“Hello, Sir.”
“Gisbourne, are you set and ready to go up there?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good. In a couple of days I want you to start the clean-up of this city. No mercy, understood?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“If you come across a man named Robert Hood — I will send over his file — I want him alive. I will be over to oversee the camp after church.” Prince hung up and patted Sheriff’s shoulder. “Right, Sheriff, tell me about this Knox.”
*
A couple of nights had passed since Crabbe’s escapades. It was the night before Prince and his party were due to attend the church. Down in the caves Knox had been learning the cave system as best as he could. For a couple days now he had been learning all the ways in and out, how many people they held, the equipment they had, every detail to try to help him.
He had thought about hitting Robert over the head with a club or something then just simply carrying him out over his shoulder, but he soon dismissed this idea as Robert was always with someone and he would get quite heavy. Also he had to bear in mind that the camera systems were everywhere; to which the only plan he had on that at the moment was to try to sabotage the camera set up, by shutting them down somehow. Knox settled down to sleep, thinking of a way to pull this mission off.
*
Sunday morning was a warm, peaceful morning considering what was to come. At Wollaton Park Gisbourne’s troops were getting ready for their assault and Prince, Sheriff, Marion and a handful of guards had arrived at Saint Mary’s church. Frank Tuck smiled at Marion as they entered the church, but was confused at the attendance of the Prime Minister and his party; he welcomed them all the same. They took their seats for the service amidst some dirty looks and scornful whisperings.
*
Meanwhile, the Black Death had started to march around the Wollaton area. It was carnage; people being taken or killed. A few tried to fight back with guns, knives and whatever else they could get their hands on; even stones. At first the people of Nottingham seemed to hold their own, but as more Black Death and better fire power arrived the men who opposed the Black Death were dwindling. While the two sides were involved in heavy gunfire one man hid behind the shell of an abandoned car, took out his phone, typed a message and pressed send.
*
In the caves, Don ran up to Robert. “Bob, it has started — look,” yelled Don, holding his phone up to Robert’s face.
“Right, get geared up. Mutchy, I want you to stay here to protect everyone; sort the men you will need, mate, and get the children into the hideouts.” Mutch nodded. “Right, let’s go, men. Knox, you can travel with me and Don.” They all got their weapons; a collection of machine guns, revolvers, axes, swords, knives and clubs which had all been taken from the Black Death. They then made their way to their jeeps they had taken from Crabbe and his soldiers and set off towards Wollaton.
*
At the church the service had finished. Tuck went to speak to Marion but Prince and Sheriff approached the two of them. “A fine service, Father Tuck,” sneered Prince.
Tuck reluctantly nodded and was biting his lip hard so as not to say anything, but he couldn’t bite that hard. “Tell me, Sir, I am a little confused. You are using us as slaves, if we are lucky, taking every penny you can; that is why most of these just own the dirty, ripped clothes from Primark on their backs.” He indicated to the congregation now leaving his church. “And you are here in God’s house like nothing has happened.”
Tuck smirked at Sheriff, who was furious with Tuck’s outburst. “How dare you, Tuck?”
“That is enough of that, Sheriff. After all, he has his opinion. You have me wrong, Father. I am only trying to build a stronger race and offer protection against outside forces. I want to protect these urchins — I-I mean people.” Tuck scowled at Prince as he watched him turn and pretend to lovingly pat a young girl on her head. Straight after he tried to surreptitiously wipe his hand on his suit.
Tuck looked at Marion and he could tell she was desperate to talk to him, but knew she couldn’t with her uncle there. He tried to force a smile, when Sheriff wasn’t looking, to reassure her.
“So that is why you have blessed this church on this fine morning? To help these fine people? Financially perhaps?” Tuck said with a teasing smile.
Prince, gritting his teeth, forced a smile. “That is correct, Father Tuck.”
Tuck looked at Prince, wondering whether to believe him or not. He was about to reply when Prince’s phone rang, to the annoyance of Tuck. Prince walked towards the church organ to take his call and Tuck pretended to go and sort some hymn books when really he had both ears trained on Prince’s phone conversation.
