The Power of Five Oblivion

were at the top end of the flight. Jamie and I moored the boat and we all stepped off.
    The villagers had watched us as we made our progress and I was able to examine them a little more closely. They were all a bit like the major and his wife – very polite and civilized. They didn’t look like survivors at all. Forget the fact that the world had more or less come to an end … they’d be delighted if you’d join them for a drink on the terrace or maybe a game of cards. There were about fifteen of them. The youngest was the boy – his name was Cosmo – who’d helped open the locks. There was a couple who must have been in their eighties. The rest were all middle-aged, and although my first impression had been that they looked healthy, I now decided there was something off-putting about the whole lot of them. It was in their eyes. They were red-rimmed and had a sort of glaze to them. The colour of their skin was odd too. It was waxy. But then, I had to remind myself, even I probably didn’t look too good myself. Nobody did.
    “We’ll eat in the pub,” the major told us. “Everyone’s going to want to meet you and hear how you got here. Shall we say six o’clock? With no electricity, we all tend to go to bed early.” He turned to the Traveller. “There are a few things I’d like to talk about alone, if you don’t mind. Pas devant les enfants! “Not in front of the children. I’d learnt enough French to understand that. “Suppose you come over at five thirty? And they join us later?”
    “As you like.”
    “Good! Well, I’ll give you a chance to tidy up and whatever, and I’ll see you later. Splendid boat. Tomorrow you must show me around…”
    The major and his wife drifted off and the rest of the villagers followed. Only Cosmo remained behind, sitting on one of the lock gates, swinging his legs. He looked innocent, but at the same time I wondered if he was watching us, making sure we didn’t leave.
    The Traveller was wary too. “Listen,” he said to us, once we were alone. “It may be that these people mean well. Maybe all they want to do is give us dinner. We have to go along with them, at least to begin with. But just be careful. They seem to be well-fed and they’ve managed to survive – which means they must be smarter than they look. Be on your guard the whole time.”
    “Are you going over to meet them?” Jamie asked. He looked, and sounded, unhappy.
    “I don’t think I have any choice. I’ll go and see if I can find out what’s going on. Holly, keep your gun with you. And be prepared to use it.”
    “They were keeping something from you,” Jamie said. That was exactly what I’d thought, but with him it was more than a hunch. He had used his power to see into their minds. “I wanted to know what they were thinking,” he went on. “There was definitely something there but they managed to conceal it. It was almost as if they didn’t want to think about it. Like they were too ashamed.”
    “Let’s hope I can find out,” the Traveller said. “And if I do, I’ll let you know.”
    He left about an hour later, setting off for his appointment with the major. The boy was still there, still swinging his legs, chewing on that bone of his again. There was something about him that got on my nerves. Jamie and I stayed on the boat, hoping that the Traveller would get back – but twenty minutes later there was no sign of him. We waited until five to six. Then Jamie made the decision.
    “We’d better go.”
    We left together, taking care to fasten the main door. That’s something I should have mentioned about the Lady Jane . Although you wouldn’t have known to look at it, the boat had all sorts of locks and bolts. I’m not saying it was impossible to break into, but it would take a while and you’d need a good-sized hammer or crowbar. The drawers and cupboards were also fastened. All that was missing was a self-destruct mechanism if anyone tried to tamper with anything – and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Traveller hadn’t managed to rig one of those up too.
    It was already growing dark and without meaning to we quickened our pace, keeping close together. The canal looked darker and more dead than ever. The Lady Jane was wrapped in shadow. I felt more uncomfortable with every step I took. I hated leaving it behind.
    We walked across the green with the houses spread out in front of us and I remembered Miss Keyland telling us how, before the terror, there had