Dark Eden

‘Good
good
shot.’
    It was big fat Dixon Blueside, and here he was, right up by Valley Neck, way way past Lava Blob where he and everyone else from Family were supposed to stop. With him were David Redlantern’s little buddy Met, and another silly brainless newhair boy called John Blueside. They all three came running over, laughing, to finish off the little buck that was shivering and threshing about on the ground.
    ‘What are you
doing
?’ I yelled at them. ‘This is our buck and you aren’t even supposed to be here.’
    ‘Leave him alone!’ Jeff screamed at them. ‘Leave my Brownhorse alone!’
    I’d never seen him angry like that. He’s normally so calm, like he’s looking down on Eden from some faraway place from where everything can be clearly seen and everything can be forgiven and understood.
    ‘Brownhorse?’ mocked Dixon, driving his spear deep into the animal’s quivering side, pulling it out, driving it back in. ‘Brownhorse? Since when has a woollybuck got a bloody name?’
    His two followers laughed.
    ‘Get off him!’ Jeff shouted. He had got up to his feet, and was trying to pull Dixon away from the buck.
    Dixon’s face darkened.
    ‘You’ll get off
me
if you know what’s good for you, you little clawfoot creep.’
    But Jeff wouldn’t let go until the two boys took hold of him and threw him to the ground. Even so he made three big bloody scratches with his nails down Dixon’s hairy back.
    ‘We’ve got an agreement,’ I told them. ‘You’d better leave us now and clear off to far side of Lava Blob. That was the deal we made with your Family Head. That was the deal that was written down.’
    ‘I’ll come to you in a minute, my little darling,’ Dixon said. ‘But right now we’re talking to clawfoot Jeff.’
    He hit Jeff hard with the butt end of his spear as he said this, and his little friends laughed and began to join in.
    ‘This is
really
happening, Jeff!’ Met mocked. ‘You
really
are here!’
    ‘Gela’s eyes, Dixon! Stop this!’ I shouted. ‘You’ll do for Jeff if you carry on like that!’
    Jeff was curled up on the ground with his arm over his face, all bloody.
    ‘Who says we don’t want to do for him, my darling?’
    And now it was my turn to try and drag them back, pulling at Dixon’s shoulder with my one good arm and my one hurt one.
    He turned to me.
    ‘Looks like we’re going to have to teach you a lesson too,’ he said, and he looked at me like David Redlantern sometimes did, like I was a juicy piece of meat and he was hungry hungry hungry. He gave me a cruel smile.
    ‘Come on, lads,’ he said. ‘Creepy clawfoot’s going nowhere. Let’s deal with the pretty one first.’
    So now they threw me onto the ground and straight away Dixon was on top of me, straddling me with his big fat thighs.
    ‘Pretty pretty Tina,’ he hissed. ‘Pretty, pretty, pretty. All that power it gives you, eh? All that power. You can get boys to do anything you want just by smiling at them. You can pick them up and put them down again just as you please. Slip one waking, cold shoulder the next. However the fancy takes you. However it suits you best. Isn’t that right?’
    ‘Get off me!’ I screamed.
    ‘So how do you like it when the power is the other way round, eh, Tina? How do you like it when fat old Dixon Blueside has the power?’
    He looked at the boys.
    ‘Slip or no slip, eh? Slip or no slip with pretty pretty Tina? Which is it going to be, eh, my mates, now
we’re
the ones who’ve got the choice? Pretty Tina, who isn’t even in Family any more so the Laws don’t apply. Slip or no slip? Hmmm, let me see. Let me see. What’s it going to be?’
    Michael’s names, I could feel his fat dick hardening under his wrap.
    ‘Slip her one, Dixie,’ said Met.
    ‘Yeah, slip her,’ said John Blueside, with his nasty little eyes all shiny with hate.
    Dixon started to pull at my wrap. Well, I screamed and screamed and screamed and suddenly –
blam!
–
my
boys were back: John, Gerry, my Dix, my Harry, bursting out from the trees, yelling and shouting and waving spears and clubs.
    ‘Gela’s tits!’ went Met and John Blueside and off they ran, back towards Family as fast as they could, while Dixon was still clambering to his feet.
    Dixon’s mouth was hanging open. He wasn’t smiling any more. He could see he was all alone against three angry boys and one
big
big angry man that was my brother Harry. (And Harry
was
a big man when it came to a fight, even if