By the time Jasper and Damian reached the third floor cell the situation had calmed.
‘What happened?’ Jasper demanded.
‘They were threatening me, so I had to fire my pistol,’ Greg lied.
‘No one was threatening you,’ Steven said. ‘We were just angry you didn’t treat Allison’s body with respect.’
‘The bitch didn’t deserve any respect after what she did to my father,’ Damian said. ‘Pity there’ll only be one execution now.’
‘The baby died too,’ Penny retorted. ‘It’s still inside her.’
‘I don’t mean the baby. I mean him,’ Damian said, pointing his pistol at Steven.
Everyone, including Jasper and Greg, were taken by surprise.
‘My father sentenced him to death, in case you’ve all forgotten.’
‘No!’ Penny screamed.
‘Executing Steven doesn’t make sense,’ Luke said bravely. ‘Like Uncle Mark always says, our survival’s all a question of genes and increasing the population.’
‘Mark, and what he thinks, is of no relevance here,’ Jasper snapped. ‘The only opinion that matters at Haver is mine.’
‘Which means he’ll die,’ Damian said.
‘That’s right,’ Greg agreed.
‘I said, the only person whose opinion matters here is mine,’ Jasper barked, rounding angrily on his two brothers. ‘Now arrange to get that body out of here.’
‘I’d like to go to Allison’s funeral,’ Luke said.
‘We all would,’ Steven added.
Damian opened his mouth to speak then, still smarting from his brother’s rebuke, closed it again.
‘There won’t be a funeral,’ Jasper responded. His words were icy cold. ‘She’ll get the same treatment as that bitch Diana gave my father.’
They all wondered what Diana had done to Nigel, and what was going to happen to Allison’s body.
‘Right, get on with it,’ Jasper snapped, motioning to his brothers. Then he turned to Steven. ‘I’ll let you know the date of your execution in due course.’ Penny started to cry. ‘And I’ll also be deciding what’s going to happen to the rest of you.’
The brothers hurried from the room.
‘What are we going to do?’ Penny sobbed when the three brothers were out of earshot.
‘I don’t believe Jasper wants to execute me at all,’ Steven said.
Luke looked at him quizzically. ‘What makes you so sure?’
‘It wasn’t his idea for a start. Something’s gone on here while we’ve been away — something between Jasper and Damian. Did you notice the way Jasper rounded on his brothers? They were as thick as thieves when we were here before, they always supported one another. They’re not that way now.’
Penny had calmed down a little. ‘So what are you going to do?’
‘I’m going to try and speak to Jasper alone. But first I need to find out what’s happened here while we’ve been away.’
Luke walked over to the shuttered windows and stared through the peephole. ‘It’s going to be difficult to find out anything locked in here.’
Moments later they heard the door at the bottom of the tower being thrown open and footsteps clattering up the stairs. The door to the cell was unlocked again and Duncan and Paul walked in. Paul carried a tarpaulin. Greg stood just outside the room with his pistol drawn as if he was afraid of the corpse.
‘It’s good to see you, Steven,’ Paul said as his nephew embraced him.
‘You won’t be seeing him for long,’ Greg sneered. ‘Anyway, cut out all that touchy-feely stuff,’ he continued, motioning towards Allison’s body, ‘and get that out of here.’
Duncan and Paul laid the tarpaulin on the floor and began to lift the corpse.
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Steven said.
‘They can do it themselves,’ Greg grunted.
‘They need a hand.’
‘I told you to get back.’
‘If we’re not careful we’re going to have blood and guts and God knows what all over the floor. Do you want to help them or shall I?’ Steven said angrily.
Greg’s resolve crumbled. He motioned to Steven to help.
‘Where’s my brother and everyone else?’ Paul whispered as they laboured to lift Allison’s corpse onto the tarpaulin.
‘Still in New Zealand.’
Paul was confused. ‘How come Allison came to England without Mark?’
‘He didn’t know she was coming.’
‘What’s been going on?’
‘Come here tonight, I’ll tell you then. I need information.’
Paul shook his head. ‘Too risky.’
