04 Heller's Punishment - Heller

by JD Nixon

  “Oh God, Tilly,” he groaned and pulled away, his chest heaving, his pants bulging at the front. “I can’t. It’s wrong.”

  I watched as he battled with himself, his eyes squeezed tight in almost physical agony, fists clenched.

  “I’m sorry, so sorry. But if I break my vow, it has to be with another Farmer. It’s the only honest way for me. The only way I can justify breaking it.”

  “That’s okay, Simon. I understand. Really, I do,” I soothed. He’d unknowingly shared with me a good lesson in self-control. I only wished I’d learned it before I went to Will’s house.

  Things were a little awkward between us afterwards. We made our way back to the compound, probably exciting gossip amongst the others because of our long absence, but neither of us cared. It wasn’t forbidden for Farmers to have relationships with each other, and bonding was encouraged. As far as anyone knew, Simon and I were ‘bonding’, and that might prove to our advantage later on. At least it gave us an excuse for any mysterious disappearances.

  Dinner tonight was a green Indeterminate Stew that unbelievably tasted even worse than the brown one. It astounded me that surrounded by fresh produce as they were, their meals were so abysmal. When I brought this up with Simon as we ate, he blamed it on the commune’s ancient cook who’d been in charge of the kitchen since The Farm started. No one had the heart to suggest that he retire and hand over his apron to someone more talented.

  “Shame,” I replied, pushing my half-eaten dinner away. I’d already lost a few kilos in the week I’d been here from lack of decent food, constant physical activity and my hours in the hot box. And if the quality of the meals remained the same, I’d be losing more before the job finished.

  “It doesn’t bother me too much,” admitted Simon, pushing his away as well. “I eat most of my food directly from the field.” He smiled. “There are some advantages to field work.”

  The Head Farmer stared at me constantly throughout the meal, an unpleasant expression on her face that was hard to decipher. I dreaded working for her in the office next week, but needed the opportunity to attempt to contact Heller.

  Chapter 14

  We worked hard in the fields the next morning and after lunch, Simon and I stole away up to the top fields. We explained casually that we were off for a stroll together and judging from the sly glances, elbow nudges and snickers, everyone thought we’d planned on a bit of afternoon delight. Simon blushed convincingly at the teasing, and I think that was his actual reaction, not acting.

  We’d explored most of the lower section of the top fields, so aimed to reach the boundaries of the property this afternoon. The very top fields were large and sprawling, but had become overgrown from neglect, slowing our progress.

  “I can’t believe they’ve let it go like this,” said Simon, upset. “I could be using this for crops. It’s such a waste of prime farming land. What were they thinking?”

  We pushed through some wild undergrowth, only to uncover a surprise. A cleared field. We exchanged glances when we recognised the crop that filled the field. Marijuana! Rows and rows of plants. Well, now we knew what was going on in the top fields. Simon’s instincts had been correct.

  Still, it was hard to get excited about a marijuana crop. I thought everyone who lived in the country had one. Wasn’t that the whole point of living in the country in the first place? We pushed on through the crop to the next field and discovered another crop. Big deal. Two marijuana crops. Hardly worth death threats, surely. Then we noticed a mud-brick building, partially hidden by wilderness at the far side of the last field.

  “I never knew about that,” admitted Simon, and nosiness propelled us to have a closer look.

  The door to the building was bolted and securely locked with a very professional and hardcore locking system. I knew from my work at Heller’s that it was a top-of-the-range lock, extremely expensive and almost impossible to break.

  Curious, I thought. Why would anyone need a full-on security system in such an isolated location like this? What on earth was in that building that required so much protection?

  We didn’t bother trying the door, but peered into a window. No good. It was encrusted with grime and completely opaque. We moved from window to window, attempting to find some small patch of clear glass. We didn’t hit the jackpot until we reached the back of the building, scratched by the overgrowth we had to first climb through. A small hopper window, possibly protected from the elements by the wilderness, gave us a good view of the main room. But we weren’t much wiser after looking through the window.

