THE CRUEL SEVEN

by Terence Mitford

  The minutes passed by with no change. Lisa kept her focus on the door and the windows as she stood up, and with careful, hesitant steps, moved out towards the house and away from cover.

  The front door opened again, and Erica stepped out onto the veranda. “I guess we underestimated you.”

  Lisa nodded. “I guess you did.”

  Lisa held the rifle against her cheek, her aim firmly focused on the woman she blamed for everything. Although the others were just as guilty, she guessed that without Erica, none of the atrocities would have happened.

  Erica sniggered. “You know what’s funny about all this?”

  “What’s that?”

  “You came here a sweet, innocent girl, and we have turned you into a killer. You are no better than us now.”

  “You are right. I am a killer now. But I’ll never be like you.”

  Summer appeared in the doorway, then joined her mother on the veranda. “Are you going to shoot my ma, Lisa?”

  “I’m going to shoot you both.”

  “You are going to shoot two unarmed women? And you say you’ll never be like us?”

  “If you can’t see the difference, it’s too bad.”

  Erica grinned. “Just like it’s too bad you can’t see the rifle pointed at your head right now.”

  Lisa took a breath. Then exhaled. “You think I’m going to fall for that trick? I’ve seen too many movies for that to work.”

  “Tell me, Lisa. In any of these movies, did the heroine ever get her head blown off at the end?”

  Lisa smiled. “Never.”

  Erica clapped her hands together once. “Okay Luke, blow her fucking head off and let’s have a surprise ending to this one.”

  There was a click behind. Lisa’s skin prickled as she slowly turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Luke was on her right diagonal, a few feet away, with his hunting rifle pointed straight at her head.

  He smirked. “Not so fast Ma, she hasn’t served her purpose yet.” He walked towards Lisa. “Lower your rifle or I will do what Ma said. It’s up to you, Lisa. Shoot ma and you’ll die a second later, or put down the gun and live.”

  Lisa turned back to face the two women on the veranda. Holding her rifle firm and keeping Erica at the end of the sights, she answered him. “But you know what I’ve done, don’t you?”

  Luke moved around to her front-right-diagonal. “You’ve killed Pa and Freddie, and I’m guessing you killed Frankie, too.”

  She flicked her glance across to him. “Then why would you let me live? And if I’m going to die, I may as well take this bitch with me.”

  “If I wanted you dead, you would be dead already. And since you have killed three members of my family, it’s even more important that you have my children. You need to replace those you have taken from us. You took three, so you’ll replace three. But you are right. I will kill you, one day. Just not yet.”

  Lisa glanced back at Erica and Summer. She was sure she could squeeze off at least one round, and maybe two, before Luke shot her dead. And if her aim was good, Erica would die. But then so would she. And Luke was right about her not having served her purpose yet. He was just wrong about what that purpose was. So she had a choice. Shoot now and be sure to kill Erica. Or surrender and hope that one day she may get to finish the job and kill them all.

  She made her decision. Better to kill this bitch while she had the chance and to hell with the consequences. She was ready to die.

  She squeezed the trigger.

  Click.

  She ratcheted the lever and pulled the trigger again.

  Click.

  She sighed, and after a moment’s hesitation, threw the rifle to the ground. It seems Larry hadn’t fully loaded it after all.

  Erica strode over and slapped her hard across her face. The force knocked her off her feet. It was a few seconds before the ringing in her ears and the stinging in her cheek faded. As she attempted to stand, her legs were suddenly kicked from under her and she crashed back into the dirt. She looked up to see Summer glaring down at her.

  Then the girl spat in Lisa’s face. “Now your life is going to be hell, and before long, you’ll be begging us to kill you.”

  Luke bent down and picked up the Winchester. “Where did you get this from?”

  “It belonged to a nice old man that you tried to kill along with my husband.”

  Luke drew a breath. “Larry? Is he alive?”

  “He was. Until Frankie stabbed him in the back.”

