Free Last Days With the Dead by Stephen Charlick

side of his cheek.
    ‘We say nothing,’ he finally said, once he had made u p his mind. ‘If we can show her the sort of people we are, and that her family have no reason to fear us, hopefully, Lissa will trust us with the truth eventually.’
    ‘I agree,’ added Liz, ‘we need to take this slowly , and now that we know they’re staying at the school, we can keep an eye on them and hopefully win Lissa’s trust bit by bit.’
    Even as she said the words, there was still that niggling doubt that Lissa, her daughter , and now her grandson, had been the only new inhabitants at the school. Just who Lissa had left behind was a mystery, and just one more secret Liz hoped Lissa would trust them with soon.
    ***
    ‘I’m sure all this is a bit much to deal with right now, all these people,’ Helen said, noticing Lissa’s eyes flicking rapidly from one face in the Refectory to the next. ‘If you prefer, I can show you to your room now?’
    Since Patrick and Liz had gone to talk to Phil, nearly every member of Lanherne had come up with one excuse or another, in order to come to the Refectory and check out the two new arrivals. As the evening meal was only a short while away, and most chores had already been done for the day, many had stayed to either help those on kitchen duty with preparation, or to just generally try to make the new arrivals feel welcome.
    ‘Didn’t he used to be on telly?’ Lissa had asked, when her gaze fell on Cam.
    ‘Cam?’ Helen had asked, looking over her shoulder to the only man Lissa could be referring to. ‘Yes, he used to be a news reporter for the BBC.’
    Receiving nothing more than a nod from Lissa for this information, Helen turned her attention to Lucy, hoping the child would be more amenable.
    ‘I’m afraid most of the children here are a quite a bit younger than you, although Justin is only a year or two off your age,’ Helen said to Lucy, nodding over to Justin who was sitting with Steve, the soldier who had joined Lanherne at the same time as Jen and Avery.
    Lucy’s eyes flitted over Just in, almost dismissively, and quickly settled on the figure of Alice, who was walking towards their table carrying a crying Charlie in her arms.
    ‘Hello,’ she said, smiling at Lissa and Lucy, as she rocked Charlie back and forth, ‘welcome to Lanherne . I’m Alice, and this bundle of joy here, is Charlie.’
    As with everyone who had come to say hello, Lissa simply nodded her greeting to Alice , but Lucy pushed herself off the bench to see the infant in Alice’s arms and smiled.
    ‘He’s a beautiful baby,’ she said, taking his small hand in hers while she glanced up at Alice, ‘how old is he?’
    ‘Well, he looks better when his little face isn’t all scrunched up like that,’ replied Alice, returning the young girl’s smile, ‘and he’s almost seven months old now.’
    ‘Seven months?’ Lucy said , her eyes taking in every detail of the little boy. ‘He’s so big, much bigger than…’
    ‘Now, let the babe be,’ Lissa said, calling her daughter back to her, ‘he won’t want strangers fussing over him if he’s feeling cranky.’
    ‘No it’s fine…’ Alice began, but Lucy had already darted back to sit by her mother, the smile instantly vanishing from his lips.
    ‘You know, if you don’t mind, I think we would like to go to our room,’ Lissa said, standing up, ‘as long as we’re not putting anyone out, mind.’
    ‘No, of course not,’ Helen replied, rising to her feet. ‘We’ve plenty of room.’
    ‘Look, Helen, you stay , dinner should be ready soon,’ Alice interrupted, ‘and I’m going to try to put him down for a nap now anyway, so I might as well show Lissa and Lucy the way.’
    ‘Oh, you’re sure? Thanks ,’ Helen replied, noticing Jasmine was having quite a one sided tug of war with Samantha over a faded looking teddy bear. ‘Jasmine… ’
    Helen darted over to rescue the unfortunate bear, before one of the squabbling children let go and