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savinscripts · 5 years

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CHAPTER 11:

❝ They've promised that dreams can come true - but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too. ❞

Dinner had come and gone without much excitement, and after having a glass or two of wine in the library together, they said their respective goodnights. Faye had made sure Carrington took his medicine with dinner, earning her a glare and slightly snappish comment that held little to no heat. Which earned him one in return.

Whether the two men had ended up together later in the evening, Faye wasn’t sure. What she was sure of was that she couldn’t sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning, she got up and made her way downstairs for some hot chocolate. Pulling on a sweater, she padded down the hallway, glancing at Carrington’s closed door as she passed. She was halfway down the stairs when she heard a sound.

A scratching sound followed by… music? Oh. Well, maybe one of the others was up after all. There was a record player in the large sitting room on the first floor. Faye almost called out, but raising her voice seemed out of place in the middle of the night. The house was eerily quiet sometimes. Too quiet. So, the soft lilt of jazz was welcome as it floated down the corridor.

Faye made her hot chocolate, taking a few minutes to check on the jars of apple preserves she’d managed to make up during the day. They looked good, so she let them be and turned back towards her room, mug in hand. As she stepped into the hallway, the music stopped with a harsh scratch. Faye turned her head in that direction, but it started up just as quickly. This time though, it wasn’t jazz that was playing. As Faye stood and listened, the music drifted down the way again. When Faye realized what it was, she nearly dropped her mug. The last time she’d heard that song was the night those men had-

Something brushed against her hair, and Faye whipped around, but there was nothing there. Just the darkness leading to the foyer and the front door. Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. When the music scratched a third time, playing the first song again, too quickly for someone to be changing records, that was enough for Faye. She turned up the stairs as fast as she could, mug falling from her hands and breaking against the wood floor. Without even thinking, she bolted into Carrington’s room - not even knocking or thinking the door would be locked - and slammed it behind her. “Wake up!” she whispered loudly across the room, throwing the bolt before approaching the bed. “Carrington, get up… there’s someone in the house…” She was spooked, that much was evident in her voice.

Fane and Carrington hadn’t ended up tumbling into bed later that night, Fane had visited him for a little while to discuss what had happened earlier in the day with Cari and Faye. Glad to hear that things were better after their trip and thus for now settled simply for accepting that fact. He’d left Carrington to his poetry then, needing some time himself to mull over the things that had been uncovered during the day and his research into the artefacts they were presently chasing down. So, he had returned to his room where he had eventually been forced to put the things away and turn in for the night. Another day of work and research awaited tomorrow.

Carrington was prone to staying up late, but what he wasn’t used to was sudden interruptions. So, when Faye flew in through the door, slamming it and bolting it hastily behind her he looked confused at first, poetry book having fallen down on his chest that is until she said her next sentence. At that, he was swinging himself out of bed, pulling back one of the pillows and pulling the handgun from where he kept it stashed there. Checking the gun and making sure it was loaded he kept it handy in his left hand.

“What happened?” he asked her, voice flat, needing the facts and needing them quickly his eyes and the rest of his features tight with concern for her well-being. “Where were they? Quickly Faye, tell me now.” They would have to get Fane, couldn’t risk leaving him asleep if they had to make a quick exit.

It took her a moment to register than Carrington was, in fact, still wide awake, despite the late hour. It also took her a moment to register that he was already reacting to what she was saying. Faye blinked, mouth working for a few horribly long moments before she finally stammered out an answer.

“Downstairs. Sitting room. They were… playing the records. Somebody… they touched my hair…” She raised a slightly trembling hand to the back of her head. “At the bottom of the stairs. But I didn’t see anyone…” Faye was no coward. But this had unsettled her to the extreme.

Frowning slightly, but taking in everything she told him, Carrington moved towards her. He would have taken her hand, but his other was still bandaged. He could open the door, but that was about it. “Stay close. Move when I say, stop when I say,” he told her after checking that the hallway was clear.

Faye nodded, and Carrington eased out of the room into the now silent house, pistol braced across his bandaged arm, but still pointed at the floor. They made it the distance to Fane’s room without incident, Carrington not bothering to knock before he opened the door and gestured for Faye to enter first. He came next, shutting and bolting it as quietly as possible. “It’s us,” he called out to Fane. “Get up. Faye says someone is in the house.” He moved to the windows, checking out each one but finding nothing amiss on the part of the grounds that he could see. “Downstairs. At least two of them. Sitting room and the main hall.” He looked over to Fane. “None of the alarms are tripped. Even if they deactivated the system, they’d have to do it from inside. How else could they have gotten in?”

When his door was promptly pushed open with little preamble and a voice echoed through the dark Fane grumbled something under his breath. Turning over to bury his face in the pillow. It took Carrington going over to nudge him awake and let him know what was going on for him to shift once more onto his back he sniffed slightly scrubbing a hand over his face and through his hair as he sat up squinting at Carrington who was closer and then at Faye though she was far blurrier on the far side of the room. “How’d they get in?” his voice was heavy with sleep, but he moved over to the edge of the bed rubbing his eyes as he blindly felt about in the dark on the side table for his glasses. Finding them he got up, propping them on his face though it did little to aid his sleep-ridden appearance.

“I’m not sure, Faye heard them.”

Fane looked over at Faye who still looked shaken, moving to grab a jumper and tug this on over his tee he glanced over at Carrington. Much like the other man, Fane sought out a handgun from the cabinet, checking the ammo and lock before giving a short nod. “Okay, let’s go check.”

It wasn’t much later that they were moving through the hallways, checking the security system which hadn’t been tripped or fiddled with by all appearances. Next came the main hall, sweeping it thoroughly but finding nothing untoward the pair were frowning a little. Carrington glanced at Faye, asking as they walked through into the sitting room from where she heard the record playing “what did you say you heard?” Looking around the room and moving to check the windows he found nothing untoward there.

Fane reacted far more calmly than Carrington. Though to be fair, Carrington was a soldier. He’d been trained to turn things up to eleven at the drop of a hat. She knew Fane was taking this just as seriously though, even if he wasn’t drawn tight as a bowstring like Carrington. They eventually moved off, only stopping briefly for Faye to grab her own pistol from her room.

The sweep of the house turned up nothing other than the mug of cocoa Faye had dropped. Not a thing out of place. Nothing that even looked like someone had tried to get in. Surely, she couldn’t have dreamed it? Right? The broken mug was right there. Right where someone had touched her.

They moved into the sitting room, Faye moving a bit more slowly than the others. “First it was… jazz. So, I thought it was one of you down here maybe.” The record player looked untouched, the arm resting in its place, needle capped. All the records were as they should be. “The other was… a song that was playing the day those men attacked me,” she told him. Flipping through the records, Faye shook her head. “We don’t even have that record.” Pressing a hand over her eyes, Faye took a deep breath. “I swear to you I didn’t imagine it.” She turned to look at them. “It wasn’t a dream.”

The only reason Fane wasn’t panicking was because he truly was half-asleep still, dragged out while dreaming he blinked hard to try and keep his eyes from slipping closed once more. It was a hard task, but he trailed at the rear behind Faye who followed Carrington in the front. Carrington was on full alert, scanning each room they passed and each hallway but turning up nothing. Seeing the mug, the group frowned, it was no dream for Faye to be here when she heard it. At least not a nightmare in bed it was concluded.

“How can you have heard it if the record isn’t even here?” Carrington wasn’t disputing it, merely questioning how that was possible if there was no copy of the record or no person here with one.

It made no sense.

While Faye moved to the record player, sorting through the small collection beside it Fane stood by the door glancing back at the hall. Nothing moved, the house was still save for the occasional creak of the floorboards underfoot. Otherwise, there was nothing extraordinary about the place. “Maybe it was a waking dream?”

But that didn’t explain how she was able to make a hot chocolate. Fane didn’t really know what to suggest other than that. But a sweep of the room and ground floor proved nothing. No windows tampered or doors jarred open. Eventually Fane cleaned up the mug on the stairs and met up with the others. Carrington still seemed tense, but couldn’t explain any of it. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone here... Don’t know what happened…” he shook his head, “maybe it’s a bit of paranoia about everything going on too?” He didn’t say this unkindly, just trying to figure out what might’ve caused her to report the things she had. “Either way… We should go back to bed… I’ll keep an ear out for anything else.”

“If I knew the answer to that we wouldn’t be standin’ here would we?” Faye rubbed her free hand over her face. “I’m sorry…” she said to Carrington. Her words had been harsher than intended. She was simply spooked out of her skin. “But I don’t know. Except that I heard it. Do either of you have it on your phone? Could it have been an echo if it was playing?” It was a silly question, grasping at straws. Carrington had been reading and Fane had been dead asleep. No one had their phones on.

But they both shook their head anyway, seeing how flustered she was.

Faye was a logical person, despite her belief in the possible existence of things beyond this world. The simplest explanation was that it was a waking dream, or that she’d merely thought she heard music, when in fact it was something else entirely. The old house creaked and groaned as it was, and on a windy night - such as it seemed to be becoming outside - all sorts of things could be heard if one listened hard enough. “Maybe,” Faye relented at the mention of waking dream. But it didn’t take away the uneasiness she felt about what had happened.

The ‘touch’ she could put off on a draft, sure. But she knew she’d heard music. A song from one of the most traumatic moments of her life. A song that only she knew the name of. It was just a detail, insignificant in the grand scheme, but one that Faye would never forget. But arguing would only frustrate everyone. It was late, Fane was asleep on his feet as it was, and Carrington, well… she’d suitably ruined his night.

“We haven’t exactly been taking it easy up here,” Faye said, agreeing with Carrington that perhaps they all had a slight touch of paranoia. Legitimate, all things considered. Going back to bed was really the last thing Faye wanted to do, especially alone, but she’d bothered everyone enough for the night. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Um… sorry. For wakin’ everybody up.”

There was no need to apologize, and Carrington told her as much. They went back upstairs, Carrington making sure both Faye and Fane’s doors were secured before retreating back to his own room. He tried to stay awake, and managed it for a good while, but thunder started to rumble gently in the distance, and with the soft patter of rain on the glass, Carrington’s eyes slipped shut.

Faye fell asleep too, the rain lulling her. She woke up sometime later when the storm was in full tilt. Thunder shook the walls, and rain pounded the windows. Outside, lightning split open the sky, lighting up the moorland like it was the middle of the day. Faye got up, moving to pull the curtains a bit tighter to block out the lightning. As she worked on the last set, the lightning flashed again, and Faye nearly jumped out of her skin. Something moved outside in the rain. She watched, but the figure never came back. Just then, something reached the edge of her hearing. She stopped, trying to hear it again over the frantic beating of her heart.

It came again, and it was the unmistakable sound of crying.

A baby’s cry.

Faye looked back out the window again, but didn’t see anything. “What the fuck…?” she said, but she was already moving out her door, snagging the pistol from the nightstand. She stopped at Carrington’s door, knocking several times but getting no answer. The sound came louder now, like it was on their doorstep. Surely no one had…

Faye was down the stairs and flinging open the door, pistol up and ready in case it was a trap. But there was nothing. Only sheets of freezing rain blowing in on her. No baby on the doorstep. No figure in the storm. She had reached to close the door when the sound came a third time. It was unmistakable. “Hello!?” Faye called into the storm, holding up a hand to block some of the rain as she moved outside. “Is anyone there?” No one answered, but the crying continued, louder now that Faye was moving through the rain. She was soaked to the bone, barefoot, her hair plastered to her head, but the screaming pulled her forwards… she had no choice but to follow it. Find it. Help it.

She didn’t know how long she’d been walking, but eventually she halted, slipping a bit in the mud. She raised her gun at the figure standing in the distance. A woman with long dark hair. Dressed in a white nightgown. “Hello? Are you alright?” Faye called, not lowering her gun as she moved closer. The baby continued to scream, huge, hiccupping wails that only an infant - a brand new one - could make. “Is your baby alright?” The woman didn’t move, didn’t respond, and she couldn’t see the woman’s face. But with the way she swayed, Faye could see the swaddled, writhing form of the infant in her arms. “If you need help, my friend’s a doctor.” A small lie, but one that couldn’t hurt. “Please… he’ll freeze…” she said of the tiny baby.