“Sir, it is Gisbourne; we are engaged in combat with some rebels and Hood and his men have shown up.” Prince pulled his phone from his ear and even from his vantage point Tuck could hear a grenade explosion and piercing screams.
“Right, I want him alive; we are en route,” roared Prince. “Sheriff, Robert Hood and his chavs are on the scene at the battle — let’s go.” Marion gasped and looked at Tuck. Prince turned and knocked the young girl, whose head he had patted earlier, over.
Tuck was furious at Prince showing his true colours in church; he now had his answer to whether to believe him or not. Tuck felt helpless as he heard Sheriff yell, “Take Marion back to the castle; it will be more secure there than at The Park.” Then he, Prince and two soldiers, who were escorting a reluctant Marion, left among the panic and screams.
The young girl’s parents picked her up off the floor while Tuck went to see if she was OK. “Are you all right, Annabelle?”
“Yes, Father.” She smiled.
Tuck waited until Prince, Sheriff and the soldiers had driven away then led her and a handful of others to the secret cave path that led to the underground hideouts. He turned to a young man. “Screech, follow Marion and locate her whereabouts, but be careful.” Screech smiled and left while the others made their way to the hideouts to take shelter from the coming war.
*
The battle was intense; injured and dead rebels and Black Death littered the streets. The noise was deafening with constant gunfire and grenades going off. The once quiet streets were besieged by burning vehicles. This was the sight that met Robert and his men as they pulled up in jeeps and old vans. They engaged in battle with the Black Death, but they were heavily outnumbered.
“Don, let’s get as many of the survivors as we can and get out of here.” Bombs, smoke, gunfire and screams filled the air. A helicopter came overhead and Bill Scarlett jumped up and fired a machine gun, blowing up the ’copter, which came down on a lorry, in turn blowing that up.
After the explosion, Gisbourne and his soldiers, who had taken shelter behind a wall, stood up, but Robert and his men were already gone.
*
As night fell Wollaton Park was full of activity with the bringing in of prisoners caught from the day’s fighting. Soldiers were taking children away from parents by placing them in separate complexes; Prince hoped this would make the parents swear their allegiance to him; plus he could educate the children to join him away from the influence of their parents. Some cowardly adults had already agreed to join Prince’s madness. A few that had opposed had already been shot.
If you joined him then the camp could be like being at Butlins; if you didn’t then the caves that Robert Hood’s homeless were housed in would seem like a five star hotel by comparison. The areas people were kept in were unclean with dirty water and minimal food.
Gisbourne was overseeing these activities. He sniggered to himself as he watched children scream as they were torn from their parents. If it was left to Gisbourne he would torture and kill them all; he was always annoying the soldiers by asking if he could shoot the uncooperative. He was never into politics, but had always worked and couldn’t stand benefit cheats; so, in his eyes, what Prince was doing was right. He loved to shoot things and had always killed defenceless anim
als. Gisbourne pulled a crying girl of about ten from her mum then handed the girl to a soldier, who took her to the children’s complex. At that moment, his phone rang; it was Prince.
*
At the castle Prince had just got off the phone to Gisbourne after expressing his anger at Robert Hood escaping. He was even more displeased because he had to return to London to attend to the matter of a couple of MPs rebelling in his absence and he had wanted the Hood matter to be resolved before he left.
“Right, Sheriff; you and Gisbourne know what is expected. When I get back in a couple of days I want Nottingham in my pocket and Hood captured or killed.”
“Yes, Sir; it will be done.” A soldier walked in to inform Prince that his helicopter had arrived.
Prince shook Sheriff’s hand.
*
As they walked to the helicopter they were unaware of Marion’s activities. There were a few rooms at the top of the castle that were used for sleeping. Marion had been put in one, ‘for her own safety’ her uncle had told her. She realized her uncle had lost the plot and that their relationship would never be the same again. The room was small but clean and comfortable. The door had been locked and soldiers would walk past about every twenty minutes to half an hour.
