Dark Eden

behind as well.

    But we had a laugh when we got back to John and Jeff because they’d made a whole set of wraps to cover up John’s legs and arms and body and feet, and even a wrap to go over his head with little holes for eyes and mouth. And they’d greased it all up to keep it dry in the snow, and they’d stuck layers of smooth stonebuck skin onto the bottom of the footwraps with a special bendy glue they’d made by mixing up melted buckfeet and hot grease.
    ‘It’s boiling hot when you’ve got it all on,’ John said, peeping out of the little eye holes of the headwrap. ‘And Jeff chucked water all over it lots of times and it doesn’t get wet at all.’
    He pulled it off again. I’d hardly ever seen his face look so happy and excited.
    ‘Try it, Tina. You won’t believe how warm it is.’
    Jeff squatted behind him, at the entrance to the cave. He was watching us but he was mainly looking at Gerry. It was as if Gerry’s troubled face was a bit of writing that Jeff only had to read to know exactly what had happened down there with his mum, without Gerry or me saying anything at all.
    ‘Mind you, it took hours for Jeff and me to get it all tied on,’ John said. ‘But I reckon we could do it quicker and better next time we make one. We could make it all so it comes off easily, like this headwrap.’
    I put the thing on, looked out of the eye holes, peered at each one of the three of them.
    ‘It bloody stinks, John. It stinks like a woollybuck’s arse.’
    John laughed. Gerry laughed. Jeff looked at me like he was trying to read me too, though all he could see of my face was my two eyes. Then he began to laugh too, really merrily, like a little child.

    It was only a couple of wakings later that Janny Redlantern came to join us from Family, along with a friend of hers called Lucy Batwing, and Mehmet Batwing, who was a cousin of Lucy’s. (He was a funny bloke, that thin-faced Mehmet with his little pointy beard. He was friendly but always holding something back, and he had eyes that seemed to be waiting for you to make a fool of yourself.) And as for Lucy, Gela’s tits, she talked and talked and talked, and I thought she’d never shut up: I suppose it was because she was scared. But Janny was good to have there.
    ‘Thought you could do with a normal person for company, Tina,’ she told me, with a sideways look at John, all covered in glue and bits of string.
    She’d cheer the place up, I thought.
    And then, only a waking later, four Brooklyn kids came over: Mike, Dixon (we usually called him Dix) and Gela and Clare. They were all friends of mine back in Family, specially big tall grownup Gela, who I could really trust, and have a good laugh with too. And Dix, her younger brother, was a sweet pretty gentle boy that I’d had a little kiss and cuddle with once or twice.
    And then, only a few hours later on, when everyone was asleep and it was my turn to keep watch, my own little batface sister Jane came over with my big slowhead brother Harry. I heard them calling down below in Valley Neck, ‘Tina! Tina! It’s us!’
    I was pleased pleased to have Jane there, but Harry was a worry. He wasn’t good at thinking, and he got easily confused and upset like a kid, but because he had the strength of a big man, it could be a real job to calm him down.
    ‘It’s bad back in Family, Tina,’ Jane said, ‘it’s
bad
bad. Everyone’s arguing and blaming each other, and there’s all sorts of scary scary talk. Fat old Liz is even grimmer than usual and she’s always fretting that someone is going to try and push her out as group leader like Bella Redlantern got pushed out. Mum is frantic. Bloody David Redlantern and his lot are going round like they’re the real heads of Family instead of Caroline and Council. And the way people talk! Well, all I can say is you lot want to watch out. Some of them back there talk about coming over and forcing you lot to come back, some of them talk about driving you away forever, but I haven’t heard many say they should just leave you alone.’
    ‘What do you mean “you”?’ I said. ‘You’re here too now. You’re one of the ones they’re talking about.’
    Jane shrugged and pursed up her nice ugly batface.
    ‘I know. I must be bloody nuts.’
    John and me got people organized. We set up hunting parties. We had people look for clay to make pots for us, and look for blackglass, and gather wavyweed for ropes and string.
    We knew that where we were was a