‘You know what’s so unfair,’ Jasper said one day. ‘Damian’s got the best shift. He works all day and sleeps all night. If I had that shift, you could bring me back here at ten o’clock and we could spend all night together.’
‘No way,’ she said.
‘Why not? No one’s about at night, there’d be no risk. You could spend the night with me and be back in your own bed each morning before anyone wakes up.’
‘I wouldn’t get any sleep.’
‘Of course you would. We’d make love and then fall asleep in each other’s arms. In fact,’ he continued, ‘you wouldn’t even need to go back to your cell. You could escort me here at ten o’clock, stay with me all night, then escort me straight back to the treadmill at six in the morning.’
She shook her head.
‘At least give it some thought.’
‘You think you’ve got everything worked out, don’t you?’
He smiled, but she did not return it.
‘Just forget it. It’s not going to happen.’
‘Damian’s ill,’ Susan announced one night when the community was seated at the refectory table eating their evening meal.
‘Are you sure he’s not just malingering?’ Diana demanded.
‘No, he’s been crapping and vomiting for the last day and a half.’
‘Do you mind? I’m trying to enjoy my dinner,’ Duncan complained.
‘We need to keep the battery levels up,’ Diana said firmly. ‘I don’t want to risk the freezers going down.’
‘Why don’t we swap Jasper onto the six am to ten pm shift?’ Jennifer suggested. ‘He works harder than Damian, and we would have him on the treadmill during the most important shift — when the power requirements are at their greatest.’
‘Makes sense,’ Paul agreed.
‘I don’t care how ill he is, I don’t want Damian off the treadmill for any length of time,’ Diana insisted.
‘Why not put him on the ten pm till two pm shift, for say a third of the time tonight, then build him up to a full shift over the next two days?’ Jennifer said. ‘If we make Jasper and Greg to do an extra four hours between them we won’t lose any capacity, and at the end of the exercise we’ll end up with our strongest worker on the crucial day shift.’
‘Jennifer’s right,’ Paul said. ‘They’re struggling to maintain the amps we need during the day.’
‘Very well,’ said Diana. Then she turned to Cheryl. ‘I want you to press ahead with plans for another windmill. We need additional power-generation capacity, just in case one of our prisoners is inconsiderate enough to die on us.’
‘Or become permanently incapacitated,’ Susan said.
‘Then at least you wouldn’t have to cook for them.’
Susan looked at her sister.
‘If they become permanently incapacitated, there’s no point in keeping them alive,’ Diana said. There was a chill in her voice.
‘Don’t forget their sperm,’ Duncan said sarcastically.
Diana turned to Theresa. She seemed to take Duncan’s comment seriously. ‘Find out the requirements for the long-term storage of sperm.’
‘Do you want the good news or the bad news?’ Jennifer asked Jasper when she collected him at ten o’clock that evening.
‘Give me the bad news.’
‘You’ve got a twenty-hour shift ahead of you. You’re on until six pm tomorrow.’
‘What! Why?’
‘Because Damian’s sick.’
‘So what’s the good news?’
‘I’ve arranged for you to be moved to the six am to ten pm shift.’
‘Come here,’ he said. Without thinking, she walked across to him. He took her in his arms and kissed her. ‘Thanks.’
She suddenly realised that not only was she breaking the rules by being the only escort, but by allowing him to cuddle her she had also put herself at risk. She broke free and backed away. He looked at her, seemingly hurt. Torn between desire and duty, she walked back to him and kissed him again.
‘Come on, slave,’ she laughed. ‘Pick up your ball and chain.’
‘You could at least carry the ball for me. Or better still take it off.’
‘Fat chance,’ she retorted.
Jasper, following her out of the cell, smiled.
30
It was a week before Damian recovered sufficiently to work a full shift. He complained bitterly about being transferred to the ten pm to two pm shift, which he considered the worst stint, but as the most hated of the three brothers he received no sympathy.
