by Natasha West
She looked at me with a raised eyebrow and she knew what I was suggesting. ‘But…’
‘There’s no police force here. Just a couple of heavies who like feeling important. And their top woman, I know her. I knew her before she became anyone’s henchwoman, back when she was a free-range thug. She’s big, but, I don’t know, I think if I took her by surprise…’
Alice thought about it. And then she let out the most enormous sigh and said, ‘I don’t like it, but I think you’re right. They’re not going to give us a fair trial so we don’t have any choice. We have to bust Olly out.’
Back at the dusty stable where camp beds had been set up for us, divided by busted old screens, it didn’t take much to talk Jude and Emma into it. ‘If those bastards are going to make us go through some pretend trial so they can kill my husband and feel alright about it, then fuck this place’ Emma said.
‘Yeah. Fuck ‘em’ Jude added. No one told him off for swearing and he cried, ‘Fuck the lot of them!’ happily.
‘Alright, take it easy’ Alice told him and he stopped grinning. ‘So the good news is that there’s only one person on the post office, protecting Olly. The bad news is, it’s Ruby. And she’s armed. So we need to get the keys off Ruby and sneak out just after midnight. It’s a small town, everyone should be tucked up in bed by that point and we shouldn’t run into trouble getting back over the bridge.’
‘So how are you gonna get the keys and stop her coming after us?’ Jude asked, less jubilant now.
‘Basically, I’m going to creep up behind her and smack her in the knee with my baton and put a bag over her head, get her tied up and gagged. Then we’ll go in, get your dad and get out’ I explained.
Jude looked underwhelmed. ‘I think I was expecting something a bit cleverer than that.’
I shrugged. ‘Why? It’s one tall woman with a big mouth and one gun. No need to be clever. Let’s just get it done.’
‘You’ll never be able to come back up this way, you realise that’ Alice told me. ‘You’ll have seriously burned this bridge. She may just be one woman but the whole town is gonna be pissed that we didn’t go along with their Ways.’
‘Ehh, so what?’ I said to her. ‘I don’t think I’d wanna come back here after this, anyway. I don’t like the way they treated y… Olly’ I corrected quickly.
‘Yolly?’ Emma asked.
‘OK, get a few hours’ sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time’ I told the group.
Twenty-Eight
Alice
Rachel didn’t need to wake me up. I didn’t get a wink of sleep. I just lay there, calculating all the ways this ‘Prison Break’ could go wrong. I guess what really worried me was that even if it was as easy as Rachel seemed to think, that May could take it into her head to chase us all the way home. Not personally, of course, not with that hip. But she might send people after us. She might send Ruby herself. May was powerful in the town and it was easy to think that her power stopped at the bridge. But what if it didn’t? What if we didn’t feel safe ever again?
But then, what choice did we have? This Spencer guy, I was sorry for what had happened to him but I couldn’t let my brother take the blame, and not at the cost of his life.
‘Alice?’ Rachel asked through the screen, giving it a small tap.
I got to my feet, grabbed my satchel, slipped my shoes on and slipped around the screen, where Rachel waited. ‘I’m ready’ I told her, not feeling ready at all.
‘Those two are up as well’ she told me breezily. They’ve gone out the back to use the facilities’.
I couldn’t believe how calm she seemed. It was a risk taking on Ruby and once again, it wasn’t one she needed to take. ‘I don’t know how we can repay you for all your help’ I told her nervously. ‘The van seems kind of a poor payment now.’
Rachel began to pull her shoes on at the door. ‘You’re right, I’m going too cheap. I think you should throw a couple of chickens in as well.’
I smiled. ‘I still don’t think that’s enough. Maybe I could lend you Jude for a week?’
‘What can he do?’ she asked sceptically.
I thought for a second. ‘He’s surprisingly good at knitting’ I told her.
‘Great, then he can make me some socks’ Rachel said dryly.
I smiled at that. And then my smile slipped. There was something I needed to say and I didn’t know when we’d get another moment alone. ‘I don’t know what we would have done without you. Seriously.’
