A Time to Blossom

“Darksuckers”

“Pass me your sleeping bag, Nat, so I can zip them together. Like this, see?”

“Hey, that’s cool, Boots, I didn’t know you could do that. Just make one big bag from two ordinary ones.”

“You can’t with most bags, but these Arctic rated survival bags are special. Did you know the human body gives off nearly half a megaJoule of heat per hour? So, if two people share, they warm each other up by that much. That’s why me and dad got these bags, he’s promised to take me to Norway one year and go up to the Arctic circle so we can spend a night in a snow hole.”

“People at college are still talking about the snowhole we built, Boots. To your specification. That was awesome. And the way Noah shocked everybody when he introduced the lecture and was all strict and told them to shut up and sit down, listen in or get out of his lecture.”

“Up, Down, In, Out, Nat. It’s the marine way of teaching. Pay attention or you are history. I would have loved to have seen Noah take charge like that.”

“Even Jackson looked stunned.”

“Now, get the sleeping bag under the basha, Natters, it’s not far off ready to rain. We need to be inside, all snug and dry when it does. I’ll just put a few more branches and some fresh bracken round us, make us even better hidden.”

“Hide us? There aren’t really going to be any werewolves out here looking for us, Boots.”

“No, but dad might. Wouldn’t put it past him to try tricking us. Or just snoop around to make sure I haven’t lost my skills. Anyway, the better our foliage screen, the less rain will get blown under the tarp and into the basha. Win – Win, Nat.”

* * *

“Pass me the flashlight, Boots. I just want to check I put my clothes under the basha properly. Don’t want to find them soaking wet when we get up in the morning.”

“You shouldn’t need a torch, Nat. You should be able to do everything just by touch.”

“Just give me the flashlight, Boots. I’m not trying to be a super-covert Ninja woodland warrior. Just want to be sure I don’t wake up to wet pants.”

“You’d look good in wet trousers, Natty. All clingy and revealing.”

“Pants, Boots. And flashlight. Torches are those things peasants carry when they set out to burn the evil baron’s castle down. Can’t you speak English?”

“It’s a dark sucker, if you want to be accurate, Nat. It’s a dark sucker, not a flashlight. Just ask Will if you don’t believe me.”

“A what?”

“A dark sucker.”

“Dark sucker?”

“That’s what I said, Nat. Can’t you hear English properly?”

“You really are mad, Boots.”

“Look, what colour is a candle wick before it’s lit?”

“Err, white, sort of.”

“And after a candle has been lit?”

“It goes black, Boots. Where it’s been burning, anyway.”

“Exactly, Nat. It proves the point. Candles don’t give off light, they suck in dark. As they suck in dark, it makes the surrounding area brighter because they have removed the dark. That’s the basis of Dark Sucker Theory. Torches – flashlights to you – are just a more technically advanced dark sucking device.”

“So, how’s that work then, Einstein?”

“Well, the bulb is the actual dark sucker unit. That’s why they get gradually darker as they are used. They suck up the dark and store it in accumulators. Batteries to you. When the battery gets full, the dark sucker doesn’t work anymore until you replace the battery. You measure the power of the battery in vaults. The bigger the vaultage, the more dark it can hold.”

“Yeah, right…”

“Dark has mass too, Nat. As a candle wick sucks in dark it heats up through friction with the dark. Bulbs do the same until they burn out. That’s why they burn your fingers too. Never touch an operating dark sucker. And because dark has mass, it sinks. That’s why it gets darker the deeper under water you go. Why do you think light is called light? It’s because it isn’t as heavy as dark, so it floats to the surface.”

“Boots, you are…”

“Don’t interrupt, Nat. I’m just getting to the important bit. The speed of light. That’s crucial to Dark Sucker Theory. Dark is really faster than light. You can prove that easily. If you open a cupboard, you see the light get in, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Exactly, Nat. But you never see the dark getting out. So dark is obviously way faster than light. QED, Nat.”

“QED?”

 “Quod erat demonstrandum. It’s Latin for ‘Gotcha!’, Nat.”

* * *

Thursday

“You awake, Boots?”

“No, Nat.”

“I thought so. Did you hear how hard it rained in the night? It really bounced down. You can still hear stuff going drip, drip, drip all around.”

“Yeah, Nat, but we’re bone dry and snug as bugs in a rug. Told you this basha was the best you’d ever sleep in.”

“True, Boots, and not just because it’s a good basha. Snuggling up to a cute megajoule of energy might have had something to do with it too.”

“Snuggling? You almost bloody squeezed me to death; Nat. Thought I was being smothered by Kaa.”

“Kaa?”

“The bloody big python from The Jungle Book.”

“Well, speaking of big pythons in the sleeping bag, Boots…”

“Oh yes, Nat?”

“Yes, Boots. I thought you were shoving the flashlight against me at first…”

“I was asleep, Nat!”