  “What’s all that equipment for?” asked Simon, a frown crinkling his forehead.

  I had no idea, but it looked like some type of laboratory or factory set up. The sound of a motor broke the silence and we exchanged frightened glances. We were well hidden where we were, so I held Simon’s hand tightly and gave him a signal to be quiet. The throbbing engine noise became louder and louder until it abruptly cut off at the front of the building. We could hear voices and the clank and rattle of the lock being opened. We peered cautiously through the window.

  Jye walked into the room, followed by two men wearing business suits and ties. Jye opened a container and showed the men what it held – a lumpy plastic bag. They nodded their heads approvingly and the smaller man slipped on a disposable glove, opened the plastic bag, and held up a crystal-like substance. He and the other man peered at it intently from all angles before nodding again. The taller man allowed a tight smile to escape his expressionless mask.

  The smaller man took the container from Jye and handed over – and I swear this is the honest truth – a brown paper bag. Jye opened it and quickly counted out what seemed to be wads of cash before holding out his hand. He shook both men’s hands solemnly and the men departed. The whole transaction took less than five minutes.

  When he was alone, Jye high-fived the air and jauntily left the building, locking up carefully after himself. Simon and I exchanged glances again. Jye and the Head Farmer were up to their necks in something bad.

  “What are they making?” asked Simon, in his innocence. He probably hadn’t watched any news for years, and gee, it was a rare day that I was able to feel more worldly than another person.

  “I think it’s a meth lab and they’re making ice, crystal meth.” He shot me a surprised glance and I hastened to explain. “I saw a documentary on it. Ice is the purest form of meth and terribly addictive. I think they must be making it on a reasonably big scale too. It looks fairly industrial in there, doesn’t it?”

  He nodded grimly. “Tilly, this is not what The Farm is about. It’s for helping people and promoting self-growth, knowledge and the love of God, not destruction and drug-addiction. I just can’t believe the community I’m living in any more. I can’t believe the Head Farmer has allowed this.”

  “I’m sorry for what’s happened here, Simon. But the best thing we can do is to shut all this down. The Head Farmer and Jye are evil. Not misguided, not misunderstood, but just plain evil. We have to stop them somehow. I really need to talk to Heller.”

  “Who’s Heller?”

  “My boss. He knows what to do in these kinds of situations. He’s tough and strong and smart.” I felt a little teary thinking about him. “This is the longest I’ve gone without any contact with him since we met. I miss him so much.”

  “You sound really fond of him, Tilly.”

  An overpowering wave of homesickness enveloped me and I wiped the moisture from my eyes. “Yeah, I guess I kind of love him, and I know he cares a lot about me too. But we fight all the time. He thinks I’m ungrateful because I don’t want him controlling me and telling me what to do. And we don’t think the same way about important matters.”

  “Sounds complicated.”

  I laughed unwillingly. “It sure is.”

  “Maybe you’re both feeling your way into the relationship? Some things take time.” He slipped his arm around my shoulder in comfort. “When I’m sowing a new patch of earth, some
times seeds bloom quickly. They don’t tend to survive. It’s usually the slow-blooming seedlings that grow and thrive because they’ve taken the time to establish a strong basis, in this case their root system, in your case you and your boss developing a better understanding of each other.”

  “An agricultural analogy? How apt,” I smiled.

  He grinned sheepishly. “Hey, I’m a farmer. What did you expect?”

  “Simon, I really have to contact Heller. I need to get Jye and the Head Farmer away from the office so that I can use either the landline phone or the laptop.”

  “The computer and phone are probably locked up. You won’t be able to access them.”

  “I know, but I have to try. My only other option is to walk the hundred kilometres to the nearest town. How long would that take me?”

  “About twenty hours or so. You can’t do that.”

  I sighed in frustration. “Is there any transport here?”

  “Only the Kombi van, but Jye controls the keys. And from what I’ve heard, he sleeps with them.”

