Ice: The Immortality Trinket

XI: Backtalk

Did I hear that correctly? I have to make sure my hearing aids are on properly. MacMillan just insulted Mr. Neto right in front of his face! I look over to Alex to see his reaction. His mouth is wide open just like mine. We're both thinking she must be crazy to do that.

"Nienke, you hear what she just said?"

I don't reply, I just shush him with my hand.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Neto asks MacMillan. The other Bloodhounds look at each other, not knowing what to do. She's unarmed. Do we raise our guns?

"Speechless, pal?" she mocks.

They have a staredown. Everyone has their eyes set on them, not moving an inch.

"You watch your mouth. Remember, you work for me. You're a Bloodhound now. That means you're under my command!" he scolds MacMillan. And so she talks back.

"Ooh, scary words mate. Didn't you threaten dear old harmless Yvette to work for you? Not a good indication of a strong person at all, if you ask me."

"Thankfully—" he shoves a finger to her chest—"I didn't ask you. You're lucky I value Lacroix so much, or else I would've had you disposed..." Mr. Neto clenches his other fist.

"...by my own hands, if I had to."

He shoves MacMillan away and crosses his arms. She does a peculiar hand gesture, a peace sign but turned to the other side. Lacroix chuckles at that.

"Enough of this. You three are not needed for the day. We'll be scouting the area for anything that may be of use to us. Now go."

MacMillan starts walking back. "Gladly." They make their way into a hut not far away. I heard that the village head told us that's where they're staying for the duration of our operation here. Everyone lets out a sigh as they get out of view and out of earshot.

"De Vries, come here," calls Mr. Neto with his finger.

"You called, boss?"

He sits on the hood of a jeep and takes a cigarette out of his pocket before continuing. "Needless to say, but I don't trust that redhead. I want you and Gillespie to make sure she stays in line. Understood?"

If she wasn't scared of an entire group of armed soldiers, I don't think I would be that much more effective.

"Got it. We'll take care of her."

Mr. Neto smirks and lights his cigarette, taking a long drag. He offers one to me, but I decline as always. I've always found it very weird how he does that, but I have better things to do than question his routines.

"You and Gillespie are my favourites, you know? You listen to what I say and do what I tell you. It's simple, but some choose to make it difficult."

>>

"Liz, mate! Where'd that come from?" Kelli smacks my back with a thud. She's tittering in contentment like a little girl.

"Shite, I don't know, it just... came out of my mouth real natural."

"Eliza," Yvette grabs my shoulder a bit tight, "hey, I love seeing Neto get put in his place as much as you. But, no more of those antics, yeah? The more we suck up to him, the easier life will be for the both of us. And for Pete's sake, they had guns—"

"Oh come on Evie!" interrupts Kelli. "Lighten up a bit would ya? Not often you get to see a clap back like that!"

Kelli's all spry about this. Working with a madman for months on end probably had a part in it. I can see where Yvette's coming from though. Her plan's to make Neto think that we're on his side until the end. That's where we figure out how to take the Trinket from him and make a run for it. I was originally skeptical of her plan, thinkin' it would be better to just get paid and go home. However, the more I found out about Neto's attitude and actions, I couldnae just let him scot-free.

I nod at Yvette. "Sure. Got it out of my system." She pats my pack as we enter the hut.

"Hey, what're we goin' to do for the day?" I ask to both of them.

Yvette shrugs and so does Kelli. "Not a clue. Maybe Neto'll call me up for more information regarding the structure we found in a few hours. You two just do whatever. Just keep the volume down." She goes into her room.

I push open my door and throw my bags onto the floor. I lie down on the bed and stare at the ceilin' for a while. Ahhh, peace and quiet for once. Canny ever get enough of—

"This where you make your drawings Lizzy?" my roommate pipes up. She holds up my sketchbook that was poking out from under the bed. I sigh and turn my head to the side.

"Aye. Take a look if you want." She flips through it a bit clumsier than I'd like and stops at a particular page, squinting.

"Mary and Katherine?" she reads off of it.

"My parents," I answer. "Wouldnae be here without them. They're the best mothers I would ever have asked for, even if Mary would scold me often for sneakin' out a drink or two from the cupboards." I chuckle at the memory. I used to be quite the little shite back then, but I guess I still am.

Kelli stares at my drawing with a smile on her face, but her eyes don't match up. That's when I realise what I just said.

"Oh, shite lass, I didn't mean to—"

"Hey, it's fine mate. Really. Glad to see you're still close with them. Honest."

I sit up to take a look at the painting in her hands. Mary and Kat holdin' hands, walkin' down the path in front of our house. Mary's holding up an umbrella all stone-faced while Kat's grinning all the way. Gettin' a bit teary-eyed just rememberin'.

Kelli turns to another page where I sketched a sleeping Yvette, hunched over her study table with a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other.

"Hah, you took the time to draw this?" she asks while snorting.

"All from memory, actually. Wasn't even using a reference. She does it often, trust me."

We have a good time going through my works and having a laugh at them. I showed her a sketch of the Białowieża Forest, the self-portrait I was workin' on when Yvette called me, an outline of a few butterflies and so on. In exchange, she showed me her tattoos. The playing cards on her collarbone signified her previous gambling addiction and the alcohol bottles were there to show that she just liked alcohol.

Hearin' her explain her folks' condition and how they passed away... Christ, it made me wonder why the Lord even created cancer. But she soon lightened up when I asked about the ink just above her waist.

Just as she lifts her shirt up to give me a better view, our door swings wide open.

"Hey you two, Neto's called me to—"

Yvette's frozen in place, mouth wide open like her jaw's broken off.

"What are you lot doing?"

"Um, nothing, Eve!" sputters Kelli. "Not what it looks like, I was showing off my tat—"

Our interference in the form of my best friend waves off while looking away, swiftly closing the door back again. "Nevermind, keep it to yourselves. And—" she blows some air out her nose, so loud I can still hear it—"keep it in your slacks, yeah?" She's gone away as quickly as she arrived.

We look at each other. Kelli bursts out in a bout of laughter at the situation we just went through.

"Mate," she manages to squeeze out while wheezing, "I'm so sorry for that, what's she gonna be thinking of us?"

I groan and fall onto my bed. I grab a pillow and stuff it into my face.

"Ughhh, I'm never gonna fuckin' hear the end of that..."