THE SOLACE FARM KILLINGS
By Simon McCleave
A DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller
Book 7
Table of Contents
Title Page
The Solace Farm Killings (DI Ruth Hunter, #7)
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a purely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual
events is purely coincidental.
First published by Stamford Publishing Ltd in 2020
Copyright © Simon McCleave, 2020
All rights reserved
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CHAPTER 1
The teenage girl’s hand shook with terror. It was too much for her. She clenched her fist and shifted awkwardly in the wooden chair.
Rachel Ryan, in her 50s with silver hair and piercing green eyes, was crouched beside her. She put her hand gently to the girl’s face. ‘Come on, Catherine. Everyone has to do this. It’s what God wants, so you must not be afraid. Open up your fingers for me.’
Catherine shook her head and clutched her hand protectively to her chest. ‘No. I don’t want to do it.’
‘Do it for me, Catherine. Please,’ Rachel said in a virtual whisper.
Catherine shook her head and cowered away.
Rachel could see they would need to use a different tact. She nodded to the two men who stood nearby.
‘This will only take a second,’ Rachel said gently. ‘I promise.’
Rachel Ryan was a striking and charismatic woman who spoke with a soft Southern Irish accent. She was the leader of a religious group called The Family that was based in Snowdonia in North Wales.
Rachel watched as the men went over and held Catherine’s hand. They forcibly opened her fingers to reveal her palm.
'No! Please!’ Catherine cried as tears came down her face.
Rachel looked over at the hot branding iron that had been heating in the fire.
This is God’s will. It is a sign that we are willing to suffer just as he did when he gave us his only son, Rachel thought to herself. Catherine will learn that out of suffering comes great joy and great faith.
A tall man with a beard pushed the hot, circular iron onto Catherine’s palm for a second.
The sound of flesh burning.
Catherine gave a scream that filled the room.
Rachel could smell the burnt skin as the man plunged the girl’s hand into a bucket of iced water. Catherine wasn’t the first member of the family to try to resist the indoctrination to The Family, and she wouldn’t be the last.
‘You see, darling? It’s over. And you’ve been so brave,’ Rachel said as she bent over, wiped Catherine’s tears away, and kissed her forehead. ‘God bless you. I love you Catherine and so does our good Lord.’
Rachel smiled, turned, and left them. They would bandage Catherine’s hand, apply antiseptic cream, and in a few days the skin would have healed.
Glancing out of the window, Rachel felt a great sense of wellbeing as she saw that the sun had begun to set behind the old farm buildings. On the other side of the track was a large, painted wooden sign of an open-armed Jesus, wearing sky blue and white flowing robes, with an orange sun exploding behind him. The sign read ‘Welcome to Solace Farm’.
Solace Farm, originally named Cae Gwyn Farm, stretched for nearly fifty acres to the east of its renovated buildings and barns. There had been a farm on the site as far back as the 16th century when it extended to the uplands and cliffs at Dolgaregddu. The area was home to a unique blend of rare arctic and alpine plants such as alpine meadow grass, tufted saxifrage, and alpine saw-wort.
The farm was close to the village of Gellilydan, tucked away in the south west corner of Snowdonia. A few miles to the north was Blaenau Ffestiniog, which had once been the largest town in North Wales. Known for its enormous slate mines and Ffestiniog Steam Railway, the town now relied heavily on tourism rather than industry.
Solace Farm was now the home of ‘The Family’, a religious gathering of Seventh-day Adventists. Locals were suspicious of them and there was always gossip about the goings on at Solace Farm. Although the stories of unthinkable behaviour were common, nobody really knew what went on there. The Family were on the radar of both Social Services and the police, but there had been no concrete need for concern or intervention. On the surface, they were a law-abiding religious community whose children were well cared for and supported.
Wandering through the farm, Rachel glanced to the west at the stunning outline of the Snowdonia Mountains which were a pale lilac against the heavy grey sky. It sometimes reminded her of her home in southern Ireland. She rarely talked about her life in Ireland, preferring to tell stories of her time in various religious retreats throughout the world. What had happened to her in Ireland had been buried deeply. Dark memories that had been locked away so that she could survive. She knew they were there but she had found ways to avoid opening those doors to that sickening blackness.
Glancing at her watch, Rachel saw it was time for The Family’s evening prayer and worship. First, she needed to deal with Thomas, a wayward and defiant sixteen-year-old boy, who had been at the farm since his Uncle Eryl joined the group eighteen months ago. Uncle Eryl had decided to leave last Christmas. He had lost his faith in what they were doing and so he was no longer with them. But Thomas had been persuaded to stay.
