The Fenton Saga: Never Say Goodbye / There Was No Body.

by Colin Griffiths

  And a grin came to William Fenton’s face as he lay there half dozing half awake, pleased with the job he was doing on his grandson, if he kept this up then perhaps he would not have to do anything at all, perhaps Roy Slater will kill them all for him. It was the only head William could get to at the moment, he had the feeling it just might be enough.

  Chapter 48

  They drove on at a steady pace of about 50 miles an hour, the vehicles behind them keeping the same distance away. The opposite carriageway was gridlocked as people rubbernecked the ongoing scene of a single decker bus being followed by a strange convoy of cars. Rumour was that the bus had been hijacked and it was being followed by anti-terrorist forces. The sun was beginning to set and the sky shone with an orange glow before darkness came, no one was really speaking, all with heavy hearts, fear and a determination to get through this night.

  Daniels phone rang he looked at the callers id, it was Gordon Williams, he accepted the call,

  “It’s a go, it’s on in an hour,”

  “Thank you,” said Daniel not really knowing what else to say,

  “See you later.” Said Gordon and the line disconnected.

  He explained to the rest of the passengers what was happening, explaining that if the whole world knew whom they were and what was happening, plus the fact that innocent people were on the bus along with a child, and as he said that he thought of Oliver, it just came into his head, and then his heart was full of dread as a phone rang.

  Wendy answered the phone and sat open mouthed as she listened to her mother telling her what had happened. She killed the call and locked eyes with Daniel and Becky, but Daniel knew, before the call he knew, something inside him had already told him.

  “They got Oliver haven’t they?” By this time everyone had noticed the despair that had come upon the bus. Becky screamed and started fighting for her breath as if she was suffering a seizure. James immediately attended to her and managed to control her breathing,

  “It was Carol who spoke with tears running down her cheeks,

  “Why have the agents took Oliver?” She asked,

  Daniel’s and Madison’s eyes met, blurry and watery but they both knew.

  Daniel went over to Becky who was still sat sobbing uncontrollably, he put his arms around her, squeezed her tight.

  “They haven’t,” said Madison, “its William Fenton who’s took him.”

  The night had just taken on a new perspective. Wendy had explained what her mother had told her, about being locked in the wardrobe and kicking her way out. The Police had been and taken statements She told them that her mother said he was with a man in his thirties and a young girl, she sobbed as she told them and Katy put her arm around her shoulder, trying to offer some comfort,

  “It’s my husband.” Said Lia,

  “Whadya mean?” Asked Jezz, anger showing in his eyes.

  Lia started crying now and Connor seeing his mother cry, he started crying too, until Sandy Pott’s stood up and screamed,

  “Pull yourselves together for fuck sake, there will be time for this later.” And everyone did try to control their emotions, but really they were hoping Sandy was right and that there would be time later.

  “Explain what you mean,” said Carol, directed at Lia who was sat cuddling two year old Connor, who by now had stopped crying as soon as his mother did.

  “He’s been acting strange, said he was drawn to Ashbourne, said we had to go to the memorial, that’s the last I’ve seen of him.”

  Madison went over to where she sat,

  “May I?” She asked as she went to take Oliver from her, Lia nodded, he was heavy for a two year old thought Madison as she held him in her arms, his face level with hers,

  “you’re a cute kid aren’t you?” asked Madison, Connor smiled his eyes never left Madison’s nor her his, and as she looked into his eyes and then beyond them, and that ability all the Fenton’s seem to have, the ability of just knowing. She knew this child was a Fenton, and that told her his father was to, and a thought come into her head that chilled her a bit, He may have Oliver, but does he know we got his son.

  She handed Connor back to Lia, squeezing her hand as she did so, and that small sign of affection put hope back in Lia’s heart. Madison sat behind Jezz and Tracy, leaned over and whispered,

  “Whatever we do don’t let them two out of your sight!”

  She sat in the seat in front of Daniel, she leaned over.

