Red Rock , livre ebook

First published in 2014 by Curious Fox,
an imprint of Capstone Global Library Limited,
7 Pilgrim Street, London, EC4V 6LB – Registered company number: 6695582

www.curious-fox.com

Copyright © Kate Kelly 2013

The author’s moral rights are hereby asserted

Cover design by Steven Mead Cover illustration by Rhett Podersoo courtesy of Advocate Art

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

ISBN 978 1 782 02062 2

A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner.




For Alex and Eileen, with love.


1: Gunshots
I’m not sure why I looked towards the window at that moment. Maybe a movement caught my eye. I don’t really remember what with everything that followed. I put down my phone and, as I turned, the security light blinked on. A pool of yellow flashed across the lawn in the twilight. Then something moved in the gloom beyond.
I froze, staring hard at a patch of deeper shade amongst the shrubs at the bottom of the garden. The rain had stopped and the dusk was closing in fast. The shadow moved again and I held my breath. A human figure.
I almost felt a click as his eyes met mine. He was looking right at me.
“Uncle Robert!” I yelled, and sprinted down the corridor towards the kitchen.
“ Uncle Robert! ”
I burst into the kitchen. Robert looked round, up to his elbows in rubber gloves and dirty dishes.
“What’s up, Danni?”
“There’s someone in the garden.” I gasped for breath.
Robert peeled off the gloves and dropped them onto the draining board. “Maybe we’d both better take a look.” He winked at me as if to say: I bet you’re imagining things.
I kicked off my slippers and slid my feet into my wellies. Robert reached for the shotgun as I wound our torches.
“So did you really see someone or is this a ploy to get me away from the housework?” His tone was light but he was loading that shotgun.
I handed him his torch. “I really saw someone.”
He nodded and opened the back door. A blast of cold air made me shiver. Summer evenings had once been warm. At least, that’s what people said. No time now to go back for a coat.
“Where did you see him?” Robert panned his torch beam across the base of the wind turbine, shining the light along the barrel of his gun.
“Over here.” I directed my torch at the bushes. The leaves glistened with the recent rain, and in the beam the shadows vanished. Robert lowered his gun and wandered over for a closer look, scanning the ground.
“Looks like you were right.”
The grass squelched beneath my feet as I joined him. The lawn was mainly moss these days, the garden reverting to marsh. Robert passed his light over the ground, and there, between the bushes and the fence, was a footprint. I leaned forwards for a better look.
“What do you think he was doing?”
“Well, it looks like he came in over the fence here.” Robert moved the beam of light up from the ground to shine it out across the field beyond. It was getting darker and I squinted into the gloom. But apart from a couple of rabbits dazzled by the light there was nothing to be seen; just the darker shadows of the hedgerows and, beyond, the ever-expanding estuary.
“Burglar?” I suggested. I didn’t want to say “scavver”. Don’t think about it. Don’t think that they might have come this far .
Robert nodded. “Most likely checking things out. Let’s hope we’ve put him off.” He squatted down to study the footprint once more. He looked so serious crouching there.
“Uncle Robert, the great tracker,” I said and tried not to giggle.
He glanced up at me. “You can tell a lot from someone’s footprints, you know.”
“Really?” I peered down over his shoulder.
Robert shrugged and stood up. “Well, some people can.”
I laughed. “I bet you could if they were a thousand years old.”
“But that’s archaeology. That’s different. Not like these modern footprints. They’re jumbled and meaningless. A bit like that music you like.” He winked at me.
I pretended to gasp. “You can talk. What about that hideous music you and Mum are always...”
I swallowed.
Mum.
Robert went back to panning his torch beam around the bushes. I stared past him, out over the fields and towards the estuary. The first bats of the evening flitted against the grey of the sky.
Robert sighed and I could see him looking at me in the darkness. “Look, Danni. I know it can’t be much fun having to spend the summer here with me. But it’s not that bad really. I grew up here. We had a great time.”
I tried to smile. I could feel that familiar tightening in my throat. “I’m not complaining. Just a bit lonely, I guess.”
Robert nodded. “I miss your mum, too. She was the best big sister in the world.”