‘Please. Use the secret passage.’ Steven whispered as they started to wrap the body.
‘I can’t. Cheryl’s due to give birth any day.’
‘Please — Jasper’s threatening to execute me.’
‘Stop that whispering!’ Greg yelled. With the corpse secured in the tarpaulin he’d come into the room and was pointing the gun at Steven.
Paul looked up. ‘We were just saying the Lord’s Prayer.’
‘Well don’t. You know religion’s banned.’
Luke and Steven both offered to help carry Allison down the stairs, but Greg would have none of it.
‘Where are we burying her?’ Duncan asked as he and Paul struggled through the doorway with the tarpaulin.
‘You’re not burying her. His Lordship says you can do the same with her as the pair of you did with my father’s body.’ His voice was full of revenge.
As it grew dark, Steven watched the lights come on around both Lawn and Flag Courts. There were only dimly lit bulbs in the peasants’ quarters around Lawn Court, but the state rooms beyond Flag Court seemed to be floodlit. Each time the clock chimed the hour, three figures would emerge from the peasants’ quarters and hurry around the gravel path before disappearing beneath Cromwell’s Tower. Seconds later, three other figures would emerge from beneath the tower and tramp wearily back to their quarters. Steven surmised that his relatives were changing shifts on the power-generating treadmills in the Punishment Room at the foot of the tower. Susan had told him that the original treadmill had been replaced by three bicycle-powered units to generate even more power, but the Chatfield brothers still used more than their fair share. The lights around Lawn Court were turned out early as the exhausted residents turned in for the night. At about ten forty-five the last of the stateroom lights were extinguished too. No fresh figures emerged from Lawn Court as the clock struck eleven. Steven heard the sound of a door closing at the foot of the tower and then saw the shadowy outline of three figures plod around the gravel path. He concluded that the final treadmill shift was off to bed.
One o’clock passed, then two o’clock. Eventually Steven gave up hope that his uncle would come. But at two-thirty he heard a light tapping on the door of the cell. Everyone else was asleep.
He gently removed Penny’s arm from around his waist and moved across the cell to the metal hatch set in the door. It was loose fitting so he hoped he could hear his uncle speak without having to open it and wake the others.
‘Is that you, Uncle Paul?’ Steven whispered.
‘Yes.’
‘How’s Cheryl?’
Paul’s whispers were even softer than his own and Steven was forced to put his ear hard against the hatch to catch the words.
‘She’s in labour, but she’s doing well, Bridget’s looking after her. I can’t be long. I’ve promised to be with her when the baby’s born.’ His voice was laced with fear. There was a curfew after dark and he had taken a great risk. If any of the Chatfield brothers came up the stairs and caught him he would be in real trouble. Breaking curfew could cost him his life.
‘I need to know what’s happened while we’ve been away. Particularly how Nigel died and what’s gone on between Jasper and Damian,’ Steven explained.
In hurried whispers, Paul outlined the events of the past thirty months at Haver, commencing with the immediate aftermath
of Steven and Mark’s escape, along with the members of the Haver community they had taken with them.
‘I’ve never witnessed anything like Nigel’s anger over Miles being killed during your escape. He executed Aunt Margaret for helping you. That led to a revolt and the Chatfield brothers massacring four of the adults.
‘After that, things went from bad to worse — Nigel made Diana set up an escort agency to service him and his sons. The sexual abuse and rape was terrible …’ Paul faltered for moment. ‘… and it even included the teenage girls. It only ended when Diana managed to poison the Chatfields’ food to stupefy them.’
‘So how did Nigel die?’
Paul described the horrifying details of how Diana had drugged Nigel, clamped his penis in the woodworking vice in Duncan’s workshop, and wired the vice so it couldn’t be opened. Then she gave him a knife, set the workshop on fire and left him to carry out his own amputation in order to escape.
‘Even then he didn’t make it,’ Paul continued. ‘Diana locked the door. He died of smoke inhalation. By the way,’ Paul whispered, ‘don’t tell anyone the full details.’
‘You mean the Chatfield brothers don’t know?’
