Eugene Lambert - Into The No-Zone

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Electric Monkey,

an imprint of Egmont UK Limited

The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Text copyright 2017 Eugene Lambert

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

First e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978 1 4052 7736 5

Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1696 3

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

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For Jana

If its been a while since you read The Sign of One (volume one in this trilogy), heres a brief reminder of some of the main characters, terms and locations.

Its her turn outside. After all the hours spent hiding in the dark and staying quiet, the cold drizzle that greets her is almost welcome. Itll be her first time at the lambing. Well... sort of.

Old Hicks takes them up the hill to the pens, her and a lad called Marat. Marats sixteen, more than twice as old as she is, and wont waste time talking to a little girl. Fine by her, because talking is dangerous.

Talking can get you found out.

Tucked away in the gloom under the camo-netting, sheltered from the ever-shrieking wind, the girl finally gets to see the woollies close up. Shes a bit disappointed. Theyre manky-looking and skinny, scraps of filthy wool still hanging off where theyve been rough-sheared. Hicks flicks the beam of his shiner about and the girl sees sheep nursing a single newborn lamb each. But one ewe lies apart from the others, and seems restless. It gets up, bleats, paws at the straw-covered earth, then lies down again.

That uns ready, Hicks says, squinting at her.

The girl hesitates, unsure. Ready?

To drop. Dont just stand there gawping. Go see to it.

Ready to drop. Oh yeah. She swallows and nods. Her sisters done the telling from her turn outside yesterday. Now its up to her to do the remembering and play it so Hicks never guesses that todays little girl is not the same as yesterdays little girl.

So she scuttles around to the business end of the beast. Even though she knows what to expect, she still makes a face.

You like that, huh? Marat jeers.

See, its messy back here. A little white head and two tiny black hooves poke out of an explosion of red skin. The girl doesnt know whether to laugh, cry or be sick. Marat sniggers at her.

She gives him the finger, while Hicks isnt looking.

Fortunately, the old ewe knows what shes about. The girl watches, bug-eyed, as the lamb slithers out and thumps wetly on to the straw. Only a little woolly thing, but the girls amazed. It all goes exactly like her sister said it would. A new life, in front of her eyes. Its so beautiful.

Hicks is watching her. His slash of a mouth twists into a snarl.

What you waitin for?

The girl takes a deep breath and swats the fussing ewe away. Gritting her teeth, she pulls at the stuff on the lambs face. Its hot and slimy, but comes away easy enough. She makes sure the newborns nostrils are clear of mucus, grabs a handful of straw and gives its face a quick tickle. The tiny creature even littler than she is sneezes. Its warm breath tickles her cheek back. Its breathing, she calls out, excited.

Hicks grunts something at her, which she doesnt catch.

The worst bit is still to come. But her sister managed it, so shell have to manage it too, so nobody suspects. Thats the story of their two-pretending-to-be-one life. She lets the mother ewe back in to lick its newborn clean, fishes out her laser-knife and fires up its glowing green blade. Then, not waiting to think, she slices the cord close to the lambs navel, dials up full heat and holds the fizzing green blade on to the bloody end until she smells flesh burning. The lamb kicks a bit, but its not so bad. The bleeding stops. A dab of orange iodine from the pot and shes done. Her first lamb, and it looks fine, shaking less then she is. As she powers the blade down, the lamb lifts its head, wanting to suckle. She reckons its a girl.

Hicks stomps over and gobs into the straw. Not a bad job.

The girls not listening; shes staring at the old ewe. Its lost interest in the lamb and is pawing at the ground again. Beside her, Hicks curses. The girl looks up, startled, to see him making the Sign of One. Marat comes over. One look and he makes it too the sign against evil.

The girls blood turns to ice. Whats wrong?

Hicks turns his back, lurches off to a corner of the pen and picks up some filthy old sacking. More cursing as he throws it at her.

Whats this for? she says. Instantly realises this was a mistake.