  Becky’s head was buried deep in Daniels chest as he stroked her head,

  “He’s a Fenton.” She said. And Daniel thought of only one person, Oliver.

  The bus driven by Morgan pulled up to the first gate, he wasn’t expecting any trouble at this gate, it was usually manned by young privates from the regular army. Morgan had no doubts that he could “persuade” them to let them pass, he pulled up slowly to the gate, everyone except Becky stood at the front of the bus. The men in black in their vehicles were not far behind, the winding lane keeping them out of view. Morgan could see the sun setting, falling behind the trees, Morgan saw the barrier was raised which was highly unusual. He pulled up short of the Barrier and got out of the bus, glancing behind him, making sure the agents were not to close, but he didn’t think they would be, they wanted them in the compound.

  Daniel and Jezz followed him out, they looked around everything appeared quiet, those on the bus watched in anticipation. Wendy, Carol and Madison’s heart was racing, were they really less than half a mile away from Todd, Wendy shivered with the thought, not from fright, from apprehension. Carol stood full of anguish, full of hope. Madison well she was just determined to see this through, to prove those wrong who doubted her, Katy swallowed one of her “happy pills” dry, she was hoping it would work. James looked distant wanting someone to repair his broken heart, but he guessed it never would be repaired. He didn’t care if he died tonight, as long as everyone got what they wanted, if he smelt one more death he thought it would kill him. Unless of course it was his own.

  As they got closer to the sentry box by the barrier, the three men noticed the uniforms strewn on the ground. Jezz went and checked them over, informing his colleagues that there was no blood on them. They had no time for this. Morgan checked inside the sentry box, there was no signs of any struggle, he picked up some sandwiches wrapped in Clingfilm and a bottle of Fanta for Connor. Daniel walked around and Morgan was just about to call him back until he heard him shouting. Morgan and Jezz followed his call. All three of them could now see the two privates bound and gagged to a tree. The looks on their faces was of relief as Morgan unbound them, they briefly told them what happened about two men and a girl sneaking up on them, they missed out the fact that at the time they were having sex with Saskia, though the security tape might find that out later. It was obvious to the three of them who it was. Daniel knew Oliver was close, he could smell hi. As they walked back towards the bus, Morgan told the two soldiers to go, not to take the road but walk through the woods at the side, and not to approach the convoy behind them. The soldiers sped off, they wouldn’t speak to anyone, they would make sure they were not seen, as soon as they got their uniform on they ran away from the compound. They just wanted to go home. It was then Morgan noticed hidden behind the tress just into the woods was the car that William Fenton drove, they checked it over, there was nothing of significance in the vehicle. They got back on the bus, everyone sat back down, Morgan moved the bus forward, they were close, so very close.

  William and Roy could hear the bus heading towards the compound, they were on the edge of the woods where the land inclined. Their viewpoint was a good one of the inside of the compound, but the entrance gate was out of sight. William wished he had removed the bodies, but he couldn’t get everything right. He sent Roy off to get provisions from the Village that lay the other side of the woods about two miles away, he knew it wouldn’t take Roy long, he was a fit man, ‘ask them what a 3 month old baby eats and drinks’ he had told Roy, but Roy knew what to get, he di
d have a 2 year old child of his own, and maybe he thought that if he did lose Connor, he could keep this one, he was a cute kid. William sat against a tree, the woods were getting dark now, he needed to rest, he could feel a headache coming on.

  The eight Vehicles pulled up to the first Barrier, all 32 of the men in black got out, they needed to stretch their legs, they wanted to wait until the witches on that bus were in the compound, in the underground facility, and besides there was reinforcement agents on the way, along with the Army, The choppers hovered above, they hoped they were armed.

  At the BBC studios the live interview had been cancelled, it was to be pre-recorded, vetted, sent to all platforms and released for the six o clock news the next day. Gordon had argued vigorously to have it live but he was over ruled, the filming began just as the bus pulled outside the perimeter of the compound.