Rather than improving her lot, Jennifer found her lovemaking with Jasper curtailed. Duncan, always unsettled by change, began to insist that two people escort Jasper to his cell every time, particularly when he was returned there at night. He set up a schedule whereby either Kimberley and Rebecca or Jennifer and Virginia were on escort duty.
‘I don’t mind locking him up tonight,’ Jennifer said to Virginia one evening. She had made the offer several times before. It was a month since she’d been alone with Jasper and she was desperate.
Virginia looked at her quizzically. ‘You don’t fancy him, do you?’ The question filled Jennifer with alarm. She knew that if Virginia repeated her suspicions to Duncan or, worse still, Diana, she would be taken off escort duties altogether.
‘Of course not! It’s just that I can’t see the point in both of us having to hang around until ten o’clock to lock him up. If we took it in turns, at least one of us would get an early night.’
‘I know you’ve escorted him by yourself before, but I don’t fancy handling him alone myself. I don’t trust the Chatfield brothers.’
‘If it was Damian or Greg I’d agree with you, but Jasper’s harmless. Have you ever had any trouble with him?’
‘No, but…’
‘His spirit’s been broken.’
‘Well … I must admit he does appear to be very subservient.’
‘He is. You just need to be careful and take sensible precautions.’
‘Such as?’
‘Don’t get familiar with him. Always keep a safe distance between him and yourself, make him stand along the corridor when you unlock the door, make him sit on the bed while you serve his food. That sort of thing.’
‘You sure that’s enough to be safe?’
‘Well, he can’t move very fast with a ball and chain, can he?’
‘I’m not sure…’
Jennifer decided not to push the matter. ‘Forget it, it was just an idea. Let’s just carry on as we are. But if you ever want a night off, let me know.’
It was Virginia who broached the subject again a few days later. ‘Perhaps you’re right,’ she said to Jennifer as they returned to their quarters after escorting Jasper back to his cell. ‘It does seem a bit over the top to have both of us escorting him. I’ve been watching you handle him. You’re right — he’s like a robot. We don’t even have to tell him what to do. He just follows the same old routine every night. Starting tomorrow, let’s take it in turns.’
‘Well … only if you’re sure,’ Jennifer said, trying her best to sound blasé although her heart was racing. ‘Do you want to do the first escort, or shall I?’
‘I’d prefer it if you escorted him tomorrow night, if you don’t mind. It’s the twins’ birthday the day after tomorrow. I want to make them new dresses after they’ve gone to bed. If you can escort Jasper, it’ll be a big help.’
‘I’ll be pleased to help you out. Just one thing though — you know what a stickler your dad is for obeying Diana’s rules. If we’re going to take it turn about, let’s just keep it to ourselves.’
Virginia nodded. ‘Fair enough.’
‘In fact, why don’t we suggest to Kimberley and Rebecca that they do turn about with us? We’ll escort him one day, they can escort him the next — each party to lock him up at ten at night and collect him at six the following morning.’
‘Good idea,’ agreed Virginia enthusiastically. ‘It’ll get us into a routine. On
our nights off duty we can go to bed early and get up late.’
‘Which means, if you and I do turn about, we can enjoy a full night’s sleep three nights out of four,’ Jennifer said quickly.
The following evening, just before ten o’clock, Jennifer walked into the Punishment Room. ‘Time to go, Jasper,’ she said sharply. The harsh tone of her voice was purely for Greg’s benefit.
Jasper stepped off the treadmill, picked up his iron ball and began to shuffle away. ‘Will you be in tomorrow?’ he asked Greg as he moved towards the door.
‘Probably,’ Greg replied. It was the same sick joke they shared every night. The brothers faced sixteen hours of drudgery, seven days a week, for the rest of their lives.
‘I’ve missed you,’ Jasper whispered to Jennifer as they walked across the archway beneath Cromwell’s Tower.