“Not all of you, Boots.”

“Good grief! A talking bush! Best call me ‘Moses’ from now on…”

Oh, hi, Mark. We didn’t hear you coming”

“Hi, dad. Err, you been there long?”

“Long enough. I thought I ought to check on you two, make sure you weren’t washed away by the rain last night. You look dry enough though.”

“Course we are, dad. I built this.”

“I did some too.”

“Under supervision, Nat, under supervision.”

“Well, if you two can bear to crawl out of your little snake pit, there’s a river full of water and some very muddy bike trails with your names written all over them. Not to mention that I’ve just seen the cook arrive and ordered us all a mega-breakfast at the cafe for about thirty minutes’ time when they open. Just long enough for you to pack up here, get your gear back to the cabin, have a cold shower and then get your kayaks and bikes ready. Come on, scooch!”

* * *

“Come on, Nat, shift your arse, get your kayak out of the way, I’m going to have one last run down the cascade before we go.”

Nat hauled his kayak onto the bank of the river and stood alongside Craig’s dad, the two of them breathless and soaking wet. Craig pushed off from the bank, gliding gently out into the pool of deep, still water at the head of the cascade. For a moment he paused, then flicked his paddle against the water, rolling his kayak through 360 degrees, came up grinning, before striking out into the current. A moment later he dropped over the cascade, was lost to sight in the spray and foam, plunging down into the turbulent waters beneath. For a moment Nat held his breathe, his fingers white against the paddle he was clutching, then sighed as Craig burst into view again a little lower down the river, driving powerfully through the turbulence and then paddling triumphantly through the calming waters towards the bank a hundred or so yards downriver.

Craig’s dad saw the look of relief on Nat’s face when Craig reappeared, heard the sigh.

“Come on, Nathan, let’s haul our kayaks back to the car, Craig can drag his own back upriver. Let’s get to the showers first and ensure he doesn’t hog all the hot water, then get some hot food inside us before we start the drive back.”

* * *

“Hi gran, grandad, mom, we’re back! You won’t believe what a fantastic couple of days we’ve had. Awesome biking, and the river was unbelievable after the rain, best spate I’ve seen on it ever. Won every race, didn’t I, dad?”

“Well, most of them,” grinned Craig’s dad as he and Nathan followed Craig into the farm kitchen. “I think I might have edged you out a few times, and Nathan wasn’t exactly far behind either.”

“Yeah,” laughed Craig, “You didn’t do too bad, did you Natters? Learned kayaking dead fast, can even do a roll.”

Nathan smiled, content to let Craig take the limelight. He squeezed past Craig and sat on the sofa between Craig’s mom and gran.

“Hey, something smells good, gran! Chicken casserole? Any left?” Craig’s gran didn’t have time to reply: Craig was already bounding across the kitchen, lifting the lid from the pot on the stove.

“Yes! Want a plateful, Nat? Some for you too, dad? I think it’ll stretch to three.  Grab that loaf off the counter, Nat, slice us some bread.”

* * *

Col. Wright:    “Good afternoon, I thought I’d just give you a call before we all head off to bed. Hope I’m not interrupting your dinner.”

Gov. Bauer:     “Hi, Mark, and no, not at all. Thanks for that picture you sent over earlier. The two of them looked to be having an awesome time out there on their bikes this morning. At least, I think it was Craig and Nat, it’s hard to tell under all that mud.”

Col. Wright:     “Oh, that all got washed off in the river this afternoon. Washed away a few doubts too.”

Gov. Bauer:      “So, you’re a little more certain about Nat?”

Col. Wright:       “Craig’s been pretty self-centred this week. Done all the things he loves doing, and dragged Nathan along in his wake. He’s had Nathan skinning and gutting rabbits, spending hours lying face down poking grains of sand around with a cocktail stick in the hot sun, then soaked to the skin in an icy river. He’s raced him up hills to show him a few old shell scars on a stone wall and then had him standing in the field for hours playing cricket. In short, he’s done all he can to put Nathan off him without realising it. And Nathan’s lapped it up. The two of them seem closer than ever.”

Gov. Bauer:       “From what he told me, Nat’s having probably his best holiday ever. Doing things he doesn’t normally get to do. Just simple mundane things to most people: catching a bus, going out for a ride on a bike. Being himself. Not having to wonder if there’s a camera pointed in his direction, someone watching his every action. I didn’t get to see much of Craig when he was over here, but I’m aware of how he behaved admirably escorting my wife and daughter to a society event even though it was under some considerable personal pressures at the time. Mine can be an awkward family to adjust to, but that didn’t seem to put Craig off either. I’d say our sons can adjust well to each other’s worlds. Whatever feelings they had for each other back then certainly seem to have blossomed now. Maybe we don’t need to worry about them anymore.”