing into one of a grandmother about to fuss over her family. ‘Oh dear baby Jesus and the donkey. What a beautiful sight.’
She clutches her heart, melting into the wooden stand behind her.
‘Everyone’s fucking nuts, even here.’ Elizabeth whispers into my ear and I smother a laugh.
She’s not wrong. So far the people we’ve met are a guy boiling bones (thankfully it looked like animal ones this time or else I think Fauna would have dropkicked my brother and made a swift exit), a screaming banshee of a child dressed as some sort of fairy pirate and an old lady talking about baby donkey Jesus.
And I thought we were the nut jobs.
How many other unusual people are housed in this stadium-turned-circus?
I don’t know when the Grandma started crying but she is, her eyes watery as she swipes her towel across her cheeks, quickly blinking them away.
‘Aww Pam, you big softie.’ Liam says, ‘I bet the girls would love to try some of your famous roasties. I told Fauna all about them.’
‘Oh yes…’ she clears her throat. ‘We will get a batch wacked in the oven in no time.’ Pam takes little Elsa’s hand, the girl taking this as her cue to go help her gran. ‘You all get settled in and make yourselves at home.’
Rest is the opposite of what we get.
Ru has dragged us around every square inch of this god forsaken stadium and my lower back is screaming. Who in their right mind would take a six-month pregnant lady on a tour up and fucking down thousands of stairs?
He's lost the plot, completely. And so has everyone else in here.
I stare, unable to believe my eyes, as Ru explains to us with such certainty that the flock of pigeons that live in one of the top stands are their pets.
And to make matters even worse he tells us that their keeper is Liam.
I mean, seriously, could it get any worse?
Turns out it can because as I finally decide to take a peek at the mistake that got me pregnant, after spending the whole tour refusing to look his way I instantly regret it. The big idiot is stood there proud as peach with three. Not one, not two but three pigeons perched on his shoulders.
Why am I cursed?
Those fucking apocalypse god’s Fauna is always chatting about have well and truly fucked me over in this life and now — because that wasn’t enough — they’ve decided to turn my life into a comedy.
They must have been getting bored with it because they’ve mixed it up by attaching me to this fool for the rest of my life.
‘Why pigeons?’ Luna asks the question we are all wondering.
A horse I’d understand but these? This has to be a joke.
Liam strokes the beak of the pigeon on his left shoulder and it affectionately nuzzles into his palm. ‘They are incredibly intelligent and loyal. Plus, they lived here first, it didn’t seem fair to throw them out.’
‘You could have eaten them,’ Elizabeth mumbles.
Liam gasps. No joke, gasps. And moves to shield his precious pigeons from her view. ‘They are not for eating.’
‘Everything's food when you're hungry enough,’ Luna points out before grimacing at Fauna, who twists her face. ‘Too soon?’
Fauna nods, ‘too soon.’
‘Enough pigeons, we’ll show you the sleeping options and get you all kitted out for the showers.’
All talk of pigeons abandoned at the mention of a shower, the girls make a beeline for the stairs, hot on my brother's heels as he leads our way down the mountain of steps.
I hold back at the end of the group, psyching myself up for the trudge back down.
With a quick stretch of my lower back, I begin descending, but just as I take my first step, I feel his presence behind me.
If I’m honest with myself, I’ve felt his presence since the moment we were reunited, and it’s never gone away since the moment he found me in that hallway.