The Ringer

by Greg Hunt

  David continued to speak, “Right, we’re getting out of here, Emma. We’ve a meeting to attend and you’re going to be safe with me. If you do anything stupid, then you’re going to cause pain and suffering here, and if pretty boy attempts to escape, then you might want to be worried, Emma. Don’t be worried for now though, I’m going to take care of you.”

  He pushed Emma up the metal loft ladder, having locked the heavy wooden door to the underground room behind him. Once on the surface, David replaced the paving slab to match the surroundings, then he took hold of Emma’s hand slightly too firmly and they strode away from the church together.

  If it was not for the wincing expression on Emma’s face, everyone else that Sunday morning would have taken them for a hungover, young, student couple. The ball glad rags gave them away as students, and at this early hour of the morning it could only be assumed they were scurrying back to their own homes.

  Chapter 75

  Emma was being pulled along by David, in partial shock at what she had just witnessed. Her thoughts were confused. David was telling her to watch where she was going. How could she when she did not know where they were walking and, she was uncertain whether she wanted to go wherever she was being led.

  It seemed futile to resist. David had over-powered Archie and the women in the underground room were reliant on David coming back to them. All she could do was take in the proceedings that she was unwillingly a part of, to allow her to be in the best possible position for whatever lay ahead.

  David had picked up the pace and was virtually dragging her along. In order to avoid a scene, his voice was low and cold, but reminded Emma that she was directly influencing the welfare of the Woodcutter’s wife and daughter, and of Archie. David reminded Emma that Archie needed medical help but he would only receive what he needed if she hurried up and did exactly what he said.

  Skirting the university buildings, David and Emma passed by the Student Union, the library and one of the lecture halls. As the couple walked past the library, Emma willed there to be students looking out of the windows who might notice that she was walking with this man against her will. There were normally students looking out of the windows, straying from their studying. It was early but why were there not any students gazing in their direction today? Sod’s law, she decided. Opportunity one was gone.

  They were now walking on the cobbled pavements of Old Portsmouth and about to pass a couple of the oldest pubs in the town. The Duke of Nelson was flying its colourful flag, enticing passers-by into its restful interior. The flag provided a marked contrast to the black and white of the exterior dark wooden beams with the whitewashed plasterwork in between. There were more people about and David whispered a word of caution to Emma, “If you say anything,” he muttered, “they will be hurt.”

  Emma refrained from making a show of her predicament. She did not know what to do. She felt like a rabbit in the headlights. Keep thinking, Emma told herself. There had to be a way round her current situation. Nothing was obvious so, for the moment, she would have to continue being an unwilling pawn for a while longer.

  The Cathedral loomed ahead and Emma was surprised when David drew Emma closely to him. “Now Emma, you are going to follow me and pretend to be a part of a wonderful and loving Christian couple.” He giggled at Emma’s look of pain and kissed her tenderly on the side of the cheek.

  As they approached the Cathedral side path he clasped her hand more tightly. The daffodils were coming out in the manicured lawned areas on either side of the walkway, with their strong yellow buds forcing themselves out of the tall green shoots. Emma and David arrived at the body of the Cathedral itself. David opened the side door which led directly into the main nave and stepped to one side for Emma to walk through.

  David walked Emma up the wide stone staircase situated to the side of the body of the Cathedral, close to the main entrance. They turned an immediate left at the top of the stairs and went slowly past the organ. The organist was due to be stroking the ivory keys of the fine instrument in the next thirty minutes and David did not want to disturb him as he was going through his music books. David softly pushed open the small, wooden door that led to the ringing chamber, and let Emma climb up the small stone staircase in front of him.

  Chapter 76

  David led Emma up the steep and narrow stone steps to the ringing chamber. She had never entered a ringing chamber before and, whilst visibly nervous, it was clear that Emma was taking everything in.

  In stepping onto the wooden panelled floor she noticed the ringing mats underneath each of the tied and hanging bell ropes. The bell ropes formed a perfect circle with the tail ends tied up around the main body of the ropes, just below the fluffy sally. They were bright and colourful, in stark contrast to Emma at this moment. They consisted of concentric bands of white, blue and red. The colours were just the personal preference of the tower and were not significant.

  To her left was the great tower clock, protected in its case. The case was made up of an outer box of wood, which rose from the floor to an average person’s shoulder height, and this was topped off with glass panels that allowed you to see the intricate workings of the mechanical dials, cogs and metallic arms within.

  On the walls were the numerous peal boards. These large, wooden plaques reminded Emma of the grave stones below. They listed the name of a method with the last word of the method telling you how many bells the peal had been rung on. So major would mean eight bells, caters indicated nine bells and royal ten bells. The boards also detailed if the heaviest bell, the tenor, was involved and moving about, or if it continuously ‘donged’ at the back whilst the other bells changed their order. Below the method name were listed the participants in order from the treble to the tenor. A small ‘c’ by the name would mark the caller or captain who had been in control of the ringing.

