Beneath The Skin Episode 3

The coffee was rank. Leaving his post briefly, he upended it down the sink, which was full of dirty plates. On the drainer a stack of cold, sweaty foil containers suggested someone had a late-night takeaway habit; he noticed the menus beside the phone.

His life had become so disciplined he wasn’t sure how to cope with this kind of human frailty.

On the far wall stood a Scandinavian bookcase crammed with a smorgasbord of titles: An Artist’s Guide To Anatomy; Thomas The Tank Engine; Hollywood Wives. Three cat bowls sat in a row beside the bookcase. He preferred dogs himself.

He thought of Scoff, the dog he’d adopted on his last tour: a proper old mutt, part collie, part terrier. Loved a game of football and the chocolate they got from home. He remembered one of the lads saying you shouldn’t give them chocolate, because of the theobromine. It kills dogs, theobromine.

But Walt had laughed and said there was more chance of the mutt stepping on an IED than getting chocolate poisoning. Poor old Scoff. He should have given the dog more chocolate.

There were footsteps on the stairs. He positioned himself in the doorway, nearly filling the frame. Mouse paused when she saw him, the top of her head level with the polar bear’s ears.

Light came from somewhere high up, a landing window perhaps, and dust motes danced like fleas in the air above the bear’s head. She looked about the same age as her sister – Walt guessed mid-twenties – but seemed more down to earth than Alys.

She was wearing some shapeless woolly sweater and it was hard to get an impression of her figure, but he liked her hair; it was fiery.

Alys drifted down the stairs after her sister. They were talking about him, heads together, hands on the banister. He was struck by how similar their hands were; long arty fingers, blunt nails. They were whispering. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Alys’s tone was abrupt.

Mouse looked straight at him, once, and the way she looked made him stand up straight. Alys merely glanced at him, her expression untroubled, that of a person used to getting her own way.

Their argument had nothing to do with him, he told himself. He was just passing through. Eventually, Mouse threw up her hands and stomped down the remaining stairs.

Alys turned, shooting a little victory smile in Walt’s direction as she brushed past him. She cleared a space for herself at the table, pushing aside a bundle of envelopes and multicoloured junk leaflets. Mouse followed.

“Alys, there’s William to think about.” Alys raised a shoulder. “It’s my house.” There was a little cold snap between them then, a distinct icy blip. Mouse, still ignoring Walt, stalked to the sink, hauling up her sleeves, and turned the hot tap on full. The water bounced over the grimy cups and plates.

Alys, humming softly, began to unwrap something from layers of newspaper. Walt moved to lean silently against the worktop, observing Mouse’s profile as she attacked the washing-up: the nipped-in mouth, cold eyes. She turned off the tap with an angry twist and glared at her sister’s back.

“You haven’t even asked for a reference. He could be an axe murderer... or a rapist or a paedophile.”

Alys finished unwrapping. She was holding something across her two hands like an offering. Walt could see a lolling head and a black-tipped tail. Something dripped onto the table, something that may have been blood. He fought down the familiar nausea. Whatever it was, it was very dead.

He cleared his throat and nodded at Alys. “I’ll need a reference too. Your sister could be dangerous.”

His joke fell flat, disappeared without trace. The weight of the house seemed to be settling around him. Just go, he told himself. Just get out. It’s a rubbish job anyway.

Mouse remained mute. There were tiny lines of strain at the corners of her mouth, as if she spent a lot of time gritting her teeth. Her prickliness was starting to annoy him.

“Look, I’m just a regular guy looking for work. I can get you a reference like that,” He snapped his fingers. “I’ll give you a number and you can contact the MoD.”

“You’re in the military?” Mouse looked even more suspicious.

“Was. Rifles. Came out last year.”

Mouse dried her hands on a tea towel and searched amid the debris on the worktop. She found an old biro and a notepad, which she thrust in Walt’s direction.

“Write it all down – the number to ring, your full name, rank and all the rest. She won’t check you out, but I will. If you’ve got anything to hide, get lost and leave us alone.”

Their eyes locked. He took the pen and scribbled on the pad.

High Alert

When the smoke cleared he found himself looking up at the sky, blue as a bairn’s blanket. This is heaven, he thought. I’ve died and gone to heaven.

But the blue was so bright it hurt his eyes and when he tried to close them that hurt too, as if the skin of his face had shrunk. The noise phased back in: yelling and gunfire, someone groaning.

He was groaning.

It woke him up, and he lay there staring at a plain white ceiling. Breathing hard he counted the cracks around the light fitting. His mouth was dry. He was afraid to swallow in case he tasted blood again. The skin beneath his clothes was damp with that dread sweat that prickles like iced water.

Every pore was alert to the contours of the room, the temperature, the sounds; his inner radar scanning for clicks and creaks, sinews taut as tripwires. He couldn’t place himself. He was in no man’s land, dangerous territory where your oppos can’t hear you shout.

Reaching for all the things that he couldn’t live without; his firearm, his ammo, radio, the clumsy comfort of his helmet. All vapourised. His hands found only jersey and cotton and lightweight civilian things.

After an eternity of two seconds he realised where he was, lifting his head from the soft pillows. He felt groggy and disorientated, his heart thudding painfully.

The weight of the house seemed to be settling around him. Just go, he told himself. Just get out

More tomorrow.

Beneath The Skin, by Sandra Ireland, is published by Polygon, £8.99. Her latest book, Sight Unseen, is out now.