Battery For My Bones

Part 5 of the unknown man series

Battery For My Bones


A short story by Hayden Gribble


‘What the…what the bloody hell are you doing in here?’
Jill Adams starred in disbelief at the wounded stranger who lay bleeding on the floor of her shack. She had only entered the little wooden hut to begin a long overdue clear out of its contents and what better day, she thought, than a Sunday when the sun glistens through the blue sky. It was the kind of weather that was needed after her recent bereavement and it helped her muster the strength of will to finally dispose of the things her dearly departed had used for so many years. She had been plagued with a silly fear of rats since she was a little girl, betraying her usual stiff upper lip manner that she had adopted from her father when she was young. Jill had dreaded coming across them in the lonely hut and prepared to meet her fear head on. What she hadn’t prepared for, was a different sort of lodger all together.

The stranger could barely keep his eyes open. The spade, which he had clasped in his good arm, fell to the ground when his strength gave way. It clanged on the ground making Jill jump.
‘Please’, he gasped. ‘Help me’.
She surveyed his frame. There was a nasty gash in his left leg. His arm looked like it had been set upon by a big animal and his face was covered in sweat and crimson dots. Before Jill could reply the stranger had fainted. Her eyes wide with shock, she leant down and immediately went about making her wounded patient comfortable. Even if this man was a violent person, or a criminal, he was in one fit state to pose Jill any harm. Spotting a bag of compost, she dragged it across the floor and used it as a pillow for the stranger. Improvising, she then used the torn part of the man’s jacket sleeve as a bandage on his gashed leg. Then the dreaded part came. Taking a deep breath, she pulled back the tatters of cloth that had been the man’s jacket arm and gazed at the damaged arm. Jill recoiled, choking back the feeling of nausea that had suddenly overcome her. She gagged, but then pulled herself together and tightened the wound with the clothing and held it up in the air.

At this moment, the man stirred back into consciousness, possibly because the pain was so intense in this part of his body. With his good arm, he grabbed her and pulled her forward.
‘Don..don’t let them..find me’
She squealed, then as the man fell back into a deep sleep, she sighed deeply. Was he on the run, she thought? She couldn’t just leave him there, even if he was possibly dragging her into danger with him. No, he’d have to come back with him. Gathering her senses, and her strength, she decided to pull the man up by his least damaged side of his body. Good god he was heavy, she thought!
‘Look, if you want my help sonny you’ll have to be a bit more co-operative, come on, my landie is outside’.

With a struggle, Jill dragged the wounded party to her Land Rover, which was only a matter of feet away. Propping him up against the vehicle, she made sure the padlock was firmly in place on the shack door so it didn’t arouse suspicion. Luckily, no blood was spilt on the door, but she still wiped her smeared hands on her coat and went back to her patient, picking him up again. Looking about her, and buckling under the stranger’s weight, she couldn’t see anybody else in the field. All of a sudden, she heard distant cries from within the woods, about half a mile away. These must have been the people this person was hiding from. She redoubled her efforts, opened the back door to her vehicle and carefully slumped the stranger in the back. Tucking his legs in, she closed the metal door behind him and ran to the driver’s door. Diving in and now feeling the pressure of a possible encounter with the monsters that had done this to that poor man, she pleaded with the engine to start. It gave nothing. Old Land Rovers occasionally did this, yet when it finally coughed into life, the din could be heard for miles around. It was so loud, the unknown man stirred again in the back.
‘Drive!’ he curdled, just as the tyres screeched and the old vehicle sped down the dirt track and away from the shack.

The unknown man awoke from a feverish dream lying in a bed. He was startled by his surroundings. He lied in a single bed, in what looked like a bedroom in a cottage. The wooden beams were a dead giveaway to the rooms age, 17th century, he thought. The football paraphernalia that adorned the walls though meant that the room must belong to a youngster. Bolt upright, the unknown man finished surveying his location and looked at his injuries. His leg felt much better, whatever had caused the gash must have only caused a slight flesh wound. It was bound and the pain he had felt in the forest had melted into an ache. His ribs were sore, and when he inhaled sharply a pain shot through his chest. He fell back onto the soft, welcoming pillows. Wincing for a while, he regained his senses and dared to look at his arm. It was fixed in a crude sling that was tied behind his neck. With his healthy arm, he probed the contents of the sling. He hissed through his pain as his fingers felt the damaged tissue. He was interrupted by the bedroom door opening, which made him jump in his crumpled sheets.

