She got into the Toyota, drove into the road then reversed back onto the drive next door, stopping close to the front door. They got changed into the boiler suits, boots, gloves and face masks, then Jamie picked up a broom and the shovel, while Jane took the body-bags. They went in and up the stairs to the rear bedroom first. Although muted by the masks they could still smell the decomposing bodies.
They laid a tarp on the floor beside the bed, pulled the covers off and used the shovel and broom to push the first body onto the tarp. It was a repulsive task and they also felt sad for having to treat the remains this way, but there was no alternative. They pulled the sides and ends together, taped them up so it was sealed, then carried it down the stairs and lifted it into the truck. They repeated the process with the second body and then moved to the small bedroom and did the same with the little girl. Under their masks and visors, both had tears in their eyes.
When all three bodies were in the truck they went back up and brought down the bedding and mattresses and piled them on top of the bodies. They stripped off the protective clothing and last of all the gloves, then threw them on top, too. After putting their shoes back on, they closed the garage and house and got into the truck. Jane drove to the skip on Beeching Road and reversed up to it; the remains of the three other bodies were still smoking.
Jamie opened the tailgate, climbed in near the cab and pushed the mattresses and clothing into the skip with the clean shovel, while Jane helped from the side with the other broom. It wasn’t an easy task as the mattresses were heavy, but they got it done. Both of them were silent throughout. They did the same with the body-bags, threw the broom and shovel in after them and poured the bottles of methylated spirits over the lot. He’d thought it would do the same job, but save on precious petrol.
They moved the truck away then he lit a rag wrapped around a stone and threw it into the skip. The meths ignited and they got back in the truck and drove home in silence. Jane parked on the drive then they went inside and through to the kitchen, where Jamie poured two glasses of Scotch and passed one to her. They raised their glasses in a silent toast and downed them.
‘Well, thank God that’s over and done with,’ said Jane.
Ten
Over a late lunch they decided to go to Jane’s apartment that afternoon and move her possessions into next door. She was eager to get settled-in as soon as possible, and Jamie asked her how much stuff she had to move. She thought for a minute, going over in her mind what she needed and what she wanted to bring with her to the new house.
‘I think we’ll get it all into two truck-loads easily. Obviously, there’s a lot of crap that has no place in my new life. Apart from some personal and sentimental things it’s mainly clothes, bedding, some favourite cooking equipment, some books and various other things. After that it’s just food and water that I’ve stored. It might be an idea to bring extra water containers and a funnel as I’ve got a lot of rain-water collected on the roof. We can bring it back and empty it into the new water-butt.’
Jamie thought he would test her a little; with a wry smile he said ‘I suppose we’ll need to make a separate trip for all your shoes.’
She feigned indignation, but couldn’t sustain it and burst out laughing. ‘Good one! Actually, I’m more of a jeans, boots and comfortable shirt kind of girl.’
He smiled. ‘I guessed that, which was why I said it.’
She looked wistful for a second. ‘God; how nice it feels to laugh again – I mean, really laugh!’
‘I know what you mean. I haven’t done too much laughing in recent months.’ They smiled.
‘You know something I find ironic? I – along with most women – used to spend a small fortune every year on “beauty” products;’ she mimed inverted commas with her fingers, ‘toners, cleansers, moisturisers, make-up, etc. I haven’t used any of that crap in over three months, and my skin is in better shape now than it was back then. It makes me think that us women have been sold a crock of shite for most of our lives!’
Jamie laughed and nodded. ‘Well, that’s the power of advertising and the media for you.’
‘Furthermore,’ she continued, ‘I haven’t shaved my legs or armpits in as many months and I’ve stopped using deodorant, because what’s the point? And I often go for days without washing. I’ve got used to all of that by necessity, and yet I feel more comfortable with myself than I have in years; it’s bizarre! Oh – and I’ve also lost well over a stone from all the right places!’
Jamie mimicked an American advertising voice-over. ‘Are you unhappy with your beauty regime? Tired of products that just don’t deliver? Want to lose weight? Then what you need is The Hoffmann Plague to get you into shape: it’s the ultimate detox!’ Jane was in the process of taking a mouthful of coffee and it spurted out all over the table as she burst into laughter. She wiped her mouth with her hand and they couldn’t stop laughing. After a while they composed themselves and cleared things away, smiling as they did so. It felt so nice to be able to smile and laugh again with someone, even in the face of adversity.
They decided Jane should take the Toyota to her apartment and start packing: there wasn’t much Jamie could do in that respect, so he would bring the Land Rover in two hours and help carry things down and load up the trucks. Before she left, he took the Smith and Wesson from the dresser drawer and handed it to her, along with a handful of extra shells. Things turned serious again after their brief interlude of laughter.
‘I don’t think you should go out on your own unarmed any more, so take this for now; it should fit in your pocket.’ He showed her how to open the cylinder and push the ejector rod to remove the spent shells. ‘You don’t even need to cock it. All modern revolvers are double-action, which means the first half of the trigger-pull cocks it and the second half releases the hammer to fire it. But you can cock it manually if you want. That looks especially good if you’re pointing it at someone; it shows intent!’
He demonstrated it to her, and how to safely release the hammer again if she didn’t need to fire it. He reloaded the gun and gave it to her. She had a deep inside pocket in her coat that the revolver fitted in, and the spare shells went in her left outside pocket.
‘I’m going to cut down the shotgun that we got from your attackers and make another sawn-off for you to have. It’ll be a good weapon to carry around with you; there’s nothing better at close range and it doesn’t take much aiming. And believe me; no one’s going to fuck with you if you’re pointing a sawn-off at them! Plus, of course, if you’re out and you see a rabbit or a duck, or something, you can bag it for our dinner! We’ll have some practice either tonight or tomorrow.’
She gave a slightly nervous but grateful smile and, on impulse, gave him a quick hug. ‘Thanks, Jamie,’ she said, and then left. He heard the Toyota start up and drive off, then looked at his watch to note when he had to meet her. He picked up the shotgun, went into the garage and lit the gas lamp. He hadn’t looked at it properly since picking it up from the road the day before, but it was an older design than his, with external hammers rather than the internal ones that his model had. It looked a bit short and, on inspection, he found that someone had already cut down the barrel by probably a foot.
He secured it in a vice on the work-bench and cut off the barrels with a hacksaw to a few inches in front of the fore-end, then removed the burrs and smoothed the ends with a round file and sandpaper. He made a new attachment for the sling and fitted it on the front stock, so Jane would be able to carry it on her shoulder by its strap if she wanted to. After that he reloaded it and went back into the kitchen.