by Dean Jones
“Go outside Billy and make sure I am not disturbed!”
Billy was horrified as he watched his partner pull at the little girl's clothes and he knew exactly what was going to happen to her.
“Dave, don’t do this mate, let’s just get them back to the boss eh?” Dave looked up from what he was doing, and Billy could see the animal desire in his eyes.
“Listen, you little fucker, you’ve stopped me once this week now don’t make me have to ask again!” Bill knew what Dave could do to him and he was just as scared as the girl was. Slowly, he turned and opened the door knowing as soon as he left the little girl and her mother would be raped until Dave was satisfied.
He closed the door to the muffled screams and quickly began dialling on his mobile. The call was answered.
“Hello, who is this?” Sarah asked.
“Sarah, its Billy, Billy Smith,” he began hurriedly. “We met yesterday in Corey’s office?” Please remember me he thought.
“Ah yes, Agent Smith, how goes the hunt?” She replied.
“That’s why I’m calling, we have found them, but Dave is…well there’s no easy way to put this, he is raping the little girl!”
“What the fuck? Wait a second,” he could hear the sound of her shoe heels hitting the ground as she ran then the click of a door as it opened.
“Corey!” she gasped as she caught her breath, “they have found them, but Agent Bradly is currently in the process of raping the child!” Billy heard a muffled response. “It’s Agent Smith on the phone” another muffled response followed by more footsteps.
“Agent Smith, if you would be so kind as to pass your phone to Agent Bradly?” Corey asked.
Billy opened the door to see Bradley with his pants around his ankles and hand placed over the girl's mouth while the mother wrestled with the handcuffs trying to free herself.
The girls top was ripped, and her bra exposed, and Billy instantly felt an urge to hammer his foot into his partners head but knew it would be futile.
“Dave!” he shouted. “It’s Corey, he wants to speak to you,” Dave lifted his head from what he was doing.
“Tell the prick to fuck off, I’m busy,” and he returned to trying to manoeuvre his penis, so he could penetrate the girl. Billy froze for a second and thoughts of his kid sister flooded his mind and he felt the anguish she would if it was her on that bed.
In a heartbeat, he crossed the room and place a kick into Dave testicles. The shot forced him to let go of the girl and drop to the ground clutching his precious sacks.
“Corey doesn’t want to wait,” Billy said forcefully, and he thrust the phone towards his colleague.
Dave took the phone with venom in his eyes and Billy knew a reckoning was due and he would likely come out of it in a bad way.
“Agent Bradley?” Corey asked over the phone.
“Yes sir” he answered still holding his balls.
“Excellent, well it seems you have taken your duty a little too far and are currently trying to rape the child…is this correct?” Dave’s eyes widened, and he shot Billy another look to let him know that when this call was finished he would be smashing the weasels face in.
“It’s just a bit of fun, boss, no harm done” he replied eventually.
“Of course, it is, well let me tell you something which may be of interest. I currently have the power to end the lives of millions of people whenever I want and though the virtue of a girl and her mother are not generally issues I concern myself with, I did tell you I wanted them to be brought to me…unharmed!”
Dave nodded along
“And as such if either were to arrive at my offices unhappy and spoiled I will be forced to take out my displeasure on the person who made it happen…do you understand Dave?” Dave felt sick but nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, well let me ask you this, are the girl and her mother wholly happy now?”
Dave looked to the girl who was now wrapped in the blankets, to cover herself, and was sobbing into her mother’s shoulder. His eyes widened in horror.
“Now wait a second, I wasn’t to know…you didn’t say...” he spluttered.
“I take it from your response my guests are not content…that’s a shame, you were quite useful…ah well…” Dave began to panic as thoughts filled his head of torturous deaths which might be in his near future, then he saw his children all hanging from branches outside his house in Surrey and despair filled his being… he knew there was only one way out.
“Pass the phone to agent Smith, there’s a good man.” Dave passed the phone back to Billy before throwing himself out of the window.
Horrified Billy lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello, sir?”
“I assume the situation is now resolved, please return to the office with our guests.” The line went dead, and Billy looked at the two women and shrugged before removing the cuffs and letting the girl re-dress as best she could with her torn clothing.
Once they were ready Billy pointed to the door with his gun and they all left and headed back to Corey’s offices.
A Purpose
Seth woke and looked around the camp to see William busily cooking up breakfast.
Seth smiled to himself, it had been ten years since that night where they had met, and he had proven to be an excellent helper, at first, and now a close friend. Over the years Seth had found a new focus which had allowed him to heal. He now woke looking forward to the day ahead.
William had been a sponge from the first lesson, Seth had given him a sword he’d purchased from a blacksmith in Oxford and he had taken to the basics quickly and naturally. Since then he had mastered the sword and spear and was a match for Seth himself though his size and strength were the difference between the two of them. They had moved on to guns, which was Williams preferred weapon, but Seth couldn't take to the things and refused to carry one.