  As they pulled up the sight before him wasn’t what Morgan had expected. He knew the station was manned and that he would have to do some persuading to be let in, he had hoped somehow Todd had overcome them and he could just drive in. What he wasn’t expecting was to see the two sentry agent’s dead, one on the ground that had fallen from his position, the other leaning over the side of the sentry station, twenty foot in the air. Whilst that didn’t over surprise him, the body of a young girl slumped against the fence certainly surprised him. To the passengers on the bus, this was a scene they were not expecting, they could all see the young girl, they could clearly see the wound in her head and the pool of blood that had poured out. Becky thought of Oliver and a fear rose through her body that she would never see her son again. They all got out of the bus amid the protests of Morgan and Daniel to stay on the bus. Carol went over to the young girl, she took her cardigan off and placed it over her head, it looked poignant as everyone watched. Morgan could see the face of the agent who lay on the floor the other side of the fence, he recognised him, he presumed he would know the other guy as well. They were all just stood, looking at the dead agents, looking at the cliff face in the distance behind the fencing, all wondering where the actual facility was. It just looked like a large prison yard, fenced in with a cliff as a back drop. Morgan and Daniel was trying to work out how to get in, the gate controls were in the sentry box, but the way it was designed and the barbed wire would make it impossible to get in. Morgan decided he would try to ram the gates with the bus, and he told everyone to stand to the side, as he got on the bus. He was getting ready to reverse so he could have a run at it when the gate opened, ‘back on the bus’ he told them, everyone did and they drove slowly in, as they cleared the gates, they closed behind them, Morgan pulled the bus up, he didn’t like this.

  *

  With Dylan tied up, Cathy, Todd and Simon ate their lunch, there were plenty of provisions in the facility. Whilst Simon and Cathy ate with gusto, Todd pushed his pie and mash around the plate, they were in the room that housed the CCTV, but this could be assessed from any room other than the wards. They had bigger screens in this room with one screen per camera, so everything was on view all of the time. They were beginning to wonder if anyone was going to come, and it would soon be a change of shift and that would mean a hell of a lot of explaining to do to the oncoming agents and nurses. It was Todd who noticed it, he had been staring incessantly at the screen, he noticed the bus pull up and then people get out,

  “Can we zoom in on this?” He screamed, pointing to the screen, Simon got up fiddled with the knobs and zoomed in. The CCTV was top class spec with perfect night vision, the pictures were crystal clear, an overwhelming feeling of emotion overcame Todd as he saw his brother Daniel first, pacing the perimeter of the fence, then a tear came to his eyes when he saw his mother lay something over the body of the girl who had been shot. Then he saw Madison, even on CCTV she looked beautiful, then he screamed and burst into tears when he saw Wendy,

  “Open the gate,” he demanded, “open it now!” he screamed, Simon opened the gate and Todd rushed out of the room, into the lift and opened the cliff face door. His heart was pounding, his legs felt weak, his whole body quivered with anticipation as he stood outside with Cathy and Simon as the bus inched slowly towards them.

  The passengers along with Morgan had seen the cliff face open and 3 people step out, they couldn’t make out who it was at first, he slowed the bus right down, inching towards them. The bus doors were open and it was dark, the bus lights were shining full beam onto the three that stood there, they could see them shielding their eyes from the glare. Whether it was mother instinct or just luck Carol screamed,

  “It’s Todd,” and jumped off the moving bus. Morgan stopped the bus and Daniel, Madison and Wendy followed very quickly, the rest of the passengers leaving them have their moment followed behind, James was last up he didn’t want his pain to spoil their happiness.