Faye was almost to her now. Could almost reach out and touch the woman’s shoulder. She should have noticed that there was something… wrong. Something off. The woman’s clothes were older. About twenty years or so out of date. She wasn’t wet. Neither was the infant. But Faye noticed none of this. All there was the screaming and the need to make it better.

She reached for the woman’s shoulder, to touch her and get her attention.

Her hand passed right through, like smoke.

“What the fu-”

Before Faye could even get the startled words out, the woman was turning towards her. A hand was gripping her more tightly than should have been possible. Twisted in the fabric of her shirt. Faye didn’t look down, so she didn’t see long fingers that were nothing more than bone and sinew and ragged nails clutch at her. She also didn’t feel the cold - though she would in a moment - like she’d been dunked in an icy lake. She was transfixed on the woman’s face. She was beautiful. And the infant in her arms, with a shock of dark hair, mewling pitifully, was just as beautiful as she was.

“Your baby… come…” Faye swallowed past the fear rising in her throat. At the feeling of… wrongness. “Come inside. We can help you…”

The woman looked sad, and shook her head slowly at Faye. Her grip tightened, and her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

Faye shook her head frantically. “I don’t understand… please…”

This time the woman looked like she was pleading with Faye, screaming silently at her even as the baby cried louder.

“Please…” Faye screamed, trying to get away now. “I don’t understand!”

The wind whipped violently around her, and Faye felt the piercing pain of the woman’s grip against her flesh. “I don’t-” she started to say again, but it turned to a scream of absolute terror as the figure of the woman exploded in a cloud of thick, red liquid after opening her mouth to silently scream her plea at Faye again.

Blood.

Faye was covered in it.

She fired the pistol into the darkness until the clip was empty, slipping in the mud as she tried to back away. But there was no one there. Nothing. Just Faye, the storm, and the pool of blood she had fallen in.

After returning to his room having checked the doors and windows in Faye and Fane’s rooms respectively, Carrington had settled down in the armchair by the window. Unfortunately, even the best vigils needed sleep and a full day had proved to be more tiring than anticipated. Carrington dozed in the chair, mouth open and breathing shallow as the storm rolled outside. Thunder and lightning clapping through the sky and splitting it open in frightening displays of natural power. But still he slept, head resting against the back of the chair. A lifetime of soldiering and living in places where you had to sleep with one eye open left him a light sleeper. But lately he found himself settling more easily.

But no knocks were heard on his door. Not were Faye’s footfalls off down the hall.

It was the sound of a woman’s scream and bursts of gunfire that startled him awake. Almost rolling out of his chair we he pulled on his shoes, grabbed his pistol, jacket and yelled for Fane to get up and follow him. He was out the door sprinting to where the screams were coming from in a moment not caring for whether or not his splint got waterlogged in the process. Skidding to where Faye had fallen, he stumbled over to her, “Faye! What are you doing out here?! What happened?!” but he could barely hear a word over the goal of the wind. Not had he thought to grab a torch.

Fane thankfully emerged not that much later, jogging towards the sound of Carrington’s calls a hefty torch beaming light ahead of him.

“The fuck---" was all that was said as the white light caught the crimson bouncing off the facade of the small chapel too beside which they were stood by. Moving over to Faye he pulled off his jacket, wrapping it around her. “Help me get her inside!” he yelled over the storm as Carrington came around to the other side to help get her moving.

“Come on love, let's get you in… Slowly yeah?” The trio eventually managed to make it back inside, slamming the door in their wake and Fane was trembling from the cold. Despite that, his concern was for Faye, “let’s get a fire going yeah? Warm you up.”

Faye nearly jumped out of her skin as Carrington slid down next to her in the mud. He called her name over the roaring wind, but she could only stare at him unblinking. Her teeth chattered, and she was white as a sheet. Which only made the blood on her skin all the more apparent.

Carrington snapped his fingers in front of her face, but she barely flinched. Breathing rapidly, she had started to shake. Whether it was the shock or the cold that caused her trembling, Carrington didn’t know, but the moment he saw the flash of Fane’s torch relief shot through him. He’d seen shell-shock before, and Faye was showing all the signs. Either that or she was injured. That sort of shock was an entirely different animal.

Fane didn’t have to tell him twice. They made it inside, and Carrington told Fane there was already a small fire going in his room from earlier. And plenty of wood to stoke it with. As the other man moved ahead, practically sprinting up the stairs, Carrington lifted Faye bodily into his arms. She wrapped her own arms around his neck and held on for dear life. “I’ve got you…” he told her. “You’re safe now.” He made quick but careful work of the path to his room, setting Faye down on the sofa in front of the already freshly popping fire. Fane moved about, pulling out two sets of Carrington’s dry clothes from the dresser. One for Faye and one for Carrington himself. They were all soaked to the bone.

Faye merely stared straight ahead as Carrington sat her down, not wanting to relinquish her hold on him. He glanced at Fane over her shoulder, silently asking him not to leave just yet. They would need warm towels and probably hot tea in a bit, but right now Faye needed to realize she was safe.

“Faye. Faye, darling. It’s Carrington.” He gently wiped the red off her face with the edge of Fane’s jacket. “You’re safe. Fane and I are both here, and we’re not leaving. Understand?” Turning her face so that she was looking right at him, Carrington searched her eyes. When he was confident that she was seeing him, he spoke again. “Are you hurt?”

Faye shook her head slightly.

“Is anyone else hurt?” As in someone who was still outside. The source of the blood.

Another shake of her head.

Carrington frowned. He wanted to glance at Fane, but he dared not look away now that he had her attention. “Why were you outside?”

“Baby,” Faye said between bouts of shivering. “There was… there was a baby. ‘S cryin’. ‘S’cold.”

Another frown, this one more concerned. “Faye, there was no baby outside.”

“There was!” she sobbed quite suddenly. “I heard him, Cari. I heard him… screaming in the rain. He was scared… his mama she… she wouldn’t bring him inside… I told her… told her Fane was a doctor an’ that we could… we could help, but she just… she just stood there in the rain lettin’ him cry… lettin’ him-” Faye couldn’t manage anything else after that. She was so overcome, so distraught, that she slumped forwards into Carrington’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Carrington held Faye tightly, pressing his mouth to her temple and speaking quietly. This was terribly unlike her Because Faye didn’t cry. Not even when she was hurt. If anything, pain of any kind made her angry. And she lashed out. She didn’t lose control like this. But she also didn’t run headfirst into the bloody storming dark after phantom children. Faye was smarter and more seasoned than that. In all honesty, it was unlike him as well. At least when it came to Faye. He had never been affectionate with her, other than on their walk earlier that day. It had tempered him a bit, sharing those few hours with her. Made him hopeful for something more. But this was an extenuating circumstance, and he felt strangely protective of her in this moment. Not from Fane, of course, but from whoever or whatever had frightened her so badly.

But regardless, something was going on. First the spook from earlier, now this. Carrington looked up, meeting Fane’s eyes over the back of the sofa. ‘Sedative?’ he mouthed silently, long fingers stroking Faye’s sodden hair. Fane had much more medical experience than Carrington. He would let him decide what was best for Faye in that regard. But it seemed there would be no calming her after this. Not without help. And they would still need to make sure she wasn’t injured, despite her claims to the contrary, and also get her out of her wet clothes. The last thing either of them wanted to do was make her more upset.

Stocking the fire until it was roaring, Fane glanced at the pair as Carrington carried Faye in seeming to stoically ignore whatever pain he might get from the act. Though Faye was only small, not the heaviest of people to carry up a flight of steps and once she was settled on the sofa Carrington stayed close not moving from her side just yet. With the fire stocked Fane hurried to get a bunch of dry clothes and some large bath towels, moving back over to them draping one of the towels around Faye’s shoulders and softly squeezing her shoulders.

“We’re both here,” Fane echoed Carrington’s statement but didn’t interrupt the other man who seemed surer and more familiar in terms of what to do with this sort of reaction. Fane wasn’t trained for this, but Carrington seemed to have a better idea so the ex-soldier had the lead on this. But listening to what Faye was describing, Fane frowned, lingering by the corner of the fireplace as he silently observed the conversation saying nothing for the time being.

Carrington stayed crouched in front of Faye, using the corner of the towel Fane had found to wipe away the blood from her face before touching her chin to make sure she was hearing him. He looked perplexed and utterly concerned, there had been no baby, he was sure of it, surely, they would have heard it, wouldn’t they? But it wasn’t something to debate in Faye’s state right now. So, when she slumped in his arms, he rubbed her back, hushing her softly. “Hey, hey, I’m here darling. I’m here.”

Fane caught Carrington’s look and gave a small nod of his head, and a look that said wait here. “Faye love,” he waited until he had her attention speaking calm and slow “I’m going to get some drinks okay? Carrington’s going to stay with you. But I’m coming straight back.” Once he knew she understood he gave Carrington a final look before departing.

Carrington for his part, continued to stroke Faye’s hair back out of her face. They would need to get her washed after all this and there was just so much blood. More than anyone could have anticipated from an accident.

What the hell had gone on out there?

Fane returned a little while later, carrying a tray of tea, hot chocolate, biscuits along with a small bottle of pills. Tapping two out and picking up a glass of water he walked round to crouch in front of Faye, taking Carrington’s place. “Faye? I’m going to need your help okay? I need you to drink this water and swallow these… They’re just going to help calm you down, nothing bad, I promise. Then Carrington’s going to run you a bath and I’ll help you get clean.”

They would talk about it once Faye was more settled, for now things were too fresh to be picked apart directly. At least for the moment, and there was a part of Fane that was afraid of just what they might find out.

If there was pain, it could be dealt with later. It was inconsequential at the moment. Faye was the priority. Faye, and whatever she’d encountered in the courtyard. Though the latter would be addressed once Faye was settled and the two men were assured, she was unharmed. Physically at least. They got to work, moving near seamlessly after doing so for so many months.

Faye reached back for Fane’s hand on her shoulder, squeezing it briefly as Carrington spoke to her. She would feel ashamed of her fear later, when daylight came. But right now, there was nothing but the fear. Fear, and the spine-numbing feeling of… wrongness. Of being cold down to her bones. So, she held onto Carrington, taking great heaving gulps of air to try and calm herself as Fane called her name. She managed to hold it together long enough to nod at him, but when he moved off, she clung back to Carrington’s soaking wet shirt. He was drenched to the bone as well, and there was a dull throb in his injured hand, but he’d had worse. He talked to Faye as they waited on Fane, wiping her up as best he could. Of the three of them, none had an aversion to blood or injury-related gore. But seeing her pale skin, and her wide, frightened eyes - such a rare, beautiful color - surrounded by so much vivid crimson… it was enough to unsettle even Carrington’s iron constitution.

When Fane returned, Carrington let the other man take his place after telling Faye what was happening. Faye let go reluctantly, but Fane was right there where Carrington had been. She reached out a hand to grip his shirt, as if making sure he was real, and not… whatever that woman had been. Carrington moved off to the bath, starting the water and making sure it wasn’t too hot. Rewarming someone too quickly could be just as dangerous as letting them get too cold. He perched on the edge of the tub as he waited on the water level to rise, brow furrowed as he thought about all the possible scenarios for the events of evening.

Back in Carrington’s bedroom, Faye held out her hand for the pills Fane offered her. She didn’t question him, merely pressed them into her mouth and swallowed them with the water he held to her lips. Her throat was thick from crying, so she coughed a bit, but otherwise the pills went down without incident.

For the next ten minutes or so - while the bath ran and the medication started to work - Fane coaxed Faye into letting him look her over as best he could. Sodden, muddy clothes and a body covered in towels made it a bit cumbersome, but Faye just sat still. Her hand remained clutching Fane’s sleeve, and only when the sedative started to work did, she loosen her grip.

Carrington had been propped in the doorway, watching both the water and the pair on the sofa. There was nothing he could come up with that would explain what Faye had seen. At least not how she had described it. They would need more information. Carrington was betting on Faye’s photographic memory to hold details that would be useful in their search for an answer. He fully planned on making a full round of the house and the nearby grounds once Faye was calm, bathed, and sleeping (as the sedative continued to work). Though the chances of finding anything like footprints was next to none. Not in this downpour. Fane’s closest neighbor was apparently the vet who had fixed his arm, and she was miles off. What woman in her right mind would be out here - in the honest to Christ middle of nowhere, Scotland - with an infant? And in a monsoon no less?