‘Don’t thank me ‘til we’re out past that bridge’ she said dismissively. And with her shoes now tied, she looked up at me and she said, ‘You don’t need to thank me, anyway. Everything has been my choice.’
I nodded. ‘I know it has. Because you’re a good person.’
Rachel shook her head. ‘Don’t say that’ she muttered as she stood.
I walked up to her. ‘You don’t like me saying nice things to you, do you?’
She looked up at me. ‘It’s not that I don’t like it…’
‘…It’s that you can’t handle it’ I finished. She looked down and a lock of her hair slipped onto her face. I couldn’t help it. I brushed it away, slipping it behind her ear. She let me do it, not quite able to meet my eyes. And then she looked right at me, those big eyes hypnotizing me. ‘Alice…’
‘Right’ Emma said, bursting in. Rachel and I immediately stepped away from each other. Emma didn’t appear to notice, saying ‘Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?’
Jude pootled out behind her, looking nervous. ‘Rachel, I was wondering… Do you think I could I have the gun?’
‘Nope. You have that gun in your hand and I guarantee, you’ll get yourself shot’ she told him instantly, putting her bag on her back, tightening the straps.
Jude nodded, immediately assenting. ‘Fair enough.’
We all went to the door and I put a hand on the handle, pausing. I looked back at the party. ‘Right, let’s go get Olly-’
There was a knock at the door.
I nearly jumped a foot in the air. I looked to Rachel and she blinked at me, just as thrown.
A voice called through the door. ‘I heard footsteps, so I know people are awake in there.’
I took the bag off my back and everyone followed as we threw them into the corner. Once we had a little composure, I opened the door. May stood there, Ruby at her back, as well as a couple of young men that I recognised as being part of the ‘Welcoming Party.’
‘Good evening. Can we come in?’ May asked and we all stood back from the door. May led her troops in. ‘I see you’re like me, night owls’ she said, taking a seat and resting her cane against her leg. There was a bottle of wine in her hand.
We said nothing.
‘Well, I just wanted to bring you a small gift. It’s a bottle of our wine, which we’re sure you’ll enjoy.’
‘Thanks’ I said, taking it. It had no label. I guess if the wine was as famous as Rachel said, it didn’t need one.
We waited for May’s real reason for her visit. Soon enough, it came. ‘While we’re here’ May said casually, as though it were an afterthought, ‘I just wanted to let you know that you don’t need to worry about young Oliver. He’s well protected tonight. I’m putting all our people on his guard, six total. So no angry townsfolk will be able to get in there and do anything silly ahead of the trial. If you’re worried’ she added.
I knew she was warning us not to do exactly what we were planning to do. And she knew I knew. But she was putting a veneer of politeness on it, so I went along with the charade. ‘That’s good to know’ I replied.
May smiled at me and I looked to Rachel. She and Ruby appeared to be in some kind of stare-off competition.
Eventually, May said, ‘Well, better be going. Trial in the morning. Need a good night’s sleep if I’m going to be sharp.’
She started to struggle out of the chair and instinctively, I went to help her up. But Ruby suddenly elbowed roughly past me, apparently not wanting to lose
her station as May’s right hand woman.
‘Hey, watch it’ Rachel warned her, putting a rough hand on Ruby’s shoulder. Ruby turned and without the slightest hesitation, punched Rachel square in the face. Rachel fell back, falling to the ground with a thud.
Once I’d recovered from the shock, I ran to Rachel, leaning down to her. She was dazed, holding her jaw, watching Ruby who was rubbing her punching hand, adjusting a blue bracelet on her wrist and pulling her sleeve down, putting herself back together as though nothing had happened.
I turned back to May. ‘Could you possibly keep your dog on a tighter leash?’ I asked angrily.
May looked to Ruby. ‘Yes, we don’t need this sort of thing.’
‘Sorry, but she’s been asking for that’ Ruby said between gritted teeth.
May raised an eyebrow. ‘Nevertheless. We’re not animals.’
May went to stand again and Ruby went to her aid, hoisting her from the chair, escorting her to the door, followed by the two silent men, yet to speak a word. May turned at the door and said, ‘See you at ten. Village hall.’ She swept out regally.