‘Only Duncan, Jennifer and I know. Duncan wasn’t meant to tell Jennifer, he let it slip. I wasn’t going to tell you either.’
‘So what happened to Nigel’s body after that?’
‘We threw it in the rubbish pit with the other garbage.’
Steven’s heart sank further. ‘Poor Allison.’
‘Then Diana arranged a trial for the three brothers. Jasper was tried for the murder of Warren Dalton, Greg for the murder of Cameron Steed.’ Paul took a deep breath. ‘Damian was tried for the murder of Aunt Margaret, Charlene Dalton, Melanie Morgan and …’ Suddenly Paul was crying.
‘Take your time,’ Steven whispered gently.
It was more than two minutes before Paul could force the words out. ‘… and for the rape and murder of Mathew …’ His voice strengthened a little. ‘Jasper had the courage to admit his crime — he was prepared to die. Greg cried but also confessed. Damian denied all charges at first. But then when Diana threatened …’ Paul broke down again and Steven waited patiently for him to recover. ‘She threatened to show a video of what he had done to Mathew … so Damian pleaded guilty to all charges to stop it being shown. Even Jasper and Greg were disgusted with Damian.’ He sighed with relief having completed the segment of the story concerning the death of his son Mathew and almost seemed to enjoy relating the following events.
‘Duncan was appointed chief executioner and Diana made the brothers watch him practise his axemanship skills. All the kids were there too — cheering when Duncan sliced the turnips in half, booing when he missed. He kept missing, he just couldn’t aim straight.’ But Paul’s light-heartedness didn’t last long. ‘At the execution, Duncan lost his bottle and Diana offered to commute Greg’s sentence to life with hard labour if he’d execute Damian. He didn’t have the bottle either. But Jasper did.’
‘You mean Jasper volunteered to execute Damian?’
‘Damn right he did. And he meant it too. He said Damian deserved to die for what he’d done to Mathew and …’
There was a noise in the stairwell. Paul and Steven froze. ‘Granddad, Granddad, Aunty Bridget says you must come now, the baby’s on its way.’ It was the voice of Paul’s granddaughter Mary-Claire.
‘I’ll tell you the rest of the story some other time,’ Paul whispered as he scurried away.
Steven slumped down on the floor. He felt numb. The loss of innocent lives as the result of his escape filled him with sadness. His escape had been prompted by his own imminent execution, ordered by Nigel, who didn’t know — or didn’t want to know — that it was Damian’s attempted drugging and rape of Steven that had led to Damian being wounded in the ensuing scuffle. It sounded as if things had gone from bad to worse in his absence.
29
To Steven’s dismay Damian, rather than Greg, supervised the delivery of food and beer the following morning. Susan had also been relieved of her duties; the buckets were carried in by Jennifer. In her mid-fifties, she was the youngest of Steven’s father’s generation and the only one who didn’t look older than her age.
Luke walked towards his cousin to embrace her but Damian immediately ordered him to keep his distance. ‘This isn’t a family reunion. Just grab the piss pot.’
‘How long are we going to be kept here?’ Luke asked.
‘Probably till after the execution.’ A smile broke out on his face. ‘Or should I say executions?’
‘I want to see His Lordship,’ Steven said.
‘Who cares what you want?’
‘Your brother will care. I’ve got a proposal for him.’
‘What’s your proposal? I’ll pass it on.’
‘It’s between him and me. Just tell him I wish to see him.’
‘I’m not your messenger boy.’
‘I think you’d better carry this message, otherwise His Lordship will get very upset.’
‘Don’t threaten me — unless you want to die slowly. I’ll be swinging the axe, remember.’
Penny struggled to hold back her tears.
‘I want to see His Lordship,’ Steven repeated.
‘Tough. You can’t.’
‘You’d better tell him.’
‘Like I said, don’t threaten me. This time tomorrow you’ll be dead.’
The tears flowed down Penny’s cheeks. Lee was frightened and started crying too.
‘Do you think he’ll pass the message on?’ Luke asked once Damian and Jennifer had left.