  Luke nodded. “Well, at least one of my younger brothers did something right.” He glanced at Erica. “Bring her inside, Ma.”

  Erica bent down and grabbed Lisa by her hair, then dragged her up onto her feet and marched her into the house. As the older woman forced her down onto a chair, Luke brought the chain over and placed it around Lisa’s ankle. But then he paused and seemed to study the steel ankle cuff.

  “Wait a minute,” he said, and walked outside. He returned a minute later with a cutoff tree stump, a hammer, and a chisel. He placed the ankle cuff on the upturned tree stump and used the hammer and chisel to open the connecting ring that joined it to the chain. Then he left again and returned with another cuff complete with small metal lugs on each end of the opening.

  Luke attached the new cuff to the chain and hammered the connecting ring closed.

  Lisa’s heart sank as he secured the new smaller cuff with the padlock.

  He had worked with such efficiency that she was certain he had done it before. He probably had different ankle cuffs already fabricated and available to be swapped over, depending on the size of their captive. The new ankle ring was a closer fit, and as a result, would be more comfortable to move around with. But there was no chance she was going to slip out of this one.

  Luke pulled a chair around in front of Lisa and sat facing her. “Did your husband survive as well?”

  Lisa didn’t answer. She couldn’t bring herself to discuss Mike with this animal.

  Summer surged forward, grabbed Lisa’s hair, and pulled her head back. Then she lowered her face down to Lisa’s. “My brother asked you a question. Answer him, you slut, or I’ll beat it out of you.”

  Lisa shook her head. “Kill me if you want. You’ll be doing me a favor.”

  Summer let go and stormed out of the front door.

  Erica motioned for Luke to move, and she took his place on the chair in front of Lisa. “Sweetie, we want to make your time here as comfortable as possible, but you have to cooperate. Now, where is your beloved husband?”

  Lisa stared at Erica for a moment and then scowled up at Luke. “He’s dead. You killed him.”

  Erica smiled. “There now. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  Summer came back carrying a long stick. She raised it above her head as she glared at Lisa. “This will make you talk.”

  Erica held up her hand. “Hold on, Summer. She answered the question. There’s no need for unnecessary violence, so put that down.”

  Summer frowned and turned away. She seemed disappointed.

  Lisa scanned the room, then looked at Erica. “Where’s Billy?”

  “He went looking for you and Frankie.”

  With perfect timing, Billy appeared in the doorway. His face whiter than normal and his shoulders drooped lower than normal. He glanced from Lisa to Luke and then to Erica. “I found Frankie in the woods, and I saw Ed and Freddie outside. Did the cartel return?”

  Erica shook her head and looked at Lisa.

  Billy glanced back at Lisa, open-mouthed. “Was it her?”

  Erica nodded.

  “Oh my god, what are you going to do with her?”

  “What we planned.” Erica said. “She’s going to have a baby with Luke.” Erica hesitated a moment. “But now that Ed and the twins are dead, you can have her after Luke.”

  A grin flashed across Billy’s face, but vanished almost immediately. He must have realized that with Ed and the twins laying dead outside, now wasn’t the time to show his delight
or gratitude. So he turned away and said, “I’ll get a spade.” Then he paused and turned back to Erica. “Where do you want to bury them?”

  Erica pointed out of the door. “Over by the big tree. Ed loved that tree.”

  Lisa sniggered to herself. If Ed loved that tree, it was probably the only thing in this world he had loved. Because he had not shown any emotion towards his family, even when his daughter had a gun pointed at her head. And that thought reminded Lisa, that although three of their family were laying out in the dirt, neither Erica, Luke, or Summer had displayed any signs of grief.

  49

  LISA

  Despite the anxiety that Lisa had experienced at the hands of this family, there was now an even darker atmosphere filling the air.

  She was still alive, for now, but she was under no illusions. When her time is up, they will make her suffer.

  It won’t be quick.

  It won’t be painless.