‘I’ve missed you too.’
She unlocked the door on the other side of the archway and stood aside to let him enter ahead of her. In the moonlight she saw Cheryl and Bridget walking behind Damian, who was staggering under the weight of his iron ball, towards the Punishment Room. As usual they were prodding him with sticks. Jennifer knew that, like her, the sisters were breaking the rules. They were five minutes early: Jasper was not yet safely locked in his cell, as was required by Diana’s edict. But, like Jennifer, they also knew Diana was tucked up in bed. They were keen to get to bed themselves.
Jennifer locked the door of the tower behind her and put down the meal she was carrying before hurrying up the spiral staircase. Jasper had only managed half a dozen steps when he felt her hand creep up the leg of his trousers. He placed the iron ball on the steps and turned to face her. She was on him like a wild animal, ripping off his trousers and pulling down her knickers. The cold stone steps pressed into his back but he was as impervious to the pain as she was to the rough stone of the steps on her knees. As she felt his body go rigid with ecstasy, the iron ball toppled off the step and clattered down the steps, dragging the chain after it. The fright it gave her only increased the intensity of her climax.
They lay on the steps, stifling their laughter and caressing each other’s bodies. Then they made love again before making their way up the stairs.
‘How did you manage it?’ Jasper asked. It was nearly midnight. She’d joined him in the shower and they’d lathered one another. They’d shared his meal, made love yet again and were now lying together in bed.
He listened as she explained the rota system that had been devised.
‘So you’re taking me back for the start of my shift in the morning too?’
‘I am.’
‘So we’ve got the rest of the night together?’
‘We have.’
‘And we get to spend every fourth night together?’
‘With any luck.’
‘You are a clever girl,’ he said, nibbling her earlobe.
‘Well, don’t go and stuff it up,’ she warned. ‘Do as Virginia tells you. If you spook her, she’ll insist on a double escort, and that’ll be it.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Jasper said softly, as he walked his fingers down her stomach. ‘I’m not going to do anything that puts the time we have together in jeopardy.’ He moved to lean over her but the chain on his ankle jangled and snagged on the metal frame of the bed. ‘This damned ball and chain,’ he snapped, before adding more softly, ‘Just imagine the positions I could get into if I didn’t have this thing on me. You should bring the key one night.’
‘Fat chance,’ Jennifer said, moving to straddle him. ‘I’ve got you exactly where I want you.’
Life fell into an enjoyable routine for Jennifer. She would have preferred to have had more time with her lover, but in reality every fourth night was a good compromise. She was always desperate to be with him and hungry for his lovemaking. She was always disappointed when he fell asleep, exhausted by his sixteen-hour stint on the treadmill.
Being with Jasper was the one good thing in her life. She resented the fact she hadn’t been made manager of the farm and gardens. While she agreed with Diana that Duncan was too disorganised to do the job properly, she felt she could have done the job at least as well as Virginia.
Instead of enjoying responsibility, she felt as if she was treated as a mere ‘resource’, a person to be allocated to whatever task the Leader thought was most appropriate. And often the task allocated was a menial, soul-destroying chore such as folding laundry, washing dishes, peeling potatoes or cleaning the kitchens and toilets. She particularly resented being told to clean Diana’s quarters. Not only did it remind her how humble her own dwelling and status were, but also how grandly Diana lived.
As she toiled away she consoled herself with the fact that at least she had a lover, which was more than that dried-up old prune Diana. In fact, she felt like the luckiest woman in the community. She was the only one who was actually having sex. Susan, Diana, Paul and Duncan all appeared to be past it, and the younger women were being artificially inseminated.
She felt as if Jasper loved her, he understood her and he cared about her. He would always ask how she was being treated by the Leader and would console her and commiserate with her. He often said things like ‘She doesn’t appreciate you’, ‘you owe her nothing’ and ‘at least we’ve got each other’.