‘I’m sure he will,’ Steven said confidently. But he wasn’t sure. In fact, he was surprised when Damian returned after lunch and beckoned him out of the cell.
‘So how did you manage to get a message to my brother if I didn’t pass it on?’ Damian asked as he followed Steven down the stairs.
‘That’s my business.’
As Steven was asking himself the same question, Damian’s boot slammed into his back and he tumbled down the spiral staircase. Bruised, grazed, winded and bleeding, he pulled himself slowly onto his knees. He looked up at Damian who was looming over him, pistol at the ready.
‘That was a nasty fall you had there. You say anything wrong to His Lordship and Penny will be the next person to fall down those stairs. And I promise you, she won’t survive. Now get up.’
It took Steven all his grit to get to his feet, stumble across Flag Court and drag himself up the Grand Staircase to the ballroom. Jasper sat on the sofa waiting for him.
‘He tripped on the stairs,’ Damian explained as he followed Steven into the room. He hurried past his limping prisoner and sat down on a chair a little way from his brother, leaning back with his hands clasped across the back of his neck.
Jasper turned to his brother. ‘Take the rest of the prisoners to their respective family quarters. Give them ten minutes to sort out their accommodation and then get them to work.’
‘You’re releasing them?’
There was annoyance in Jasper voice. ‘I am.’
‘I’ll do it straight after this meeting,’ Damian said.
Jasper’s voice was steely hard. ‘You’ll do it now.’
Damian opened his mouth to protest, but then apparently thought better of it. Jasper turned his attention back to Steven as Damian silently mouthed, ‘Watch what you say.’
‘And by the way, Damian,’ Jasper said, without looking in his brother’s direction, ‘just make sure no other prisoner trips down the stairs — we need all the labour we can get. Close the door as you leave.’
He waited until Damian had stalked out of the room and slammed the door before speaking again. ‘Now, I haven’t got all day, I’ve got an execution to arrange. What’s this proposal Jennifer’s jabbering about?’
When, half an hour later, Steven was returned to his cell, he found himself alone in an empty room, an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had tried to press t
he right buttons in making his proposal to Jasper but His Lordship had maintained a poker face. Jasper had asked few questions and said little other than informing Steven that he would announce his decision at the evening meal.
Deep down, Steven suspected Jasper’s intention was still to have him killed. His fears were confirmed when, through a peephole in the shutters, he saw Duncan and Paul stagger into Flag Court carrying the heavy block used for executions. Greg followed carrying the long medieval axe.
If it had been Damian supervising the work party Steven wouldn’t have been quite so worried: Damian could have prepared for Steven’s execution of his own volition. But Greg never did anything on his own initiative. Jasper must have ordered him to make the preparations.
He thought he could see baby David in a small enclosure in the corner of Flag Court that contained the babies and small children. There seemed to be so many of them. He hoped that Susan had somehow managed to lose Allison’s baby in the crowd. From peepholes on the other side of the room he saw Penny, Luke and Lee raking grass cuttings and leaves from the bowling green in Lawn Court.
He worried all afternoon, wondering what else he could have said to Jasper. At four o’clock Duncan struggled into Flag Court carrying a heavy sack which he dumped beside the execution block. Damian strolled in a little later and looked up towards Steven’s cell before commencing his performance. He stood one turnip at a time on the block and swung the axe, chopping them in half. Sometimes he missed. Thanks to Paul’s earlier revelations, at least Steven knew who Damian had learned the theatre from.
Later, Steven watched the families make their way to the Great Hall for dinner. Everyone peered up at the shuttered windows as they walked. Penny, Paul, Cheryl and Bridget were in the last group; they too looked up anxiously. Bridget and Cheryl were each carrying a baby wrapped in a shawl. Steven saw that Bridget’s hair had been shorn so short she almost looked bald. With her limp she looked a pathetic figure. Cheryl’s tunic was still fastened up to the neck to hide the scars that covered her body. Her lips were tight set, hiding the tooth decay that had developed during her years imprisoned at Haver.
Blood Roots: Are the roots strong enough to save the pandemic survivors? Page 18