  I rubbed my chin in thought. “Even if I managed to get the keys from him, everybody would hear me starting it for miles. No bicycles?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” he said with a hint of bitterness. “But then there’s lots going on here that I’ve been ignorant about.”

  “They treat you like prisoners here. I hate this place so much!”

  Palpable distress crossed his face. “Tilly,” he remonstrated. “It used to be heaven here. Please don’t judge The Farm by what it’s now become.”

  I felt like a worm. “I’m sorry, Simon. That wasn’t very respectful of me. I guess I’m a city girl at heart.”

  “I guess you are,” he laughed nicely and patted my cheek. “Can we go back now? I’m tired of being attacked by these triffids.”

  We walked back in the dark to the compound. We’d missed dinner, but managed to sweet-talk the elderly cook, who I suspected had been dipping into the homemade wine himself, into letting us raid the pantry. We grabbed a bottle of the strawberry wine, some cheese, crackers and olives. We sat in the dining hall and had a little feast between us.

  Simon held up his goblet and clinked mine. “To us, Tilly. Friends forever?”

  “Friends forever.”

  “Okay,” he said, lowering his voice and checking the hall for any stragglers. “This is what we’re going to do tonight. It’s Friday night. Everyone’s feeling a bit loose. I’m going to call an urgent meeting with the Head Farmer and Jye about something. I don’t know what yet, but I’ll think of something. Then you’re going to sneak into the office and see if you can access either the phone or the internet. Try the laptop first. I’m fairly sure the landline is locked with a code. Send a quick email, then get out of there as fast as possible. The Head Farmer and Jye don’t want to talk to me about anything, so I won’t be able to keep their attention for long. How does that sound?”

  “It sounds like a plan.”

  We cleaned up and made our way to the general meeting hall where all the Farmers congregated on a Friday night for a little fun. A table had been set out with bowls of popcorn and bottles of the homemade wine and homemade ginger beer and lemonade for the children. As we walked through the door, it was obvious from the loud buzz of laughing conversation that many adult Farmers had taken the opportunity to become plastered. The children screamed with joy, chasing each other around the hall, fuelled by sugar.

  There were no chairs and everyone sat happily on the floor. A group of men jammed with acoustic guitars, the young mother with the newborn singing along in a lovely voice. A small cluster of senior Farmers, including the Head Farmer (who imperiously perched on a stool) and Jye lounged in a corner of the room, all them looking rather relaxed. Simon poured himself a glass of wine and went over to them, starting a vehement conversation to distract them from my brief appearance and immediate disappearance.

  I jogged over to the office, relieved to find that nobody bothered to lock any doors around here. Inside the Head Farmer’s office, I tried her phone. Simon was right; it was locked down with an access code. However, in a stroke of luck for me, she’d carelessly left her laptop sitting on her desk, still logged in to her account. Praying that she didn’t have a password, I activated the screen. I silently cheered – no password.

  I called up her email program and quickly composed a message to Heller’s personal email address, copying it to the general business administration email address that Daniel oversaw. Looking over my shoulder every couple of seconds, I was too rushed and nervous to worry about semantics. h no comms here drugs possible meth lab need help pls come soon DONT REPLY t xx

  That was all I managed to type before I heard voices approaching. I quickly hit ‘send’ and once I was sure the email had gone, I deleted it from the ‘sent’ box and emptied the email trash, so no evidence would remain. The voices came closer and I hid in the nearest spot, underneath the desk, hoping that its modesty panel would shield me from their view.

  Two people entered the office and slammed the door shut. I peeked out surreptitiously to see Jye and the Head Farmer. Jye placed a bottle on the desk, banging it down ungently.

  “Get some glasses,” ordered the Head Farmer and as usual Jye complied, pouring her a full glass of the strawberry wine.

  “Oh, this stuff’s good,” she pronounced, gulping down her entire glass in one go. She grabbed the bottle and topped herself up generously.

  “Come here, you little slut,” she commanded in a dirty voice, and for a heart-stopping moment I thought she was talking to me.

