Tony Littlejohns - The Hoffmann Plague

‘Is everything okay?’ asked Georgie. ‘You both look troubled.’

‘Well, we’ve just driven past Jamie’s brother’s house; it’s the first time he’s been up here since it happened,’ replied Jane.

‘Oh, you poor thing,’ said Sarah, reaching over to put her hand on his. Georgie said how sorry she was, too.

‘Thanks,’ said Jamie. ‘I’ll be okay; it just brought it all back to me. Plus, we’d also just driven past the hospital and seen all the bodies for the first time.’

‘I know;’ said Georgie, ‘we’ve been past there ourselves. It’s a hell of a sight, isn’t it?’

‘It’s odd, you know;’ said Jane, ‘we knew the extent of the deaths because there’s no one around any more… but we’d only seen single people or families in the houses we went in. Suddenly seeing hundreds lined up like that was a real shock to us.’

‘I’m sure it was,’ said Sarah. ‘Our father knew people in authority and he was told early on that they were digging mass graves in a secret location somewhere, but most of them either didn’t get finished or didn’t get filled before it was too late. The hospitals at Eastbourne, Hastings and Bexhill were swamped and they were turning people away as there weren’t enough beds, facilities or staff to cope with them all. Most people just went home to die as there was nothing that could be done.’ She shook her head then got up and came back with a bottle of whisky and four glasses, but Jane declined.

‘Well, cheers!’ Georgie toasted. ‘Here’s to the living.’ They all repeated the toast and took a drink.

‘… And to the not yet born…’ Jane added, quietly. Both women looked at her in amazement.

‘Yes, I’m pregnant,’ she said and gave them a weak smile.

‘Wow!’ said Sarah.

‘Bloody hell!’ added Georgie.

‘Well, congratulations to you both… if that’s appropriate to how you’re feeling,’ said Sarah, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

‘Well, to be honest,’ said Jane, ‘it was a complete shock as it certainly wasn’t planned. We thought we’d been careful.’

‘How far gone are you?’ asked Sarah.

‘I’m well over two weeks late, which is unheard of for me. It must have happened around the time we met you; so that’s, what, about five weeks? I’ve been down all week and struggling with it. I only told Jamie last night.’ She was silent for a few seconds and then added ‘I’m terrified!’ and burst into tears.

Georgie moved next to Jane and put her arms around her. ‘It’s okay, my love, you’ll be fine.’

‘But will I?’ said Jane through her tears. ‘How? I don’t know anything about pregnancy or childbirth, and there are no doctors or hospitals any more, or medical supplies…’

‘Well, it probably won’t be of any consolation to you at the moment,’ said Sarah, ‘but you must bear in mind, my dear, that women were having babies for hundreds of thousands of years before doctors or hospitals existed… and the human race survived and prospered! I completely understand your fear, though; I was terrified, too, when I fell pregnant with Lisa – and that was when we did have hospitals and doctors!’

Jane gave a snort and a small laugh, wiped her eyes and smiled at her. ‘Thank you, Sarah, that does make me feel a little better!’

‘And remember,’ Sarah added, ‘that I’ve had a child and your friend Emma has had two, also, so you won’t be entirely alone and without support or knowledge.’

Jane got up, went round the table to give Sarah a hug and thanked her. Georgie jumped up and said ‘Right – this calls for a celebration!’ She disappeared down into the cellar and came back up with a dusty bottle of expensive champagne.

‘We’ve had this for a few years,’ she said, ‘and were waiting for a suitable occasion to open it. To be honest, we’d sort of given up hope in there being one again, but this seems as good a time as any!’

She fetched four champagne flutes, corked the bottle and poured them all a glass, then raised a toast; ‘To the baby!’

‘ To the baby!’ they repeated and drank a mouthful.

‘That’s lovely,’ said Jamie.

‘It could do with being rather colder,’ said Sarah, smiling, ‘but beggars can’t be choosers!’

‘Have you had a chance to think of any names yet?’ asked Georgie.

Jamie smiled and shook his head, but Jane said ‘Well, actually… During some of my long nights lying awake worrying about it all, I did think of a couple of names for if it ever happened! If it’s a boy I’d like Robbie, as my surname is Roberts – though he’d have Jamie’s surname, which is Parker. If it’s a girl I’d like Annie.’

She looked enquiringly at Jamie, who nodded and said ‘Fine with me.’ He then had a thought and smiled. ‘I hope it is a girl, as I always wanted a daughter. Also, when she’s older I’ll be able to say to her “Annie, get your gun!”’ They all burst into laughter and Georgie raised another toast to Robbie or Annie.

While the food cooked the sisters showed them around their property. It was a lovely place and a good size, without being unmanageable for them. Max followed them, sniffing at everything, but was well-behaved and didn’t bark or make a fuss when they came to the chickens and goats. They showed them the beehives, chicken coops and outbuildings, and pointed out the stream nearby where they got their water from. The vegetable field was well laid out and the small orchard was well-tended; all the trees had been trained to a small size to make harvesting easier.

Since the plague they had reduced the vegetable-growing to suit just their needs. Without the workers to tend the crops or the public to sell them to, there was no point growing more than they needed or could use. On a patch of lawn near the house was a raised mound of earth with a wooden cross on it, where they’d buried their father.

‘We plan to get a few horses soon,’ said Georgie. ‘There are many in the area, running wild in the fields now, with no one to ride them. They’ve got plenty to eat and seem to be looking after themselves. We can easily make a couple of stables in the outbuildings. We’re going to need them in the near-future, as the petrol and diesel that’s left becomes unusable.’

This was something that Jamie hadn’t given any thought to, and had no knowledge about, so he enquired further.

‘Well,’ answered Sarah, ‘Dad did some research early on while he was still able to, and found that there wasn’t really any hard data on the subject. Estimates varied hugely, but the general consensus seemed to be that fuel would become unusable within a year or so, probably. It’s something to do with the complex hydrocarbons breaking down, and air and water being mixed with the fuel also. Any fuel left unused in vehicles will go off quicker because the tanks are vented, which will let air in. The best way to prolong its life is in sealed containers, apparently, but even that won’t make it last forever.’

Jamie scratched his head, lost in thought. This was news to him – and rather worrying news, at that – and he mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it before. They went back to the house and the sisters got the meal ready. He forgot about fuel problems for a while, though, as Sarah and Georgie had prepared a fantastic rabbit and pheasant pie, with lots of vegetables to go with it and gravy. They finished with some homemade goat’s yoghurt and dried fruit with honey.

After eating they retired to the lounge with coffee and sat talking for a couple of hours, looking out at the garden and the fields beyond as the sun moved westward. Max lay stretched out in front of the fire, having eaten the rabbit remains. Jane was feeling slightly easier in her mind after talking to Sarah, though she was still very nervous. She felt relieved, however, that she would have the help and support of the two sisters in the future. It was now late afternoon and they made ready to take leave of their friends. Sarah and Georgie came out to the car with them and they hugged each other.