It just didn’t add up. But neither was Faye a liar or a coward. If she said she saw something, she saw it. Even if it was just her imagination playing tricks. But again, that was for later.

“Fane,” Carrington called softly, motioning to him once the bath was ready. Fane got her up and moving slowly towards the bathroom, settling her onto the same stool that he’d used to shave Carrington’s beard. Carrington crouched down, touching her gently on the knee with his fingertips as Fane stood at her back, holding her up as she had started to become a bit drowsy from the medication she’d taken. “Faye…” Carrington said quietly. “We need to get these wet clothes off and get you into the bath. Is that alright? Do we have your permission? We won’t do anything you don’t want us to do, understand?”

Faye blinked, still pale and shaken, but nodded slowly. “Trust you both… ‘s’okay…” Her hand slid over his where it touched her knee. “‘M safe here… always safe…”

When the sedative started to work, Fane kept a close eye on her, assuring her quietly that they were both here and that neither of them were going to be going anywhere. He eventually sought out her hand, threading his fingers through her own affectionately and gripping her hand in tight assurance of his presence here. They could talk to her after she was calmer and in a more stable state than how she was right now to try and make better sense of whatever had happened. Though what Faye had mentioned so far? Fane already felt an icy chill creeping down his spine but he set those thoughts aside for now.

Right now Faye needed them and he would do his best to help her.

So when Carrington called for his attention, Fane had a short exchange and communication of the fact the bath had been drawn before Fane set about getting Faye to her feet. Just as he and Carrington has switched earlier, they did so again, without so much as a word of communication as Carrington asked her whether it was okay if they got her undressed so they could get her in the bathtub. “You are safe, both of us are here to make sure you stay safe,” Fane lightly touched her cheek, fingers lingering just at the back of her jaw as he gazed at her with a warm and steady presence about him. Despite everything, a grounding point for her to latch onto.

Once Faye was settled enough, the two men set about slowly removing the towels, Fane’s jacket and then Fane paused. They had been talking to her quietly throughout all of this, ensuring that if she ever felt uncomfortable or uncertain that she knew they would stop immediately. Eventually, when Faye’s clothes were all but gone save her undergarments Fane sought out her hand and forearm reverently. “Uupsie daisy, let’s get you up, and then we’ll turn around as you get undressed and get into the water, hm?” Ironic how this was the second time today he seemed to be washing the other members of their team. “Think you can do that love?”

It was strange, in a way, how much they all trusted one another. Being the sort of people, they were - with their respective histories, and especially in their line of work - didn’t lend to many close, trusting relationships. Perhaps it was how they had met: threat of imminent death and abject betrayal being as good a relationship builder as anything.

Faye squeezed Fane’s hand as he threaded their fingers, and then gave both him and Carrington a small smile. She knew they wouldn’t hurt her. Just like she would never hurt them. Her gaze slid slowly towards him as he spoke and touched her face. Her eyes were slightly hooded by the sedative, but they were still bright and mostly clear. There was no glassiness just yet. Perhaps later, when the effects of the medicine had reached their peak. But not currently. So, Faye was fully aware of what they were doing as they got her undressed. She nodded as Fane helped her stand.

“Should be ok.” Faye didn’t wait to see if either man averted their eyes - though she held Fane’s arm to balance herself, feeling a bit wobbly - as she slipped out of the simple cotton sports bra and underwear. Toeing them into the pile with the rest of her clothes, she made it into the water without much incident. It was very warm, but not hot, and Faye pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she waited. The water turned slowly pink as the blood washed off.

Carrington had averted his eyes as much as possible while he and Fane got Faye undressed, feeling as if he should offer her what privacy he could. And when she finished the process, he turned his eyes to the floor, watching her feet very intently in case she stumbled. But then she was in, and that was better. “I’ll just take the wet things to the wash and get changed myself,” he said to Faye and Fane.

“Stay…” Faye said quietly. “Please?”

Carrington looked at Fane, uncertainty back in his expression. “Alright. I’ll just grab my dry things from off the bed then, hm? I’ll be right back.” Faye didn’t protest further, so Carrington dried and changed and was back in just a few minutes. He tossed a questioning look at Fane that asked if she was feeling any better.

Fane let Faye have his arm as he helped her get into the bath and sink under the water. While he did his best to avert his gaze more out of politeness than anything else, he did have to make sure she didn’t trip or anything else under the influence of the drugs she had taken. Once she was settled in the water, he set about lifting cupped handfuls over her hair and shoulders. “I’m just going to give your skin a wash okay love? Then we’ll wash your hair out.”

There was no consideration given to his own clothes or the sodden mess of how the material clung to his skin. His attention and concern saved solely for Faye and her well-being presently. Carrington’s offer to depart caused Fane to look over at him though he paused at Faye’s request knowing neither would likely deny it regardless. Even more so in the state she was presently. When Carrington agreed to stay Fane gave him a small smile glad to some degree that this was the case.

“I’ll get you some clothes too,” Carrington said to Fane on route out not wanting him to catch a cold or get ill because of wet clothes.

For a little while it was just the pair of them and Fane guided Faye to lie down in the water. Soaking out her hair his fingers scrubbed through her hair, massaging her scalp as he used the water to work the matted blood from it… Fane was still wrapping his head around how it had gotten there but it was what it was and they would ask once she was feeling more stable and secure.

“How you doing?” Fane asked her as he saw Carrington’s return.

Faye stayed still as Fane washed her off, nodding when spoken to but not saying much else. Had she been in the proper mind frame, she would’ve fussed over both Carrington and Fane, making sure they got out of their sodden, muddy clothes and into something warm and dry. As it was, Carrington took the initiative. Just another example of how they could work together for the good of everyone.

She lay back, not worried that even with the water and her long hair, Fane was probably getting a very intimate view of her body. Not that he would make a huge deal out of it. They had yet to become as close as Fane and Carrington, physically at least, but Faye meant it when she said she trusted them. A soft noise of contentment rose from her throat as Fane scrubbed through her hair. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had done such a thing. It was quite lovely.

Soon enough, her trembling stopped, and Faye relaxed a fair bit in the water. When Carrington made his way back into the room, carrying a set of dry clothes for Fane - a t-shirt and joggers - Faye turned her head. “‘M fine,” she said, though there was a small frown on her face.

Carrington set the clothes on the counter, and met Fane’s eyes, gesturing that they could switch places if he wanted to change clothes. When he agreed, letting Faye know what was happening once more, Carrington took over. With a fresh cloth, he wiped Faye’s face clean of any remaining blood or mud. Though Fane’s washing her hair had gotten rid of most of it honestly. He set the cloth aside, wringing it out before placing it in a small plastic ziploc bag he’d brought with him. There was plenty of blood on the material. Perhaps they could ask Fane’s vet friend for a favor and get the substance analyzed to make sure that’s exactly what it was. Just to rule out anything else.

He would tell Faye and Fane what it was for once everyone had settled more.

Faye, who was still frowning, suddenly spoke. “My hand went right through her; do you know that?” She turned her head to look at Carrington. “Like she was made of… smoke. Or fog. Like she was… a ghost.”

Carrington searched Faye’s eyes, a neutral look on his face. It was an expression he used when he was trying not to react in a certain way. Like a default setting. Because what Faye was saying… it was slightly mad. Ghosts? That apparently bled? Infant spirits that screamed loud enough to be heard all the way in Faye’s room?

Or played records that didn’t exist...

“There’re no spirits here, Faye,” Carrington said gently but firmly. “We talked about that on our walk earlier? Remember? About the house being haunted? Do you think you could be remembering that?” It still didn’t explain the blood.

“No. No, she was there, Cari… her an’ that baby… swear she was…” Faye said quietly, but didn’t grow particularly upset.

There wasn’t much for it, Faye needed to be cleaned and washed down and Fane was responsible enough that he did his best to ignore the enticing curve of her breast where it vanished underneath the bubbles. Though whether he’d think on it later was debatable, but for now his priority was Faye here and now nothing more than that. Working the blood from her hair he continued until the majority of it was scrubbed through trying to ignore the noises she happened to make as he did so.

When she began to relax Fane was glad for it, he continued his attentions though as Faye assured them both she was fine he glanced over at Cari. He was still feeling like a drowned rat in the clothes that stuck fast to his body but it was hardly anything to complain about in comparison to whatever had happened to Faye. So, at the offer of getting out of them he nodded, letting Cari take over. Vanishing for a little while, Fane peeled out of his own waterlogged clothes, dumping them in a pile before changing into the dry trackies and tee that had been brought over for him.

He returned part way through Faye’s recount, not saying a word, just leaning in the door arms folded over his chest as he looked in on Carrington who was mostly stroking Faye’s hair rather than washing it by now. He looked perplexed and perhaps a little perturbed even by the notion of what she described. Fane could see him saying what he thought, that there was no such thing as ghosts but that wouldn’t help the present situation.

But the mention of a ghost, of a woman and a baby… Fane frowned himself in that moment before speaking up shortly after. “Do you remember what she looked like Faye?” Fane wasn’t sure why, but something about the mention sent a cold chill down his spine, something he couldn’t quite explain.

Carrington sighed gently. He’d been about to tell Faye that ghosts weren’t real, the cynical non-believer rising to the surface. But he didn’t. Right now, what he believed didn’t matter. It was what Faye believed she’d seen - real or not - that mattered. Though not entering into someone’s delusion with them was Psych 101. But as Carrington had told Faye, he’d never been a particularly good student.

He paused in his next question as Fane asked one himself. Instead, Carrington glanced back at him, noting his expression for a long moment before turning back to see what Faye’s answer would be.

Faye continued to stare straight ahead; eyes unfocused as she tried to remember. “She was… pretty.” The woman had been beautiful, honestly. But Faye’s brain couldn’t form the word, so it settled for something a bit simpler. “Black hair. Long. Baby had… black hair too.” A small furrow appeared in her brow. Something on the edge of her memory. From the first moment they’d walked into the house. Faye’s chest rose and fell a bit more rapidly as the image started to come into focus. It must have registered in her expression as well, because Carrington shifted next to her.

“Faye?” he asked. “What is it? What do you remember?”

Faye ignored the direct question. Her hands rose out of the water to grip the sides of the tub, and she tried to push herself up, but couldn’t. Water sloshed over the sides and onto the floor. “I need… I need to go downstairs. Now.”

The description didn’t do much to ease him, and Fane’s frown deepened ever so slightly. He didn’t say anything as Carrington looked over either, his attention entirely on Faye, intent and zoned entirely on what her answer was. He seemed unsure himself as he stood there but didn’t say anything that might misdirect, lead or cause her to say something she didn’t mean. He wasn’t sure what he was anticipating, or wasn’t but this wasn’t it… It wasn’t as though there were many other incidences of what she was describing, a ghost-like woman and a screaming infant…

Carrington moved as soon as she did, “woah, slow down darling,” he caught her arm before she slipped and ended up cracking her skull open or something of the sort. “Let’s get you up and dry first okay?” Fane took the cue, going to grab some of the large towels that were drying on the shelf and bringing them over by now Carrington had helped her stand in the water and step out.

Fane kept his eyes averted as best he could as he held the towel by the corners and wrapped it around her. “Come on, the house isn’t very warm… I don’t want you walking around wet,” there was a hairdryer nearby and Fane gave the pair of them a pointed look that said he wasn’t arguing. No matter how much Faye wanted to go downstairs, he’d see that she was warm and wrapped up before she did.

Carrington had his questions, why, what was downstairs that was suddenly so important? But he said nothing for now, knowing Fane was right. They needed to take care of Faye before any further investigation would take place.

It was right there. Right there on the edge of her memory. The woman. Her… face. It was… gah, she had to go downstairs. She was there. She was down there. In the dark… So intent was she on her destination that if not for Carrington’s reflexes she very well might have fallen. Faye could do nothing but nod as they helped her out and wrapped her up. It was cold, and Faye’s teeth chattered. Goosebumps prickled her skin, but she let herself be led back to the stool again.

