The Border Part Two by Amy Cross

spoken to the young lady in question not long before she came a-cropper. I’m sure that makes me at the very least a suspect. Come on, Beth, don’t lie to me. I know Jack will have already put two and two together and come up with forty.”
    “He’s… mentioned it.”
    “He’s done more than mention it.”
    “You know what he’s like,” she replied diplomatically. “He’s a journalist, so of course he’s going to look for patterns when it comes to these things.”
    “So he thinks I’ve claimed another victim?”
    “He didn’t say that!”
    “But he’s thinking about it,” Ben continued. “There’s no need to try to protect me, Beth, I know exactly what he’s been going on about. Let me guess… He didn’t exactly jump for joy when he heard I was coming home for a visit, did he? And then when that poor woman was killed, he probably accepted, albeit reluctantly, that his favorite pet theory was dead in the water. Then he bumped into me and found out I’d been in town for a while already, and all his lights came back on!”
    “Why did you do that?” she asked, turning to him. “You’ve got to admit, it comes across as being a little…”
    “Sneaky?”
    “Weird.”
    “I just wanted to hang out for a few days without all the family crap. Besides, I need to talk to Jack about something important.”
    “Like what?”
    “I…” He paused. “Let me talk to him first. I’ll tell you after, but I need to tell Jack before anyone else finds out.”
    “Are you in trouble?” Beth asked. “Are you -”
    Hearing the front door opening, she turned and looked through to the hallway just in time to see Bob ushering Lucy inside.
    “Is that my niece?” Ben asked. “The one I’ve never met?”
    “Lucy!” Beth called out. “Come and meet your uncle!”
    “I’m really sorry I didn’t get home before,” Ben continued. “You know I would’ve done, if I’d had time, it’s just that things got a little complicated and -”
    “Hey,” Beth said as Lucy made her way through. “Sweetheart, I want you to say hello to your uncle. This is Ben, he’s my brother. You remember me talking about him, don’t you?”
    “Nice to meet you, Lucy,” Ben said stepping forward and holding out his hand for her to shake. “Your mother has told me a lot about you.”
    “Liar,” Beth whispered.
    “Are you really Mummy’s brother?” Lucy asked with a frown. “If you are, why don’t you live nearby, like Uncle Jack?”
    “Well,” he replied, crouching in front of her, “some people just like to go out and explore the world. There are a lot of places out there, places I want to see. I guess I’d just get itchy feet if I stuck around the old hometown like your mother and Jack.” He smiled. “But I promise you, from now on, whenever I go anywhere fun, I’ll always send a postcard home.”
    “Do your feet really itch?”
    “Sometimes,” he said with a smile. “If I’ve been walking a lot. Or, sometimes , if I’ve been in one place for too long, they kinda start going all funny.”
    “What kind of funny?”
    “The kind that makes you wanna get up and just run around like a monster!”
    She laughed.
    “And then,” he continued, “I kinda have to… I have to get going for a while, you know? See the world.”
    “All of it?”
    “As much as I can. Of course, I have to work along the way, too, and it’s not always easy to find a job, but I manage. I work in kitchens, or picking fruit, or just general dogsbody stuff.”
    “Uncle Jack says those are the kind of jobs people get when they don’t do well at school,” Lucy told him.
    “He does, does he?”
    “And then do your feet stop itching?” she asked. “If you keep traveling around?”
    “Sure.” He smiled. “Unless it’s a fungal infection, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.” Spotting movement nearby, he turned, just in time to see Bob entering the kitchen with all the enthusiasm of a man heading to the gallows. “Hey there,