  Emma was staggered at the history of the place. She knew she was in a Cathedral but she did not expect there to be peal boards going back to the nineteenth century and David was letting her know that many peals had been rung before then.

  There were countless shelves of ringing books and resources, some which would benefit from a dust, she thought, and some more recent pictures of the current ringers on outings, at meetings and for general gatherings consisting of meals and drinking. She was surprised that there were so many social pictures outside of the tower that involved drinking, but reflected that wherever you had a ringing tower, you probably had a very good pub.

  Emma was surprised that no-one else was around. She was aware that the service was due to start in the next half an hour, she had noticed the organist preparing himself, and knew that the bells were rung before and after the service. David indicated to Emma to climb the vertical ladder that led to the bell chamber.

  “Why?” said Emma.

  “We just have to see the views on this lovely spring day,” David replied.

  Actually interested by the prospect of how the bells would appear in the bell chamber and the far reaching views that must be possible from the top of the tower, Emma started to climb the steep wooden steps that led to the bells above. She could not shake the thought of Archie and the two women in the underground chamber from her mind, but perhaps the views would do her some good, and allow her to think of a way out of her current situation.

  The large, red, metal bell frame appeared to her left. The bells had been completely renovated for the Millennium and were still going strong. The ten bells were arranged in a tightly squeezed fashion with the tenor directly ahead of her under the ladder leading to the tower roof and the two trebles, tiny by comparison to her immediate left. The bell chamber was dark compared to the brightness of the ringing room below and the shuttered louvers on each side of the tower were partially closed to limit the amount of noise heard from the outside. This soundproofing worked to good effect and meant that, as long as the ringers continued to ring at the allocated times, and to a reasonable standard, there would be few complaints.<
br />
  Emma reached the trapdoor that opened to the tower roof and looked down towards David. David told her to push it upwards, close to the catch which she had just released. The trap door sprung open into the upright position so that Emma and David could jump up onto the tower roof. The sun seemed to shine directly towards Emma and David as they pushed themselves up to a standing position.

  However Emma felt ambushed and that the sun was not shining on her. Surrounding her on the roof was a Spanish-looking lady in a smart trouser suit and dark hair. She seemed to be with an athletically built, middle-aged man in blue jeans and a shirt. Standing next to the Spanish lady was an older, slightly pot bellied, businessman who gave the manner of being the leader of the group, with a similarly mature lady adjacent to him with whitish hair. Lastly, next to the lady with whitish hair was a hulk of a man, who gave off a strong military demeanour and wore an overcoat and deer stalker hat. Despite the sun shining, it was still cool so the hat gave his short hair a helping hand to keep his head warm.

  All eyes immediately turned their focus to Emma, making the chilly morning air the least of her concerns.

  Chapter 77

  “Ah,” said the Tower Captain as Emma reached the roof, “one of our spies.” There was a look of agreement amongst the group, akin to the impression that Emma was the scum of the earth. She was being viewed as though she were something that you had trodden in, and wanted to be rid of. Their faces indicated that she needed to be dealt with.

  Emma did not know what the Tower Captain was talking about. “One of your spies, what do you mean?” the words came out with a lack of confidence and conviction, even though Emma was deeply trying to hold it together. She was in turmoil and rapidly succumbing to the shock of her roof top welcome.

  “You have been spying on our operation,” the Tower Captain said. “You and your friend Archie.” Emma now began to comprehend where the misunderstanding lay. “No…” she began, “I’ve only just got to know Archie, I know nothing of what you do.”

  “Well, we cannot take that risk” the Tower Captain said with an air of finality and indicated to David and the Woodcutter and Betts to deal with the matter. The Tower Captain descended with Natalia and Mavis to the meeting room adjacent to the ringing chamber below.

  Whatever Emma had imagined, the final position that she found herself in was ultimately far worse.

  The Woodcutter and Betts had told David to go downstairs to join the Tower Captain and the others, and stay out of sight. David clearly still had feelings for Emma but could only have decided now that she was past redemption and left Betts and the Woodcutter to carry on with their work.

  Betts looked on with glee, he immediately pinned Emma’s hands behind her back and laughed, “Are we going to have some fun with you,” he gloated. Within ten minutes, having forced Emma down to the bell chamber, Betts had held up his piece de resistance. An old jacket like contraption. Emma did not recognise what it was but the clothing had come from the man’s ex-military equipment.

  They forced her arms inside the sleeves and around her front so that they were crossing each other. Her hands had to squeeze closed inside the material so that all her fingers were touching, and then were pulled extremely tightly towards her back. Her right arm wrapped round to her left and her left arm wrapped round to her right. They forced a strap adjoined to the jacket around her neck and one from her waist between her legs to a buckle on her back, and tightened the contraption. Betts wove rope around her ankles and knees, and gagged her with part of an old bell rope. Betts had already doused the old bell rope in chloroform otherwise Emma would not stay still enough for what Betts and the Woodcutter were about to do.

