Tested

Chapter Eleven

“The boats are likely going to the smaller islands,” Samuel said. “Where else would they be taking them? You’ll be stuck again. And closer to freezing to death.”

“We don’t know that,” Dad said. “We could find something heading to France.”

“Or Ireland,” I added.

“What about the channel tunnel?” Samuel asked.

“Everything’s been cut off,” Dad told him. “Slowly, but it’s been happening. At first, they called it a medical emergency, then we heard terrorism. Nobody knew what was going on until it was too late. We need an unconventional method. If that happens to be some fishing boat, then I’ll take it. As long as we’re moving.”

“Can’t stand to stay still, eh?” Samuel laughed. “I was like that once. Time taught me a lesson or two. That and old age. Your best bet is Northern Ireland. At least from there, you could get on a plane.”

Dad shrugged. “Unless the airports are closed there, too.”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you about the report I heard?” Samuel tapped his temple. “My mind’s not what it was. Ireland’s safe. They won against their trouble. They’re the ones coming to help us. Didn’t you hear the accent?”

I hadn’t noticed at the time, but since Samuel mentioned it, I recalled the trace of an accent in the words.

“It’s because of her, Dad,” I said.

“Who?” Samuel asked.

“Oh,” I said, turning to him excitedly. “There was a clip that played on the television when we were staying in a B&B. This woman in Ireland was fighting against some monster and warning people. She told them to fight back, to help each other. She said that humans and supernatural people alike should fight together. They were warned, and that’s why they won.”

“They weren’t under attack,” Dad said bitterly. “Not like here. Whatever happened over there was an afterthought. What happened here has been planned for a long time. The takedown went too well, too easily. Where are the armed forces? Where’s the help from within? We were smothered and overrun because we never had a chance.”

Samuel stood and began picking up our bowls. “There have been other times, times when we were attacked by bigger, badder, sneakier enemies. We never gave up. Never. We never bowed down, never stood aside and let it happen. Men and women worked together in the worst times, and we came out stronger. Forget about human and supernatural. We’re all people trying to stay alive. Don’t give up now. It’s far too early for that. We’re going to win as long as we keep breathing. We only lose when we lay down and let them walk all over us.”

Dad actually looked chastened.

I couldn’t give up, not on myself, not on Dad, not on our chances for a normal life. If that meant I had to fight a super-scary vampire someday, then I would. Samuel was right. I didn’t have to give up hope, no matter how many tests life threw at me. Hope was the one thing that couldn’t be taken from us. It couldn’t be broken or bloodied. Nobody could take it unless we let them. 

***

 Staying in Samuel’s home was kind of like being sent back in time. He lived a simple kind of life. There, I could almost forget what was going on in the outside world. Maybe the danger wouldn’t touch us out on the moors in a tiny cottage with an elderly man.

“I need some fresh air,” Samuel said.

Dad was napping on the sofa. His ankle was much better, but he was obviously exhausted. He desperately needed to catch up on his sleep, especially if he planned on travelling through cities and danger to find some boat that might take us to safety.

“It’s pretty windy,” I said, looking out the window.

“It’s always windy,” he scoffed. “Only a light bit of rain this morning. Won’t harm a soul. Will you accompany me, Jessica?”

Grinning at his formality, I agreed. He dressed warmly, and he gave me a huge old jacket that had belonged to his son. I hoped his son was okay, wherever he was.

We stepped outside and almost fell over from the blast of wind that attacked us. Laughing, I held Samuel’s arm to support him.

“Strong girl,” he muttered. “Come on, then. Let’s face the world. This way, this way. I don’t have all day.”

Feeling light-hearted, I let him lead me onto a hill. I was terrified that he would fall, but he was sturdier than he looked and obviously used to the trek.

“This,” he said as he gestured around us, “is where I persuaded my wife I was good enough to marry. Trickery and smooth words, but I don’t regret a moment of it.”

His eyes watered; whether from the wind or the memories, I didn’t know. All around us was nature, an unspoiled part of the world. The only building I could see clearly was the cottage, but in the distance, the village he had told us about sat like a dot on the horizon.

He pointed at some foggy hills to our left. “There’s a castle out that way. Can’t see it now, but it’s there. I can see it on clearer days.”

“It’s beautiful here,” I said.

“What’s your home like?”

“I don’t… we move around a lot.”

“It’s a fine thing to see the world,” he said. “But every heart needs a home to go back to.”

I smiled wryly. “Maybe someday the world will be different.”

“I bought this cottage from a witch,” he said abruptly. “Back when I was a young man. I saved up for eternity, it seemed, and she was old. I knocked on her door and asked her would she be willing to sell. The rumours had always run wild about her, so I was surprised to find her obliging. She was ready to move on, she said, had been waiting for the right person to come and take over. When my wife and I moved in, we found all sorts of things hidden in the larder. The wife got rid of it all, of course, and we laughed about it, but I think that old woman really was some kind of witch.” He nodded at the cottage. “Look at the thing. That home saved us from bad weather and misfortune, time and time again. People said we were lucky, but…” He shook his head.

“You think it was witch’s luck?”

He smiled. “Something like that. I feel safe there, and I think you and your father would be safe, too, if he were willing to stay. But he’s not, is he?”

I shook my head. “You have witch’s luck. We have bad luck. He doesn’t like me to spread around our bad luck.” I looked at him anxiously. “I wouldn’t hurt you, Samuel, but he’s afraid some of that bad luck would find me here.”

He gave me a long, hard look. “It’s a strange world we live in, Jessica.”

“I know,” I whispered.

I stared out at the moors. The safety of the cottage would be gone from my grasp soon enough. Samuel squeezed my shoulder and said we should get in from the cold. He knew I was different, knew I could bring danger his way, and he was still as welcoming as ever. I could learn from someone like Samuel, more than reading classics or baking bread or how to live a simple, contented life. He had an open heart, and I badly wanted him to keep living his life when we left him with no protection other than witch’s luck.