“I need to go down,” she said firmly, eyes closed. “She’s… there. I need to… see it. Her… she-” Faye pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, groaning in frustration. “She’s there.”

“We’re going down,” Carrington reassured her as he dried her legs and feet with a separate towel as Fane started on her hair. “Dry first, then clothes. Then downstairs. And not a moment before.” His voice wasn’t harsh or cruel. It was gentle but firm. Much as Fane’s had been.

Faye just nodded from behind the press of her hands. The warm air from the dryer felt good, and she didn’t say anything else until things were done. The warmth from the bath and the way they washed her had lulled her some. She would easily fall to sleep later, once she was recumbent.

A bit later, everything was sorted, and she held onto both men as they went downstairs. Reaching the bottom, Faye let go, looking around in the darkness for the face she was trying to remember. Where had it been? Where had she- “There. Right there…” She moved off into the darkness before Carrington could catch her arm again. He was next to her in two strides, hand at her elbow as she moved a bit clumsily towards the foyer. “She’s there.” Faye pointed up at the wall. Her eyes were slightly feverish, her skin pale, and she shook slightly as a flash of lightning illuminated the face of the woman in question. “In the painting…”

There was no argument from either man about her not going downstairs, they were both simply saying that she was going to take care of herself (or more so let them take care of her) before they even started to think about anything beyond their respective well-being presently. Once her hair was dry, brushed through and tied back out of the way followed by the process of getting her dressed in a tee, oversized hoodie that hung off her and cotton lounge pants that had to be rolled several times over at the ankle to even somewhat fit her the two men agreed that they could move onto the next topic.

Finding whatever Faye was so determined to locate.

Carrington remained at Faye’s side more closely now, Fane following a few steps behind until they walked along and down to the foyer. Fane was doing his best to not entirely dwell on what Faye’s earlier description had reminded him of, but all of that fell by the wayside as her finger raised. Pointing to the woman she had supposedly seen and that earlier chill was nothing in comparison to what felt like the bucket of ice-cold water he had just been doused in.

“Are you sure that’s her?” Carrington asked, not unkindly but just to make sure that this wasn’t just Faye’s imagination playing with her. Taking something, they had walked past countless times and perhaps been present in her subconscious and morphing it with her paranoia into something that wasn’t quite as real as it seemed. But none of that explained the records or the blood. He studied the painting for a moment, noticing something under the layer of dust that clung to its frame “is there a plaque underneath… Who is it?”

Fane was very oddly quiet from where he stood, chewing a little on his knuckles and looking very much like being sick seemed to be a very valid option presently. There was no way she had seen her, no way at all and Fane ended up shaking his head. “No… It… Couldn’t be her.”

“Yeah, ‘m sure,” Faye said. “Don’t know who she is. But… she had dark eyes… tall… there was…” Faye moved towards the picture, holding up her hand to try and touch the canvas. But she wasn’t tall enough. “She’s not wearing it here…” she commented to herself about the painting. “She had… she had a locket. ‘Round her neck.” Faye touched her own chest. “Silver. Had… vine work on it.” It seemed such a small thing, a necklace, but Faye’s mind had always picked up on small details that others might miss.

Carrington had also moved towards the painting, following behind Faye cautiously. He kept an eye on Fane as well, noting the other man’s growing unease. He’d seen the portrait. Noticed the resemblance to the other man in the features of the people portrayed there. But for all he knew it could be a distant ancestor of Fane’s. He hadn’t really had the time to ask. Now seemed as good a time as any, all things considered.

“Who is she?” Carrington said quietly, standing at Faye’s shoulder but speaking to Fane. He didn’t raise a hand to wipe the dust from the plaque just yet. Faye was trying to reach it however, so Carrington caught her hand gently - “Not just yet…” he told her softly - as he waited on Fane’s answer.

For all his denial, the statement Faye made about the locket had Fane closing his eyes for a long moment. He drew in a deep breath through his nose holding it momentarily before exhaling it though it was shaky and his hand was starting to tremble where it was pressed over his mouth. Why would she know that? There were barely any photos of his mother around, his father had made a point of removing them after her death to try and save Fane from more pain of having to see images of her still around when she was no longer here. The painting was one of the few things that Fane knew of that hadn’t ended up being packed away supposedly out of mind and out of sight.

First the screaming baby. Then the blood. The ghostly woman. Now the locket and this?

Fane barely noticed being addressed by Carrington, firmly in denial over the entire matter. “You can’t have seen her,” he said again, slightly firmer in belief though there was no mistaking the waver in his voice. He rubbed his hand over his face, shaking his head once more rather resolutely but the spot where they had been? That had been just by the small chapel in the grounds. Where they had been buried. Fane’s hand grasped his other arm, hugging himself tightly as he shook his head but he’d gone ashen. “She’s... dead.” Fane blinked hard, staring at the painting for a long hard second at the couple and small boy that looked suspiciously like a younger version of himself stood between them.

Carrington’s hand remained holding Faye’s, but his eyes were intently on Fane. Something wasn’t right here. Something that was making the hair on the back of his neck raise up. When Fane didn’t answer his question, Carrington frowned slightly. His eyes moved back to the portrait. Then down to the dust-covered plaque. Well, in for a penny and all that.

He brushed the dust off, squinting in the low light to read what it said. Well fuck.

“Faye,” Carrington started to say, but Fane spoke again. Dead, he said. Of course, she was. The woman in the photo was his mother. There was no way Faye could’ve seen her. No way at all. At least… that’s what he told himself.

“I know,” Faye said quietly, her voice sounding sad but very distant. “I told you… ‘s like she was a ghost. She was... upset. Like she was… tryin’ to say somethin’... but... ” Faye shook her head slowly. “Couldn’t hear her. Only the baby.” This time it was Faye who blinked, eyes shining a bit. She swallowed, staring at the figures for a long moment. “He was dead too… wasn’t he?” Another slow blink, the glint of tears slipping down her cheeks. “I’d like to go to sleep now I think…”

Carrington - who was watching Fane with increasing worry - gave Faye’s hand a squeeze and turned to look at her briefly. “Alright. I’ll take you upstairs and tuck you in hm?” Faye only nodded. The medication she’d taken was reaching its peak, so she would be out for the count in a few minutes. When Carrington turned back, Fane was gone. But the kitchen light flicked to life a moment later. Christ, they were all a mess. But he had to prioritize. Faye in bed, she was asleep on her feet as it was, first. Then back down to see about Fane. Yes. That was the best course. What other choice did he have?

Fane said nothing, but the way his features tightened following Faye’s question was telling enough. Especially the mention of the baby being dead too. He’d spent so long leaving this behind and now she was talking about ghosts? The howl of the wind outside whistled loud and Fane was sure the world was spinning far too much off-kilter. His stomach rolled and he was sure that he was going to be ill. She was dead, she was. There was nothing for it.

Because his mother’s death is what ultimately led to his own father’s demise. Selfish bastard. Old memories and feelings returned unbidden and he knew he couldn’t stand here any longer. Couldn’t listen to Faye or Carrington ask their questions or offer their sympathies. There was barely any sound as Fane turned and left, his bare feet silent as he vanished into the dark corridors, silhouette illuminated occasionally by the flash of lightning before he was gone. The only indicator of where he’d vanished to being the light behind him.

“Come on then,” Carrington said as he took Faye’s hand once more. Slowly he led her back upstairs, one final look being cast in the direction of the kitchen where Fane could be heard moving about doing something or other. Reaching his room, because Carrington didn’t wish to leave Faye alone again tonight considering all that had happened, he pulled the sheets back and helped her climb in. He was worried about Fane too, something life-changing had happened here and the pieces were starting to fit together now. “Comfy?” he asked her once she was settled down his good hand stroking her face as her eyes drooped “nice and easy, hm? You sleep darling.” She needed it after all.

There was no protest as Carrington led Faye upstairs. She let herself be guided and helped into bed, wondering idly - through her heavy thoughts and the need to sleep that dragged at her - where Fane was. If he was alright. In the morning, she would revisit the things she’d said. Apologize for them. For being so insensitive. But now all she could do was lie down and close her eyes, and nod as Carrington guided her off to sleep. Soon she was sleeping deeply, her breaths slow and deep, her sleep dreamless and peaceful.

Carrington sighed. He wanted to go down to check on Fane, knowing the other man was suffering. He didn’t want to ask any more questions, or offer sympathy or platitudes. Certainly not pity. He merely wanted to be there so Fane wouldn’t be alone. But he also couldn’t leave Faye alone. Not even while she was sleeping so deeply. Christ, he needed another one of himself. His hand throbbed fiercely, and he flexed his fingers, knowing the wet bandage that had been taken off earlier needed replacing. He would stay here though, at Faye’s side, for another half an hour, no more than a full one. If Fane wasn’t up by then, he would go find him.

After departing, Fane had just needed a bit of time to get his thoughts back together. Put them into some semblance of sense (as much as any person could following what had happened tonight). He’d ended up making himself a liquor filled coffee that he sipped, leaning against the cabinet as he stared out the window at the lashing sheets of rain pelting the sky and being caught in moments of glistening brilliance each time the lightning cracked overhead. He wasn’t sure if there was any way of finding some sort of sense to whatever had happened tonight but the alcohol at least helped to take some of the edge off his thoughts and everything else.

He felt bad about leaving Faye and Cari alone, the guilt settling round his feet and he knew that it wouldn’t be too long before he sought them out. To apologise himself for vanishing the way he had, but he couldn’t stand there and listen to Faye speak of ghosts and spirits and whatever else she seemed to somehow be ‘in tune’ with here in the house. Not to mention, a part of him sparked in jealousy. Why did she get to see them? Why wasn’t it me? With a slightly irked huff Fane swallowed down the warm drink, abandoning the mug on the side as he rubbed his hands over his face. What was he supposed to do?

Can’t run forever.

With a slight noise of frustration, Fane turned towards the stairs and slowly started to climb up until he arrived back at Carrington’s room. Wondering if it was a good idea to bother him, or if perhaps he would be better off going back to his own room and not mentioning all this. Though a part of him knew that wasn’t going to happen regardless of what he might want himself. So, Fane knocked quietly before stepping inside and looking at Carrington perched on the edge of the bed and Faye’s sleeping form. “She okay?” because talking about other people was by far more easy than speaking about himself right now and his expression said as much.

Carrington sat with one foot on the floor, the other curled beneath him as he waited to see if Fane would come up on his own. When the knock came finally, and his familiar form came in, Carrington internally sagged. Well, that was one less matter. Not that he would’ve hesitated for a second, or found it any sort of imposition. But Fane coming up was a good thing, as much as it could be.

“She’s fine,” Carrington nodded. “Out like a light.” His own expression held the same question, but directed at Fane himself. Was he okay? Because when it came to not talking about things, Carrington was king. He knew avoidance when he saw it. And Fane was most definitely not going to be talking about what had happened downstairs. Not tonight at least. And to be quite honest, Carrington wasn’t going to make him. Or ask about it at all. More than likely, Fane could see that he’d already been called out on his avoidance, even if Carrington never uttered a word. So he left it for now. They had time.

“We should sleep too,” Carrington told Fane, an edge of suggestion in his voice this time. “Beds plenty big for all of us.”

Fane knew well enough he would have to explain things to them both, Faye and Carrington deserved it he knew. They’d both proven themselves more than trustworthy but there were simply boundaries Fane wasn’t comfortable dealing with tonight. Not with whatever the hell that was going on here, Faye seeing his supposedly deceased mother? Fane still wasn’t sure what to make of any of it. So for now, while Carrington’s look while was well-meaning in intent it was simply met with a slightly glazed and downcast look. One that said please, don’t ask about this tonight.

Of course it would come eventually, Fane knew this fact. He wasn’t idiotic not to expect it at some point but for now he would set these issues aside and get on with the things that presently were more important as he always had. No words were given other than a subtle nod of his head to acknowledge Carrington before Fane squinted at Cari’s wraps which would need to be changed. Finding a task now he could see to without much thought required Fane stepped over waving for Cari’s arm.

“Come on lemme see that,” Fane requested, focussing on others was a far better course of action presently for him. Looking after Carrington would make him in turn feel better at least a little bit.

