by John Booth
“My brothers escaped from prison on Sunday. They threatened to kill me, so the police are laying on protection at school and at home.” The words came reluctantly from Kylie’s lips as though she hadn’t wanted to say them, even to herself. This put me in a quandary, as I wasn’t supposed to know about what her brothers had done.
Kylie solved that particular problem.
“I know you know all about it, Andrew. I had that out of Aunty Jen the night she went to see you. She’s as bad at lying as you.”
“Ah,” I said, now more embarrassed than ever. I supposed that might explain a few things. “But if your brothers have escaped from prison, surely the last thing they would do is to come here? After all, the police would know it was them if they attack you.”
“You don’t understand. I got them locked up and they hold me responsible for it.” Kylie snuggled against me as I stood against the classroom wall. “That’s why I had to know. Why I needed to ask you that question.”
“I don’t understand?” I replied, which was an understatement. If I ever get a real understanding of the female mind, I’m going to write a book explaining them to all the men out there and make a fortune.
“I had to know whether it was my fault. Whether when they did those things to me, it was because I led them on.” Kylie sounded close to tears.
“That’s utter bollocks.” I held her tightly, “What they did was their crime, not yours.”
“They said I encouraged them. They said I led them into it by posing naked in front of them and saying they weren’t man enough to take me. Mum said in court that I was up for it from the age of five, always flashing my body at anybody who would look.”
“That’s garbage. I know you’re not like that.”
“I remember the first time they had me. They planned it. They waited until Mum went out for the night with them babysitting me. I was eleven. Dick was fifteen and Dave was fourteen. They tried to get me drunk with Mum’s whiskey, but I didn’t want any. I went to bed at nine thirty and at ten they came into my room and pulled the sheets off me.” Kylie started to cry and I made shushing noises. To be completely honest, I didn’t want to hear any of the details.
“I thought they were just rough housing until Dick held me down while Dave pulled off my pajama bottoms. Then they held me down and took turns,” Kylie pulled even tighter to me. “It hurt so much, Andrew. They tore me and I was bleeding. I thought I was going to die and they just kept on and on, one after the other, laughing as I screamed.”
“You don’t have to tell me any of this, Kylie.” ‘Please don’t’, I thought.
“They told me that I was asking for it and if I told Mum it would be me they would put in a home. Next morning, Mum thought all the blood was from my first period and I said nothing to her. She kept me off school saying the first ones are always the hardest. I never said a word, Andrew; and I was scared I was damaged inside and was going to die.”
I held Kylie and thought what I would like to do to those bastards if I ever got my hands on them.
“They made me do things for four years. They told me it was what I wanted. That I made them do it.” Kylie paused, and then continued in a quieter voice. “I enjoyed it sometimes. I couldn’t help it. Sex can feel good even when you’re forced and hate it. It was the only intimacy they ever showed me.”
“You couldn’t help it,” I said. “It happens to captives. There’s even a name for it, Stockholm Syndrome or something like that.”
“I felt so guilty every time it happened. It was like my brothers were right and it was me somehow egging them on. Eventually, I told a teacher I trusted and she called the police.
They were arrested. I expected Mum to comfort me, but she sided with her sons. It was my fault according to her. I’ve been trying to convince myself she’s wrong ever since.” Kylie lapsed into silence, wiping at her eyes.
The whole thing was crazy to me. How could it be her fault and what had any of this to do with Jane and my fantasies? As if she had read my mind, Kylie answered me.
“So I had to know. When Jane flung her body at you and offered sex, I had to know if that’s how all boys react. I knew you wouldn’t actually have sex with her, but if you were turned on…”
“I grew up with Jane and she’s more like a little…” I stopped because I thought the word ‘sister’ might upset Kylie even more. Talk about putting my foot in it. Kylie turned towards her and kissed me on the lips.
“… She’s like your little sister.” She finished for me. “That’s the point. You wouldn’t do that sort of thing because she’s like a sister and that proves my brothers are the scumbags I always thought they were.”
“I’m not all that pure,” I said, feeling I had to reveal something intimate in return; so she would have something to use against me if I betrayed her trust, “It’s been you I think about when I… do it to myself. I do it a lot.” My embarrassment overwhelmed me and I turned my face away.
Kylie pulled my head round with her hand so I was looking straight at her, “I should hope so too, because I think about you when I do it too.” She kissed me again.
We were late into class that morning as Kylie needed to clean herself up and there was no way I was going to leave her on her own with the threat of her brothers hanging over her.
The school day ended uneventfully. When we got back to Felorton, we took the short cut to her aunt’s house by cutting through the old sawmill grounds. The place has been closed for about five years and the doors and windows are boarded up. I like going there because it has a soulful feel to it. The buildings were built with local stone and are well over a hundred years old. Patches of grass have cracked the flagstones in the old yard.
It also gave us a place in private to exchange a farewell kiss. There were police guarding her aunt’s house, and neither of us was going to kiss in front of them or the ‘curtain twitches’ in the houses along the street.
Tuesday began much like Monday. The police were waiting at the college gates when we got off the bus.