She had been listening intently at the door until she heard the soldiers walk past before running over to the window and opening it. She puffed out her cheeks as she realized that the drop was too far and the drainpipe was a few metres out of reach. She was holding her head in defeat when she saw a young, ginger lad in the bushes.
Marion jumped back inside and the ginger lad lay low as a patrol passed a few yards from them. Once it was clear that they couldn’t communicate through talking, in case anyone heard them, out of desperation, Marion, who had learned sign language at university, signed ‘who are you?’ with her hands and, to her astonishment, the lad replied.
He told her he learned it as his dad had been deaf. Marion eyes and face lit up when Screech told her Robert was looking for her. Marion then watched him disappear; feeling reassured he was going to tell Robert of her exact whereabouts and the problems they faced in trying to free her.
*
In the hideouts the people with medical knowledge along with others were trying to help the injured, which ranged from minor cuts and bruises, to broken bones, to having arms and legs blown off. Also there had been a lot of innocent people killed that day. Knox looked on, partly horrified and partly glad that Sheriff’s plans were in motion.
Knox was becoming more and more pressed for time to get his plan in motion as they had just been informed that everyone in the caves was to be moved to a new secret camp that Robert and his men had located. For the past month they had been leaving in secret to get it all ready, to Knox’s annoyance he had not been included in these plans. Bill, Adam and some other men were there now, making sure that no soldiers had located it and that it was all ready to start relocating people to.
Father Tuck was currently getting people of all sizes, races and ages organized with Mutch, while some of Robert’s men loaded a lorry with supplies and stuff like food, weapons, blankets, medical supplies and whatever else would be of use.
Knox had volunteered to stay behind with Robert as Robert had wanted to make sure that he would be the last to leave; to ensure that everyone else had left safely. But Knox still had one problem: Don was also staying behind as Robert’s plan once everyone had left was to go with Don and finally get Marion.
One of Robert’s men came in amongst the chaos of people getting their stuff. “Rob, there are a few Black Death patrolling around, but they are round the castle side. Bill has rung me; they are ready, what shall we do?” However, while no one had been looking, Knox had taken a syringe with a knockout drug from amongst the medical supplies in the caves. As people around him gathered up all their earthly possessions Knox sent a text to Sheriff, informing him that he was with Hood at this moment; he knew Sheriff would then be able to locate his whereabouts by tracking his phone.
Knox was with Robert as he gave out instructions. “Okay, Pete, start taking what and who you can and go to Broadmarsh entrance; Bill and Adam will meet you all where we agreed. Take Annabelle and be careful, pal.” Knox watched the affection he had for this young girl as they knuckle rubbed. Knox waved at her as she left and then the operation finally got underway. Knox was deep in thought as he helped people get their stuff; he wondered if Robert suspected him. Would he be able to follow him without him being rumbled? But Knox’s question about him wondering if he was suspected was answered and an opportunity arose as well when Robert said, “You stay with me, Knox, if that’s okay? Help get things sorted here.”
Knox tried not to show his joy too much. “Yeah, course it is, Rob, pal; whatever you want.” The main problem Knox had though was how to get rid of Don. He had thought of capturing them both, but he knew that this would be too much for him. Just then, as if God was on his side, Don said, “Shall I go and help at the other end, Bob? If Knoxy is gonna help ya?”
“Yeah, good idea.”
Knox had his back to them, pretending to pick stuff up, wearing the biggest smile. Knox then went to help Robert get his stuff and followed him into the cave that he slept in. Don had already gone to help with the evacuation. Knox pretended to be busy picking up some of Robert’s clothes and then, while Robert was bent down on his knees, rolling up his sleeping bag, Knox took a deep breath, ran in and jumped on Robert, sticking the needle in his neck.
“Aaah, Knox, what you doing?” They struggled for a few seconds then Robert dropped to the floor.