Once Carrington gave his arm over, Fane set about the task of unpinning and unwrapping the bandages layering up Carrington’s arm. The bandages were piled up nearby and Fane turned Carrington’s arm this way and that as he made sure everything about his arm and hand was fine save the swelling that had come from the aggravation this night had brought about.

A tiny nod of Carrington’s head in return was the only acknowledgement of Fane’s silent request. He would never push unless it was necessary. Then he would push as far as it took to ensure their safety. But right now didn’t require force. Right now required patience and understanding. Two things Carrington still struggled with from time to time. But things he knew were very important in the long run. If this was going to work between the three of them.

He held out his hand with only a small sigh, glancing back at Faye as she made a small sound in her sleep. His gaze softened slightly as he looked at her, bundled in her too-big clothes beneath a pile of blankets, her hair a mess of waves sticking out the top. The expression held as he turned back to Fane, gazing at him quietly as the other man unwrapped his hand. Carrington flexed it gently once the bandages were gone, wincing slightly as he closed his fist. There was still some mild swelling - likely aggravated by the night’s activities - so the back of his hand throbbed like mad, but the lacerations were healing nicely, and the pain was less than it was previously. His skin was a bit damp and would need to dry out before Fane replaced the new bandages, but that wouldn’t take long.

His skin was pat dry and a tiny bit of powder applied for good measure, and the rewrapping started. Carrington’s eyes moved to Fane, who was still laser-focused on the task at hand. Without much thought, Carrington’s good hand reached out to gently brush the back of his fingers over Fane’s arm. He wasn’t good at this. Not at all. Crises he could handle. Intruders he could handle. Shell shock he could handle. But this? Comfort at the most basic level? He was nearly clueless. So he just did what felt right. No words, no large gestures, just a soft touch to say ‘I’m here. I know you’re hurting. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.’ Such a huge thing in the smallest brush of skin, but it felt good - felt like something Fane might do - so Carrington didn’t draw his fingers back.

Seeing how Carrington was looking at Faye stirred something warm in Fane’s chest that he couldn’t quite place, something that made him smile despite the ache of things long since past that had been stirred and brought to light this evening. “Things seem better between you,” Fane commented after a few moments of unwinding the thick layers of bandages over Carrington’s hand, more an observation than anything else but Fane didn’t look at Carrington to see how that look was reflected also at him. “I’m worried about her,” Fane commented quietly as he let Cari flex his hand a little but only slightly before he was getting up and headed to the bathroom to get a few items to refix it up.

Returning he perched back where he was and set about starting to dry it off and apply a little powder to help keep it dry before starting to wrap it up once more mindful of his fingers which were kept in a relatively neutral position as Fane wound the dry material over the injured site. He paused momentarily when Carrington brushed his arm, glancing down and then up at the other man. The brush of his fingertips was warm and soothing and Fane’s smile though tight and small was genuine.

Without anything more needed to be done or said, Fane set about returning to wrapping Carrington’s arm winding the bandage round and round until he was satisfied that it was secure and stabilising the injured site of Carrington’s hand. “Feel alright?”

”I think they are,” Carrington said quietly, a subtle note of hopefulness in his voice. But he didn’t say anything else, and turned back to Fane. It would remain to be seen he supposed. Between himself and Faye. Fane started to work, and Carrington felt immensely better as the wet bandage was removed. Though as he flexed his hand he could tell he still needed it. He would be glad to get rid the bulk though, once the smaller brace was applied.

He watched Fane work with quiet interest, but his brow furrowed slightly at the next comment about Faye. He waited until Fane was redoing the bandage before responding. “People handle things differently.” The statement was open-ended, leaving room for Fane to elaborate. Because he needed to. That much was evident in Carrington’s tone. Fane’s smile was met with one of his own, and when Fane was done, Carrington flexed the fingers again, nodding that the bandage felt good. “Thank you.”

He stared down at his hand for a long moment, looking as if he wanted to say something else, but deciding against it in the end. “You should sleep.” It was all he could think to say. “I need to check the house again. I’ll check the grounds tomorrow. No use in this storm. Besides, I’d hate to ruin all your hard work.” He held up his bandaged hand before giving a slight huff and a half-smile and looking away.

“Good,” and that was the matter more or less settled for now. They would just have to see what came about from now on. The fact they were no longer bickering was a bonus at least and Fane would take that if nothing else. His comment of Faye handling things caused Fane to frown and make a small noise though whether it was agreement or not was debatable. Otherwise Fane stayed quiet still in disbelief and some shock over the matter.

Faye had more or less actually described his mother who was long since gone. Fane wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“You should too,” Fane said flatly as he finished up wrapping cari’s hand. He didn’t want the other man wandering around. “Stay with us tonight… I don’t want us separated if something else happens…” his words weren’t quite pleading but enough to say they were important to him. When he looked away Fane reached up and touched his chin turning his head this way so he could meet his eyes “please?”

Carrington’s frown deepened just a bit as Fane didn’t elaborate on what he meant about Faye. But where he usually would have pressed, this time he didn’t. He would later, once Fane didn’t seem quite so shell-shocked himself. Because where Faye was slightly hysterical, Fane was quite the opposite. He was shutting down. It was unlike the both of them. Faye had her bravery, foolish though it may be sometimes; Fane had his optimism, his ability to pull other out of their shells. And here Carrington was, sitting right in the middle of them, feeling his own brand of uncertainty and fear. Though he was trained - had been for nearly his whole life - to not let it show.

He grunted at needing sleep himself. He hadn’t managed any so far tonight. Or was it morning now? Hell if he knew. The urge to take his rifle and go over the house from top to bottom was nearly irresistible. It was what he was good at. It was what he’d done for twenty years. Plan. Execute. Control. All these things he knew he could do, though what use were they if the people he… if the people he cared for came to harm regardless?

Fane’s words gave him pause, and he flexed his fingers again, feeling the tightness of the wraps. When fingers touched his chin unexpectedly, he flinched. Not because he was frightened of Fane, but just from surprise. Carrington found the other man’s eyes, heard the tone of his voice. Christ… there was nothing Carrington wouldn’t do for him, he thought as he looked into Fane’s eyes. Cliche as that might sound. But honestly, Carrington didn’t give a single fuck how it sounded. Because it was true. No one had ever looked at him the way Fane was looking at him now. The way Faye sometimes looked at him. It stirred something inside him, something low and warm that wasn’t quite desire, but something close. Need, perhaps? Not in a carnal way (though that was there also), but in a way that went much, much deeper than even that.

“As you wish,” Carrington said in absolute seriousness. The urge to dip his head and press his mouth to Fane’s was nearly unbearable, but in the end he shut his eyes and settled for reaching for his hand instead. “Come on then. Bed’s the warmest part of this bloody huge room.” The fire would need topping off, and the bedroom doors secured, but all in all they were good for the night. Having both Faye and Fane in his bed - despite the circumstances - was enough for Carrington.

A combination of tiredness and shock led to him barely even registering he hadn’t even finished off his thought, just voicing a general fact that he was worried and it was something he knew would need to be talked about and discussed. Fane knew he wasn’t behaving normally but instead of elaborating his brain only wanted to shut down and rest for the time being. He’d apologise tomorrow, it was just for the time being he couldn’t process much more than what was directly going on around him.

“Don’t argue, you do,” it was said flatly, and there was no room for argument in his tone. He wasn’t having it and that was that. There was quite literally nothing Carrington could say or do that would change Fane’s opinion right in this moment. Regardless of what he wanted to do Fane had made it clear what he wanted, needed even tonight and as he sat there looking at Carrington, eyes tired and drained of their typical optimism. Seeking, needing to know that for now, for this moment in time Carrington was willing to stay. It would have been easy enough to take advantage of Fane’s present state, but Carrington’s agreement was more than enough for him in this moment. More than enough. Fane wasn’t thinking of anything other than sinking into the bed and passing out.

“Thank you,” was all Fane had to say. There was nothing more than that, and he didn’t need any further encouragement to move to the bed and climb on beside where Faye was presently sprawled. Pulling back the covers he scrambled under, the large bed having more than enough room for them all. “S’cold,” he complained though when Carrington finally climbed in Fane’s foggy and sleep-deprived brain scooted back to press close to his warmth until he was well and truly sandwiched between Faye and Carrington.

Fane’s flat response was met with a rather flat look from Carrington. But he was smart enough not to argue. But as with everything else that had occurred tonight, there was a time and a place for pressing forwards. Now was not it. And though his own fatigue was the very last thing on Carrington’s mind, having been trained to push through it and stay vigilant. Though the practice had led to the eventual development of rather severe insomnia at times. So he settled it with himself by saying that it was Fane that needed the rest. And relented.

A dip of his head was the equivalent of a ‘you’re welcome,’ and Carrington watched Fane make quick work of sliding in beside Faye. He debated which side to get in on, but with Faye sprawled as she was, plus literally out for the count, Fane’s side was best. He climbed in, lying flat of his back at first, arm under his head. But Fane was warm, and the press of his body had Carrington closing his eyes and sighing gently. After a moment’s debate, he shifted to his side and slid gently flush, though still unsure where to place his arm. Heat radiated from both Fane and Faye, so the space beneath the covers was almost as warm as the fire. It was enough to make him feel drowsy already.

The storm still raged outside, and the walls shook with the roll of thunder. But it was all background noise to the thundering of Carrington’s heart as he tried to sort out his long, coltish limbs.

Fane felt more than saw the warmth of Carrington’s body at his back. There was a certain tension to the other man’s frame that where Fane's eyes were shut they opened as Carrington shifted and tried to settle several times over. To the point he exhaled a slightly long suffering noise, reached back searching for Cari’s arm and promptly pulling him snug to his own back.

“Like that,” it was both a statement and a question as Fane pulled Cari’s arm around his midsection also. Faye stirred in her sleep also mumbling something and edging closer to the warmth of the other bodies pressed up close under the thick covers that trapped the heat. Fane lay facing Faye with Carrington settled at his back without all that much question or protest.

Even if there had been Fane wouldn’t have taken here, closing his eyes and settling into the comforting scent of them both.

#scene #explorer au

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 2/9/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Saturday 9th February 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Saturday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS).

TRANSPORT DRIVERS TO GO – More layoffs are in store for Barbados’ cash-strapped Transport Board, and drivers will be hit. As the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme continues to take effect, state-owned enterprises charged with making their businesses more cost-efficient will be sending home workers. Chairman of the Transport Board, Gregory Nicholls, told the Saturday Sun yesterday that with only between 50 and 60 buses on the road daily, and facing a required financial audit to streamline its finances, the board will be having further consultation with the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and the Barbados Workers’ Union from next week to look at the best way to deal with the situation. “Currently, the Transport Board has in excess of 540 staff. The challenge we have is that under the IMF programme, all state-owned enterprises are required to be current with their expenses, and the board has not been able to do that." (SS)

THREE-MONTH CONTRACTS ISSUED, SAYS NICHOLLS – Chairman of the Transport Board Gregory Nicholls is strenuously denying a recent social media report, which implies needless rehiring is taking place within the state-run organization, amid talk of a second round of retrenchments. This morning Nicholls revealed that the Transport Board had issued three-month contracts to five persons to fill positions critical to ensuring that the organization is in keeping with requirements under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. Yesterday, it was circulated on social media that the Transport Board had hired a Fleet Management Consultant, Booth Person, two Account Assistants, Internal Auditor and Project Manager. The post claimed that the salaries for these persons totalled $50,000 per month. However in his interview with Barbados TODAY, the Transport Board Chairman went into great detail as to the indispensible function that these temporary staff members provided. “We have not hired any full-time persons at the Transport Board. We hired two persons in the accounts department because those skills were not in existence in the department. We are under a rigorous reporting requirement under the IMF programme to provide Government with daily updates as to the financial status of the Transport Board. The organization is at the forefront of the IMF programme because of the large amount of transfers on a monthly basis for operations,” he explained. Additionally, Nicholls pointed out that the organization had poorly kept records for the last seven years, which was not only a contravention of the law but also allowed for pilfering to run rampant at the Board. He noted this is why the internal auditor was so desperately needed to perform a major clean up of the records. “We are under a special audit by the Auditor General and therefore there are information requests that we will be compliant with. Our auditors, Ernst & Young could not complete the audit because Transport Board’s financials were not in a state of readiness. This has been so for the last seven years and the board is determined to publish audited financial statements at the end of the financial year as required by law. So we had to bring in that capacity,” said Nicholls. He further explained that the Transport Board “has millions of dollars in parts stored” and there is a situation where a lot of parts have gone missing. Additionally, he said: “There were parts purchased under the last consultant that cannot be accounted for. Therefore the internal auditor, who is on a short-term contract, is assessing the financial policies, inventory, storage and management policies of the organization.” The other contracted persons will be responsible for building out the technical framework for the Transport Board’s transition to electric buses as well as creating a cashless entity, Nicholls revealed. Lamenting that people seemed bent on undermining the progress of the new board, he pointed out that several managers and supervisors have either retired or opted for voluntary separation in recent times and the Transport Board has not replaced those persons although several workers were currently performing dual roles. “If my charge is that only five people get jobs in Transport Board after a change of Government then I feel that we have done well. My ministers [Dr William Duguid and Peter Philips] have not bombarded the board with requests for jobs in order to answer the employment needs of their constituents,” he said. “We are not tolerating that behaviour and I want to thank them for leading by example in this regard. The hiring of these five persons pales in comparison to the $3 million dollars in a failed project at Mangrove where the last Government attempted to rebuild transmissions and others parts to the financial detriment of the organization,” he added. (BT)