‘Sorry to startle you’ said Jill, who was carrying a tray with her. ‘Here, I made you a drink in case you were awake this time. Your last one looks stone cold and barely touched. You must have been shattered with all those injuries’.
The unknown man watched her as she replenished the cup on the side mantle.
‘Thank you Miss err?’
‘MRS Adams’, she corrected him. ‘That’s okay; well I couldn’t just leave you there all beaten and bruised. I had wanted to call for an ambulance but in your feverish state you told me not to, oh careful with the tea the bed has just been changed. Sit up straight’.
The unknown man was in no mood to be bossed about but since this lady had taken him in and tended to his wounds he was just grateful to be safe.
‘Now your awake, can I ask you some questions?’
‘I thought you’d say that’
Jill found this retort a little rude.
‘Well what do you expect? I take a stranger in who I find trespassing in my shed who looks like he’s had a battering from Ali, tend to him, clothe him and let him stay in my house’.
‘Okay, I’m sorry, of course you can ask me’.
‘Thank you. Who are you and what were you doing in the woods?’
‘I was out walking in the fields when a stray pit bull attacked me. I tried to get away and I eventually did when I found your shack’.
‘Interesting’ she pondered, pulling his gun out of her jacket. ‘Then why did you have this on you then eh?’
‘Found it’, he replied.
‘And you say those injuries were given to you by a rabid dog? Sorry I don’t believe you. I’m a mother of two sons so don’t think that I can’t detect when a young man is lying to me’.
‘You’re a clever woman’ said the unknown man.
‘And you are in my house’ Jill said. ‘So whatever trouble you are in, don’t bring it to my door. I’m not well equipped to fight off an army of thugs’.
‘Look, I am incredibly grateful. I won’t give you any trouble and neither will anybody else’. He began to make an effort to get out of bed.
‘I can’t let you go in this state, and if you are refusing hospital treatment then I really don’t know what to do’.
‘I don’t want to be any trouble. I’m sure I will be able to make it back to my…car’.
The unknown man paused for a moment, remembering the state of his beloved Porsche and the Big Chief’s spies who had run him off the road and attacked him. And what of his superior? Had he been in on the act? He had lured him out here to the supposed safety of the countryside while the firm investigated the Big Chief’s empire, but it all could have been a trap, to get him away, to kill him and dispose of his being and let the kingpin take over his employers too. One thing was inevitable. The company was rife with bugs. His mind began to race through the evidence for and against his superior’s betrayal when Jill interrupted.

‘Your not from around here are you?’
‘Err no, I came out here for a short holiday, to get away from my busy life back in the city’
‘I see, do you have anywhere to stay?’
‘Not necessarily, my boss had planned for me to stay at a local pub, but I forget the name’
‘Well it can’t be The Crown, that place went ages ago. You see there’s no money out in the country anymore. That’s what Henry used t…I mean that’s what he says. No, your boss must have meant the Red Lion. But in your state it looks like you’ll just have to stay here for a while, stay where you are and I’ll just have to take you on face value’.
‘Your very kind, I’ll give you some money for your troubles’.
‘That’s alright, now what do I call you?’
The unknown man hesitated. Time to be creative.
‘Call me David’
‘Nice to meet you David. My name is Jill’ she smiled.
‘Do your children still live here? I can’t think they will be best pleased that a stranger is lying in one of their beds’
‘Oh no, they moved out years ago. One is an estate agent in Bournemouth. The other, my youngest whose room you are in is a Journalist. All of these old posters are from his favourite team, Tottenham Hotspur. Do you like football?
‘Yes, they are my team too, Haven’t been to the Lane for years now though’ The unknown man began to look back through rose tinted glasses at his days on the terraces, watching the lilywhites on that field of dreams’.
‘He and his father used to go when he was little’ Jill started taking the clothes off the radiator that was situated under the window.
‘Is your husband at home today?’
Jill turned her back to ‘David’ and looked longingly out of the window.
‘He is…away, farmer’s fair. Won’t be back for a couple of days. He wanted me to clear out the shed in his absence. Looks like I’ll have to do it another day now. Anyway you just lie there and get better, I’ll make you some food if you want, you must be starving, lying there for two days.’
‘Two days! Is that how long I have been out?’
Jill nodded. ‘I didn’t want to wake you; you were in a terrible state. I had wanted to get a doctor in to look at that dog bite but after cleaning it up I don’t think that it was so bad. A few stitches sufficed with the gash and your arm. It’s a good thing you happened to break in to the shed of a nurse!’
‘Yes, about time I had some luck’ said the unknown man. He put his cup of tea down and breathed deeply. His ribs had softened in the pain he was experiencing. He pondered on the events that had lead to his current situation. One man had driven off his superior while the other three left in the white van and attacked him. Was his superior kidnapped too? If that were the case, then the common enemy would have completed his jigsaw with the final piece. That, and his current fitness, was all he could think about. Then a question popped up in his head.
‘So your husbands been away for four days and left you to clear out an old shed?’
Jill sighed. ‘Yes…pity, you could have had somebody else to talk to besides a middle aged woman, you and him could have reminisced about football for hours on end’

