Page 22 of Five for Silver

The fields either side of them were greenand yellow with long stalks swaying in the breeze. This farm—it wasvibrant and active—it breathed life. His and Romeo’s farm wasbarren, dark where magpies roamed, and bodies lay buried in themud.

Their farm was death.

“Chad,” Josh coughed. “You good?”

“Yep.” He nodded, and approached the woman,heart drumming in his chest. Josh walked a pace behind.

“Lucinda Hastings?” Chad asked.

A prang of sadness hit her face. She lookedaway. “I prefer Lucy. The only person who called me Lucinda was mymother.”

Chad nodded. “Lucy. You’ve been … followingme.”

She chuckled softly, resting a hand againsther truck. “That makes it sound so sinister.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No,” Her brow folded with deep lines. “Iwanted to talk to you, but every time I saw you, I couldn’t bringmyself to. Once I waited outside the station for two hours, andwhen you came out you were smiling, so carefree, and I didn’t wantto ruin your day so I drove home, told myself to try again anotherday.”

“This has been going on for weeks.”

“I know,” Lucy said softly.

Chad glanced over his shoulder to Josh,puffed out, doing his best to look menacing.

“What did you want to talk about?” Chadasked.

Before Lucy could reply, her gaze skippedfrom Chad to over his shoulder—over Josh’s shoulder, too—fixing ona man heading down the slope of a field towards them. His bootssquelched, and he wore a flat cap and navy gilet over a brownshirt. A shotgun rested casually against his shoulder, pointing atthe sky, as he clutched the stock with one hand.

“Fuck.” Josh hissed, spinning around to facehim. He spread his body wide, covering Chad.

The man trudging closer didn’t spare them aglance. His eyes were fixed to his boots as he strode through thickmud to get to them. When he got close enough, he lifted his head,before removing his cap to reveal a mane of black hair. He paused,and shot them a weary look.

Chad flashed his badge, then Josh did thesame.

“Officers,” he said in greeting, beforenodding to Lucy, “Ma, you okay?”

Lucy smiled. “I’m fine.”

The man whistled, and four dogs appeared onthe horizon, two collies and two Labradors.

“Double fuck.” Josh shuffled backwards intoChad in full-on bodyguard mode.

The dogs ran down the slope each with a birdin their mouth. Their tails swished back and forth as they droppedthe game at the man’s feet.

“This is Andrew, one of my sons. Mac is onthe tractor in the field,” Lucy said, searching for him on thehorizon, but he’d gone over the crest of the hill. “Sorry, wherewere we…”

“I wanted to know why you’ve been followingme.” Chad reminded her.

Andrew sighed before gesturing to one of thecottages. “Let me put this away,” he lifted the gun, “then I’llcome over to yours, Ma, and make coffees while you talk.”

Lucy nodded, and Andrew strolled away. Awhistle called the dogs with their spoils to his heels, and theyfollowed him into one of the cottages.

There were five in a row each with a small,fenced garden out in the front. The one to the left looked theoldest with small windows and a low door. Paint had flaked from thedoor, and the small gate had a slat loose. The other cottages werebuilt to look similar, in keeping with the cottage aesthetic, butthe doors were bigger, and the windows were wider. Andrewdisappeared into a modern one, not having to duck to get his sixfeet of height through the door frame.

“This way,” Lucy said, gesturing Chadtowards her.

She went inside the middle cottage and heldthe door open for Chad and Josh. They removed their shoes andfollowed her into a snug living room. A fire crackled, and aboveit, photographs dotted the mantelpiece. Chad spotted Andrew with abrunette and a baby cradled in her arms. There was another man,too, with blond hair down to his shoulders, beaming at thecamera.

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