The policewoman from the day before approached Kylie and spoke in a lowered voice.
“Your brothers were seen in London last night, so we think you can relax. It looks like they aren’t coming after you.”
“Thanks.” Kylie visibly calmed and I realized how tensed up she’d been.
“We’ll keep a watch here and at your house until we catch them. From what I’ve been told they’re not very bright, so it shouldn’t take long.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her until then,” I said.
The policewoman smiled. “If Kylie has you looking after her, I’m sure she’ll be safe, Andrew.”
Don’t ask me. I don’t have a clue how everybody seems to know who I am. I had never seen the woman before in my life.
The policeman, who had been hovering a few feet away, came closer to speak to us.
“We’ve circulated photos of them all over Felorton. I think we’ll know in minutes if they set foot in the village.”
I smiled. Very little happens in Felorton that wasn’t known to everybody in the village within half an hour. Some of the locals might take matters into their own hands rather than call the police if they saw them, but that was fine with me.
I felt that someone was watching us and turned to find the usual suspects standing a few feet away. Their eyes riveted on Kylie and filled with open admiration. With the police showing pictures round the village it was certain they knew what was going on. There’s nothing like a death threat to get the respect of the average eleven to fourteen year old child, believe me.
When we left the college that afternoon there was only a single policeman at the gate. I didn’t recognize him, but he nodded towards me.
Kylie giggled. “They all know you,” she whispered. I felt my cheeks redden.
The usual suspects had to be chased away at the pub as they tried to follow us. Kylie seemed to find everything funny just them and was laughing out loud as I chased Brian down the road. He
was the last of them
“They’re only trying to help,” Kylie said as I got back to her and bent double trying to get my breath back.
“They are all very trying.”
“Are we going the back way?”
I nodded. There was no industry to speak of in Felorton since the sawmill closed. Just a few converted barns used by one-man businesses; car mechanics and the like. They were congregated on the street behind the pub, alongside the sawmill buildings.
We climbed through a hole in the the fence into the sawmill grounds. Kylie liked the place as much as I did. It felt private and secluded. Kylie put her arm in mine and we walked towards an alley between two of the deserted buildings.
I felt Kylie’s arm stiffen and she pulled me to a stop. There was a figure at the far end of the alley. He has his arms folded and I knew without being told that it was one of her brothers. I dragged Kylie round in a circle and found a man standing and the end of the alleyway we’d just come from; the other brother. We were trapped.
I knew Kylie’s brothers were nineteen and twenty years old. I worked it out the other day while fantasizing about beating them up. That idea fled my mind as it turned out they were big men, into weight lifting judging from the width of their arms. They carried decorator’s knives, the sort that uses those big razor blades. I tried to figure out an escape plan, but it didn’t look promising.
“We’ve come for you, little sister, just as we promised,” said the bigger of the two. He was called Dick, if memory served me correctly. “If you don’t scream we may just cut your face and breasts a little. We won’t even kill your little boyfriend.”
“We might even have a little fun with you as well, for old time’s sake,” said Dave, “No one can use her mouth like you do, sis.”
I found myself stepping in front of Kylie and we retreated into a small courtyard at the midpoint of the alley. Unfortunately, it was a dead end, as all the doors and windows into the building were boarded up.
“Your boyfriend’s very brave, Kylie, but I’ll bet he’ll squeal like a pig when I’ve stuck him a few times,” Dick moved towards me making sweeping strokes with his knife.
I backed off, looking for any way out that didn’t involve fighting. Kylie was unable to speak because she was so frightened and I kept her moving away from her brothers until there was nowhere left to retreat.
My temper rose as fear pushed adrenaline through me and a red haze began to cloud my eyes. I knew I had to keep thinking straight, these two were not like the idiots in college. These men looked like seasoned fighters. If we were to get out of this alive I had to keep thinking logically. I didn’t believe for a moment Kylie’s brothers would let either of us go after a few cuts. They were going to kill us, or as good as.
“Mum told us where to find you,” said Dave, giggling at the memory. “She said you’re a tight assed little cow and I should widen yours out with this.” He flicked his knife up and down in demonstration of his intentions. That was too much for me and I lost it completely.
The brothers were startled as I closed the gap between us and there was half a house brick in my hand, though I don’t remember picking it up. I remember Dick failing to get out of the way, as I threw it at his stomach. He staggered back and fell to the ground.
I screamed for Kylie to run as I closed on Dave.
Even in berserker mode, I knew I couldn’t possibly win. But Kylie might be able to get away if I cleared a path for her by pushing her brothers to one side. As I closed with Dave, he swung his knife and I blocked it with my arm.
I felt the knife rip into flesh and sinew, but in the state I was in, pain meant nothing and I thrust at Dave’s groin with my knee. Dave blocked me with his hand, but I used so much force he was lifted up and thrown back towards his brother.
Dick struggled back to his feet and came towards me, snarling with rage. Blood ran from the gash in my arm and splattered on the ground.
I heard a kind of hissing sound and thought it must be blood rushing through my head. The men stood side to side with our previous positions reversed. They were trapped in the courtyard and I was stopping them from getting out.