William, now twenty-five, was a fine man who gave Seth a sense of fatherly pride to watch develop.
“Ahh, you have finally decided to join the day,” William said as Seth hauled himself to his feet, grabbed the water skin and took a long drink before tipping some into his hands to wash his face.
They had set up camp in this forest, ten miles from Chester, the previous evening as they had walked all day and felt it was as good a place as any to spend the night.
William had been up early as usual and had shot a brace of rabbits and a pigeon, which he was now cooking up in an earthy stew.
“Are we heading into Chester this morning Seth?” Will asked as he tipped some of the stew into a bowl and passed it to his companion.
Seth took the bowl gratefully with a nod and settled down with his back to a tree gently blowing on the liquid to cool it down. “Plans haven’t changed Will, there’s some business we need to attend to and they are in Chester, as you well know.” He pulled a chunk of rabbit from the bowl and placed it into his mouth and began to chew.
“Mmm…this is great Will, you are wasted with the rifle, it’s the kitchen you should be in.” He said mockingly, “you’ll make a wonderful wife one day.”
Seth ducked to the side, as an unused potato bounced off the tree where his head was.
“You cock!” Will said laughing.
They had been tracking a group of men, who they had been paid, by a minor lord in Bath, to find and return for punishment. They had been told the health of the group was not of any importance so long as they were alive and could face trial.
William had tried to discover what they had done but could only get vague snippets of information from the lord about honour and family pride.
It wasn’t until they were heading for their horses they discovered exactly what the band were wanted for.
The stable hand had been keen to spill the beans as they mounted up and were readying to set off.
***
“You gonna get those bastards who knocked up lady Elizabeth gents?” He had asked and William, ever the gossip, was eager to learn more.
The boy shied away and was clearly worried he had spoken out of turn. The boy was around sixteen years old and small with greasy blonde hair and broad face. He stared at his feet fearful of risking eye contact with Will.
“Don’t panic lad, I’m not here to judge you we just want to make sure we have all the facts. It will help us find these men and bring them back for what they have done,” he tossed a coin at the boy’s feet and it was quickly collected. The boy looked around him to ensure they were not being overheard.
“Well, it was like this…the leader of the band, Tomas I think his name was, got interested in Lady Elizabeth and he planned with his friends to allow him to be alone with her,” the boy winked at Will in a you-know-what-I-mean way, “truth is the little lady was just as interested in Tomas as he was in her, so they didn’t have to try really hard to get her alone. She, according to old Fred the farrier, ditched her guard when they were hunting so she could meet the man in the fields behind the manor house.” Will cocked his head sideways at Seth with a mock surprise look which made Seth shake his head.
“So, they were, how shall we say it, sweethearts?” Will asked.
The boy laughed and slapped his thigh, “sweethearts? I dunno about that but they were lovers that’s for sure!” He continued his giggles until Will coughed to bring his attention back to him.
“Yeah well, you know how these things go, before long the Lord found out and sent some of his guards round to sort Tomas and his band out, well it didn’t go to plan and it was our lads who took the beating…we weren’t happy about it,” he said scowling, all the laughter had left his face. “Then it turns out the little lady is with child and Lord Foston was livid as he had hoped to marry Elizabeth off into a noble family, but this put him in a right pickle and to be fair it’s not good for the house as we are now the fools in the area!” he spat and this conveyed the distaste he had for his household being the butt of jokes and gossip in the area.
“I see you know a fair bit young lad, I suggest this is best kept under your shirt, no sense spreading any more rumours. You know gossip can spread like fire?” He gave the boy another smile before straightening up in his saddle. The stable boy nodded vigorously and passed the reigns of the horse to Will before touching the side of his nose with his grubby index finger.
Will nodded and kicked his horse to walk on, closely followed by Seth who just glared at the boy as he passed by.
As they left the stables and were trotting down the path towards the gatehouse Seth pulled alongside Will. “You satisfied now you have the full story?”
Will smiled and looked at Seth conspiratorially, “I am, Seth, yes. As now I know the full of it I can negotiate a better price when we return the randy bugger back here for his whipping…or marriage…whichever the good lord decides is most fitting.” He laughed to himself.
Seth sighed and continued through the gates and turned north towards Shrewsbury, where it was thought the band had headed.
***
Seth finished his breakfast and settled down to centre himself and enter his morning meditations.
William busied himself clearing up the camp and packing the bags ready for loading onto their horses. He paused for a second and watched his friend, as he had many mornings, seemingly disappear from where he sat as his breathing slowed and his face relaxed and became hollow as if his very soul had left his body and was wandering around him as he watched. A shudder passed down his back and he turned to continue to clear the camp.
Seth opened himself up and called for the Mara.
“Master, we hope you had pleasant dreams and are fully refreshed?” They asked as they came immediately into focus in front of him.