  Emma could not move at all and was extremely scared. She was not expecting any of this and the rope gag had sent Emma into muffled screams for a few seconds before the chemical did its work. The tenor bell was in the upside down position, the wooden slider balancing against the stay. The stay appeared extremely fragile and Betts highlighted to the Woodcutter that the Tower Captain had already carried out a neat job of sawing through three quarters of the stay. The next pull, involving the bell slider hitting the stay, would be enough to send it crashing through.

  Emma was hoisted up into the air by both Betts and the Woodcutter and gently placed inside the upturned bell. She was wedged around the clapper to the side of the bell that leant onto the stay. “I wouldn’t move, if I were you Emma, as you wouldn’t want to come crashing down on us, would you?” Betts laughed in an excited manner, as though he could not wait for it to happen.

  Emma was totally unaware of her predicament as she had passed out into a deep sleep. She could not begin to comprehend that if the bell was allowed to crash through the wooden stay that balanced the one ton chunk of metal currently held upside down, it would keep dangerously swinging back and forwards. The weight of the bell would continue to make it swing to and fro under its own momentum until it had released all of its energy and gravity had pulled it down to a standstill.

  Emma would not know what would happen to her. Would she fall out as a dead weight to the bell chamber floor, or would the speed of the swinging with her being wedged to the side of the clapper hold her in to the sides? She would have to focus on anything else, something that would provide her with hope. Try as she might, no immediate thoughts would come to mind. Everything tangible that she would think of – Archie, the women – just brought her closer to despair.

  Chapter 78

  Betts and the Woodcutter lowered themselves to join Mavis, the Tower Captain, Natalia and David, who had all already descended the belfry ladders and walked across to the meeting room adjoining the ringing chamber.

  Both Betts and the Woodcutter were surprised by the number of individuals in the room. Gathered together were a mixed group of people who were mostly in their late middle age. Betts and the Woodcutter took in the greying hair, the hands adjusting spectacles, the audience locating their seats for the meeting. Above all, there was the constant shuffling of impatience which pervaded the assembled throng.

  You could also feel that a clear excitement hung in the air about being within the gathered number, within this seemingly select group. The two men viewed every person from the entrance door located at a ninety degree angle to the layout of the room. They noticed the top table facing the chairs, the only furnishings of the room, and all of the attendees who were very ready for the meeting to begin.

  Betts and the Woodcutter took the empty couple of seats nearest to the door and waited attentively for the Portsmouth Cathedral Tower Captain to begin. The Tower Captain stood up from behind the centre of the top table. He was a man who naturally held an audience captive as he had an air of authority. His mannerisms intrigued and fascinated and left you wanting more. Confident, assertive and projecting the cut and thrust of what they were all here for. How much money were they going to make? When would they receive it? What would they all have to do to ensure the utmost secrecy and that the supply reached all the necessary parts of the country?

  The group had come together from far and wide with Tower Captains persuaded to come on board from all parts of the United Kingdom. These regional area representatives would store the supply easily within their towers and the storage was discreet. Whoever checked belfries, ringing chambers and other areas within towers apart from the ringers themselves? The first trial of the system had worked well. So well that the supply was to increase fivefold. The stock on the Islander would cover the pensions of all in the room with money to spare.

  The Spanish lady with the dark hair stood up and oozed annoyance. She took the assembled party through how the cocaine was put together as a paste in the jungle rainforest. How she received the packages in Lima once they had travelled across the barren heights of Bolivia by 4x4 vehicle; the onward route by llama trains over the Andes through to the warehouses of the sea port. She reiterated the blood, sweat and tears sacrificed for the supply. She took her rapt audience through the loss of life on
this trip alone, the reduced number of packages provided by the original tribal people due to issues with Government forces in Bolivia. She demanded more money for the supply otherwise none of those present would be receiving any cut whatsoever. Natalia returned to her seat having shocked those listening into a deadly silence.

  The organ started to play in the distant body of the Cathedral. It signalled that there were only fifteen minutes to the morning service and then the joyous sound of the bells would peal out. The bells would wake those who were snoozing and reminded the remainder that Sunday had truly begun.

  The Tower Captain’s face was pale. Normally a larger than life character, this was most unusual. His face had completely drained of blood, leaving him appearing slightly nauseous. His other half, Mavis, put her hand on his forearm, pinching him gently between her finger and thumb. He seemed to come round out of his ghost like trance. “Yes, we will increase your fee, Natalia, but we need to see the stock first. It is imperative that it is distributed successfully to all gathered here. This is only fair.”

  Natalia was not in a position to argue. Without her brothers acting as her personal henchmen she would have to employ others to carry out any physical work that was required. She accepted the Tower Captain’s words, and the whole mood of the room lifted. The Tower Captain and Natalia completed pre-prepared draft documentation that would be fully agreed once the stock had been tested by the Tower Captain’s organisation. Natalia commented that, as the first stage of business had been completed, she would be on her way.