The unknown man looked at her. She was a widow. Jill was obviously not over the recent death of her beloved husband and his appearance had interrupted her bereavement. He had interrupted her attempts to clear out his old shed and she still changes her son’s beds because it harks back to her old routine. Poor woman. She seemed nice and probably could do with some company for a while. He decided to rest there for a bit like she said, with all the information still configuring in his head, he could not be sure that the offer back to the pub would have been as much of a trap as the meeting at the recycling plant. He detested some part of his job. The ambiguity, the blood on his hands and the mystery of the night, which played out as a backdrop to his killer instincts. He could never trust anyone. That’s why he had never revealed his name to anybody in his business. It was one of the few precious things he had left and he didn’t want it spoiled by the bloodshed he is responsible for. If only Jill knew what he did for a living she would reach for the phone and dial 999 quicker than he could move.

‘So, what line of work are you in?’ Jill said.
‘Oh, it’s not that interesting really’.
‘Go on’
‘I’m an estate agent. I work for a private firm called Southgate’s and I’ve worked there for twelve years’.
‘So you didn’t go to university then?’ Jill enquired.
‘What makes you say that?
‘Well judging by your age, did you go straight from school?’
‘I’m not as young as I look’ the unknown man cracked a smile, the first he had mustered in a very long time. ‘But I’m flattered by the remark’
‘That’s alright’ Jill replied, playing with the pile of clothes she had taken off the radiator. ‘Anyway I’d best get on with this lot, let me know if there was anything you wanted’
‘Would it be okay if I could use your phone? I’d better let the office know what has happened’
‘Of course, hold on I’ll go and get it, just relax, you’ll be up on your feet in no time’ Jill smiled. And then left the room.
‘Your very kind’ the unknown man felt humbled, but knew that he had to speak to his superior. He decided to let him know he was alive, but not his location. Just in case he was part of the trap.
Jill returned with the phone, which she placed on the bedside table. She picked up the empty cup that the unknown man had finished with and replaced it with the phone. The unknown man smiled at Jill as she left the room and lifted the receiver up to his ear, dialing his firm’s number as his temporary landlady closed the bedroom door behind her. She paused outside, then decided no to listen in on the conversation. The unknown man heard her footsteps ebb away from the door and then began speaking.
‘It’s me…get him’ he whispered, his voice returning to it’s more serious tone, which had slipped when in the presence of Jill.
He waited patiently for half a minute and heard the mumble of his superior as he neared the other receiver.
‘What the hell happened to you?’ he barked.
‘I had a little trouble with the friends you brought along to our meeting’
‘They didn’t report back either, what on earth happened? I waited at the pub for three hours before we sent a search party out. After we found your car we thought you had been done for. By the way I don’t think it will pass it’s next MOT’ he joked.
‘NO sir’ the unknown man was in no mood for humour. ‘I was attacked. The three men in the white van. They are working for the Big Chief. This is important sir, there are bugs inside our system’.
‘Good lord’, replied his superior ‘We’d best get the pest control in, where are you now?’
‘I’m safe, I don’t know my location but they got to me. I’m a bit bruised but I should be okay in a few days’.
‘That is just the news I wanted to hear’ the old man’s voice twinkled with this turn of optimism. ‘Our men have been looking into the situation with the Big Chief. You were right. A member of Sir Michael Houghton’s staff is a spy in the employee of the Big Chief’.
‘Michelle! I knew it’ the unknown man’s memories rewound to his encounter with the femme fatale. It must be her. She knew too much at the time.
‘We’re tracking her as we speak. You just get better and report back here when you’re fully recovered. Don’t worry. We’re on the case. We don’t anticipate the pieces moving on the board to much until you’re return’ the old man’s authority shone through the receiver and the unknown man sat bolted upright as if he were right in front of him.
‘Do we have a name sir, is it definitely Michelle?’
‘We do. Black Diamond. I may not be her, but she is the only lead we have until then. We’ll start clearing the office out of bugs and hopefully by the time we see you next they will be gone and we’ll have some more information, remember, the name we have got is Black Diamond. A codename for sure. We have to accept all possibilities that this person could turn out to be Sir Michael himself so recharge yourself and get some rest, relax and get back here as soon as you can run without breaking into a sweat’
‘I will sir, a battery for my bones is what is needed, thank you, we’ll have our pub lunch some other day’
‘I’ll hold you to it, okay son, take it easy. Call us before you arrive’
The line went dead. The unknown man’s trust for his superior was regained within the short but direct phone call. The firm had actively gone on his information and a corner piece of the Big Chief’s puzzle had been found out. The Big Chief had made his first big mistake. He was still alive and they were edging closer to the big man himself. The unknown man slumped back into his sheets and thought quietly to himself. The game was back on.