CTUSAB WANTS OVERTIME PAY RESTORED FOR SSA – The Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) supports the National Union of Public Workers in its call for the restoration of overtime pay to employees of the Sanitation Services Authority. Against the backdrop of the current unreliable and inefficient garbage collection system, CTUSAB contends that the decision to curtail overtime pay at this time, is ill-advised, and ought to be the subject of immediate review. CTUSAB posits that government’s decision to blanket overtime pay as a dictate of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (BERT), needs to be rationally thought through, as this action can potentially place the country at a serious health risk. The pile up of garbage can have a negative impact on the health of the nation and the environment. While labour accepts and understands the economic challenges facing the nation, the circumstances nonetheless warrant that prudent decision making applies, so that areas of high impact to the national well-being are not compromised. The Congress proposes that a programme of action is engaged, where there is weekend collection of garbage in areas of heavy pile up, and where there is the absence of the scheduled weekly service. (SS)

BACKING NUPW – The umbrella trade union congress has thrown its support behind the National Union of Public Workers’ call for overtime pay to be restored to sanitation workers. In a release this afternoon, the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associatons (CTUSAB) said: “Against the backdrop of the current unreliable and inefficient garbage collection system, CTUSAB contends that the decision to curtail overtime pay at this time, is ill-advised, and ought to be the subject of immediate review. CTUSAB further argues that Government’s decision to blank overtime pay as a dictate of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (BERT) was not rationally thought out,“as this action can potentially place the country at a serious health risk”. The CTUSAB statement continued: “The pile-up of garbage can have a negative impact on the health of the nation and the environment. While labour accepts and understands the economic challenges facing the nation, the circumstances nonetheless warrant that prudent decision making applies, so that areas of high impact to the national well-being are not compromised.” NUPW’s deputy general secretary Wayne Walrond put forward a similar position last week when he told Barbados TODAY that the development was “downright silly”. He argued that the decision was putting the health of Barbadians at risk over a “few dollars”. Walrond said: “It is my understanding that workers are not allowed to work on weekends to avoid paying overtime. This is a big part of the reason why we are seeing garbage pile-ups all over the place. I don’t understand why the overtime could not continue until we get the full complement of trucks for the good of the public.” The NUPW official contended that the matter should not be seen as an issue of Labour versus Government, but rather through the lens of the national interest. He continued: “There are no winners and losers in this overtime dispute. This is about the national interest. There is no way that making garbage collection an exception to Government’s no overtime rule can compromise the BERT [Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation] programme,” he further lamented. An impassioned Walrond pointed out that Government had introduced a levy for garbage collection (Garbage and Sewage Collection tax) and therefore there was no excuse for this “hardline position”. SSA spokesman Carl Padmore confirmed that the block on weekend overtime had indeed contributed to irregular garbage collections in several rural communities. Padmore told Barbados TODAY: “We are not paying overtime as the Minister [of the Environment and National Beautification, Trevor Prescod] would have confirmed and naturally it would have some bearing on collections because that’s two days we would be missing at three shifts per day. So we are trying to do the best we can from Monday to Friday and we are responding to some serious backlogs in the north of the island. We also note that there are some issues in St Joseph, St George and St John. We also had the private hauler working in St Philip.” Padmore said that currently the SSA only had 17 trucks to service over 150 routes. (BT)

IMF, WORLD BANK REVIEWING TAXES – Government has asked the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to help reform its indirect tax system, Director of Finance and Planning Ian Carrington has disclosed. The multilateral lending agencies have been invited to advise on how to bring indirect taxes into balance corporate taxes, he said. IMF tax officials were currently here examining the Value Added Tax, income tax, stamp duty, and betting and gaming taxes among other indirect taxes, Carrington revealed. He said the officials were holding talks with the acting Revenue Commissioner, the Comptroller of Customs and all of the Government ‘s revenue agencies, along with the private sector and the Small Business Association. Carrington said: “The reason Barbados has to reform the system is because we have made changes to our corporate taxes, as a result of seeking to be compliant with the European Union and the OECD. We have removed the ring fence between the international business companies and the domestic ones by reducing their corporate tax rate down to the maximum of five per cent. “As a result, this creates the opportunity for individuals to corporatize, that is, set up themselves as a business to seek to pay a lower level of taxes by making themselves appear to be a business.” As Barbados continues in an IMF programme, Government had to make sure there were no deficiencies in revenue collection, the Government’s senior civil servant on the economy said. Carrington continued: “The result is to bring both the direct and the indirect taxes back into balance. Therefore, we are pressing ahead to reform the indirect tax system by the next financial year [which starts in April], and so the IMF tax team has to get back to Government with its suggestions before the end of this financial year.” He added that the World Bank will give technical help to the Government to implement policy changes and ensure that its systems and procedures were correct. (BT)

NEW SERVICE – The daily struggle to lift wheelchair users on to and from aircraft at Grantley Adams International Airport appeared to come an end today as the airport’s state-owned ground handler introduced a new mobility lift. And Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds sees the development as a chance to tap into the disabled tourist market. Caribbean Aircraft Handling’s unveiled its ‘Ambu-lift’ service using a new piece of equipment known as a ‘lift-a-loft’ to elevate disabled passengers to airline doors. Symmonds said the service signals an end to the days of airport attendants struggling to lift disabled people onto plane, in what some may term as an undignified manner. Addressing the audience at an unveiling ceremony at the airport, Symmonds acknowledged that over the years Barbados has not done all it could to make the destination accessible to everyone. He said: “When I became Minister of Tourism I have maintained then as I do now that there is a glaring omission that we have been presiding over for a long time. We were not doing all that we can as a people to ensure universal accessibility to those people that we have the honour to play host to. As sought after as Barbados is as a destination, it is critically important that we do all that we can in our power to remember those people who cannot easily access all the things Barbados has to offer.” The Minister of Tourism and International transport praised Caribbean Aircraft Handling for taking steps to correct the problem in a short space of time. Apart from a moral obligation, he said Barbados has been missing out on an area of revenue for years. Symmonds said: “The fact of the matter is that people with all forms of disabilities are travelling and doing so in large numbers. It is also true to say that very often these persons have a capacity to spend a lot of money. Why then would Barbados want to lock itself out of a market that is so potentially lucrative? It is low hanging fruit and we must go after with every ounce of vigour.” But the Minister of Tourism suggested that in order for Barbados to capitalise on this market, the seaport and hotels ought to replicate the mobility initiative. “Initiatives like these have to be done at the sea port as well. In my view it must be reflected in every hotel and I yearn for the day when every new investment will make provision by way of room accommodation and special other accommodations for persons with reduced mobility. We must get to this point because first of all it is a moral requirement and secondly it makes good sense if we are offering hospitality.” (BT)

‘DISAPPOINTING PROGRESS’ ON NEW FLIGHT PATH FOR LIAT – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has weighed in on the slow pace of restructuring of regional airline LIAT, which is owned by Barbados and three other Eastern Caribbean Governments. In an interview with Barbados TODAY, CDB President Warren Smith said he was “disappointed” with progress towards executing a plan the bank funded to stem losses, improve efficiency and reverse a sharp decline in passengers using the island-hopping carrier. The CDB-funded study of the cash-strapped carrier, which was completed in mid-2018 and presented to shareholder Governments, outlined the airline’s challenges and opportunities, and put forward a series of recommendations. “I must confess that I am disappointed that those recommendations have not been taken on-board in the way in which we had anticipated they would have,” said Smith as he complained of very little progress to date on the restructuring effort. He suggested it was critical that the countries that benefit from the airline come together to urgently address the airline’s issues given how critical airlift is to intra-regional travel. Smith said: “One would argue that it is taking place in the context that a number of countries are facing financial difficulties and they had to put their fiscal situation first, but I think sometimes we are not sufficiently farsighted in the way in which we approach these reforms and we don’t recognize that many of our countries benefit quite a bit from aviation. “The study is before the shareholders. It is for them, in collaboration with the management of LIAT, to make the appropriate changes that can put the airline on a different footing.” Minister of Tourism and International Transport Kerrie Symmonds told Barbados TODAY earlier this week that shareholder Governments were awaiting a detailed report from LIAT on its operations in order for major changes to be introduced. Among the pending changes are the implementation of an employee performance index to help determine promotion and pay increases, possibly a new funding model and amendments to labour laws in Antigua and Barbuda, the airline’s home base. The major shareholders in the airline are Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The CDB-funded analysis looked at the airline’s performance, its challenges and some possible solutions and opportunities. The study found a number of weaknesses within LIAT’s human resource functions, specifically low productivity and performance. It also found that the airline was encountering problems in transferring passengers from one aircraft to their connection. Smith added: “One of the other issues had to do with the type of manner in which LIAT operated as it related to the schedule. At the present time, there is a significant amount of stopping and starting up the island chain and one of the recommendations was that LIAT should look now at moving toward a hub-and-spoke-type arrangement.” This arrangement, he said, would better facilitate travel for individuals seeking to travel to one destination in the morning, get to another in the afternoon and do business and then return home the same day. “That would be a major change,” said Smith. “We naturally, are very concerned about the impact that it has on our economies because LIAT connects the islands of the Eastern Caribbean and is the major carrier from that perspective,” the region’s chief development banker told Barbados TODAY. The most startling of the findings for him, he said, was that the airline used to transport somewhere in the region of 1.2 million people per year, but was only now carrying between approximately 720,000 and 730,000 passengers. Smith said: “That is a massive drop. So I think we don’t need to be airline people to appreciate the impact that has on revenues, and the overheads are what they are, they remain.” One of the recommendations coming out the study was for there to be a “dramatic reduction in the level of taxation”, which makes up almost half of the total airfare. With Barbados increasing its taxes last year instead of decreasing them, Smith said that while he could not tell Government how to run its fiscal affairs, the tax was “an issue that has to be addressed”. “Barbados is a major player in the regional aviation system and Barbados will have to lead on this along with Antigua and Barbuda and some of the other countries that are so heavily dependent on LIAT,” said Smith. Another recommendation was to widen the shareholding in LIAT so the burden of funding the airline could be eased from the four major shareholders and allow those who benefit to “pay their fair share”. “That is not right because there are some countries in this region that get a tremendous amount of LIAT flights and traffic and they are not paying their fair share, but again that is a political issue,” said Smith. The CDB president, a career economist, contended that all of the recommendations would “lead to an improvement in the overall performance of the airline and hopefully also positively impact its financial performance”. “We know that if we don’t have a good aviation system, one that is efficient and effective it is going to stymie potential growth of those islands,” added Smith. He said the CDB was determined to continue to ensure that air transport in the region was improved given that the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States were a “very serious aspect” of the bank’s development mandate. (BT)

