Peter Grist - Flashback

“Hey!” he replied indignantly, “it’s great, it’s all about the other side.” The shorter man turned as he spoke and Ed was looking straight at a younger version of Sam Ryan the motel owner.

“That machine is gonna fry yer brains I’m telling ya. Shoot! I’m gonna get some air.” The taller man rebuked.

Ed realised the nearest supply of fresh air for the other man was through the front door, not the back. There was no way he could get to either end of the porch before the robed figure emerged from the front door. Ed quickly turned and vaulted with one hand over the railing and dived down, coming to rest on his hands and knees next to the four fake ventiports of a two-tone blue ’55 Buick Century. The front door of the house creaked open as the figure stepped out. The man wandered aimlessly in the other direction, taking a quick look inside the Cadillac at the far end. Keeping low, Ed tried to follow the other man’s course but lost him. Turning sideways to the rear of the Buick Ed glanced right at the last car in the row. It was black and white and carried a huge gold star on the door. Looking up, Ed could just make out the top of the red dome light on the roof.

“ Crap! ”

The thought pretty much covered it. Just as he returned to his mission of tracking the man in the robe, the figure walked past the backs of the two cars Ed was crouching between. The man glanced sideways and they made eye contact, but he kept walking for another step and did a double-take, disbelief written over both of their faces. Ed recognised this man too. He was looking into the clear blue eyes of Esther’s husband Jed, only a much younger version.

“What the hell…”

Before Jed could utter another syllable, Ed had leapt to his feet and ran towards the man. As Ed approached, a velvety arm swung towards him but Ed ducked the swing and as he came back up, followed through with a gravity-defying jump in the air. At the zenith of his jump, Ed lashed out with a hook kick that caught the other figure in the side of the head. Jed Mourn stumbled sideways but was still standing although he was leaning heavily on the side of the patrol car. He shook his head clear and rushed toward Ed with a low growl. At the last second, Ed stepped neatly sideways and raised his forearm up, using the other man’s energy to ram the firm muscle into the man’s throat. The man crumpled to the ground gagging for air, grabbing with both hands at his throat. Ed knew he had to get clear, and quickly, but he didn’t want to be followed. With little remorse he kicked out with his right leg, smashing down on the side of the robed figure’s left knee, the crack of bone confirming the strike was on target. Before the fallen man could scream with what little air was in his lungs, Ed’s right foot came up and caught the man under his chin whipping his head back to impact on the back fender of the patrol car. He collapsed sideways unconscious, but the noise of his head hitting the car had been loud and someone inside the house had heard it over the noise of the TV. Ed ran as fast as his legs would carry him round to the left of the house, back into the darkness. Shouts came from the front as the rest of the mob poured out. It took little time to find their fallen comrade. Ed was halfway across the clearing before the first shot rang out, kicking up dust and dirt ten feet to his left, they still hadn’t seen him. An engine howled into life and earth sprayed out as one of the group wheel-spun their car into motion, headlights blazing. Ed knew there was no way he was going to have time to delicately climb through the barbed-wire fence. The beams of light were coming around the side of the building, a big V8 engine roaring in protest. Another shot through the dark, this time close enough to make Ed jump sideways. With the light from the car headlamps now breaking the darkness he could see he had only ten feet to go before the fence, he put his head down and ran even faster, his legs pumping like pistons, his chest heaving, drawing in as much air as he could. The lights from the car were now on his back, he wasn’t going to make it. With as much energy as he could muster he dived forwards, arms in front as if he were going off a diving board; he lunged up and forward over the fence just as a bullet chipped out a hunk of wood from the fence post next to his head. He cleared the fence with an inch to spare but his landing was far from soft. Head down, he came bowling over through the long grass, he rolled once, twice, the wind being pushed out of him so he could hardly breathe before a tree stopped his spin. A heavy weight wrapped heavily around his chest, it was so tight, no air, he couldn’t breathe, gasping desperately, My God, this is how it ends .

Ed jerked awake and found that he was being almost crushed by the massive weight of Buster’s torso.

“Get off! I can’t breathe! Off!”

Buster rolled to the side. “I sorry boss” he whispered, “had to stop yous from kickin’ out, you was thrashin’ somethin’ awful at the end there. It was another o your dreams wasn’t it?”

“Christ! I thought I was having a heart attack!”

