“Yes, Lucas, yes. She’s fine. They took her away in a helicopter?”
“That’s good news. I think.” Lucas felt some tension drain.
<°)))><
With the puzzle of Bella solved, Lucas started thinking about his circumstances. He also thought about the black device and what it contained. He needed to protect it.
The pieces were falling back into place in his head. “And they were taking me back to the police station and then transporting me back to prison. See, it’s all coming back. I can even remember seeing that book back at your shack.”
“That’s good, Lucas.” James closed the book and placed it on the table. He picked up his notebook and opened up to a blank page.
“Why are you so interested in this end times stuff?”
He doodled something in his notebook. “Just find it an interesting topic. You know, what’s going to happen in the end. I think we’re moving towards it quickly. I also had this discussion with that strange lady that paid us a visit yesterday.”
“Really? I think she was up on the road after the accident. I yelled, but she didn’t respond.”
“Maybe she called for an ambulance and left. You know, maybe didn’t want to get involved.” James continued to doodle.
“Maybe . . .” But Lucas didn’t have a good feeling about the lady and he hoped James’s doodling didn’t include sketches of her. Some doodlers sketch the things they place a high value on.
“She was a strange one, exotic in her own way.”
Meaning she intoxicated him. He hoped not. “I noticed you had a device in your bag. It looked like Bella’s.”
“I do.”
“Which device is it?”
“I think it’s just some kind of storage device.”
“Can I look at it?”
“Sure.”
While James went to locate the device, Lucas took a quick peek at James’s doodling. It wasn’t a random thing—it was a sketch of a bird. James must already be missing the bush.
He heard James return and looked up to see him carrying the black device, which he handed to Lucas.
Lucas flipped the device on its side, and noted it needed a cable to connect to the TV or tablet device. Lucas went over and checked the ports available on the TV. He tried to turn on the TV but found no manual controls. Everything seemed to be controlled by smartphones or remote controls these days. He rummaged around and found the remote. Pressed a few buttons. Nothing. Dead batteries.
Lucas stood there with remote in one hand and the device in the other. “I’ll go and try and find some batteries for the remote, and hopefully a cable for this.” He raised the device in the air.
He poked around in the pantry cupboard and found a clear plastic container with bits and pieces of everything. Strips of black pressed against the sides, either liquorice straps or cables. He removed the lid—cables, and lots of them. There were a number of items at the bottom of the container as well. He moved the cables to the side but no batteries, just USB flash drives. What was stored on those drives?
Something white tucked in the side of the container caught his attention. It was a photo of Isabella as a child or early teen, with two older women and another girl, perhaps the same age as Isabella. One of the women looked like Isabella—her mother? The photo was taken at their property, as Lucas recognised the barn in the background. He stared at the other lady. A different hairstyle, but he knew it was the woman at the car accident, the woman that liked setting fire to barns. What transpired that this lady would now want to kill Bella? He turned the photo over and saw scribbled on the back: Bella, Mum, Ava, Madeleine.
He looked at Bella. Her eyes seemed to be looking at Lucas. He touched the image of her. She affected him, did something to him, had given him vitality. He sensed her in his thoughts constantly, sometimes in the forefront, other times just receding back to allow other thoughts a turn. But she was always there, jumping back when space was freed up. He missed her and wondered where she was.
When Lucas returned, James was doodling into his notebook again. Lucas walked over to the TV and placed the plastic container on the floor and went digging for the right USB cable. He found it and plugged in the device.
“Any batteries?” James looked up and asked.
James brought him back to reality. “Huh . . . not yet. Check out this photo.” Lucas handed him the photo.
James looked at the photo. “The family. I’ve seen pictures of Pop’s daughter and granddaughter before. Wonder who the others are?”
“Look closer.”
With eyes strained he looked. “It’s not is it? It’s the lady. She’s only gotten better with age.” He flipped over the photo. “Ava. Nice name. French, maybe? Must be her daughter—they have the same Mediterranean look about them: dark olive skin, dark hair, nearly Spanish looking.”
Lucas left the photo with James and returned to his search for the batteries. He found an old shoebox. James’s feelings for this lady worried him. Maybe once James saw the recording his appetite for her would change. He shook the box. Things rattled. He held a full shoe box full of batteries, dead batteries, but some would have enough life in them.
The TV displayed the content of the USB device. Lucas sorted the video files in date order from the most recent down.
“Okay, let’s see what we have.”
His thoughts again went to Bella, remembering how she grabbed the device before they scattered from the shelter. He missed her and again wondered where she was. But he had the device and that would make her happy.
44 – Getting to know Gramps
ISABELLA SAT WITH GRAMPS. His beard needed a trim. She really didn’t know too much about her Gramps—he being some kind of fugitive limited the physical contact between them during Isabella’s teenage years. But she had fond memories of earlier years. Isabella had many questions. What’s going on Gramps? Why are we here? And she thought of Lucas.
She expected a big large mirror like in the movies, but there wasn’t one. There were CCTV cameras, so she was conscious people were watching, but Gramps wasn’t at all concerned. He just wanted to talk and tell her things as if they’d never meet again.
They’d been left alone. A strategic move, maybe.
“My dad was a scientist who worked for a number of well-known companies, even with the Department of Defence.”