I turned back to Rachel. ‘Are you alright?’
Rachel stood, gathering herself. ‘Yeah. Saw a few stars but I think I’m alright.’
I led her to the chair and she sat down. ‘Look at me for a second’ I said and I called to Jude, ‘Get me that flashlight.’ He ran to get it from his bag and passed it to me and I held Rachel’s left eye open, shining the light in, checking her pupil reaction. Then to the right. Normal.
Then something quite not normal happened. Rachel started laughing. I was sure she was concussed.
‘Rachel?’
‘No, it’s OK. It’s not the hit to the head. It’s…’ She stopped and looked at us all. ‘Didn’t you see?’
I looked to Jude and Emma. Jude shrugged and Emma said, ‘She’s definitely brain damaged.’
‘No, it’s… I know who killed Spencer. And I think I know why.’
Twenty-Nine
Rachel
I sat on an uncomfortable wooden seat against the back wall of the town hall, packed in with around seventy people, other Gable residents who’d come for the show. Like everywhere else, the town hall was well kept with freshly painted walls and polished floors, presumably done recently in readiness for the trial. I was sat next to Jude and Emma, who was biting her nails like a madwoman. ‘What time is it?’ she asked Jude for the third time. For the third time, he answered, ‘I don’t have a watch.’
A moment later, May came in, Ruby at her back as ever, escorting her to the front of the large room to sit on a comfy armchair sat waiting for her behind an ornate desk.
I rubbed my jaw, feeling the tenderness. This morning, a bruise had begun to come up, large and purple. I was seething at the sight of it but I kept a lid on my rage. There were bigger fish to fry.
Next into the town hall came Olly, two men either side of him, Alice behind. She’d gone to the post office this morning and requested to come with her brother to his trial. She hadn’t wanted him to make the walk alone. Despite what I’d learned last night, via an admittedly hard punch to the face, Alice wasn’t too sure if Olly’s chances were any better. In all honesty, I wasn’t completely sure either. But this was all in Alice’s hands now. And I believed that she could pull off the impossible.
‘Alright, let’s have some quiet’, May ordered the rabble talking amongst themselves from the gallery, as Olly was sat down at a chair in front of May, Alice next to him. Yaps shut quickly, which was a testament to May’s authority. When she spoke, they listened.
‘As you all know, we’re here today for the trial of Oliver Quinn. He stands accused of the manslaughter of Spencer Green, my grandson. His sister, Alice Quinn, will speak for him today. The evidence against him will be laid out by Stanley Dempsey, who will be taking a day off from sheep shearing to help us out. Stanley?’
A man stood up from his table in front of May, buttoning up his cardigan, ‘Yes, M’Lady?’
‘Stanley, please don’t stand on ceremony. Let’s stick to May, shall we?’
Stanley looked embarrassed. ‘Sorry. Yes, May?’
‘We’re not going to make a meal out of this. It’s not going to go on for days. I want this dealt with quickly. So can I ask you to restrict yourself to only minimal witnesses?’
‘Yes, May’ Stanley agreed.
I saw Alice’s face at that. A quick trial? It wasn’t the sign of a fair system. It was a sign that May wanted the appearance of justice but that she already knew what she was going to do and she wasn’t prepared to wait to do it. She was going to find Olly guilty and have him executed.
Unless we had a miracle. And I hoped that on this day, just this once, that we might get one.
An hour in and Stanley had had three people up, two of whom were witnesses to the initial argument and a third who was there when the body was found and testified to hearing a commotion at the shop and running in with several other people to see Olly standing over Spencer as he bled out. It was nothing I hadn’t heard before from Olly himself, not to mention the snatch I’d caught myself. It was all the truth.
Once Stanley had finished with each witness, he asked Alice if she wanted to cross examine. Each time, she said no. May looked a bit baffled by that but said nothing.
And then it was Alice’s turn to make her case for Olly. ‘I would like to call just one witness, please.’
May nodded. ‘Go right ahead. I presume you want Olly?’
‘Oh no, no need for Olly. Can I have Ruby on the stand?’ she asked.