  Morgan watched the reunion with a tear in his eye. Firstly Carol hugging her son along with Madison and Daniel but the most moving bit was when they stood aside and Todd saw the tear stained face of the girl he loved most in the world. The girl that he wanted to save a year ago, the girl that he was prepared to give his life up for, and when Wendy seen Todd all the good things seemed to come back, all her anxiety seemed to be lifted. She couldn’t stop crying as they hugged each other, it felt as if they did let go then the world would somehow end. But these weren’t tears of sadness, they were tears of joy, and the tears that the others shed were also tears of Joy and when they did finally part, everyone wanting a piece of Todd. He walked to the young girl who was stood to the side, just looking on, not getting involved in the reunion, she knew this was really all her fault and she had no idea how the man she had never met would re-act. Todd grabbed Katy and hugged her, she seemed surprised and nervous at the same time, she didn’t return the hug, and as their eyes met he told her,

  “I’m so glad you made it and thank you for looking after Wendy.”

  “Come on,” Simon said, “we have to get back inside.” and Morgan wondered how long Simon had been made a Fenton Friend. They all rushed inside into the basement, 5 minutes later a total of 15 black vehicles pulled up outside the compound.

  It was an hour before things calmed down, kissing, hugging, explaining, everyone talking at once, everyone wanting a piece of Todd, Todd wanting a piece of everyone, there were tears and laughter, sadness and joy, but the atmosphere was tense, you could smell it. The basement was full of it, Todd and Wendy never more than an inch from each other, he wasn’t going to let her go again.

  Morgan stood talking to Simon, trying to explain how he got caught up in this, Simon understood, since he had met and become involved with Todd, he didn’t understand the reasons they had neutralised him, ‘okay he got powers’ he had told Morgan ‘but he’s never going to use them against anybody.

  Dylan was different, he was a soldier, an agent, a warrior, he had a duty to his country, he would fight to the death. He remained tied up, though by now he had something to eat and drink, as did the rest of them. They were devouring on the food that they had been given by Cathy, who was overwhelmed to see the nice young lad with the girl he loved, she put down her own feelings as infatuation, even though she thought to herself, he reeled me in. They had been in the compound for 90 minutes now, they knew the agents were outside, they had done nothing up to now, either sat in their vehicles or wandering around the site. It was Morgan who stood up and addressed the group, as they huddled up on the one sofa and dining chairs that were in the rest room, momentarily lost in the euphoria of it all.

  “I have something to say,” he simply said as he stood, he looked like a man who had something on his mind as his and Madison’s eyes locked, she smiled at him and that made him feel a bit better. He cleared his throat, gulped and licked his lips, he hoped they would understand.

  “13 years ago I was given a task by the agency,” he paused, he met Madison’s eyes again, “that task was to oversee the upbringing of Madison,” all eyes went to Madison. Madison kept her eyes on her father, “as a three year old chi
ld she had shown remarkable powers, my job was to neutralise her,” Morgan continued, Madison’s heart jumped into her mouth, here was her father telling her, the reason he was there was to neutralise her.

  “I was ordered to meet her mother, get involved in their lives,” no one spoke, they were all looking at Madison whilst listening to this revelation. Daniel’s first instincts was to punch Morgan, but this wasn’t the time or the place he would wait until a more appropriate time. Morgan continued, he looked vulnerable,

  “I failed in that task,” Morgan and Madison’s eyes were locked as if there was nobody else in the room,

  “I fell madly in love with her mother, and I fell in love with her beautiful daughter, my daughter,” Morgan was pleased to see a smile on her face,

  “I will give my life for her if I have to, and as I stand here now, although I am one of those agents that stand on the outside, wanting somehow to get at us,” everyone picked up on the “us”, “my total loyalty is to my daughter and everyone else in this room, the agency was wrong, I was wrong.” He flung his hands as if to apologise.

  ‘”Were wrong,” said Simon, “I pledge my loyalty to.”

  “Me to,” said Cathy Brown, “though I’m not sure what it is I can do.”

  “You freed me,” said Todd, “I ask no more of you.”

  Madison got up off her chair, walked towards her father, put her hands around him and buried her head in his chest. He hugged her tightly, her voice was muffled as she spoke,

  “The reason doesn’t matter, so long as you’re with me now,”

  “Always,” said Morgan,

  “I love you dad.”

  That’s all he wanted to hear.