Pickers 2: The Trip Read Free Page B

could...."
    "One last time." Maxine had a wistful tone. She turned a little smile to Chloe.
    "Maybe. Until the next time you come through town."
    "Beautiful girl, by the next time we are here you will have broken hearts and had a dozen offers of marriage. You'll have forgotten all about me."
    "No I won't. I'm never going to forget you."
    Maxine kissed Chloe's cheek. "I should hope not. But.... Well, I don't know how long it will be until we're back here. Papa wants to go over the hills into France. He wants to go home, and help with the blight that we keep hearing about." It was the story they were telling people now, loaded with enough of the truth that it hid the specific details of the pick to come.
    "You will come back, though? One day?"
    "I don't know. Papa might want to settle down in our old home."
    "Oh." Chloe looked away. "So.... I may never see you again?"
    "It is possible."
    There was only the splashing and happy shouts of the children for a while. "When are you leaving?" Chloe asked.
    "A day or two." Maxine said. "Papa is going to see if he can buy some seeds to take into France. Maybe they'll be blight resistant." It was another part of their cover, made up on the fly by Remy when he had been gossiping with Jorge.
    "Well, I suppose we should make them memorable." Chloe turned back, forcing a smile.

* * *
    "The Goat Track? That is a crazy route." Jorge was shaking his head. "You seriously think you can get over the Goat Track?"
    "You would be surprised what our wagons can climb. You can almost control each wheel motor individually. They are nimble." Remy poured himself some more wine.
    "They are houses on wheels. Houses on very big wheels."
    "We will make it."
    "Well, I certainly hope so. I suppose you are going to ask for some of our seed reserve? As far as I know, we have the same strains that the blight is affecting over the hill."
    "We'll take anything you have spare. From as many strains as you can give us, some of them have to be immune."
    "Perhaps not. Now, I did not know anything about farming, until news of the blight started coming in. I schooled myself quickly. Just a rough understanding, but, it seems a lot of what we sow now, for all their fancy names, is derived from just one or two old seed lines. They may have enough in common that the blight will take them down as well, or it could easily adapt. And then, if it does come over the hills...."
    "So, you won't help us?"
    "Of course we will help you. I remember when you first came over the mountains. You and your two little girls and a freezer full of vaccines. You helped us save this town- you and the Frenchies who filled your freezer- and there are a fair few folk still around who remember that. We're not happy at the bastards on the border. They're not just keeping French refugees out, but they aren't letting us send help into France, either. We trade seeds with all the local farms, and we always try to hold a surplus. It won't be enough, but you can take as much of that surplus as we can spare and try to make a difference with it."
    "You're a good man, Jorge."
    "I try. I mean, I used to think I had to be the tough guy and intimidate everyone, but I was never much good at that. Now, stop drinking my wine and go away and fuck my sister, or she'll moan at me for months."

* * *
    "This bed is huge!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing out her arms and legs and rolling around on it. "I have never seen a bed so big, let alone slept in one. Or made love in one."
    "Neither have I." said Maxine, hopping off the bed to escape as Chloe made a grab for her ankle. She skipped a few steps back as Chloe came up onto all fours and poised on the edge of the mattress, looking ready to dive after her.
    "This whole apartment is huge. How can they give me something so big? Why don't any locals live here?" Chloe wondered, giving up on pouncing and sitting back.
    "There still aren't enough locals to fill all the accommodation in the city." Maxine said. She sat beside Chloe and