She looked at him now and smiled. “I’m glad I met you, Ted. You’ve kept me sane these last two weeks, do you know that? I think Frank would have driven me quite mad if you hadn’t arrived.”
“Ha! Yeah, that geezer’s an odd one, ain’t he? His heart is in the right place though.”
Jackie nodded. “It is. It’s his heart that led to him being with us in the first place.”
“What d’you mean?”
“It was Frank’s coach that brought us here. The company we hired let us down at the last minute. With those black stones freaking everyone out, most of their drivers had called in sick. Frank worked for the same company and gave up his day off rather than let the kid’s weekend get cancelled. None of us had ever met him before all this started.”
“You’re joking? He’s certainly one of the family now. When I first met Eric, he told me he wasn’t one of you either at the start, that he used to work here as a volunteer.”
“Yes. When we arrived here, there were lots of staff—cleaners, groundsmen, et cetera. Soon, as the news hit about the attacks, they left to be with their families. They all lived local, but we were a lot farther from home, so it wasn’t so easy for us to flee. Eric was the only original member of staff who stayed. He was divorced, no kids.”
Ted laced his fingers together and look at the ground. “I was divorced too. I was a bad husband. Spent my nights down the pub and my days working. My dad brought me up thinking women were there to look after a man while he made the money. I never challenged that opinion until Chloe was born. The older she got, the more I couldn’t bear the thought of a man treating her the way I treated her mum. By then it was too late, my marriage was already loveless.”
Jackie grasped his forearm and looked at him. “That’s sad, but at least you changed, even if it was too late. I think where we end up as people is more important than where we start.”
He nodded. “Yeah, well, my ex-wife and I got on better after the divorce than we ever did married. Was all for the best.”
“I think if there’s any good to come of this, it’s that we can all let go of the past.”
Ted sipped his tea, an excuse to move his arm out of her grasp. He offered the mug to Jackie a moment later. “We should share if it’s running low.”
She smiled and accepted the drink. After a moment, she turned to him and asked a question. “Are you still planning on leaving?”
“What?” He tried to look like he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Oh, come now, Ted, don’t play games. You spend every minute working, barely talking to a soul. It feels like you’re trying to finish the job as quickly as you can without getting to know anybody.”
“The demons could be here any day. I’m working as hard as I can to make us safe.”
She nodded. “True, but I can tell you’re still planning to go. There’s a far-away look in your eyes, and I know you’re thinking of someplace else. But sometimes I think I catch you feeling sad at the thought of leaving us. You’re starting to like this place, aren’t you?”
“I…” He sighed. “Yes, it’s been… easier here than it has been in a long time.”
“You think we’re doomed?”
He wanted to say no, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie. “I do, yes.”
“So, you’re going to leave us to our fates? You don’t want to be here when it happens.”
It didn’t seem like she was berating him, more just trying to get the facts straight. “I’m doing all I can to ensure you have a fighting chance. I’ve done more for this place than anyone has—”
She put a hand up and halted him. “You have, without question. If you want to leave, no one has any right to chastise you. I just worry about whether you could live with yourself afterwards.”
The statement drew a derisory snort from Ted. “Don’t worry about my conscience, Jackie. I’ll be okay.”
She pointed towards the castle. In front of its main entrance, Philip corralled the camp’s dozen preteens. In the last few days, the man had started telling a story each morning. He particularly had a flair for his retelling of The Gruffalo. Ted assumed it was a way for him to work through his grief after losing his son, Bray.
Jackie looked at Ted, but kept her arm pointed towards the group of children. “These children need every adult they can cling to. We need to protect them, Ted. We owe it to whatever future might be left.”
“The only child I owe anything to is my dead daughter,” he snapped, growing angry. His aggressive impulses had lessened recently, but he realised now how close to the surface they remained.
“I understand that, Ted, but what would Chloe want you to do? Ask yourself. Wouldn’t she want you to give these children the chance she never got?”
“Be careful, Jackie.”
But she didn’t heed his warning. Instead, she kept on at him. “Chloe’s memory shouldn’t be a dagger in your heart, Ted. She should be the smile on your lips. Keep her with you as a strength, not a weakness. These children need you now, and I think you need them too. Whatever promises you made Chloe aren’t as important as keeping these children alive. She wouldn’t want her daddy to run away. She’d want you to be a hero.”
Ted snarled and feared he might lash out. If he hurt Jackie, it would be the end of him. It would mean he truly had lost control. “Y-You have no right,” he said. “I…” He felt a tear slip onto his cheek and nestle in his stubble. He clenched his fists in fury. How dare this woman play with his emotions. How