A slight rumble went through the crowd. A surprise witness? It was all their Christmases come at once.
For her part, Ruby looked pretty amused as she stepped around May and sat down on the witness stand, which was just another chair. But she took it with aplomb, enjoying the attention of the village. ‘Well, I don’t know what you expect me to say in your brother’s defence, but I think you’ve got a shock coming.’
‘Possibly’ Alice said and stood from her own chair, walking closer to Ruby. ‘Can you tell us your name and what you do in the village?’
‘Ruby Nelson. I’m head of security for Gable.’
‘And how did you get that job?’
Ruby glanced at May. ‘I was out in the wilderness for a while. And then I happened across this place and May took me in. She saw my potential, put me in the squad. That was two years ago and I’ve worked my way up to Head since then.’
‘So you weren’t born in Gable?’
‘No. What’s your point?’
May jumped in there. ‘Yes, what’s your point?’
‘I’m coming to it’ Alice said calmly. ‘I’m only calling Ruby up here, so would you mind indulging me? It won’t take too long, I promise you.’
May inhaled deeply through her nostrils. ‘Alright.’
Alice gave a nod of appreciation to May and turned her eyes back on Ruby. ‘So as you weren’t born here, is it fair to say you might have had to work a bit harder to fit in, get in the good graces of the town?’
Ruby’s eyebrows lowered. She didn’t like the question. ‘I don’t know. Maybe.’
‘And May… She IS the town, isn’t she? I mean, if you have her approval, you’re in. Everyone looks to her, don’t they?’
‘I guess’ Ruby admitted unwillingly.
‘So if you did something that hurt her personally, well, that would mean you’d be out on your ear, wouldn’t it? All that status you’ve built here, walking around, feeling powerful?’ Alice snapped her fingers. ‘Gone.’
Ruby blinked. ‘Is there a question in there?’
‘I suppose not. Do you want to hear my question?’
Ruby looked uncertain. ‘You wanna ask something, fucking ask it’ she growled.
Alice smiled. ‘Alright. Here’s my question. How long have you been robbing the town blind?’
Well. If people enjoyed Ruby’s surprise testimony, they went ape for that revelation. All around me, people we
re turning around to each other and saying, ‘What was that?’ and ‘Did she just say…’ until May called, ‘QUIET!’ The room fell dead silent. I felt Jude grab onto my arm, tight. I let him hold it.
May turned to Alice and said, ‘What on earth are you talking about?’
‘Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be dramatic. But last night, when Ruby here came around and hurt my friend over there’ she said, gesturing to me. ‘She accidently showed us a blue rubber band on her wrist.’
Ruby involuntarily checked her wrist and there it was, the rubber band, hanging loosely. She quickly snatched down her sleeve but it was too late. May had seen it and she’d seen the look on Ruby’s face at the realisation she was wearing it. Ruby was a good liar. But Alice had surprised her. And she’d shown a chink in her armour.
‘We’ve seen that band before, at a hotel off the M1, a place where crazy people live… But that’s beside the point’ Alice explained to May. ‘They make you put the band on when you go in. And they had a whole case of your wine, paid for with money they steal from people silly enough to get lured in’ she said with a quick half smile to me. ‘And how would they get that wine? Gable is the only real place you can find a regular supply anymore and I’m told you don’t sell all that much to outsiders, which I presume is a good way to keep the price up?’ Alice asked May. But she didn’t answer. ‘At any rate, someone sold them a case, and it wasn’t their first. And since Ruby’s still wearing their ID…’
Ruby’s mouth was hanging open. ‘You liar!’
May was pinching the bridge of her nose, as though a terrible headache had just come on. ‘Jeff told me the inventory wasn’t adding up. I thought he’d miscounted. I would never have wanted to think for a second that one of ours…’ She stopped, distraught. ‘But what does this have to do with Spencer?’
‘He was her partner’ Alice said, turning to Ruby. ‘Wasn’t he?’
Ruby didn’t say anything to that. She simply glared at Alice. I thought she had a dangerous look in her eye but if Alice noticed it, it didn’t slow her down.
