Lets Drink To The Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

thought of herself that way. So much for saving yourself for your wedding night, girl.
    Never mind that: move, or you’ll not live long enough to marry. She rummaged through her rucksack, found her torch, switched it on and used it to light her way through the woods.
     
     
    T HE TREES CAME out; the ground dipped, became more even. She found herself on a path of some kind – a low, long depression in the ground, leading off to the side and down. Something loomed up beside it; a concrete platform a couple of feet taller than her, on top of which stood a couple of old benches, a bus shelter and a house where no lights shone.
    Dani aimed her torch at the house and played the beam first over boarded-up windows, then a sign on the platform: ASH FELL. An old railway station; the path was where the track had lain. At either end there was a ramp down to ground level. She climbed up the nearest, onto the platform. An asphalted path led from it up the hillside. Easier going than she’d had, but she found herself flinching back from it. It looked like a long piece of bone, leading up into the darkness, and the trees seemed to crowd all the more closely round it. And she was cold. And she was tired.
    She looked at the house instead. Must have been the stationmaster’s. The boards covering the front door had gone. She ventured inside. The interior was gutted, but she was able to sweep a section of floor clear of debris, unpack her sleeping bag and unroll it. So cold. So tired. She just needed sleep. Rest.
    Not just yet, lass. She unpacked Dad’s old primus stove, heated the last of her bottled water over it and mixed it with one of the packet soups she’d taken, then climbed into the sleeping bag. She drank the soup as quickly as she could. So tired. This place was horrible- god knew what else might be in here with her. Or outside, in these woods. But she was too exhausted to be afraid anymore. And so she closed her eyes and slept.
     
     
    2
     
    P EOPLE WERE STANDING over here. Some wore hospital smocks and some wore army uniforms. She couldn’t see their faces, but she knew that was a good thing. Then one of them crouched, bringing his face close to hers. Except he didn’t have a face. There was just a hole. In a moment it would touch her. Dani tried to scream, but couldn’t.
    She woke. She lay on a hard floor in a dark place; the air was cold and damp. There was a doorway, a pale blur. A tall thin shape stepped into it.
    That was when she did scream.
    A moment later a torch beam flashed into her face. She bit the scream off – she remembered now. The van, the chase, the railway station. Here. Under the sleeping bag, she fumbled in her jacket for the knife.
    “It’s alright.” The voice was male. It sounded elderly and a bit posh. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
    Dani stayed still. She was fully clothed under the bag; her body heat would dry out her socks and trainers quicker that way, and they couldn’t be stolen.
    The torch lowered. She saw a little of the man’s face: thin, lined. “I heard noise,” he said. “Some sort of commotion.”
    “Yeah.” Dani sat up, keeping her hand on the knife. “Hitched a lift. Driver wanted me to – you know.”
    “Oh, I see. How awful. So you ended up here?”
    “Thought he might’ve been waiting for me. Stupid really. He’ll be long gone. But... thought I’d try and climb over the hill.”
    “Alone, in the dark, at this time of year?” The voice sounded amused. “You were lucky. Ash Fell can be dangerous. Steep, treacherous.” A pause. “Look, this land is my property, but I have no objection to you staying here. If you want, however...”
    “What?”
    “You’re welcome to spend the night in my home.” He raised a hand. “I assure you that you’ll be safe. There are many rooms, you can take your pick. I can’t offer luxury, but I can offer a bed, a better one than this, a decent meal and a proper breakfast before you go on your way tomorrow.”
    Dani