by John R McKay
She closed her eyes for a moment and took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to ease the pain. Her eyes still closed, she heard the door to the bedroom open.
‘Eddie,’ she said smiling. ‘Thank God you’re back.’
‘Try again,’ said Alexander.
She opened her eyes in shock and stared at him, her mouth hanging open.
‘Where is the old bitch?’ he said calmly. ‘I thought she would have stayed with you, what with the Germans bombing the bloody place again.’ He looked to the ceiling, as if he could see through it to the sky. ‘When will all this stop? It’s starting to become quite irritating.’
Victoria did not reply but sat still, looking at him. If he did not know where Edwina was then she was safe, at least for the moment, and was hopefully completing her errand.
‘Yes it is rather tiresome,’ she said sarcastically.
Hearing the tone in her voice, Alexander stared at her, the hatred in his eyes clear. He walked into the room followed by Longworth who closed the door behind them.
‘We have a little problem,’ he said calmly, sitting on the bed beside her.
‘What now?’ she replied sighing. ‘Don’t you think you have harassed me enough for one day?’
‘You see, my dear, we can’t have you running around looking like that now can we?’ he said, ignoring her. ‘What would people think? It doesn’t reflect well on me now does it?’
‘You should have thought about that before you did it then, shouldn’t you? Why can’t you just leave me in peace?’
She recoiled in pain, the exertions of sitting up and speaking beginning to take its toll once more.
‘Bloody hell,’ he said. ‘You are in a bad way aren’t you?’
She did not reply and Alexander looked at Longworth. ‘Bit of a mess isn’t she?’
Longworth sniggered, ‘Just a bit, guv.’
‘You see, my dear,’ he continued, ‘We have a little problem that needs sorting out tonight. It seems that I have aroused your suspicions on events that took place some years ago and I wanted to explain what I meant before.’
Victoria looked at him blankly. She did not want to say anything.
‘When John left the Manor with that whore I spoke to him before he went. I told him that should I ever come across him again then I would kill him. At the time I said that it was because of the upset and disgrace he had brought upon our parents, but what I really meant was that I would be taking the Baronetcy in his place. You see, if he died then it was mine when my father died. But if he lived then he would always have a claim to it and could take it from me should he wish.
‘At first he was quite difficult to locate but then when the man I hired eventually found him, that’s Longworth over there, the war had started and he had volunteered and was in the army in France. He was a private soldier of all things. There were now two things that I could do. The first was to leave it to the Germans to get rid of him for me and the second was to take care of it myself.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’ Victoria interrupted quietly.
‘Because it’s time you knew the truth,’ he replied calmly. ‘You asked what my involvement was and I’m telling you. Anyway,’ he continued, ‘as the war progressed it was obvious that I would have to enlist myself and so I took a job on the staff, as you know. Longworth here, joined as an enlisted man. I was quickly able to find to which unit John, or John Cooke as he was now calling himself, had been posted, and even though he had fought on the Somme, he was one of the fortunate ones who came through that particular hell without so much as a scratch. Through my position on the army staff I was able to get Longworth posted to his company as a replacement. He even managed to get into the same platoon.
‘The night before the battle of Arras, they were all billeted in an underground cave system. There was a big understanding amongst the men, according to Longworth, that there would be many casualties but there was no guarantee that the Germans would take care of the problem, so he decided to take matters into his own hands in case he himself was wounded and was unable to fulfil his little mission. The original plan was a quick bullet when the action began, but Longworth here, decided to do it early, which caused a bit of a stir at the time apparently. Fortunately the officers were too busy to deal with it because it was the night before the battle. You see, Longworth here, has many talents and made it look like natural causes. I have no idea how he managed it and frankly I don’t want to know. Apparently they buried him with the soldiers who died in the battle and then lied to his whore wife about what had taken place.’
Victoria was too stunned to say anything. Alexander had now confessed to the murder of his brother. She knew he was capable of many things but never murder. With this information and the photograph that Edwina was currently hiding upstairs, she could go to the police and have them both arrested and, no doubt, convicted and hanged. Why was he telling her this now when he knew that is what she could do?
She coughed slightly, which sent pain shooting through her side. She realised she was shaking. ‘Why are you telling me this? Why now?’
‘Because there is no reason that you should go to your grave not knowing the truth. It’s the very least I could do.’
Without warning he raised his elbow. The blow hit her full force on the bridge of her already broken nose and sent her falling backwards onto the bed leaving her semi-conscious. She was aware of him placing his hand over her nose and mouth but she was unable to raise her hands to prevent him from suffocating her. For a brief moment she found herself above them looking down upon the scene. She could see Longworth standing in the corner of the room, looking at his fingernails, ignoring what was taking place on the bed. Alexander sitting calmly with his hand over her face and she could see herself lying impassively allowing him to take her life. Then she was back on the bed, the light beginning to fade, the noise from the bombs falling outside receding into a quiet calm that she could relax into. She saw the light, that tunnelled light that so many people had spoken of and as she moved toward it, she was able to see a figure in the distance. As she got closer she saw that it was not one person but two people, standing together and looking toward her. She knew immediately that it was John and Georgina and understood that while life had kept them both apart, death had brought them together. She suddenly felt very relaxed and content, and as she stepped forward to greet them, she found that she was smiling.
