Free The Repossession by Sam Hawksmoor

‘Got to give them plenty of water. Pigs are like humans, they like to drink.’
    Rian climbed down first and waited for Genie to join him. The pig opened an eye but didn’t seem too bothered by the activity.
    Genie slid down the ladder and landed on her feet too hard. She looked at the gash on her arm and realized it was sore. ‘Ouch.’
    ‘You’re pretty cut up,’ Marshall commented. He saw the bruises now that the light was on her face. ‘What happened to your face, girl?’ He narrowed his eyes at Rian as if reappraising him. ‘Want to tell me how she got so cut and bruised, boy?’
    ‘Not me, sir. That’s why we’re here, sir. On account of the bruises and . . .’
    Genie walked up to the man. Let him see up close what kind of shape she was in. ‘My mother.’ She said nothing else.
    Marshall nodded and turned. ‘Close the lower half of the door as you leave so the pig can’t get out. I’ll send you back with some food for it in a while.’
    Rian and Genie snatched a look at each other. No
    choice but to trust him. Genie looked at the pig pretending to sleep. It was wary now, but she had a feeling it had no need to be. She hoped the man was OK. You could never really tell about people. Not right away. She caught her reflection in an old mottled mirror propped up on the wall and suddenly she remembered her nightmare. She literally stopped in her tracks and froze.
    ‘What?’ Rian asked. ‘Genie? What’s wrong?’ He could see that she had turned ghostly white.
    She had remembered something else that spooked her now.
    ‘Denis Malone. He’s dead. I remember now. They found him in Feather Creek last May. Buried him. Half the school went to the funeral.’
    ‘You OK?’ Rian asked. He sort of remembered something about the kid. Been missing for so long. Made the local paper when his body turned up.
    ‘He was in my dream last night, but he wasn’t dead.’
    ‘Well, it was a dream.’ Rian told her. ‘You don’t want to be dreaming of dead people.’
    ‘I didn’t dream of dead people,’ Genie protested. ‘He was as alive as you or me and just the same. I mean, he was still thirteen or whatever. Hadn’t aged a bit. He told me to run. It was weird, Ri. He was naked, well almost. Had this big red scar on his shoulder, like
    he’d been hit by a bolt of lightning. It was a huge place filled with hundreds of computers. So hot, I woke up choking.’
    Rian took her arm and squeezed. ‘You were feverish after being in the water, Gen. That’s all. Remember, I said you were hot when I arrived. Dreams are weird; you always remember stuff you just don’t want to. Naked?
    Sure it wasn’t one of those dreams?’
    Genie frowned, attempted a weak smile. ‘I promise you I have never once thought about Denis Malone, with or without clothes. It wasn’t one of those dreams. It was a warning of some kind. I’m sure.’ Nevertheless, Rian was probably right. Just because a dream was vivid, it didn’t mean it was significant or anything.
    She pointed towards Marshall, patiently waiting for them outside the barn. She took a deep breath and smiled at Rian. ‘We’re lucky to be alive, Ri. We really are.’
    Then they were outside in the sunlight, blinking, astonished the bad weather could have vanished so completely. Marshall was still observing them closely.
    ‘Where were you two headed?’ he asked casually.
    Rian squeezed Genie’s hand to indicate he was going to answer this. ‘We were staying on a friend’s houseboat.
    By Coho Creek. I’ve been doing maintenance.’ His voice was all over the place and sounded weird.
    ‘Premier MacLean’s old tub? Didn’t know it was still habitable.’
    ‘Huge tree hit it,’ Genie said. ‘Ripped the roof clean off.
    Scariest moment of my life.’
    Marshall digested this information. ‘So you were . . .’
    ‘Hiding from my mother,’ Genie jumped in. ‘I’d like to stay hidden if you didn’t mind, sir. If you were thinking of making a call.’
    Marshall liked