“Mara, no pleasantries today, I have an eerie feeling something is ahead of us, what do you know of this?” he asked quickly.
The Mara looked at each other, their black eyes glassy in distant thought before eventually the turned back to Seth and spoke.
“There is a test ahead for you, Master, we know not what this entails but it is something which will change your path…either for the better or worse…this is all we know,” they paused waiting to see if they had pleased Seth who looked thoughtful before nodding.
“Has she returned?” This was a question he had been asking every morning for the last ten years. The Mara shrank back slightly before providing the same answer they had each time they had been asked.
“Master, she has not been reborn, though we know she will be…we are certain of this,” Seth grunted, he didn’t expect any other answer but asking the question helped him and the response the Mara gave provided a strength to those convictions. His beloved would return to him and he would be able to hold her once more.
Seth let himself drift having concluded his conversation with the Mara for now. His mind wandered for several minutes catching glimpses of faces and feelings he had known or was yet to experience. Finally, he brought himself back and slowly opened his eyes to find Will sat in front of him looking agitated.
“You're back, thank the Lord.” Seth sucked his teeth at this statement as he had no love for Williams God.
“What is it?” He asked.
“I was packing the horses, waiting for you to finish your prayers, and I heard a scream from over there,” he pointed to the west of their camp.
“Anyway, I went to investigate and saw two girls being dragged off by a crowd of men towards the river.” William knew what this meant, and he also worried about what they should do. There had been many witch trials over the years, but this was the first one he’d been close to as he only ever heard tales of the others.
“It's a witch trial, isn’t it?” he asked though he knew it was.
“When was this, how long since you saw them?” Seth asked hurriedly.
“The time it has taken me to run the two hundred yards from where I saw them back to you, plus a little extra waiting for you to finish your prayers.”
There was scream and Seth looked up from William’s concerned face and towards the river where the sound had emanated. Quickly he got to his feet and without thinking or pausing he grabbed his sword and ran towards the sound before stopping on the brow of a small hill and ducking out of sight.
William followed close behind and dropped beside Seth as he looked down at the group from the hill overlooking the river.
There were six men all dressed in robes and one carrying a cross. The two girls, Will had spoken about, were now tied to a tree whilst the men busied themselves collecting wood. Seth crept over the brow and slowly made his way down between the trees and bushes, quietly so he wouldn't be spotted. Will followed and kept the same pace behind Seth so as not to give themselves away.
As they got closer they could hear the man carrying the cross barking orders to the other five whilst the girls sobbed.
“Bring the wood and place it here, we don’t have the luxury of time in this matter, so we will burn them both as they have both failed the tests.” The man turned to look towards where Seth and William were hiding. Seth resisted the urge to rush out and attack as he couldn’t see all the men from his viewpoint.
He stared hard at the leader and marked him for a witch hunter. Memories surfaced of finding his Meredith alone and left to die in their house. He remembered the priest, hiding behind his God whilst he preached about daemons from his church, and his blood boiled.
The witch hunter wore the black robes of the church and his staff was topped with a gold cross. He was in his late forties by the look of his lined face and the scars on his cheek told of a man who was no stranger to fights.
The other men all wore robes of differing fits. Seth could see each carried a sword beneath their garb as the hilts bulged from the loose material as they walked.
“What are we going to do?” whispered Will as he crouched low besid
e him, “there’s probably too many for us to take together and these five are probably just the advance group…shall I head back down the road to scout for more?” he asked looking back the way the group had travelled.
Seth thought for a moment, there were six of these men and only two of them, as Will had rightly pointed out, but he wasn’t at all concerned with the odds as he knew he could take them all without losing breath. What gave him pause was whether it was worth exposing themselves as they would certainly do, and word reaching the group of men they hunted as he really needed the purse from their bounty.
Inside, his head and heart battled. Will took the moody silence as confirmation he should skirt around them and scout the road leading to Chester to discover how long these six would remain only that number.
Seth was aware of Will leaving but he couldn’t take his eyes off the witch hunter. In his mind, he saw his wife lying in her own blood and barely alive as he held her in his arms. He heard her whisper her love in his ear. Outside he had passed his mother, father and uncle all dead at the hands of the people from their village, all stirred to hatred and fear by the priest who carried a staff with this same cross on top.
Slowly the men built a stack of wood with kindling around a stake they had driven into the ground. The witch hunter was circling them as they worked and giving instructions as to the second pyre he wanted to be built.
Seth jumped as Will returned, slightly breathless.
“There’s a crowd heading this way Seth, must be around fifty strong, all with hatred in their eyes. They will be here very soon, we best leave lest we are discovered” he grabbed Seth’s shoulder and made to pull him back up the hill and towards their horses, but Seth didn’t move.
“A change in my path…” Seth muttered under his breath and Will looked down to see a steeled look on his face.