I didn’t answer. I stared at the pool of torchlight, at the grasses and the drops of water that reflected the light. I stared at anything other than Robert and swallowed hard. Please don’t talk about Mum and Dad . After a while, I heard him draw in a deep breath.
“Tell you what, Danni,” he said. “Maybe I can make some time for you after all.” I looked up at him. “Shall I see if I can arrange for us to spend a few weeks out at…”
But he never finished the question. He paused, turning back towards the house. I hardly dared breathe. He had been about to invite me to Greenland, hadn’t he? Surely he had? After all, I’d been dropping enough hints ever since I got here. Why didn’t he finish so I could say “yes”.
There was a faint humming noise coming from the front of the house, swelling in the damp air. For a moment I couldn’t make out what it was. Then I heard the crunch of gravel beneath wheels and it clicked.
“That’s a lekkie car,” I said, and my pulse quickened. “Someone’s coming up the drive.”
Robert nodded. He started to march back across the lawn and I squelched after him. We rounded the side of the house, sodden lawn giving way to crunchy gravel path. Who could be coming here at this time of night? The roads weren’t safe after dark. Everyone knew that.
The porch light was on and a small electric car had pulled up on the drive.
As I moved forwards, the driver climbed out; she was a slight woman, her fair hair scraped back into a ponytail, wearing faded jeans and an over-large jumper.
My heart jumped. The Mars Mission only returned the day before and my aunt Kris wasn’t due back here for another two weeks.
“Kris,” I shouted, running now.
She saw me and smiled, then started towards us, arms out in welcome.
“Kris?” said Robert, and I could hear the break in his voice. It had been so long since we had been together, with only the video uplink for contact over the past two years. Kris’s smile widened into a laugh as she reached out to us.
But then she faltered.
Something changed in her eyes, a look of surprise, and then fear, and in that moment a loud crack sounded. I flinched as if someone had punched me. Kris dropped to her knees. She reached to her chest and looked down at her hand. In the yellow glow of the porch light I saw that her fingers were glistening wet. She looked back up at us, pleading, and the wet was black blood that soaked and spread across her jumper.
She fell forwards onto the gravel.
I was running with a scream in my throat.
“Danni!” shouted Robert behind me. “Get down.”
I paid no attention. I reached Kris and tugged on her shoulder, rolling her over. Blood spurted from her wound onto my hands and her eyes flickered open.
“Danni?” Her voice was faint, breathy, her eyes unfocused.
“Kris, Kris,” I sobbed. I could barely speak.
Another shot sounded. Over by the wall of the house, a spray of gravel flew up against the windows. I ducked, and my face was close to Kris’s, her breath warm on my cheek.
“Danni,” she breathed. I pressed my head closer to hear. “Tell no one.”
She reached for my hand, pushing her fingers between my own. There was something hard there, thrust into my palm. Then her hand fell away.
Footsteps sounded, running down the lane, fading into the night. A single shot rang out in the dark, but this time it was Robert, firing after the fleeing figure.
He was beside me now. He dropped the gun onto the ground and took Kris in his arms.
Her head fell back and her eyelids fluttered. Her eyes, once full of fire, emptied of light.
“No,” screamed Robert and he pulled her close. “Kris! No.” One final breath rattled in her throat. Then all was still.
“Oh, Kris,” wept Robert. I squatted back on my heels and started to shake. I stared at my aunt’s body cradled in her brother’s arms and I was numb. I tightened my fist around whatever it was that Kris had given me in that dying moment. The tears started to roll down my cheeks.
I won’t tell anyone Kris, I promise.



2: MEXA
I tucked my feet underneath me and stared numbly into the fire. Uncle Robert, standing behind me, gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“Will that be all for now, Inspector?” he asked.
The policeman nodded and put his notebook away. “Once Scene of Crime have cleared up, we’ll leave you alone. We’ll be keeping a close eye, although I doubt they’ll be back.”
“So do you think it was scavvers then?” Robert asked. His voice was edgy. I reached up and touched his hand. None of this felt real.
The inspector shrugged. “Scavengers? I guess so. They don’t usually come this far from the cities, but as the waters keep rising they’re going to come further. There are a few things that p