Arnie Jenks and the House of Strangers by Tim Bradley

Author:Tim Bradley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781783066193
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

CHAPTER TWELVE

Empress of Hope

Arnie stood in his bedroom. The leaded windows were glazed with condensation and the air was alpine sharp. He slipped into bed under the wafer-thin sheets and cowered trying to block out the cold. The pillow felt like porcelain to the touch and the bedding as if it had been stored in a fridge. He pulled his jumper up over his ears and squirmed about trying to get warm.

Very slowly he drifted into unconsciousness and dreams wandered in.

*

Arnie was on a ship. Long and proud she lay in a deep blue sea. He could not feel the heat but could see the golden sun fry the flat unspoilt water, motionless due to lack of wind. The speck of a bird circled around the crow’s nest high above him screeching and wailing. He looked down and across the salt blasted deck at the sailors who lay still – their bodies outstretched, their fingers crablike – being picked over by flies.

‘You need help?’ a voice called out.

A dark-skinned man broke through the soft yellow light and stood over Arnie.

‘I am Joseph,’ he said simply. ‘Who are you?’

Arnie’s throat was parched. He struggled to push out what he wanted to say – but no words would come.

After a moment, Joseph’s stare stretched into a brilliant white welcome before he turned away and ambled towards the other side of the ship.

‘Where am I?’ he cried out but the sound didn’t carry and Joseph continued to walk off as if Arnie’s presence didn’t matter.

Arnie shielded his eyes from the rays of the sun and through it he read three words; Empress of Hope. The name of the ship.

‘Where am I?’ he repeated, but the reply that came was not human. It was the sound of knocking on wood – first from somewhere to his left, and then his right, then everywhere – burrowing deep inside him. As the noise became louder and stronger, the scorching light of the sun melted away like foam being sprayed with water until gradually nothing was left except the dark.

*

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