Pickers 2: The Trip Read Free

another thing that didn't seem so important as the weather was trying so hard to kill everyone."
    "I have seen some of Maxine's tricks with the bow." Chloe said. "Would anyone else like some more?"
    "Oh, that fast firing trick?" Tony mimicked drawing and releasing a bow multiple times, before handing his bowl up the table. "There are some who weren't so impressed by that trick. Of course, they were on the wrong end of it."
    Was that awe, fear or something else that Chloe tried to hide as she turned away to fill bowls, Remy wondered. It was an interesting one Maxine had picked this time. He didn't want to think about his little girl having sex, but Remy wasn't so blind that he never noticed when it was happening. Maxine had fallen for that boy who had been only interested in an easy fuck with no commitments. That had ended in sulks and sadness and, no doubt in the privacy of her bed, tears. And there had been the girl from the other picker caravan, though Maxine had been so sure that no-one else knew what was going on. They had obviously parted on far better terms.
    "I couldn't do what you do. It all seems so dangerous. I would never survive out here." Chloe said, and Remy didn't want to see how his youngest daughter reacted to that.

* * *
    Maxine recognised the expression on her father's face, even in the limited light from the moon. He wanted to ask her personal questions, ones about her sex life, and that made him uncomfortable. Perhaps to put it off a while longer, he opened with, "All quiet out here."
    "A few wild dogs somewhere out there. And those bloody chickens. I swear they're making a fuss because we've taken over their home." Maxine got up from the captain's chair for her father, and handed him the hunting rifle that had been across her lap. "You know, I had a chat with Tony earlier. About Chloe."
    "Did you? What was the conclusion?"
    "She's not coming with us past Zaragoza. You heard what she said, she could never be one of us."
    "I'm more interested in how you feel about that."
    Maxine shrugged, but she kept her face away from her father's gaze, just in case it gave anything away. "We are fast friends and, what is that phrase you remembered one time? Friends with benefits. I like her, and I'll miss her when we drop her off. But we have a pick to get to. A big pick."
    "The biggest pick. But, cherie, the pick will still be there next year, if you want to stay in Spain for a while. To test the edges of your friendship. Town types can become perfectly good pickers. I did, after all."
    "Didn't you tell me there's a blight in France? If this pick is as big as promised, they need it even more than we do."
    "The blight is just a rumour."
    "Because people aren't being allowed into Spain from France, so the news is just whispers. If they're not being kept out in case they bring it with them, then why?"
    "Perhaps...."
    Maxine knelt before her father. "Papa, Chloe is good people, but I see no way she would come with us any further than Zaragoza, this year or next. And we can't afford to put off the pick. If we do find some blight proof crops, there are some places that will just be able to get a fast harvest in to see them through winter."
    "That.... Sounds like the sort of argument your mother would have made. I hope it means you've inherited more of her sense than my stupidity."
    "About equal measures, I think."
    "Go to bed, cuddle up with our passenger. But don't make enough noise to get the chickens going again."
    "I can't make that promise Papa. But I'll try."
    Maxine slid down the ladder and let herself in through the door at the back of the wagon. They had hung the double hammock in the space between the racks of salvage wagon one carried. It was swaying gently from her and Remy's movements on the roof. The movements broke from the rhythm as Chloe stirred and drew back the thin cover. She eyed Maxine and smiled. "Take your clothes off." she said.
    It was an odd thing to make her nervous, Maxine thought, but getting