Horizon Seeds (Complete)

Chapter Eleven

Headline: BANCROFT REMANDED IN JAIL FOR THE SEASON
Headline: US ENERGY CONSUMPTION OVER LEGAL LEVELS
Headline: BANCROFT LAW SUIT AGAINST ALIENS HOLDS UP IN COURT
Headline: REPUBLIC OF CONGO SENDS CHINA AID
Headline: AUSTRALIANS FLEEING COUNTRY SEEKING ASYLUM WITH NEIGHBOURS

'This place stinks.'

Chan and Valerie had never fraternised outside work hours before and when the Chinese born cop asked the local woman to show him to the nearest watering hole, well this was the only place she could think to take him.

'Well it is called the Rotten River Pub for a reason.' It was a stupid comeback she realised and she should have just kept her mouth shut, but it isn't very often the quiet man talked. He grunted in way of reply and they both found a seat at a booth down one wall of the pub. As soon as they sat, a young teen girl came up to take their orders. It was the same girl Valerie had met a few days ago, but she sported a purple shiner over her left eye. She stood up quickly and took the girl by the elbow and moved towards the ladies bathroom before anyone noticed they were moving.

'Who did this to you?' Valerie's heart went out to the girl.

'Nobody, I walked into the door. Wasn't watching where I was going.' The voice came out a whisper of its formal volume. 'Please don't cause any trouble, lady.' She looked up into the cop's face with an expression that begged for her to drop it.

'Only if you answer my questions.' The girl reluctantly nodded and looked back the way they had come, anxiety flowing off her in waves.

'OK, first tell me what your name is and what your real age is.'

'Felicity, ma'am. I'm 14 years old.' That last part was clearly a lie as Valerie had done a little research since she'd last been in town. Loan lords couldn't legally own indentured workers under the age of 14.

'I don't believe you, but I'll let it slide.' Felicity's eyes widened in worry.

'OK, how much is your family debt?'

'$10,000 when I started here.' The girl whispered in shame.

'Does the bar owner own the debt.' The girl nodded and moved quickly back towards the bar. Valerie wanted to whisk her away from the place. She moved into the bathroom pretending that the girl had shown her the way. She dear not use the filthy facilities but washed her hands anyway and dried them on the bottom of her jeans before finding her way back to her seat. She smacked two hands that tried to grab her ass on the way and couldn't sit down fast enough. Felicity arrived with two pints of beer, again covering for the fact that she had been talking with a cop. Valerie ignored her and took her jug and swallowed down the biter liquid. They stayed until Chan had had another five jugs before she dragged him back to the community. She couldn't stop thinking about the girl the whole way home. When she parked up beside the tractor shed Chan decided to get chatty.

'What crawled up your butt, Terrance?' She looked at him to find out if he was serious or just being a jerk again.

'The pub had a 12 year old indentured worker and there ain't anything I can do about it,' she complained.

He shrugged a shoulder.

'So, it isn't like its not legal.... Did I say that right?' He got out of the car and made his way across the rickety old bridge without closing his car door. She closed both doors and locked up and followed him to make sure he made it into his guest room. She wasn't even sure if he knew which guest room was his. He stopped outside the house to pee on the fence.

'Gross Chan. Come on!' she complained before he finished up with a jiggle and stumbled up the guest house steps. She grabbed his arm and towed him into the room allocated to him and let him fall onto the bed. She grumbled as she proceeded to remove his work boots and dumped a blanket over him before leaving him to sleep the alcohol off. Yeah, Chan was a stupid drunk. She was glad they had never gone out together after work before. She could imagine exactly what Brandon would think of her work partner.