Ed was back behind the wire fence with his three companions, two of them looking wide-eyed at him in disbelief. As he gasped for air he peered through the darkness at George, then John and lastly at Buster. Each breathe smelt like pure heaven to him. He finally started to calm down and found the strength to look. He remembered the smoker and peaked over the tuft of grass they were hiding behind. There was no trace of the man. He looked up at the old wooden post nearest to him. There, near the top was a clear but faded notch where it looked like a gunshot had grazed and splintered the wood many years before. He shook his head in quite wonder. Finally, he addressed the small group.

“Yes, it was.” He looked at John and George. “I can’t explain it right now, you’re just gonna have to trust me on this. I think there’s going to be more than one of them; in fact, I’m pretty sure we could be up against at least eight men. Now that changes things quite a bit so I wouldn’t feel any less about you if you wanted to sit things out and stay here, but I want to see what’s in that barn, and it would help to know who is in that house.”

He left the sentence open, staying quiet, waiting for them to think about what he had said. He knew Buster was still in because of Grace. It didn’t take too long for the guys to look at each other, nod, turn back to Ed and almost in unison say “We’re in!”

“Good job!” he replied, “Okay, same plan, but be careful, see if you can find out who and how many are in the house. Back here in ten minutes. Let’s go!”

He stood and spread the rusty old barbed-wire so the others could go through. He looked to the post beside him again and stared at the large nick out of the wood, faded but still visible even in the pale vaporous light of the moon. He shivered briefly but he kept quiet.

Even with the other two helping stretch the fence it was a squeeze for Buster to get his sizeable torso through the barbed-wire but he made it, just catching the back of his shirt. Ed came through last as John held the wire for him, he nodded his thanks then the two pairs ran in opposite directions, Buster and Ed went right towards the barn, John and George went to the left of the building, unknowingly retracing the steps Ed had taken in his dream. As Buster and Ed worked their way to the big barn they could see a bunch of cars parked outside the house, confirming Ed’s fears.

Josh was nearly through the rope that bound his wrists when he heard a scraping sound. He stopped dead, held his breath… and listened. He strained his ears. There it was again, very faint, someone on the outside of the building, just behind where he sat but on the other side of the wooden siding. Whoever it was moved away from Josh, closer to where he imagined the door would be. He rubbed furiously at the hoe’s blade, his skin raw from the friction. He froze once more, a creek from the other end of the barn, the door opening? The masking tape had given easily and at last the rope gave way, he snatched the hoe so it didn’t bang down. He tried to get to his feet but his legs felt wobbly and weak. He wouldn’t panic, BA wouldn’t panic, BA would go right out there and bust some fools heads, but Josh didn’t feel quite that brave. On all fours now he tried again to stand and this time succeeded, rubbing his wrists and hands to get the circulation going in them. The boy got on tippee-toes but the wood sides were just a little too high for him to see anything. He forced his bare feet to move him forward to the edge of the stall; loose hay got stuck between his toes. He ignored it. His eyes were very used to the dark but it was still nearly pitch black so he used his hands to guide his way along the side. He reached the last part of the stall and peaked around the end to where he heard the noise come from. He saw what looked to him like a large sliding single barn door with a small access door built into it. The small door was open a little, the moonlight called him to go that way, but he knew that he wasn’t alone in the barn, someone had just come through that same door. He ducked down and scampered in the opposite direction, to the back of the barn, past three more stalls. Back here it was totally dark again, he slowed, hands out in front of him, feeling his way forward. Panic was taking over, making him short of breath, he couldn’t hear anything now except blood rushing around his head and in his ears, like the engine of a jet plane. A jet plane! Daddy’s plane. Daddy! His toes hit a step, he stumbled, tripped up a second step before his legs gave way, his shins grazing on the step, his shoulder jarring into a table, it was big and heavy but it shook. A noise like a can toppling over almost covered the “Ouch!” that came through Josh’s lips, almost, but not quite. Complete panic took over now, not thinking, he turned and ran as fast as his legs would carry him, towards the door, towards the moonlight and escape. He fixed his eyes on the strip of light, he pumped his arms, his legs, but the barn was so long, it was taking forever, his legs felt like lead. The light, just get to the light, the door, outside, keep going. Darkness, the light had disappeared completely, gone, in the blink of an eye. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened to the light until it was too late, he ran straight into the chest of a man, a big man.