Most of the nights they spent together, Jasper would mention the ball and chain. ‘If only I didn’t have this damn thing holding me back,’ he would complain.
‘Just as well you are held back,’ she would joke.
But gradually the joke wore thin, and she too began to wish he had more freedom.
‘I couldn’t take it off you even if I wanted to,’ she said one night. ‘There’s only one set of keys, and Diana keeps them in her desk.’.
‘Couldn’t you just “borrow” them for the night and put them back in the morning?’
‘No way. I never know from one day to the next what task I’ll be allocated. I couldn’t be sure I could get them back the next day, and Diana would definitely miss them. She’s got all the important keys neatly arranged in divisions in her desk — she’d see the gap. Anyway, why am I even telling you all this? It’s not going to happen.’
‘If you did get hold of the keys, I could give you the time of your life.’
‘You already give me the time of my life. Anyway, I’ve told you — there’s no way I can get the keys without Diana noticing.’
Jasper was thoughtful. ‘You could take an impression of the keys in a bar of soap, and get me a file and a couple of pieces of metal. They you could have everything you ever dreamed of.’
‘Fat chance. Anyway, I already have everything I want,’ she said, then ran her tongue down his stomach towards his groin. ‘I’ve got you all to myself.’
Despite a dry summer, the harvest had been good and ample food had been stored to see the community through the winter. The herd of deer that roamed the park had flourished, as had the cattle the family tended.
The electric truck had proved a great boon. With its range of two hundred miles, the community’s foraging territory was considerable. Gradually a way was cleared through the barricades erected during the pandemic along all the main routes out of Sevenoaks, although fallen trees and branches meant it was a continual battle to keep the roads open. A trailer was fitted to the truck, and although the weight decreased its range, it increased the array of items that could be brought back to Haver. Occasionally they would find a surviving chicken or other farm animal during foraging expeditions. With breeding successes in Haver’s own herd and the occasional addition from outside, the farm was fully stocked.
As spring approached, all the younger women except Virginia had fallen pregnant, thanks to Theresa’s artificial insemination scheme. Diana decided that none of the women would be told who had fathered their baby — fathers were irrelevant. Men were, after all, merely suppliers of sperm as far as she was concerned. Theresa, realising the implications of inbreeding, kept her own records.
Diana exercised
her control over the community in more subtle ways than Nigel had. Immediately following the overthrow of Nigel and his sons, she had collected all their weapons. She now kept them locked in the room that had previously been the king’s closet. The keys to the armoury, together with those for the prisoners’ balls and chains were kept in her desk.
She had no need of weapons. Thanks to the success of the power plant she was able to gradually reduce the working week to fifty hours. The reductions were small, but the plaudits showered on Diana were many. Major religious holidays were observed, as were two new planned holidays, ‘Freedom Day’ — the day that Nigel and his family had been overthrown — and Diana’s birthday, to be known as ‘Leader’s Day’.
Despite the occasional grumble, usually from Jennifer, most of the community were happy with their lot. Diana was looking after them. The children were being educated, films were shown twice a week and they had access to a well-stocked library. As well as her medical skills, Theresa was becoming a proficient dentist and was gradually rectifying the tooth decay that had occurred during the bleak days of Nigel’s reign. The greatest fear in the community was illness. Most prescription medicines had been used up in the weeks following the outbreak of the pandemic, so Theresa was forced to rely on herbal remedies.
Work days — Monday to Friday — were still ten hours long and the work often physically demanding, but they had plenty to eat, a roof over their heads and they were beginning to enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life.
Saturday was sports day, when they would play cricket, rounders, croquet and bowls. If it rained they would retire to the Great Hall to play table tennis, darts, badminton, carpet bowls and board games. There was a church service every Sunday. They thanked God for their deliverance, and for the wisdom he had imparted to their Leader.
They were no longer threatened by the Chatfields. Life was as perfect as it could be, given their circumstances.
Blood Bond Page 22