Alexander turned to Longworth. ‘Go and find that old bitch.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Edwina hurried back to the room as quickly as she could, the cacophony of the raid outside now starting to trouble her further. The bombs had never dropped this close to the house before. They had to get out of this place. They had to get to a place of safety where the bombs and Alexander could not harm them. As she approached the bedroom she was filled with a sense of dread. She could see that the door was half open and remembered that she had closed it behind her when she had left. Either Victoria had opened it, which she knew to be impossible, or someone else was in the room with her.
Suddenly Longworth appeared at the door and saw her. The look in his eyes told her that it was she who he was looking for and he made straight for her. Instinctively she turned to get away from him but he was too quick and before she had taken a couple of steps he was upon her. Grabbing her by the hair he dragged her to the bedroom door and forced her into the room, ignoring her cries of pain and terror.
Inside the room she saw Victoria on the bed and knew straight away that she was dead, her eyes staring vacantly to the ceiling. Alexander sat on the bed beside her, calmly lighting a cigarette.
‘Oh my God,’ she said quietly. ‘What have you done? My poor Victoria.’
Alexander looked up, exhaling the smoke with a large sigh. He did not speak but looked at Longworth knowingly. Understanding then hit Edwina as she realised she was in mortal peril. Before she could scream or attempt an escape, Longworth expertly hit her on the back of he
r neck, immediately knocking her unconscious. He dragged her limp body to the bed and placed her next to Victoria, Alexander moving away to allow him to do it.
As Alexander had done to Victoria, Longworth covered Edwina’s nose and mouth with his hand until all life had left her then stood back to look at the two dead women on the bed.
‘What now boss?’ he asked calmly.
‘Go and fetch the car to the front of the house. There won’t be anyone about. We’ll wrap the bodies in sheets and go and dump them somewhere.’
‘Right you are, guv,’ said Longworth, making for the door.
Alexander had a sudden thought. ‘Hey, why do you think Edwina wasn’t in the room when we got here?’
‘Beats me.’
‘Why did she leave Victoria do you think?’
‘No idea guv. I guess we’ll never know now will we?’
‘No, I suppose not,’ he replied, taking another drag from his cigarette. ‘Off you go then.’
As Longworth left the room to organise the car, Alexander finished his cigarette and then looked around the room. He could see Victoria’s W.V.S. uniform hanging on a wardrobe door. When he returned he would send Longworth to Edwina’s room to locate her A.R.P. clothing. As the bombs continued to rain down outside, Alexander knew exactly what was to be done next.
#
An hour later Longworth and Alexander sat in the car at the front of the house. They had dressed both bodies in their uniforms, ensuring they had identification in their pockets and had managed to carry them both unnoticed down to the vehicle where they had been dumped, unceremoniously in the back, covered by a dark blanket. To anyone taking a cursory look inside they would not be able to see the bodies and it would look like there was a pile of blankets in the back, which Alexander would say he was delivering to a rest centre if he was stopped. However, he did not envisage being stopped as anyone who was working above ground would no doubt be too busy to be bothered with one random car delivering blankets.
Longworth started the engine and switched on the lights.
‘Turn the fucking lights off you bloody idiot!’ exclaimed Alexander. ‘That’s the best way to get us stopped. Jesus!’
Hurriedly, Longworth turned the lights back off. ‘Sorry guv,’ he said and put the car into gear and set off. ‘Where to?’
‘Head towards where the bombs are falling.’
Longworth applied the brakes causing Alexander to lurch forward in his seat. ‘You are joking of course?’
‘Do I look like I’m fucking joking,’ Alexander replied irritably. ‘What do you think the plan is? ….I’ll tell you. We’ll dump the bodies at some bomb site and try to make it look that the Germans got them. We can’t do that where the bombs aren’t falling now can we? Now just drive.’
Reluctantly Longworth put the car back into gear and drove forward. After a while he said, ‘Why don’t we just take them straight to a hospital? We could say that we have recovered them.’
‘No,’ replied Alexander. ‘We’ll do it my way. Besides, Edwina has no injuries on her. We need to damage the body a bit.’
‘OK, whatever you say.’
As they drove towards the City, they could see fires burning all around. At one point Longworth stopped the car on the banks of the Thames and they looked towards St Pauls Cathedral, which appeared to be burning, the whole building covered in a mask of smoke. Suddenly a gust of wind blew some of the smoke away and they were able to see that as fires raged all around it, the Cathedral itself stood majestic and defiant, unscathed amidst the inferno taking place in its vicinity.
‘Jesus,’ whispered Longworth, taking in the scene. ‘Did you ever see such a sight?’
Alexander said nothing, himself transfixed at what looked like a minor miracle, as though God Himself was making sure that no incendiary would burn in His house tonight.
Longworth continued driving towards where they could see the fires burning and the flashes of the bombs exploding, all the time aware that a stray could very easily land on top of them.