Knox looked up as he heard an explosion go off at the boarded up Broadmarsh entrance. He heard shouts and screams and gunfire and he could see smoke. He smirked, knowing this was the Black Death and Sheriff responding to his text message.
Knox tied Robert’s hands and put him in a wheelbarrow that had belonged to one of the men in the cave: a builder who had left it behind in his hurry to escape. Knox paused for a few seconds as he looked at Robert, knocked out in this battered old wheelbarrow. Knox felt a trifle guilty and questioned if he was doing the right thing. Robert had shown him nothing but kindness. He couldn’t go back now though, the text had been sent. So, with a deep breath, he pursued his plan to deliver Hood to Sheriff.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder as he thought he heard a scuffling and the sound of someone breathing. He glanced around the cave but it looked clear so he grabbed the wheelbarrow’s handles to push when…
“Aaahh,” Knox yelled as he felt a pain in his leg. He swung round to see the needle stuck in his left calf. “Nooo,” he tried to grab at his attacker, but he couldn’t see anyone. He started to drop slowly to the ground, his body already starting to feel numb. He yelled then fell at the feet of a scared Annabelle. His mind was telling him to do something, but his body was paralysed. Knox, who was in a semi sedated state, realized that Annabelle must have been scared of the explosion and come back to Robert. After all his planning he had been thwarted by a child. Knox watched as she went over and patted Robert, who didn’t respond, she then ran back out of the cave, presumably to get help, it was the last thing he saw as he blacked out.
*
Annabelle had found Tuck, who was helping evacuate the caves. “Quick, Father, Robert has been attacked, I think he is dead. That man called Knox did it,” yelled Annabelle. Tuck felt furious that Knox would do this; after all the help Robert had given him.
Tuck gave her a reassuring hug. “Which way, Annabelle?” Tuck said, he then smiled at the young girl’s bravery as she pointed him in the right direction and off they ran to help Robert.
Tuck bent down and shakily checked Robert’s pulse at his wrist. He felt a twitch beneath his fingers and sighed with relief; Robert was alive. His gaze shifted to Knox on the floor. He looked up at God for forgiveness before giving Knox a swift kick in the head. “Do forgive me, Lord. Come, Annabelle, quick.” Tuck then took the handles of the wheelbarrow with Robert in it and they
headed towards the passageway to his church.
*
A couple of hours had now passed in which hundreds of the people of Nottingham had been captured, a few had escaped and well into a couple of hundred had been killed. Sheriff and some soldiers had been checking the cave system for Robert when they came across a half dazed Knox who was sat up in a chair.
“Well, well, Knox, and where is Hood?” sneered Sheriff as he slowly paced around Knox, who rubbed his head.
“Sorry, Sir, I had him; I drugged him, put him in a barrow to bring him to you when —” Knox bowed his head.
“Do go on, Knox.”
“When someone drugged me.”
Sheriff went up to him so that they were now face to face. “What someone, Knox?”
“Erm…a small girl, Sir.” Knox bowed his head while the Sheriff stood up shaking his. “Sir, I will make up —” Bang. Knox slowly fell back with a smouldering bullet hole between his eyes. Sheriff stood, arm outstretched, with his pistol in hand.
He put it away and turned to a soldier. “If Hood is half dazed like that idiot,” he pointed to the now dead Knox, “then he can’t be far. I want everywhere searching now.” And so the soldiers began their search for Robert.
*
Not far away a dazed Robert had now come to at the church with Tuck and Annabelle explaining to him what had happened. Tuck was giving Robert a drink of water and some paracetamol.
“Thank you, Father. Ouch, my head; what happened exactly?” Robert forced a smile through his banging head as he shook Tuck’s hand.
“Well, it turns out Knox is a traitor; he knocked you out with some sort of drug. My guess is, he was going to take you to Sheriff.” Robert was furious, he wanted to punch something, but his tired body wouldn’t let him. “I can’t believe it. You think you’re helping people.” Robert shook his head and then looked up at Tuck. “Thank you, Father, for saving me.”
Champagne & Lemonade Page 21
