The Sentinels of Eden, Books 1-4

Chapter 98

Chapter 41

Noah drummed on the door of the sleeping Gracewood farmhouse so hard that dust began to drift down from the lintel.

‘They’re close. I can feel him!’ he announced when Lily opened the door in her yellow dressing gown and smiley-face slippers.

The setting moon had barely given enough light to see by when he’d stumbled from the cave, but his quick glance at the hallway clock showed that it was now already past seven, and the new sun was almost strong enough to be useful. It had been impossible to move through the dimly lit scrub at the pace he wanted without risking injury, and he’d known better than to hurt Tessa like that. Now he could finally get going properly. He pushed past Lily and barged into the kitchen to look for the keys to his ute.

‘Why isn’t anyone doing anything? They’re so close! I stepped out this morning to check messages and she was right, I could feel how close they are. Where is everyone?’

‘Noah, calm down,’ Lily said, yawning as she poured herself a glass of water. ‘Bane wants to get the timing right, that’s all. They got back from Melbourne after midnight. They’ve been chasing them across the state non-stop since they left you. They were exhausted. They couldn’t risk trying to get her away when they could hardly see straight themselves.’

‘Fine. Let them sleep. I’ll go myself!’ he snapped, snatching his keys from the hook.

But Sergeant Loxwood’s solid frame was now blocking the doorway. He was showered, dressed in his uniform and looked ready to go, and yet he stood with his arms crossed, looking as immovable as city traffic. One thick eyebrow was raised.

‘Where exactly are you going, Noah?’

Noah paused in the face of his calm authority, but bleak determination settled itself around his shoulders within moments. He drew himself up. ‘I’m going to get my wife and son back. Get out of my way, Mick.’ He had no patience for Sergeant Mick Loxwood and his official procedures.

‘As I understand it, Mr Ashbree, if you put yourself under direct threat, your wife will be compelled to act. Are you sure you’re willing to risk the consequences of that?’

Noah’s saw his own disbelief reflected in Lily’s face as they realised the double implications of that statement. He slumped against the wall, despair and stress overtaking all clear thought.

‘Lily, would you mind putting the kettle on? I think I’m going to need a caffeine hit,’ the policeman requested as he relieved Noah of his keys.

‘Did someone say coffee?’ Tim’s bleary voice called from the living room.

Sergeant Loxwood turned to Lily. ‘Who is that? I could have sworn there was no one sleeping on the couch when I went to bed last night.’

Pulling mugs out of the cupboard, she smiled groggily. ‘Tim, get dressed and come in here,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘I’ll make you a cup while you introduce yourself to our local police sergeant. Mick, Tim is one of Bane’s Army Reserve friends. He drove almost non-stop from Brisbane yesterday and he’s only had, what, four hours’ sleep since then? We tried to be quiet when he arrived during the night.’

Tim yawned as he entered the kitchen, still pulling on his T-shirt. He shook hands with the policeman. ‘Nice to meet you, Mick.’ Then he turned to Noah and caught him in a gruff hug. ‘I’m sorry, mate. I came as soon as I could.’

Sergeant Loxwood frowned at Lily. ‘I thought I asked you all not to tell anyone other than immediate family.’

She nodded and smiled sheepishly at him and then in an ironic reversal, Noah saw her put her finger to her lips to warn the policeman not to say too much to Tim, before turning her attention to the steaming kettle.

The sergeant pulled out a chair. ‘Not that I can condone anyone driving nineteen hours straight on their own; however, in this case I’m grateful you did. Since we can’t make use of my colleagues in this situation, I’ll admit I’m glad of the assistance.’

Tim looked a little confused by his statement but sat down without comment, cradling the mug Lily handed him.

Dallmin appeared from down the hall, looking fresh and energetic. He opened his mouth to greet the others but snapped it shut when he saw Tim, who waved politely and generously offered him his own coffee. Dallmin sipped at it, made a sour face and handed it straight back.

‘Please,’ Noah begged. ‘I can’t just sit here drinking coffee when I know where they are. I’ll stay out of the way but please can we go?’

Tim cracked his back noisily as he stood up again. ‘I assume Bane and Lainie are in your cottage, Lily? Come on, let’s get the lovebirds moving,’ he said before taking a couple of fast, scalding sips from the mug he was leaving.

Noah looked back at the young soldier in confusion. ‘Wait, you don’t know that Lainie isn’t here?’

Three mugs halted halfway to mouths.

‘What?’ Lily whispered, aghast.

‘I couldn’t wait for dawn before checking my phone this morning, and when I did there was already a text waiting. It had been sent at around four am. It just said “It’s time”. Lainie sent it.’

All five of them rushed for the door at once.

There was no response to Tim’s polite tap, and Noah wasn’t expecting one.

‘What are you doing?’ Tim asked in a panicked whisper as Noah opened the bedroom door. ‘How do you know for certain that she isn’t in there? What if they’re … you know?’

Noah ignored him and went straight in, and knew immediately that something was bat-crazy wrong. Instead of the note he’d expected to find, Bane himself really was there, dreaming out oblivious relaxed breaths. He shook him hard. No response. ‘This is impossible. He can’t be sleeping.’