  She spent the next two hours at the kitchen counter, preparing food, cleaning dishes, tidying up, and watching Luke and Billy take it in turns to dig three graves under the large tree beyond the well.

  She thought about Larry lying out there on his own, and how he deserved his own plot far away from this murdering bunch. If she ever gets out of this mess, she will take care of it.

  But that thought brought her to wondering whether she had used up her available lives. Had her guardian angel given up and deserted her? Maybe the job had been too difficult. Because if she was still around and still invested in her future, surely there would have been three more bullets in the Winchester rifle.

  On the plus side, she still had the small knife in the waistband of her denim shorts, but she was nervous about using it. First, she would need to be alone with just one of the remaining four, or she could be overpowered. Second, she would need the key to the padlock on her ankle. So that meant she needed to be alone in the house with Luke.

  It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that she remembered, and when she did, her heart leaped with optimism. She stepped back from the basin and glanced at the back of the door. It was still there, where she had hung it on that second day: the green survival bag containing the compass, a few bandaids, a flashlight, her mobile phone with a dead battery, and Carlos’s big hunting knife.

  And the chain was long enough for her to reach it.

  Maybe all was not lost. Maybe her guardian angel hadn’t abandoned her after all, and was still lurking in the background, watching and waiting.

  A few minutes later, Luke and Billy came back into the house. Erica and Summer had remained at the table, no doubt keeping an eye on their prisoner.

  Luke said, “We’re ready, Ma.”

  Lisa watched through the window as Summer followed Erica outside and over to the tree. In front of it were three holes, next to three mounds of earth, opposite three human figures lying on the ground and wrapped in dark gray blankets.

  Billy paused at the door, and before he walked out, he stared at Lisa with narrow eyes filled with disgust.

  Luke walked over to her with a similar dark look.

  Her heart missed a beat. “I know you blame me, but it wasn’t my fault. What you are doing out here is wrong? Carlos and his sister and those other girls didn’t deserve to die.”

  “We can discuss that later if you wish. Right now we need to bury Pa and the twins, and you are coming.”

  Lisa sighed internally. She had hoped to be left alone in the house, and alone with the green bag. But after Luke had removed the chain, he escorted her over to the freshly dug graves.

  Erica and Summer stood on each side of her as the boys lowered each twin into their respective resting place, then did the same with Ed.

  Despite hating them for what they had done, Lisa stood with her head bowed. She wasn’t about to disrespect the dead at their own burial. No matter who they were.

  After a few words from Erica and Luke, the boys began filling in the graves from the mounds of earth.

  Erica glanced sideways at Lisa. “Your funeral won’t be so civilized. We have a special place for you around the back. But then you know that, don’t you? You’ve already seen it.”

  Lisa remained silent. Now wasn’t the time to talk back. It was a time for patience and careful planning. She needed to watch and wait for her opportunity.

  They returned to the house, and Erica ordered Luke to reapply the chain to Lisa’s ankle. Then she turned to Billy. ‘You have worked hard today, Billy, but tomorrow I want you to dig the hole around the back next to the anthill.’

  Lisa drew a breath.

  Billy grinned. “Are you planning what I think you’re planning?”

  Erica walked over to the shelves and took down the tankard containing the folded pieces of paper. She returned to the table and tipped them out. “Probably. But first we need to convene the family court.”

  Summer dragged a chair into the middle of the room and faced it towards the table.

  Lisa glanced at them all, one at a time. None were watching her. She was chained and unable to run off, so their guard was down. She edged back towards the door until the green bag was only inches behind her. After counting to three in her mind, she drew in a deep breath and moved fast. She turned, opened the bag, and grabbed the hunting knife. With her other hand, she removed the small kitchen knife from her waistband, and replaced it with the larger one.

  As she dropped the small knife into the bag, Summer called out her name. Lisa froze and held her breath. Swapping the knives had taken less than three seconds, but maybe it had been three seconds too long. She turned to face Summer.

