The Factory Trilogy 01 - Gleam by Tom Fletcher

and hairless. His skin was pale and greyish. He was notparticularly musclebound, but he was very tall and wiry, and his long, dirty fingers felt as strong as iron as they prodded and poked all over Alan’s body. He had a crossbow on his back and a rusty – maybe bloody – short-sword at his waist. He stank of old sweat gone acrid.
    ‘Aren’t you cold?’ Alan asked, as Bittewood picked up the discarded coat and started going through the pockets. ‘It’s not as—’
    Bittewood shoved two fingers into Alan’s open mouth and felt around. ‘Be quiet,’ he grunted. Alan gagged, tried to turn his head away, but Bittewood grabbed him by the hair and held him. Daunt laughed, mirthlessly. When Bittewood was done he withdrew his fingers and wiped them on his brown plus-fours, a look on his face that might have been a smile. Alan spat. ‘What swamp-hole did you pull this fucker out of, Daunt?’ he asked. ‘What possessed you? He’s a creep. He’s a monster. You’re better than this.’
    ‘Well, Alan, there are some folks out there who don’t take me seriously.’ Daunt put her mouth to Alan’s ear. ‘It’s hard to believe, I know.’
    ‘There are heavies, and then there’s that.’
    ‘Lots of us have heavies. I’m the only one with a Bittewood, though.’
    ‘Thank the Builders.’ Alan watched as Bittewood shook Snapper around, listening for anything hidden within. ‘As if I’d keep glass vials in my mouth, anyway. He just did that for fun.’
    ‘Probably.’
    ‘He makes me uncomfortable. Are you done with me yet? I want to go. I want to get far away. I want to have a wash.’
    Daunt lowered her knife. ‘You understand that I can’t just let people steal from me,’ she said. ‘I have to uphold my reputation. I have to send messages.’
    ‘You have to keep people scared.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Of course I understand. I didn’t take your bloody mushrooms, Daunt. I love ’em, but I like you, and I don’t steal from people I like.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Though the Daunt I know and like wouldn’t be associating with that lanky pus-bag.’
    ‘Desperate times, Alan.’
    ‘Well, rest assured, I’ll be telling everybody just how bloody terrifying your new pet is.’
    Daunt nodded. She looked into Alan’s eyes for a moment, then nodded again. ‘Right then. Bittewood, we’re done here. He’s telling the truth.’
    ‘Don’t trust him,’ Bittewood said. ‘Could’ve taken them. Could’ve hid them. Could’ve sold them.’
    ‘I know that. I didn’t think he’d have them on him. He’s not an idiot. Just wanted him to get to know you, really.’ She grinned at Alan. ‘You’re not an idiot, are you, love?’
    ‘I’m a lot of things,’ Alan said, ‘but I’m not an idiot.’
    ‘Glad we understand each other.’
    And with that, Daunt and Bittewood disappeared back into Tanglepipe Junction.
    Alan waited until the echoes of their footsteps had died away, and then exhaled. His feelings were mixed. He picked up his coat and ransacked the pockets himself. Then he went through them again.
    The vials had gone.
    ‘Shit,’ he said. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ He scanned the gantry, and found some shards of broken glass balanced just on the edge. The vials must have fallen from his pocket when he’d dropped the coat. Beneath the gantry was only darkness.
    Alan kicked the railings, and a couple of them broke off, spinning into the void below. ‘Fucking
hell
,’ he said.

5

Pyramid Slope
     
    In a shadowed alcove on the sloped southern side of the Black Pyramid, Wild Alan looked at the palm of his young son’s hand and saw the brand there, red and still weeping.
    ‘Who did this?’ he asked.
    ‘Nobody.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘I get picked on.’
    ‘But who by?’
    ‘They tell me my father is a stupid wild animal who lives with all the other stupid wild animals.’
    Alan let go of Billy’s wrist, put a roll-up in his mouth, lit it and inhaled deeply. The moons looked down, full and rusty. Alan held the