The sergeant pushed his way into the room, inspecting the place like it was a crime scene. ‘Lainie’s boots aren’t here. So either she’s out feeding the chooks, or she put the mojo on him and snuck out during the night,’ the officer guessed, prodding at the sleeping form.

‘I have no clue how she did that. It shouldn’t be possible,’ Noah pleaded, feeling as if it was somehow his fault. Both his pregnant wife and his best friend were in mortal danger while he was stymied from helping and Bane slept. It just wasn’t right.

The sergeant took control. ‘Lily, Noah, Dallmin, let’s get the cars packed with anything you can think of that Tessa might need. Blankets, food, first aid, whatever. Tim, you have to wake him up. Now. Do whatever you have to.’

Noah was next to useless trying to think of what to take, so Lily shooed him away to help with Bane. By the time he reached the cottage again, Tim was in the kitchen rummaging around in one of the drawers. He pulled out a small sharp paring knife and turned to him with an anxious expression.

‘I’ve tried everything else. I can’t understand it. He never sleeps like this. Trust me, we’ve been on enough trips together for me to know. Did Lainie slip something into his hot cocoa or something, you think?’

‘So what are you going to do, exactly?’ Noah evaded, staring at the knife like it was a Huntsman spider.

Tim winked. ‘Payback. For the first and only time I ever slept through a wakeup call. Wish me luck,’ he said as he strode down the hall. ‘Oh, and maybe keep your distance a little.’

For nearly a minute Noah paced outside the bedroom door, and then a blood-freezing bellow of rage and horror split the early morning serenity. Something heavy was knocked over with a dull crash and something else thudded against one of the thin walls, making the whole cottage shudder and then become eerily still.

No sound. No movement. Noah reached towards the door handle …

THUNK.

The tip of the paring knife appeared through the wood, not far from Noah’s head. He stumbled back in shock, wondering how such a small knife could have embedded itself right through the door, and only just avoided being speared by it again as the door was flung open.

Bane blew right past him, bare-chested and bare foot. Blood dripped from the tip of his thumb on his left hand, but he didn’t seem to notice. Tim followed behind, looking ashen-faced and rubbing his throat, but then he turned and grabbed Bane’s boots and T-shirt from the floor as a hurried afterthought.

‘Noah. Time to end this,’ Bane snarled. ‘Where’s my bag, Tim?’

‘Locked in the boot of your car,’ Tim coughed out. ‘Um, just so you know, there’s also a police officer up at the house.’

Bane caught his tossed boots without a pause and ran out of the cottage.

The sergeant was waiting for him by his car with his keys. As Noah watched the Guardian move, he had to acknowledge that the policeman had been right. He’d seen Bane dance, played footy and soccer with him and seen him sparring with Tim, so he knew he had lightning-fast reflexes and supernatural hand-eye coordination, but when Bane shoved his left foot into his boot, he tripped and embedded half the gravel driveway into his knee. Simply because he refused to slow down even a fraction. A second later he threw his shirt away when it took too long to find the arm hole. He was compelled to hurry, heedless of any consequence. The compulsion to protect was indisputable. Noah realised that Tessa could hurt herself badly if he placed himself in danger. The look in Bane’s eyes was so dangerous that even the sergeant flinched as the keys were torn from his grip.

Opening the boot of the car, Bane unzipped a soft bag and pulled out a neatly tied bundle of heavy cloth, while Tim stepped in front of the sergeant.

‘You might not want to see what he’s doing,’ Tim suggested, and sighed when the police officer ignored him.

A sharp tug on a cord and the bundle rolled open, revealing an expensive looking collection of knives. Sergeant Loxwood’s lips tightened.

Noah watched with mixed feelings as Bane strapped a harness across his torso and another to his ankle, selecting a serious looking knife for each. Not again. He hated knives. They turned redeemable conflicts into impossible situations. He swallowed his bile and fought to come to terms with the idea that it might be a necessary evil if they wanted to get the girls back.

‘Take what you want,’ Bane snapped to the rest of them before heading for the driver’s seat, and Tim didn’t waste any time selecting a weapon and belting it on. The policeman grabbed a couple of small throwing knives and then slammed the boot shut.

It was just as well they didn’t give him a chance to choose one because he had no idea what he would have decided to do.

Lily opened the back door of the car for him, and then gestured for him to pass her the first-aid kit she had thrown onto the back seat. ‘Wait, Bane. Let me dress your hand. It won’t take long,’ she said.

Bane glanced at his thumb as if he hadn’t noticed the blood still dripping everywhere. He took the sterile pad she handed him but waved her away before she had a chance to bandage it.

‘Yes. Thank you, Tim. I owe you one,’ he mumbled, pressing the pad against the wound.

Tim paused with his hand on his door and looked into the back seat. ‘Did he sound sarcastic to you?’ he whispered to Noah. ‘I can’t tell. What does he mean “he owes me one”?’

The silver sedan roared to life and started to move just as Tim threw himself into the passenger seat. Noah craned his head to see Dallmin get into the police car and Mick trying to order him out of it again, but after a couple of seconds he gave up. The sergeant wasn’t going to risk letting Bane get too far ahead.

Noah looked back the other way to the house, where Lily was left standing alone by the front door, still in her pyjamas and with her arms crossed against the chill.