  The girl pointed to the chain and sniggered. “You can’t escape. So what are you doing over there by the door?” But then her expression changed to a mix of curiosity and suspicion, and she strode over to Lisa. “Move away from the bag.”

  Lisa complied.

  Summer unhooked the green bag and looked inside. Then she pulled out the small kitchen knife and glared at Lisa. “So this is what you were reaching for?”

  Lisa shrugged.

  Summer held up the knife. “Look, Ma.”

  Erica scowled at Lisa. “Well done, Summer. Bring her back here.”

  The girl dropped the bag and slid the small knife along the counter top towards the basin. Then she took hold of Lisa’s arm and escorted her to the chair. “Sit there and don’t move.”

  Lisa sat down and breathed out. Summer must have only seen the last second of her maneuver.

  “Who wants to prosecute?” Erica asked.

  Summer’s hand shot up. “Me.”

  Erica nodded. “Very well. The job is yours. Do you need time to prepare or are you ready to go?”

  “It’s a simple case, Your Honor. So I’m ready when you are.”

  Erica clapped her hands together once. “Billy, you are acting for the defense.”

  Luke dragged the table around so that it was square on to Lisa. Then he and Erica sat behind it staring across at her.

  Erica banged the tankard down hard onto the table and said, “Let the proceedings begin.”

  Billy raised his hand. “Excuse me, Your Honor, but I haven’t had time to consult with my client.”

  Erica smirked. “New court rules. Private consultations are no longer allowed. Please proceed.”

  Billy chuckled as he walked over and stood next to Lisa.

  “Okay, Billy, how does your client plead?” Erica asked.

  Billy scratched his head. “What are the charges?”

  Erica glanced at Summer. “You heard the defense. What are the charges?”

  Summer walked around and stood on the other side of Lisa. “One: entering onto our property without permission. Two: flirting with my brother. Three: adultery with my brother.” Summer rubbed her chin. “Let me think. Oh, yes. Four: murdering two of my brothers and my father.”

  Erica nodded and looked at Billy. “They are serious charges. How does your client plead?”

  Billy turned to Lisa. “We have to enter a
plea on each count.”

  Lisa shook her head. “This is ridiculous. I’m not playing any more of your stupid games.”

  Billy turned back to Erica. “My client is hostile, Your Honor. Can I enter a plea on her behalf?”

  Erica shrugged. “I suppose so. We don’t want to be here all day, do we?”

  “In that case, Your Honor, we plead guilty on all counts.”

  Erica banged the table with the tankard again. “The court accepts the pleas. Now it will consider the sentencing.” She hesitated a moment. “Okay, we are ready. Could the defendant please rise?”

  Billy and Summer grabbed an arm each and pulled Lisa to her feet.

  Erica cleared her throat. “On count one, I sentence you to twenty lashes. For count two, you will be buried up to your neck next to the anthill. For count three, you will be spread-eagled over the same anthill.” Erica smirked. “I said at the time I liked those two. For count four, you will be forced to spend the night in the pit. These sentences will break your spirit, young lady, and ensure your future compliance. We will carry them out in order, starting tonight, and Billy will prepare the ground first thing in the morning.” Erica smirked at Lisa. “Does the defendant wish to say anything?”

  Lisa stared at Erica. Maybe now she could get some answers. “Who’s idea was it to kill my husband?”

  Erica frowned. “I was asking if you had anything to say about your crimes.”

  “And I’m asking who was involved in my husband’s murder?”

  Erica glanced at Luke, but said nothing.

  “I know Luke forced Larry’s truck off the road,” Lisa said. “Larry told me that before Frankie stabbed him in the back. I just want to know if Luke was acting alone or under instruction.”

  Erica grinned. “Nothing happens around here without my say so.”

  “So it was your idea?”

  “Of course.” Erica said with a smug look on her face.

  Lisa pursed her lips and nodded.

  “What’s that look for?” Erica asked.

  “I had guessed everything that was happening was your idea. I just needed confirmation before…” She let her voice trail away.