Eventually they reached a road where a building had fallen and had scattered debris across their path. They had to reverse and find another route that would take them into the heart of the bombing but as they got closer it grew increasingly impossible.
As they turned a corner they were met with firefighters tackling a huge blaze in an office block. An A.R.P. warden saw them approach and stood in the road, his hand raised to stop them. As Longworth drew the car to a halt the warden approached them.
Longworth wound the window down.
‘What the bloody hell are you doing here?’ said the warden exasperatedly. ‘You can’t come down here. Do you want to get yourselves killed?’
‘No mate,’ said Longworth. ‘We’ve a pile of blankets we need to deliver to a shelter nearby.’
‘Blankets! You are joking of course?’ said the warden. ‘Just get this bloody car off the road and find yourselves some shelter. Jesus Christ!’
‘Right you are, chief,’ said Longworth putting the car into reverse and backing away. Turning to Alexander he said: ‘He’s right guv. We need to get off the road or we’ll be dead too.’
‘OK,’ replied Alexander. ‘Let’s find somewhere close by where we can dump them.’
Five minutes later, they came across a collapsed building that had fallen into the street, a number of rescue workers scrabbling through the rubble in search of survivors. They were able to find a side street where they could park the car unnoticed by the workers toiling only a few feet away.
Quickly they dragged both bodies out of the back and placed them on the ground at the rear of the car. Silently they picked up Victoria’s body and between them made their way to the front of the building. In full view of the rescue workers they carried her body towards them, as though they had just found it and placed it down on the street beside those of four others, three men and a woman.
A firefighter looked over, ‘Another one eh? I don’t think they’re gonna be the last from here.’
‘No,’ shouted Longworth. ‘Probably a few more yet.’
The firefighter turned back to his work, ignoring them.
‘Come on,’ said Alexander. ‘Let’s get the other then we can get out of here.’
As they headed back to the car, another group of bombs began to fall very close by causing them to dive for cover behind a small wall. ‘Jesus guv,’ said Longworth, ‘just like the Somme eh?’ He smiled his gap toothed smile and Alexander shuddered.
‘I have no idea,’ he replied.
‘Oh yeah,’ said Longworth. ‘You were miles behind the line weren’t you? Left us riff-raff to do the fighting.’
‘Whatever,’ said Alexander, rising. ‘Come on. We have work to do.’
They approached Edwina’s body. Without warning Longworth picked up a brick from a mound of debris and ran at the body, bringing it down violently onto the corpse’s head, crushing the skull.
‘Jesus Christ man!’ exclaimed Alexander jumping back. ‘You could have warned me.’
Longworth grinned. ‘Sorry boss. Got to make it look real though eh?’
‘Right come on,’ said Alexander, bending down to pick up the body. ‘Let’s get this over and done with.’
Following the same route they placed Edwina’s body next to that of Victoria at the front of the building. Longworth looked to the same firefighter he had spoken to earlier. ‘Another one I’m afraid.’
The firefighter did not respond but continued at his work as though all this was very normal.
‘Come on,’ said Alexander. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
As they walked back to the car more bombs began to fall around them and once again Alexander flung himself to the ground. Suddenly he felt as though his head was about to explode as the pressure wave from a high explosive bomb that had landed thirty yards away filled the air all around him. He felt his body being thrown around and he hit his head on the side of the wall, knocking him
unconscious for a short while.
And then it all seemed calm and he was able to stand, dizzily holding onto the building wall for support. He heard a loud creaking sound and looked up. The building he was leaning against was about to fall and despite the pain in his head, the dizziness and nausea, he ran.
He ran for his life.
He looked back and could see Longworth lying unconscious on the ground next to the car, which had been blown onto its side. As he got to a relative safe distance he saw the whole of the side of the building fall, engulfing both the car and Longworth beneath its masonry and timbers. He closed his eyes as a mass of brick dust billowed out and covered him.
When it had cleared he could see, at the front of the building, many firefighters, including the one to whom Longworth had spoken, lying dead in the street, killed outright by the bomb that had landed so close to them. Alexander shivered. He could see that the bodies of Victoria and Edwina were now covered with dust and loose bricks and had been blown onto their sides. He turned away and ran.
Eventually he found himself at the entrance to a tube station. He did not know which for he did not know in which direction he had been running. He descended the first few steps and was met by a warden who stood in front of a locked metal barrier.
‘Jesus mate, look at the state of you,’ he said, observing Alexander’s dishevelled appearance. Alexander looked at himself and realised that he was covered from head to toe in brick dust. His clothes were torn and he was aware of blood on his face from a cut to his forehead that he had received when he had been momentarily knocked cold. ‘Anyway this one’s full mate,’ continued the warden. ‘You’ll have to find another.’
‘Just open the fucking gate,’ Alexander said sharply.
Seeing the intent in Alexander’s eyes, the warden stepped aside and slid back the metal barrier to allow him in. ‘Alright, I suppose one more won’t make much difference.’ Alexander barged past him and hurried down the stairs to the safety of the corridors and platforms below.
