2. Dawn was just breaking when a taxi pulled into Deasil Street with its newest resident.
Simon Lewes. He was moving into the downstairs flat Jen had recently vacated to
move in with Angus upstairs.
3. To get up to date with modern building codes, the landlord had extended the flats by a
few meters, so there was no room to separate the bedroom with a half wall. Simon
didn’t have much stuff, so had kept Jen’s neutral colour scheme in order to slot in with
minimal difficulty.
4. Though his flat was fairly plain, the shed he erected along
the back wall of the building was stuffed full of weird and
wonderful tubes and containers. What was Simon all about?
5. Ariette usually took Peps to
the Riding Club a few times a
week while Annette was at
school. Today, she was
interested to see a new
member pulling up.
6. He was hardly the typical member. Dressed casually and covered in tattoos… Ariette
was intrigued but decided not to introduce herself. She was having enough trouble
staying on the right side of the club members. Befriending such an obvious rebel
would make it more difficult for Annette than ever.
7. But as the day wore on Ariette was
impressed with what she saw. He was
decent to his horse, well mannered
when subtly insulted by the snobs…
8. She meant to go home, but she
got talking to him and it was early
evening before she realised the
time. He was such an interesting
person. Made his money breeding
horses, moved from town to town
advising on local studs.
9. She stood to leave, and asked him on a date that weekend. She had
spoken before realising what was coming out of her mouth, but was
pleasantly surprised when he agreed. Apparently she was the nicest
person he’d come across at a private club for a long time.
10. Far away that night, in Bridgetown, there was an earthquake. The towns government
building in particular was shaken and damaged. It made the news for a few days, but
the damage was quickly repaired.
11. But no sooner had the construction cranes
moved off to work on other buildings than
there was a series of explosions.
A group of people took credit, saying it was an
act of vengeance against a government who
didn’t care about the environment, and hadn’t
done enough to counter the vegetable disease
‘the blight’.
12. It all seemed very far away from Appaloosa
Plains. It made the papers of course, and
the residents of the little town noted the
events.
Warren Bailey even felt some sympathy for
the terrorists, his business having been
ruined by the blight. But it didn’t seem that
important.