Thomas was not his real name. Rachel renamed members of The Family from the Bible as part of the new life that she promised them. “Doubting Thomas”, as she often called him, had once been Callum Roper. She thought Thomas was the perfect name for him as he seemed to question everything she said. He was smart but sceptical. However, she would win him
over eventually. She was fond of quoting the Bible to him, especially John 20:24-29. She loved the powerful passage which features Jesus appearing to Thomas when he rose from the dead, telling him to put his finger in the holes in his hands and the wound in his side. It is only then that Thomas believes that Jesus is the Lord and Saviour. Rachel told Thomas, just as Jesus had told his disciple of the same name, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Rachel knew that Thomas was becoming a serious problem. His petty thieving, bad language and confrontational manner was escalating. He had also been caught in the women’s quarters on several occasions. Rachel knew he had designs on a sixteen-year-old girl called Rebecca. Fornication outside of marriage was banned at Solace Farm. It was something that wasn’t open to debate. And the punishment for disobedience was severe.
The corridor that led to The Chapel was shadowy and, as the wind picked up, the timber structure groaned and sighed. Rachel strode into it purposefully. It was still musty from the days that it had been a passage between two feed sheds.
A figure stood lurking in the shadows. Hoodie up over his head, hands in pockets, kicking the ground in boredom. It was Thomas.
He needs to be taken down a peg or two. He needs to be shown the way.
Non-believers could not yet see because they were in the darkness. She needed to let her light shine for The Family, for Thomas, to see.
‘Thomas Roper?’ Rachel asked, calling him by his full name to let him know of her displeasure.
He looked up at her from under his hoodie but said nothing. He wore an expression of sheer contempt on his face.
‘Can you take your hoodie down for me, please?’ Rachel tried to remain calm.
‘No ...’ Thomas mumbled.
‘What’s going on, Thomas?’ Rachel asked gently after a few seconds. ‘I thought you were going to turn over a new leaf for me?’
‘Don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Thomas said, looking at the floor.
‘The stealing, the bad language. You’ve been caught in the women’s quarters twice now.’
‘Can’t you see? I don’t wanna be here anymore,’ Thomas said looking up at her and making direct eye contact.
The thought of Thomas leaving the farm terrified her. His soul would be lost forever. How could she let him go when she knew that if he did that, he would burn in hell forever? However, she would call his bluff this time and see how serious he was.
Rachel gestured towards the main entrance to the farm. ‘You’re welcome to leave, Thomas. You know that. Any time you want. Just say the word ...’
Thomas gave a snort of derision. ‘Leave? Oh yeah. Just like that, eh?’
‘What do you want Thomas?’ Rachel asked. It was horrible to see him this angry and discontented.
‘I want you to leave me alone. I want to go somewhere else and build a new life.’
‘The life you have here is incredible. And you are building towards a beautiful eternal life in paradise,’ Rachel explained.
‘I see you, Rachel. I know what you’re about,’ Thomas sneered.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Rachel said.
‘You’re a fake. You’re a phoney.’
‘That’s very unkind.’ Rachel could feel the rumblings of anger from what Thomas had said.
‘These people here are fuck-ups who think you have some special gift. It’s a complete joke!’
‘You don’t mean that, Thomas,’ Rachel said, trying not to be hurt by his words.
‘I hate you. I hate this place.’
‘Thomas, please!’
‘What you’re doing to us is evil!’ Thomas shouted.
That was too much. Rachel slapped him hard across the face with a resounding THWACK!
She instantly regretted it.
With tears in his eyes, Thomas shook his head at her, turned and marched away.
‘Thomas?’ she called after him.
She watched him go for a few seconds. She would talk him round later. She always did.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Rachel prepared to address her flock. She stood straight, shoulders back, like the nuns had shown her when she was a child. Rachel had been brought up as a strict Catholic in County Galway. However, the Catholic faith, with all its pomp, idolatry and dark hypocricy, had been rejected a long time ago.
Striding forward, with a joyful look on her face and clothes flowing, Rachel cast thougths of Thomas’ cutting words and the memories of her childhood to one side and went into the chapel where nearly all of The Family were sitting on the wooden benches that were banked up in rows.
She smiled and raised her arms for a few seconds as a form of greeting.
‘You beautiful, beautiful people. Look at you all! It makes my heart sing to see you and feel the love that is in this room,’ Rachel said.
The walls were painted a brilliant white. A long, rectangular window had been cut out of the far wall to face the sun for most of the day. Outside the light was fading and darkness was setting in.
