Chapter 67: Chapter 67

*****

An hour later, we’ve made good progress. My brother is a strapping figure and between us we have made short work of the mess of brambles, thorns and aggressive undergrowth.

“Time for a break,” I say, mopping at my forehead.

Something delicious wafts by, and my nose turns the rest of me bodily around to follow the source.

“I thought you gentlemen might enjoy a break from all that.” It’s Sally, carrying two trays of something enormous. She passes one to me with a smile; the other to Ben, giving him a cool look as she does so.

Sausage, bacon and eggs all in a bread bun big enough to play frisbee with. And two beer cans dripping condensation.

I love a woman who understands men….

“Ah, Sal. That’s perfect. Thanks.”

“Anytime, Michael. I’ll send someone out for the plates in a while.”

The gargantuan sandwich clutched in both hands, I take a huge bite, hastily wiping at my mouth as a yolk bursts, back-splashing me with yellow gunge.

It's delicious and just what I'm ready for. Ben is chewing just as happily. The sandwich poised double-

handedly to stop it falling apart, I chew through enough calories to keep a family of four going for a week, washing it down with beer cold enough to freeze the throat.

Hard work, food and beer and, oddly enough, the company of my brother. We were never close, even as boys, and it feels good to…. To what? To make contact, I suppose.

Does it get any better?

…. The hairs on the back of my neck rise….

I'm not superstitious, but....

We're being watched….

I'm being foolish….

…. Surely?

All the worries flood back….

The spy?

Gulping down, I look left and right, trying to be casual about it.

Nothing….

I let my eyes roam the various windows above us: the back of the hotel. There shouldn't be anything there. All the glass at that angle is frosted: bathrooms and cloakrooms. But....

Still, I see nothing to raise that prickle on my neck.

But there is something on my radar….

Be rational….

You’ve seen something, but not consciously….

Something subliminal….

Ah….

I look down. A pair of black button eyes looks up; a gimlet stare fixed on me. Scruffy's stump of a tail raises small dust clouds.

When he sees he has my attention, he grins and the stare drops, eyes and nose triangulating on my sandwich. The grin splits his face, displaying enough teeth for a hyena.

The last time I saw that many teeth like that was in the mega-shark section at the dinosaur exhibition….

With a sigh and the flick of a dirty thumbnail, I flick a sausage from between and down. It moves through the air in a brief parabolic flight and vanishes, with a chop for eternity.

Ben coughs. “Needs to be loyal, eh?” But there’s a rare twinkle in his eye.

“Alright, I like him too.”

I’ve served my purpose. Scruffy shifts his butt, angling instead to Ben, who peels out a slice of bacon and drops it to him. “Thought you didn’t like the look of him?”

I shrug it off. “None of us can help the way we’re made, can we?”

“Tell me about it,” he mutters.

What’s that supposed to mean?

The humour in his eye has vanished, his usual morose expression morphing in and I think about how to lighten the mood again.

“Y’know might be no oil painting,” I say, “but he reminds me a bit of Archie.”

Ben squints down at the terrier. “I’d not thought of that, but you’re right. It’s around the nose, isn’t it.

That tuft of hair that’s sticking up.”

“Is that what it is? Hair? I thought you’d lost a toothbrush.”

He laughs, his face lightening again. “Hey, d’you remember that time…. we were just kids and Mom took us shopping to that butchers. Archie saw that chicken hanging from the hook with about a dozen others and jumped for it. Took the whole lot down and she had to pay for the lot….”

“Sure I remember it. We were eating chicken for weeks.”

Still laughing, beer-can in hand, he waves towards me. “Or that time there were those builders working in the place at the back and one of them had his dog with him and she was in season. Archie got to her and they were humping away when Dad dashed out and yelled SIT!”

“…. SIT!”

We both shout at the same time, pointing cans at each other, then burst out laughing. “And both bloody dogs tried to do it,” I say.

“Ah, happy times.” Ben shakes his head, taking a suck of his beer, then his face crumples. “If only life were still that simple.”

“Ben, what’s wrong?” He suddenly looks blue, a man carrying all the cares of the world on his shoulders.

Red-faced in the growing heat, he wipes sweat from his forehead on his sleeve then looks skywards.

“Ah, I just wonder sometimes if it's worth bothering even to try anymore.”

“Try what?” But I have an uncomfortable feeling that I know where this is going.

“Women. I sometimes think you can’t trust any of them.”

Yeah, right….

Privately, I admit that I know why Ben, for all that he is my brother, has difficulties with the opposite sex.

His fixed-view outlook on the world and how things are supposed to be done makes him inflexible and he can be…. What’s the right word?

…. Charmless.

“Let me guess. Marie?”

I had a feeling that would end in tears……

…. It’s not taken long either….

He looks close to tears. “Yeah, I found out she's got a boyfriend.”

Crap….

Just what he didn’t need….

…. after the antics of his wife before he found out….

“Pete? I thought she broke up with him?”

“She did, or at least he broke up with her. We had a couple of dates. You know….” He gestures to me, can in hand, some of the contents slopping a little as he waves it at me…. “…. she couldn't wait to get her pants off. No romance at all.” He takes a swig. “And then afterwards she told me she'd only slept with me to try to make Pete jealous.”

Double-crap….

“Did it?”

He snorts. “Apparently not, he's still seeing some other girl. But Marie still didn't want to get back with me.... I mean, what does it take?”

He sits on an old tree stump, sucking at the beer. “All I want is a bit of…. you know…. companionship.

Someone to talk to. To have fun with. Like you do with Charlotte.”

I don’t know what to say, so I simply take the next stump and listen.

He just keeps talking. “I mean, I know she wouldn't be for everyone. She's a bit masculine isn't she....”

Masculine?

Charlotte?!?

“No, she’s not. She's all woman, believe me.”

He snorts. “Well, you have a different idea of womanhood to me. That's all I can say. That wrestling match you had with her for your hotel opening was an eye-opener.”

Again, I not sure where he’s going with this, so I stay quiet. He continues. “You know, when you said that you and Charlotte were going to give a fighting demonstration….”

“Self-defence….”

He huffs. “It didn’t look like self-defence to me. I could see the sparks flying between the two of you.

Everyone could.”

And I can't keep the grin from my face. “Yeah… I know I never need to worry about her not being able to look after herself. Charlotte takes the world on her own terms. If it came to it, she doesn’t need me.”

He looks at me, blank non-understanding there And that is why my closest friend is James and not my own brother.

“You’ve got something there, Mike, with Charlotte. You make sure you look after her, hang on to it. I just wish….” He stares at the ground, then, “How did you meet her? You never told me.”

Jeez….

“James introduced us.”

His eyes flicker up and I’m uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation. “You know,” I say, “you shouldn't keep hooking up with girls and thinking after the first date that you've found the love of your life. That kind of thing weirds women out.”

Leaning forward on his knees, beer can held loosely in his hands, he turns to look at me. “But it always feels so right. I mean, you had a girlfriend or two, before you met her. How many did you go with before you found Charlotte?”

Errr....

How the fuck do I answer that...?

... To Ben...?

But he isn't listening.

“I’ll admit, I don’t get it, what you have with her. But I know it works for you. I want someone.... sweet.”

“I hope you find her Ben. I really do.”

There’s a rustle behind us. It’s James.