NSRL EATS INTO BICO’S REVENUES – The year 2018 was definitely not a sweet one for local ice cream producer BICO Limited. In its Annual Report 2018, the company reported that sales and revenues were down by 0.9 per cent. Executive chairman Edwin Thirwell said this was due to several factors including the implementation of the controversial National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) and a foreign currency surcharge which led to difficult trading conditions. He admitted that BICO had underestimated the cumulative effect of NSRL and that the ramifications were far more serious than initially thought “It’s not a stellar report but in these circumstances, a flat performance, . . . is in fact a remarkable achievement. “Following the introduction of the NSRL plus a foreign currency surcharge, we were unable to fully recover the increased costs, resulting in lower margins in order to retain our loyal customer base by remaining competitive and affordable,” Thirwell said today during a press conference at the company’s Harbour Road headquarters. He said what also complicated the situation was the fact that when the NSRL was repealed, BICO still had $2 million worth of stock on which it had already paid the dreaded tax. “Everybody is well aware that the last 12 months have been somewhat turbulent, not only for BICO but for everyone. We’ve tried to face the challenges head-on because we are operating in all kinds of fields. “We saw our margins completely decimated and removed. To make matters worse, when NSRL was taken off we found that we still had $2 million worth of stock in the ice cream warehouse on which we had paid NSRL, and the next day it was gone, but we had already paid it,” Thirwell said. Due to the company’s poor performance, a decision was taken by its directors not to pay any dividends for the year which ended September 30, 2018. However, Thirwell said margins were recovering on stock bought post-NSRL. But he warned that he expected both 2019 and 2020 to be tough financially for the ice cream company, especially due to the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme. Thirwell said growth was not expected until at least 2021. “We expect a flat financial year in 2019. There are no expectations of a massive leap in earnings…2020 is similarly going to be a recovery period. Everyone from the Governor of the Central Bank to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] is saying expectations are modest. “The light at the end of the tunnel may well start to be visible by 2021,” Thirwell speculated. The chairman said he expected sales of the company’s eco-friendly biodegradable food wares to do well, following the introduction of a ban on single-use styrofoam and plastic products scheduled to take effect on April 1. (BT)

BICO’S FIRE PAYOUT ‘FROZEN’ IN COURTS – More than two years after a judge ordered that BICO Limited be compensated for a fire that destroyed its factory almost a decade ago, the ice cream maker still has not received a cent, executive chairman Edwin Thirlwell has revealed. In the week that the Government announced a planned commercial court to battle a backlog of business disputes, the BICO boss has blamed sloth in the judicial system for the delay, declaring that justice was not being served. Thirlwell told BICO’s annual news conference: “We were hoping by now that we’d be paid on the lawsuit which we were successful with. We were paid most part by our own insurers because we were fully insured… but there was actually $2.7 million of uninsured losses which we sought to require from the party found culpable for the fire. “These are the kinds of pitfalls facing everyone. People have their own stories and ours is very similar to what other people are having. Can you imagine the factory’s fire was in 2009 and it’s now 2019 and it’s still not settled? That can’t be reasonable justice, it’s too slow.” BICO sued Qual-Tech Services, the firm which was servicing its boilers when fire broke out in August 2009, for more than $14 million in damages. The court ruled that Qual-Tech had been negligent in carrying out welding works to repair its boilers. Thirwell explained that while BICO had been paid close to $16 million by its insurers, the judge had ruled that Qual-Tech was required to pay the remaining sum of money for its uninsured losses. Qual-Tech had claimed it was unable to pay the money since its insurers had failed to honour their obligations, he said. But Thirwell claimed that BICO was now awaiting a High Court judge’s signature on a document to allow the company to recover the money. But the judge has since moved to the criminal bench, he said. He said: “The case of that claim is a matter of the judge signing a document to allow us to go into recovery mode, which means we will have to enforce the judgement to get the money. It looks as if it won’t be paid otherwise. “Unfortunately the people who are responsible and were found culpable do not have the funds to pay until their own insurer pays. Now I have to then say that we are all aware of the backup of the legal system which has been made worse by the Supreme Court being closed, so whatever case you bring up now the first thing that people say is that ‘oh we can’t find the file… and the fact is there is long, long delay in any of the cases being decided. Thirwell said the money would help finish rebuilding the new factory. He noted that even though more judges were set to be appointed and additional criminal courts and a commercial court was on stream, he did not expect immediate relief. “Now you would hope that everything would settle down and people would spring into action, but of course there’s a backlog, by our record 10 years of backlog to catch up on, so its unlikely to be right in the short term, it’s more likely to being the medium to long term when things get back to normal,” Thirwell said. (BT)

CHEFETTE #16 ‘STILL ON THE CARDS’ – Fast-food giant Chefette is going ahead with plans to build its 16th restaurant at Newton, Christ Church, managing director Ryan Haloute has said. He said the branch, which was originally scheduled to be opened in the first half of this year, had been put on the back-burner as the company focused on expanding its factory. Without giving a new timeline for the construction and opening of the anticipated Christ Church location, Haloute told Barbados TODAY in a brief statement that after the completion of the build out of the company’s manufacturing business “we will focus heavily on our Chefette Newton project to begin construction”. Haloute said: “We are focusing our efforts on expanding our manufacturing arm at our Lears, St Michael facility and therefore this project was placed ahead in priority [over] the Chefette Newton project, which caused the delay”. After the closure of its Fairchild Street branch in January 2017, Haloute broke ground at Newton for its 16th branch. He said then the project would be carried out in phases over two years. Work on the Newton location had begun with the laying down of road and other infrastructure. In September 2017, the company opened its 15th location in Lancaster, St James, bringing its payroll to 850. (BT)

DOC: MUM-TO-CHILD HIV ELIMINATED – The Caribbean has moved from having the second highest rate of HIV transmission from mother to child to being certified transmission-free. Pan-American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation representative to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Dr Godrey Xuereb, said this has occurred in only two decades. Xuereb was speaking during the opening ceremony of the two-day Joint World Paediatric Project/Pan American Health And Rotary International Conference at the Radisson Aquatica on Wednesday. He told his audience of medical practitioners and Rotarians that the Eastern Caribbean was one of the first regions in the world to be certified as having eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis. (SS)

SICK TEACHERS – Scores of teachers stayed off the job yesterday at the Coleridge & Parry School and the Eagle Hall Primary School – in both instances there were claims of environmental problems. In a continuation of action from over the last few days, teaching staff at the Coleridge & Parry School, St Peter, called in sick. A source estimated that it was about two-thirds of the teaching staff. The NATION understands that classes went on but not as normal as some of them were combined and taught by the teachers who did show up for work. Coleridge & Parry has been facing environmental issues – initially reported to be a rat problem – for about two weeks now, only reopening last Monday after closing for industrial cleaning. (SS)

DUST UP – The ongoing wave of environmental problems affecting schools across the country today struck the Eagle Hall Primary School, leading more than a dozen teachers to call in sick, Barbados TODAY has learned. The union representing primary school teachers said it did not endorse the sickout but suggested the sickout was linked to persistent dust going back over a decade. All but eight teachers out of a total 23 reported sick. Reporters were barred from entering the school in Upper Goodland, St Michael but operations at the school seemed to continue as normal. When contacted, Principal Orlando Jones said he was in no position to comment on the matter, but indicated the problem had been referred to Senior Education Officer Christina Morris. But Morris said she had no knowledge of environmental issues or a sickout at Eagle Hall Primary, referring Barbados TODAY to Chief Education Officer Karen Best. Best was meeting with her permanent secretary and could not respond to questions, a ministry official told this newspaper. Barbados Union of Teacher President Sean Spencer said teachers had been trying to have the ministry deal with enduring environmental issues at the school for the last ten to 15 years. He highlighted excessive levels of dust, which he said has jeopardized the health of students and teachers. Spencer told Barbados TODAY: “I am aware of a longstanding problem with dust in the area. There was a screen erected to reduce the amount of dust entering the property, but it has been highly ineffective and therefore I believe that staff could easily be affected by those prevailing conditions, especially with the dry season underway there would naturally be an increase in dust in the air. “Teachers with no particular respiratory ailments would be transferred to the school and become afflicted and then the affliction would go from being acute to becoming chronic, so we’re seeing an escalation of the impact of the problem that has been manifested.” Spencer said that some measures, including the dust screen, were introduced over the last two years but have proved unsatisfactory. “The screen isn’t going to do much, because the dust particles are small and it isn’t coming from any one direction. “The expedience is also highly questionable because the persons who were supposed to have undertaken the work and completed the set task have not done so. Its one thing to actually erect the structure [screened fencing], which in and of itself cannot remedy the situation, but then when there is a dry season, lack of rain and children playing, it stirs up even more dust and that is something that I know for a fact has been on record with the ministry. It’s a problem that has spanned the tenure of numerous principals.” Spencer gave no indication of when teachers intended to return to the classroom, as the union had not sanctioned industrial action. But he urged Government to address the number of “sick buildings” it owned. He added: “This is something that is widespread, because Government buildings across the country have been closed down. Economic Affairs had to shut down its office, the Supreme Court is another example, and so this is not isolated strictly to the teaching service or schools, this is a widespread problem. So instead of seeking to put plasters on these sores, it may be best to try to be preventative rather than reactive. “We need to have better inspection protocols, a maintenance programme and then the resources to staff it properly. I would think that at this time we would be looking to be more expedient to ensure that the social services that are being deployed are put to the good of the wider population and not just restricted to certain corridors of Barbados from time to time. (BT)

NO INTEREST – Criminals, liars and frauds is how Barbadian university students view politicians, according to a recent University of the West Indies study which also found that interest in political affairs among the country’s academic community was at an all time low. The qualitative research study which was intended to examine the gender gap in political ambition in the region, has also revealed that Barbadian young people, for the most part have lost trust in local politicians and the overall political process which they believe has become riddled with underhanded, corrupt and illegal practices. “We’ve seen that over a number of political administrations, high levels of cynicism have actually grown, where young people are becoming more apathetic against politicians, especially with regard to corruption. These are all things which affect political ambition,” said senior lecturer in Management at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Dr Dwayne Devonish, who conducted the study along with senior political science lecturer, Cynthia Barrow-Giles and psychology lecturer, Joan Cuffie. The study examined a number of males and females across varying disciplines on the campus by placing them in five focus groups, to determine how males and females view politics and whether a gender gap still existed between them. “What we revealed today in the presentation is that there was a clear gender gap in the perceptions of those in the OECS and Guyana where males were more interested in engaging in politics and things political (compared to females). It may not necessarily be running for office, but pretty much some level of political activism and other associated activities compared to females. We also found that in total, those from non-Barbadian countries were more likely to have political interests and higher political ambition than Barbadian students. Some of the preliminary findings were revealed to students during a brown bag seminar at the university’s Roy Marshall teaching complex. The researchers indicated it was intended to contribute to the virtually non-existent pool of literature on the gender gap in regional politics. While Devonish added that the waning interest was due to both psychological and structural factors, he indicated that while in other regional territories males continued to show a keener interest in politics when compared with their female counterparts, Barbadians students were simply disinterested across the board. The researcher further pointed to the recent upsurge in new political parties like the Grenville Phillips-led Solutions Barbados and the Lynette Eastmond-led United Progressive Party (UPP) as evidence to support their findings. “For example, it is not a coincidence that we had an upsurge in minor political parties in the last election. Usually when you have these types of indicators, they are symptomatic of a certain level of societal unrest or distrust in mainstream political parties. So all of these things collectively have significant effects on people’s political interest. “In the other territories, we don’t have a significant upsurge in minor political parties. That would be indicative of some level of major distrust in politicians and perhaps might explain why those students or those persons in other countries in the region are still having a stronger political interest. They see politics as a civic duty. Whereas here, we have found that people more so see politicians as traditional criminals, liars, frauds and so forth. So that is something that we have to further theorize on,” said Dr Devonish. Barrow-Giles contended that although women had long acquired the right to vote and even with the emergence of female political leaders, women have remained largely unrepresented in politics. While the first stage of the research project primarily focused on young university students, Dr Devonish said the researchers would be broadening their sample population. “We are going to do a stage two on this research looking at men and women, not only in the academic community, but across all walks of life to find out what are the structural and psychological factors impacting political ambition and their lack thereof. “This same survey is going to be rubber-stamped across the region in countries like St Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and so on so that it can be compared across the board. We want to create the framework for a much greater level of insight into the factors influencing political ambition, the gender gap and so on,” he said. (BT)