‘You know, I woke up this morning. And do you know what I thought?’ Rachel said in a warm, friendly tone as she continued her confident march into the heart of the chapel. The members of The Family sat up, looking over at her – they hung on her every word.
So they should. I am a designated prophet. I am the appointed Lamb of God. And I love my flock, Rachel thought as she smiled at them all.
The Family was made up of nearly sixty men, women and children from all parts of the UK and abroad. They belonged to an unofficial splinter group of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was technically a Protestant denomination. As with the Jewish faith, they observed Saturday as their Sabbath and believed that Jesus Christ’s ‘Second Coming’ was imminent. There were currently over twenty five million Seventh-day Adventists in the world, mainly in the US where the denomination had been founded in the 1860s.
‘What a gift it is to have Jesus in our lives. What a joy it is to have our certainty of faith as we go through our days. Last night we read Isaiah. How he described a kingdom that must be set up during the last days of the earth on which we live. And that is what we have done here. And when those final days on this planet come, all of us here are prepared. If we have to fight for God, then we are prepared. Armageddon. The Second Coming of Our Lord and Saviour.’ Rachel reached down and took her well-thumbed Bible and raised it into the air. ‘And this is what the Bible says. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war. He shall cry and roar. And he shall prevail.’ She didn’t need to read it. She knew most of the Bible by heart – she had spent nearly half a century studying it.
The Family nodded in agreement at what she had said.
Rachel’s eye was caught by movement as Simon came striding into the chapel and approached. Simon Chaplin was her right-hand man, her confidant, and sometimes her lover.
From the expression on Simon’s face, she could see he was concerned. As he reached her, he leant in close to whisper something.
‘Thomas has stormed off somewhere.’
‘I know. He’ll calm down, don’t worry,’ Rachel muttered.
‘He’s left the farm,’ Simon said. ‘He’s gone.’
It took Rachel a few seconds to comprehend what Simon had said.
‘What do you mean gone?’ Rachel whispered back to him.
‘I mean gone. He had a bag of his stuff ready and he’s left,’ Simon said anxiously.
‘Did no one think to stop him?’ Rachel hissed at him.
‘I don’t know. It happened so quickly ...’ Simon muttered. ‘He just pushed past me.’
Rachel looked up at The Family and announced, ‘I’m afraid there is something very pressing that I must attend to.’ She handed her Bible over to a young woman who was carrying a toddler. ‘Mary, why don’t you lead everyone until I get back. Revelations ...’
Rachel and Simon hurried out of the chapel and then stopped in the
darkened corridor.
‘What do you want me to do?’ Simon asked, sounding scared. She wanted him to be scared.
How had this been allowed to happen?
‘I want you to round up some of the men. And then I want us to go and find Thomas and bring him back here,’ Rachel said, an inch from Simon’s face. ‘Or we make sure that he doesn’t get away.’
Ten minutes later, Rachel strode swiftly across the fields of Solace Farm. She could feel her anger and stress growing as the earth crunched beneath her boots.
I should not be having to do this!
Beside her was Simon, and two other men from The Family. One of them carried an over-under Purdey shotgun, the other held an army issue .303 calibre rifle. The Family were well-equipped when it came to guns and ammunition. Rachel knew that when Armageddon and the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus came, the true believers may well have to go into battle for God. She told The Family on numerous occasions that they needed to be prepared. That’s what was foretold in the Bible. Jesus would come again, not to deal with those who have sinned, but “... to save those who are eagerly awaiting him.” Sometimes she thought her insight and spiritual wisdom was lost on them.
‘Where the hell is he?’ Simon asked, his breath quickening from the effort of their rapid journey across the uneven ground.
They had spotted Thomas ten minutes earlier, shouted for him to stop, and fired a series of warning shots into the air. Then they had lost him in a small wooded area.
Rachel was still seething. ‘How did no one see this coming? And why did no one stop him!’
‘I’m sorry, Rachel. He pushed me to the ground before I could do anything,’ Simon said.
‘He’s only a boy! This calls our security into question,’ Rachel said as she scoured the darkening fields ahead. ‘We’ll never find him in the dark.’
Suddenly, she spotted a figure running from a small copse of trees towards a steel gate.
Is that him?
Thomas was about two hundred yards away but she recognised his clothes and stature immediately.
‘There he is!’ Rachel yelled, as they all broke into a run.
The Solace Farm Killings: A Snowdonia Murder Mystery (A DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller Book 7) Page 1
