Blighted Land: Book two of the Northumbrian Western Series (Northumbrian Westerns 2) by Ian Chapman Page A

said. It had pictures of a castle surrounded by trees. A loch and small village. Smiling men with bagpipes. A plate full of seafood. A red deer with massive antlers. ‘What the fuck is this?’  
    ‘There’s a community there. A group of forward-thinkers. They have forests for fuel. Water they can fish. Farm with healthy animals. Good housing. It’s all run through an elected council. And they welcome decent people. It’s not like here with Round Up.’
    ‘Sounds too good to be true.’  
    ‘The problem is its location. On the west coast of Scotland. You have to pass round Glasgow or Edinburgh and across country. A couple of other dangerous places. That’s why we need the Eblis.’
    ‘And you’ve been there? Seen it?’
    ‘I know reliable people who have.’
    I flicked through the photos of the place in this holiday brochure. It was possible that it did exist. That there were people trying to move things forward. Shangri-La had elements of it, Gary’s oasis in the far north of Northumberland. But it was too wrapped up in hippy stuff for me. ‘Is this a religious cult?’
    She frowned and shook her head. ‘Not at all.’ She sat down on the bed and faced me. ‘We’ve had enough of all this.’ She waved her hand towards Low Town. ‘Places run by thugs. So-called committees that are just gangs in disguise. Neo-reivers.’ She shrugged.
    Maybe that was all genuine. I still had one more question.  
    ‘Why me?’
    Reaching over to one of the panniers she opened it and pulled out a handgun: a semi-automatic pistol. Her towel slid up on her legs the showing the top of her thighs. She checked the gun over, dropped the magazine out, popped it back in. ‘You know your way around stuff, seem reliable…’
    I shook my head. ‘Come on. You zoomed in on me at the bike races. Just by chance I was the guy ready to interrogate Casper.’
    ‘Maybe I did some sniffing around. Found out who ran the town. How things worked. I did figure out you were in Round Up, but I didn’t know you’d be doing the questioning.’
    ‘And what about me coming with you?’
    ‘That wasn’t the initial plan.’ She put the pistol away and started clearing stuff off the bed, putting it all on the floor. ‘I was after someone in Round Up who could give me inside details. Information. You just happened to have more about you. A good feeling, shall we say.’
    ‘A good feeling?’
    ‘I knew you’d help us. Get Casper out.’
    ‘I haven’t said I’ll help.’
    She smiled. ‘You’re here, aren’t you?’ She reached down to a bag on the floor and pulled out another gun. Then a grenade. ‘I have the kit and a plan. Bring your bike over and we’ll talk it through.’
    ‘Look, trying to get Casper out is possible but we’ll never get the tank. No way —’
    ‘We’ll talk about it when you come back.’
    ‘I’m not sure.’
    She refastened the bag. As she leant forward the top of her towel came undone, slipping down a little, showing her body underneath, still damp from the bath. She took hold of the towel again but instead of doing it up just pulled it off. She stood in front of me naked. She looked fantastic, her skin smooth and soft and with a hint of tan, natural colour. She had curves but there was a firmness to her body, strength. She took my hand and I resisted. Pulled free. She was sexy but this was taking me all in the wrong direction.
    ‘You don’t find me attractive?’  
    ‘It’s not that —’
    ‘Come on, Trent…’
    ‘I don’t want to complicate things.’
    She lay down on the bed on her side with a leg crooked up, one arm across her nipples and the other on her crotch, hiding the thin strip of hair. ‘You sure?’  
    ‘I need to go,’ I backed off towards the door, my eyes fixed on her body, part of me wanting to stay there with her. Spend the rest of the morning in bed. But I knew that would really cloud my thoughts and I needed a clear head.
    Becky got up and slid the towel on following me to the