STILL NO NEWS ON MISSING SON – It is almost three weeks since Lindy London’s mother Josephine Hughes last laid eyes on him. Around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday January 20, 15-year-old London went missing after he reportedly got into difficulty while at the hot pot at Brighton Beach, St Michael. Hughes, who is still counting the days as they go by, told Barbados TODAY there is not a minute that she is not thinking about her son, wishing and praying for a miracle. Hughes said she has been thinking about her son so much that the worrying is beginning to make her sick, especially after hearing negative stories about people losing their lives at the hot pot which she said she had never heard about before her son disappeared. “For two weeks I ain’t hear nothing, three weeks is coming and I ain’t going to hear nothing. It is going to be a miracle if we see him again. What am I to do? Sometimes I lie down and say I gine take a rest, but I can’t take a rest because Lindy just in front my face all the time. Miracles do happen but . . . let we see if we get the body and bury he and we know he bury. Dead or alive everybody like what is them own,” the mother said. Investigations have revealed that London went to the hot pot with an older person who is unknown to his family. His mother said she preferred not to comment on who her son was with at the time he disappeared, and noted that there were several rumors circulating, all of which she has opted to ignore. When Barbados TODAY visited London’s home on January 25, his father Leroy London said he was afraid that he might not see his child again. The father who has been feeling devastated indicated that his teenager was unable to swim and did not tell him he was going to the hot pot. Last December, the former St George Secondary School student, returned home after spending almost five years at the Government Industrial School. The young man was scheduled to start school at New Horizon Academy Brittons Hill, St Michael, on January 22. (BT)

FORMER COKE ADDICT READY TO START AFRESH – A 44-year-old mother who at one time was addicted to cocaine, is now free of it. Lisa St John returned to the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court and greeted Magistrate Douglas Frederick with these words “I am ready to go with my family. They are going to look after me. They are even going to get me a job. I don’t need rehab anymore.” When St John first appeared before Magistrate Frederick last December, he had sent her to the Psychiatric Hospital for an assessment after she pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of cocaine and apparatus on December 20, 2018. Vowing to keep out of drug holes, St John told the court, “That part of my life is behind. I am starting afresh.” Her family, including two of her four children and a sister told the court that they were willing to help her. Magistrate Frederick then placed her on a bond to keep the peace for six months and if breached, she will spend six months in jail. (BT)

DRUG RUNNERS JAILED – An Englishman and Bermudan who were in possession of a “considerable ” quantity of marijuana in Barbados’ territorial waters almost two years ago have been sentenced to spend time behind bars at HMP Dodds. However, the Englishman 53-year-old Paul Andrew Bell, will serve more time at the St Philip penal institution than his accomplice 47-year-old Shawn Antwoine Simmons, as he played a “principal role” in the transporting of the illegal substance, which weighed 77 kilogrammes and had an open market value of $338,800. Bell was intercepted on a dinghy about 2.5 nautical miles off Mullins Beach, St Peter while Simmons, a Bermuda national who resided in England since 2013, was caught on the yacht Wanderers Dream not far way around 1 a.m. on July 2, 2017. Following a search of the dinghy personnel from the Drug Squad, the Police Marine Unit and the Barbados Coast Guard found three black bags containing cannabis. The two vessels were towed to land and it was there that Bell under questioning by police revealed that he was the owner of the yacht and dinghy. He told lawmen that he left Bermuda at the end of May 2017 headed for St Marteen for boat repairs. While there two men approached him and asked whether he would like to make some money by transporting cocaine to Barbados. He refused that offer but consented to transport 200 pounds of weed to Barbados for US$10,000. Bell said he was then given coordinates for a GPS navigational system and set his course for Bridgetown with one stop. He explained that when he got a couple miles off Grenada he and Simmons were met with some men on a number of boats who handed over the bags of marijuana which they stored near the bow and the stern. When the duo arrived near Barbados they transferred the bags to the dinghy and Bell began his journey to shore. However, on seeing police he said he threw a cellular phone that he was carrying into the sea as it contained the contact information for the persons who were to receive the drugs. The two were each charged with possession, possession with intent to traffic and importation of cannabis. They both pleaded guilty to the offences in October 2018, Crown Counsel Neville Watson said when he previously outlined the facts of the case. Bell told probation officials he committed the crime for financial gain while Simmons who met Paul in 2014 and became fast friends due to their love of sailing said he was an “unwilling participant” and his involvement was as a result of “a betrayal of trust”. In handing down the sentence in the No. 5 Supreme Court today Madam Justice Jacqueline Cornelius pointed to the aggravating factors of the case saying the quantity of drugs involved was a “considerable amount” and the evidence showed a measure of sophistication and pre-planning in getting it from one country to the next. She also chastised Bell for “protecting the drug dealers” by throwing the cellular phone overboard. There were also mitigating factors but the judge made it clear that the crime warranted a custodial sentence. In Bell’s case Justice Cornelius had settled on a starting point of 12 years in prison but in taking the mitigating and aggravating factors into consideration she made a downward adjustment by three years. A one-third discount was also applied for his guilty plea and his time spent on remand – 586 days – were also taken into account leaving Bell with four years, four months and three weeks left to serve in prison. Simmons, meanwhile, who the judge described as “a subordinate actor” had a starting sentence of nine years in prison. Cornelius then also reduced that period by three years based on his mitigating and aggravating factors as well as a one-third discount for his guilty plea. Taking into consideration the 586 days already spent on remand Simmons now has only two years, four months and three weeks left to serve on his sentence. The sentences were imposed on the possession charge. Bell who was represented by attorney-at-law Steve Gollop and Simmons who had Dr Lenda Blackman as his legal counsel were convicted reprimanded and discharged on the importation and trafficking charges. (BT)

NEW BALL – West Indies captain Jason Holder says it is somewhat disappointing that West Indians such as Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan have thrown in their lot with England, adding they could have increased the existing regional talent pool. But, Holder added in an interview with Sky Sports Cricket that he understood why they had taken such a position with their careers. Holder hoped that Windies’ upturn as a Test nation would help end the talent drain from the Caribbean. Both Barbadians, Jordan has played 74 games across all formats for England, while Archer is on the verge of qualifying for his adopted country ahead of the World Cup. “It’s a bit disappointing knowing these guys who have grown up with you and who can have a serious impact on West Indies cricket have gone to English cricket,” Holder told Sky Sports. “But I can’t fault people for their personal decisions. Everyone has to make a decision based on their personality and what they want. I respect them and still love them the same way. “People like Jofra and Chris are exceptional cricketers – I have had little conversations with Jofra but it seems like his mind is pretty clear. “I feel a bit sorry for Chris who burst on the county scene but is now not playing a lot for England. I could definitely see him fitting into the West Indies set-up,” he said. Holder said that hopefully Cricket West Indies could find ways to keep players in the regional system. “I think we would all agree the English system is a little more settled and you have a lot more security within it but I think lots of young players look for the easy way out. “I think the West Indies system has improved leaps and bounds – there is a long way to go but hopefully with us doing a bit better in terms of our performances we can bring more respectability back to West Indies cricket and bring sponsors to inject some capital in,” Holder noted. The lanky all-rounder stressed that despite enduring some lean times in the series-won column against top-ranked sides, he has never been daunted or distracted from his task of helping to raise the regional team from the doldrums. Holder’s side last suffered heavy Test series defeats in India and Bangladesh before Christmas – the latter without him due to a shoulder injury. The West Indies had won only two of their previous 15 Test series before knocking off Joe Root’s England in Antigua. “I knew it was going to be difficult – maybe not this difficult – and that there would be some pushback from fans and people around West Indies cricket,” Holder added, reflecting on becoming captain at the age of 23. “But I knew I had what it takes to lead as I have been leading sides for as far back as I can remember. I led plenty of Barbados sides in youth cricket, had the opportunity to captain the West Indies U19 team in spurts – I have always been seen in a leadership role. “Honestly, I didn’t expect to captain the Windies at 23 years of age and I have had some really tough days but I have just tried to be as positive as I can and draw on people close to me for guidance. Team-mates have also helped me out a lot. “When I first took up the captaincy I felt as though I was getting distracted by stuff off the field and tried so hard to get the players in their comfort zone and keep them happy. I probably lost sight of my actual role in the team and felt my performances were a bit stagnant. “I got to a point where I said to the lads: ‘Look, we have all signed contracts to play for West Indies so that means we are committed to playing for West Indies and might as well get on with it and play cricket’. From then [on], I started focusing a lot more on my cricket and trying to lead by example. “I felt if I wasn’t going to be captain I would have to be stripped of it – I felt if I got a sniff and some momentum I would be able to do something different,” he said. Holder added that with battling batsmen, a “fiery” pace attack and a young squad he saw no reason why the Windies could not surge up the rankings from their current position of eighth. “I feel we can go to the very top – if you look at the ages of the guys in this team, we are very young and if we can continue in this vein over the next two or three years I don’t see why we can’t be No 1. “It will take a lot of hard work and we need to be honest about where we are and where we need to be. If we plot a clear path as a unit and individuals, nothing is stopping us from being the No 1 in the world,” he said. (BT)

ELIZABETH HOUSE DOMINATES SMS SPORTS - ELIZABETH HOUSE (Purple), with CARIFTA Games athletes Darian Clarke and Rhea Hoyte at the forefront won a fourth straight title with 857 points at the historic St Michael School Glow Sports at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex on Friday night. It was the first time a secondary school in Barbados held its inter-house athletics meet under floodlights and over 4 500 spectators, including parents, students and old scholars converged on the Paradise Park, St Michael facility to watch the riveting action on the Ryan Brathwaite Track. Boadicea (Blue) were second on 754.50 points, finishing ahead of Victoria (Red), who gained 743 points and Anne House (Yellow) with 694.50. Young promising athletes such as Nathan Roett, Shadae Worrell, Josiah Parris and Samiya Dell joined Ashley Weekes in putting in sterling performances to maintain Elizabeth's dominance. (SS)

GOOD TURN REWARDED – The four Reynold Weekes Primary School students who captured national attention for their good deed have been rewarded. Nathan Leon Blackman, his twin sister Natalia Leon Blackman, their cousin Jaquon Blackman, and friend Jerome Forde, were presented with certificates of merit from the school, and also trophies and certificates from Reginald Jones, the man who benefited from the good deed. The students were in front of the Four Roads, St Philip school on Tuesday, when they found Jones’ lost wallet. They handed over the wallet, which contained $140 and other personal belongings, to snack vendor Margaret Payne, who then ensured the property was returned to its owner. The students’ beaming parents were present at the special ceremony, which took place at the school this morning. It was a particularly proud moment for Jaquon’s mother Katrina Blackman who shed tears of joy as she watched her son collect his reward. Blackman told Barbados TODAY she always speaks to her son about doing what is right. “I always tell him that life is not always easy, but you always got to give everything your best. He is a young athlete coming up, and sometimes he might not always think that he can do something. I remember last term he said to me he can’t come first in class and I said ‘Quon, no, you can do anything through Christ who strengthens you’. “You know he came first in class. I find that once I push him, he thinks positive and then he starts then to push. I tell him do good and good shall always follow you. I am proud of the good deed he did,” Blackman said. Jerome was the first person to spot the wallet that evening. His mother Myrtle Clarke said he was satisfied that Jerome knew her well enough to know that he could not have stepped foot in her house with somebody’s else property in his hand. “It all depends on the training. He knows that he couldn’t bring it home so he had to do what is right. Give it to the principal or somebody that is in authority. I told him that as long as he finds things that don’t belong to him, he can’t bring them at me,” Clarke said. District Education Officer with the Ministry of Education, Hyacinth Griffith, said she was pleased to highlight the positive behaviour exhibited by the students who deserve the recognition. “We thank God for them for they have truly portrayed this school’s motto We Strive for the Best. To the principal and staff you are doing an awesome job at this school. “You have instilled good job values, attitudes and social emotional skills in these students. Virtues such as honesty, kindness and love have been exhibited by these students. To the parents, a job well done. They could not have made those decisions unless they were trained from at home, and was followed up at the school,” Griffith said. The students were all proud of the gifts and words of encouragement they received. “I feel really good about today,” Jaquon said. (BT)

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