  Instead though, Jye came over to her and with some effort, pulled off her shift, throwing it on the floor where it landed like a deflated hot air balloon. Thank God, I can’t see what was going on, I thought gratefully. Unfortunately though I could hear, and I was pretty sure that judging by the suckling noises, Jye was making up for any lack of breastfeeding he’d suffered as an infant.

  You know when you see those movies where you laugh your arse off at some poor sap who’s trapped under a bed suffering the indignities of listening to a couple having sex? Funny, aren’t they? But, tonight I was that sap, and the Head Farmer and Jye were that couple. It wasn’t funny. Not in the slightest.

  They were soon on the desk, going at it. He pounded her like a pile driver and she grunted in pleasure. It was shudderingly horrible. The desk creaked and groaned with the burden. I was afraid it would collapse and I’d be crushed to death by the fornicating couple.

  On and on they went, until I reached the point where I would willing spend another two hours in the hot box just to make them stop. Eventually though, as we’re told all things must, it came to an end, both of them climaxing dramatically.

  The Head Farmer reached over the desk to open her first drawer. I stilled, afraid she’d spot me, but she didn’t look in my direction, instead groping with her hand to extract something from it. I heard rustling and then the striking of a match and they both inhaled and exhaled noisily. Cigarette smoke drifted down to me, tickling my nostrils. They were smoking! I couldn’t believe it, especially after all the fuss that Jye had kicked up with me about cancer risks. What a hypocrite!

  “Show me the money again,” the Head Farmer ordered, and a crinkling noise suggested that Jye had fetched the paper bag. “Excellent. I’m very pleased with this deal. We’ve done well, Jye. It’s a much better price than the Strykers were going to give us.”

  “Yeah. But they’re not happy about us not supplying as we arranged. I wish they’d stop sending those threats to us. It gave me the creeps when that head guy told us that they always extract blood penalties for any wrongs against them.”

  “They have to understand that business is business and not take everything so personally. They would have done the same to us if they had the chance.”

  “Do you think they’ll follow through? Yeah?”

  “Not sure. They’re crazy enough. But anyway, even if they do we have Tilly to send out to deal with them.�
�� She laughed, and it wasn’t a nice laugh. “Our little sacrificial lamb.”

  “They’ll kill her. Yeah?”

  “Who knows? Who cares? As long as she takes the heat for us and satisfies their laughable ‘honour’ code.”

  “I thought she was going to leave after the punishment you dished out.”

  “How could she? She has no transport and no communications. We have her trapped here. She’s not going anywhere. And no one knows where she is either.” She paused, inhaling and exhaling. “It really turned me on when she was so defiant. I’m thinking about riling her up so she’ll talk back to me again. I’ll give her a turn in the hot box and then I’ll bring out the whip. Strip her down and give her a couple of strokes across that tight young arse. Mmm mmm. I’ll even kiss it better afterwards to show how benevolent I can be.”

  They both laughed while my stomach churned.

  “Yeah. Simon’s keeping her occupied,” said Jye.

  “God, I can’t stand that pious prick. Daring to question me about what’s going on here. He has to go.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thinking about punishing Tilly is making me horny again. Get down and give it to me just the way I like it,” she commanded and she sat on the desk, legs apart while he kneeled down in front of her and buried his face in her.

  “Oh yeah. That’s it.” She moaned. “That’s good! Oh fuck, you have a wicked tongue, Jye.”

  I desperately needed to plug my fingers in my ears to block the slurping and moaning noises, but was afraid that any movement would catch their attention. Instead I reviewed what I’d heard and their plans to force me to deal with the Strykers (a bikie gang?) over their dishonoured drug agreement. At least I knew their real agenda now. I was sure the Strykers would turn out to be reasonable and approachable businessmen. Not! Just then though, my reverie was rudely interrupted by the Head Farmer’s animalistic scream of orgasmic bliss. Jye flopped backwards onto the floor, his face glistening, exhausted by his ordeal.