Without warning

Barb appeared at the top of the stairs and Kip waved her back, shaking his head emphatically. There was no time to explain to her any of what Barney had just said. He could only hope she wouldn’t give anything away. Kipper moved into the kitchen and deliberately banged his leg on the table, sending a glass crashing to the floor. ‘Son of a bitch!’ he yelled, loud enough to be heard outside.

Then, reefing open the back door, he let his natural foul temper off the leash a little, surprising the two police officers who stood there, blocking his view of a small squad of soldiers. ‘This better be fucking good, and quick,’ he snarled. ‘I have to get up at about three in the morning tomorrow and drive out to Fort Lewis.’

One of the cops actually blinked and said, ‘Oh.’ The other, older one didn’t take a backward step.

‘Mr Kipper, eh? My name is Sergeant Banks and this is Officer Curlewis. Sorry to bother you, sir, but we’re looking for agitators who’ve been reported in this area. We need to have a look around your place.’

‘What’s going on, dear?’

Barb had appeared at his elbow. ‘I dunno, some crap,’ he told her. ‘They think we’ve got someone here. Want to search the place.’

‘Oh, that’s ridiculous.’

‘I’m sorry, Mrs Kipper, ma’am,’ said Banks. T have my orders. Do you mind?’

‘Well, I do, but that’s hardly going to make a damn bit of difference, is it?’

The policeman didn’t bother replying to that, but he at least waited until Kip had opened the door properly, rather than forcing his way in. His partner followed and the soldiers moved up the path, until Barb held up a hand.

‘I’m sorry. I don’t mind the police looking around, but you boys have the filthiest shoes I’ve ever seen. Would you mind awfully just waiting for the officers to do whatever it is they have to do? You’re welcome to stand on the porch to keep out of that drizzle, and I could make you some cocoa if you’d like. It’s powdered milk, though, I’m afraid.’

A corporal raised one eyebrow at the cops, who shrugged it all off. ‘Yeah, whatever,’ agreed Banks. ‘If you don’t mind us poking around, Mrs Kipper?’

Barb smiled sweetly, firing up her long-dormant Homecoming Queen charm. ‘Well, if you could try not to wake my daughter. I’ve just put her down, and her sleep’s been very disturbed since… you know.’

When James Kipper’s wife felt like it, she could be all eyes, tits and teeth. Even the older cop was taken in by the display. ‘We’ll try not to disturb her, ma’am,’ promised Sergeant Banks.

They padded through the kitchen, and Kip watched with a lurching heart as the two of them headed towards the cellar door. Curlewis, the younger one, flicked on the lights as he went, forcing Kip and Barbara to flinch and squint at the fierce glow. They hadn’t had the place lit up in a month.

‘So, would you boys like that cocoa?’ she asked brightly.

Kip’s heart was racing and he felt like his guilt must be writ large on his face, but the army corporal only smiled and nodded enthusiastically at the offer of a hot drink. ‘That’d be awesome, ma’am.’

‘Will you be out all night?’ Barb asked as she set about fixing up their cocoa. ‘It’s going to be terribly cold, I think. It’s been so chilly and awful, hasn’t it, since the Wave came?’

Her husband tried not to look concerned as the police disappeared down into his cellar. He tried to imagine where Barney might have hidden himself away down there at such short notice. The place was a mess, with dozens of packing crates from their original move to Seattle still stored down there. But really, there weren’t many places a grown man could hide himself.

‘Who’d like a marshmallow?’ trilled Barb.

His nuts felt like they were retracting inside his body as he heard the cops shifting boxes and talking to each other down there.

‘Mr Kipper? Sir? Could you come here?’ It was the older policeman, the sergeant.

Giddy and shaking ever so slightly, Kip excused himself and walked down the hallway. He stopped at the head of the staircase. They hadn’t been able to find the light switch and the cellar was lit by two torch beams. ‘Something I can help you with?’ he asked, forcing the fear from his voice.

‘Yes, there is. Could you come down here, sir?’

He trod carefully, descending the steps. ‘Something up?’

‘Yeah,’ said Banks. ‘You know there’s an emergency ordinance against hoarding, don’t you, sir?’

Kipper almost stammered in reply. ‘What?’

‘You’ve got a lot of rations stowed down here, sir. I hope you didn’t stock up recently’

‘I… uh… I… no. No, I didn’t, Sergeant. I’m a hiker. I got those supplies about six months ago, in Spokane, when a camping warehouse closed down.’

‘Got receipts, Mr Kipper?’ Curlewis called out in the semi-darkness.

Completely flummoxed now, Kip could only shake his head at first. ‘Uh. No… No, wait – I paid for them with my Visa. It’ll be on the statement, if you need to see it.’