There was fear in their eyes, which was gratifying, but didn’t make much sense. They had the knives and I was smaller and weaker than either of them. I hoped Kylie had reached safety, because I was giddy from loss of blood.
They ran at me, as though trying to get away, pushing against each other as if they only had a narrow path. This gave me a small advantage and I used strength born out of desperation to knock them back onto the grass against the side of the building.
The men screamed in agony, and I watched in astonishment as hundreds of snakes slid over them, biting them. There must have been a nest of adders in the grass, I thought as I sank down to my knees. They’ll probably bite me next.
A female police officer stepped in front of me and stopped me falling flat on my face, though I still sank to my knees. She turned to stare at the snakes writhing over the men as they rolled and screamed in agony. Then she came to her senses and dragged me to my feet, helping me get away.
The last thing I remember was someone saying, “Hold this against his arm while I call for an ambulance” and then the world went dark.
I woke up in hospital with a drip feeding blood into my right arm and a big bandage on my left. A doctor told me I was going to be all-right and then a policeman came in and took my statement.
“How did you know we were there?” I asked him.
“Ms. Brown ran to her aunt’s house and brought us back to help you,” The policeman said. “Quick thinking on her part.”
“She’s very smart, and brave.”
I was only allowed family as visitors that night, though Mum told me Kylie was waiting outside and sent her love. It turned out I was considered a hero by the village. Mum wouldn’t talk about Kylie’s brothers, except to say I had nothing to worry about, and everything was going to be fine.
The hospital discharged me on Wednesday morning and I was told to rest for a few days. Apparently, they use superglue rather than stitches these days, but it means I have to be careful. I lost a lot of blood, but they said I should be all right, as they had poured an extra three pints into me in the hospital.
Kylie was waiting for me in my bedroom when we got home. Mum and Dad went downstairs, leaving us alone. Kylie came over to me, touched me almost as if I was china and kissed me on the cheek.
“Thanks…”
“They won’t tell me what happened to your brothers. Do you know?”
“Dave is dead. It seems that adders can kill you if enough of them bite you at once. The papers say that they fell on a nest while the adders were mating and it’s one of the few times when adders will attack people. Dick is in a critical condition. They had to remove his genitals as they were so badly bitten by the snakes. They may have to amputate his legs as well.” Kylie stopped speaking and stared down at the floor.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“I’m not,” Kylie said, though I saw she was starting to cry. “They were going to torture and kill us and that loses them any rights to my sympathy.” She sat on the bed besides me on my right hand side, so I could put my good arm around her and hold her.
“The snakes appeared from your blood as it hit the ground. I saw it happen before I ran for help.”
“I didn’t know,” I said quietly, “Does it make a difference?”
“Not as far as how much I love you is concerned, but I think we should go and talk to Mrs. Kelly when you are better.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said and we held onto each other, not saying anything for a long time.
11. Aftershocks
It has been over a week since I last wrote in this journal and it’s another Saturday night and a lot has happened.
In the days that followed Kylie’s brothers’ attack on us, the national press chose to make a hero out of me. I suspect the attack had all the right ingredients to make a good story. Yo
ung man protects pretty girl from vicious armed attackers, a gruesome death for one of them, but most importantly, an opportunity for the papers to rake over Kylie’s years of sexual abuse, so everyone could feast on the details while simultaneously expressing righteous disgust.
There was a small, but virulent media storm around the village as the press sought salacious gossip about Kylie and me. Now there are many disadvantages to growing up in a village where everyone knows everything about you, but one advantage is that we all pull together against strangers and nobody in the village would say anything to them, beyond that we were friends.
Dad, who is a solicitor after all, wrote letters to the publishers of the papers warning he would sue them if they published anything remotely libelous. That helped to take the heat out of the story, but nevertheless, for several days the papers were full of stories of the strange and ancient village of Felorton where poisonous snakes occasionally swarm through the streets.
I was also helped by Jane and Sally, who it seemed, had developed a crush on me to the point where they swore blind and probably believed, that Kylie and I were just good friends.
Kylie delighted in visiting me every day and telling me how Jane or Sally had confided their secret love for me to her. Jane had concocted the strange idea I was keeping myself pure for her, and how, on her sixteenth birthday she would finally deflower me. Perhaps these fantasies were her way of keeping her head above water in the increasingly desperate situation she and Sally found themselves in, but more on that later.
Kylie and I visited Mr. Kelly in the hope of arranging a meeting with his mother, but he wouldn’t hear of it. It turned out she hadn’t dropped the matter of the fallen oak and was pestering him to take her to see it. Since it would be almost impossible to get her through the woods with her bad legs, he was trying to talk her out of it. He didn’t want the two of us stirring her up even more.
I asked him what stories he knew about the oak and he said that all he knew was his mother told him never to play near it when he was a child. It was known as the Banished Oak back in those days, though some people in the village called it Demons Oak. For one tree it sure had got a lot of names. Nobody spoke about its history, but some villagers forbade their children to play in or near it. He remembered children being severely punished in days gone by for defying their parents and playing there.