The Ringer

by Greg Hunt

  Frantically he peered inside the second largest bell, the ninth. Emma was not there. If she was screaming, Archie realised, he would not have heard her. He frantically balanced his feet sideways onto the main beam and went over to the tenor bell. He hopped up onto the frame and peered down into the inside of the bell. There she was. Terrified and unable to move. What had they done to her? A cramped and restricted body with ringing rope round her mouth, a dirty jacket clamping her arms around her torso and additional rope around her legs.

  Archie was totally aware of the peril that Emma was in. The six lighter bells were now fully upright, but the ringers below in the ringing chamber continued to ring them. Just a little longer, Archie thought, give me just a little longer. Jackie and Jo would have to help remove Emma from her peril. Archie wedged a metal bar against the partially broken stay so that Emma could be dragged out of the upturned bell. Even though the metal was in place, it would only take a ringer below to pull the bell rope and all of them could say goodbye to their lives. The drugged Emma did not seem to react at first. Completely deafened by the bells moving and striking around her she did not gauge that she was being helped out until Archie, Jackie and Jo all heaved her to the side of the bell chamber. There was no time to say anything; all of their words disappeared into the din of the belfry anyway.

  The girls concentrated on removing the metal that had been propped against the partially broken wooden stay and then, as had been discussed with Archie, quickly went to work on the stay of the ninth. Hacked successfully, the ninth bell would also crash through what was left of the wooden stay, and mean the bell would not stop turning until gravity brought its movement to a halt.

  Archie ran up to the top of the tower, abseiled down the entire height of the Cathedral, sprinted round to the internal staircase that led to the ringing chamber door past the organ, took the narrow stone steps two at a time, pushed open the door and descended into the ringing room. As all was quiet he said, in out of breath gasps to those gathered, but mainly in the direction of the Tower Captain, “Sorry I’m late. I don’t mind ringing the tenor as a forfeit if you want to take the ninth…”

  Chapter 83

  David was standing in the ringing room of the Cathedral having helped to ring up the smaller front six bells with the local band. The local band had included the Tower Captain and Mavis and another of Archie’s ringing mentors Richard. The Tower Captain felt gobsmacked when a noticeably bruised Archie walked into the ringing room, as it was only in the previous hour that David himself had made sure that Archie was secure within the underground room.

  The Tower Captain responded quickly and hid his excitement. David recognised that this suggestion by a ‘beaten up’ Archie fitted well within their overall scheme. David played along. By Archie taking the tenor, Archie would pull the bell that would knock Emma into oblivion above. The irony was exquisite, and not lost on David. It would be a fitting, and hopefully final, ending for them both. The action of pulling the tenor rope was likely to do much more than Archie would normally expect. At the very least he would knock himself unconscious and escape with a minor injury and at worst he had a good chance of never ringing or doing any activity ever again. Perhaps it would be a slow death; David mused.

  As the bell crashed through the wooden stay the rope would wrap up into the ringing chamber ceiling, the tail end of which Archie would be holding. It would happen so quickly that Archie would be off his feet and hitting his head on the ceiling joists, probably before realising he should have let go.

  The Tower Captain nodded to Archie. This signal of confirmation was enough to say that it was alright for Archie to take the tenor. Archie and the Tower Captain were to begin the most memorable ring of their lives. The Tower Captain wanted the tenor bell to be involved and moving about in the method and therefore shouted, “Right, a half course of Yorkshire Royal.”

  If they all pulled together as a band, the ringers knew that the method had the potential to sound very musical, to ripple along, and produce a beautiful ring.

  Archie was concentrating as intensely as he had concentrated during any previous mission. Having saved Emma from her certain fate, he now had to ensure that he did not allow his bell to touch the stay. The crucial part would be when the method came to an end and all the ringers would have to stand their bells to stop them swinging and bring the reverberations of sound and movement of rope and ringer and bell to an end. If Archie allowed his bell to touch its stay with the normal amount of force, it would be certain to break through the weakened piece of wood.

  The Yorkshire Royal sounded like a set piece. Archie, the Tower Captain, Mavis and David were all engrossed in their own thoughts. David and the Tower Captain could not help but glance at Archie every so often out of the corner of their eyes, this would be the end to all the spying and to any risk that lay in the way of their future fortunes. All the work that had taken place to ensure the smooth operation from South America and across the UK would now be worthwhile.

  Everyone in the ringing chamber felt part of a special piece of bell-ringing. It was the build up to greater things. The type of experience that you want to go on and on and on. When it does come to an end you want to share what you have felt during the event. For David, the Tower Captain and Mavis, they could not share why this was such a special ring for them. Each of those in the know were ringing as if there was no tomorrow, totally absorbed and entwined within the moment, aware that they were on the edge of much more exciting and enriched lives.

  The half course was nearly up and the Tower Captain was brimming with anticipation. He did not often feel how he felt at this moment and it was definitely not possible for him to put the experience into words. He knew that the band were less than a minute away from removing Archie permanently. He kept telling himself to concentrate and finally shouted “Plain Hunt,” which would bring the ringers back into rounds within the next few moments.

  Archie knew that he had to bring his bell to a stop and rest it exactly on the balance without letting it touch the stay. He was nervous. His thoughts remained on Emma. She would ensure that he could cope with this. His operation would rightfully succeed. The perpetrators would be brought to justice, with only a few seconds to go now. The Yorkshire Royal had come to a close, the band were ringing rounds, they were about to stand their bells.

  Chapter 84

  The Tower Captain shouted “Stand.”

  From call to actual action there is always a full motion of hand-stroke and back-stroke. At hand-stroke the ringers were holding onto the fluffy sally of their ropes whilst the remainder wrapped around the wooden wheels that powered the attached bells to swing. This was immediately followed by the back-stroke where all of the ropes dropped back down in sequence through the respective eye-holes in the ringing room ceiling. The length of the ropes fell down to the floor so that each ringer could then catch their fluffy blue, red and white sally to stand their bell.

  As Archie, David, The Tower Captain and Mavis pulled their last back-strokes down before standing their bells at hand-stroke, there was a mixture of thoughts between them. Archie would do everything possible just to hold his bell on the balance so that he could pass the rope to someone else to allow him to check that Emma was really alright up above. David wanted to see Archie have a fitting end. If the bell did not drag him up by its rope to the ringing room ceiling and knock him out then David was going to see to it himself. The Tower Captain was well aware that Archie was just about to lose his footing, good riddance he thought. The lad had just come too close to upsetting the whole operation. Mavis, she had so many plans for spending, so many plans. She had not had a shopping expedition with her daughter Monica for ages. She would treat herself for the successful completion of the distribution of the stock from the Islander. Not a flashy shop, nothing ridiculous, just what she and her daughter deserved, a little luxury.

  The bells started to stand in sequence, beginning with the lightest, the treble, which Mavis was ringing. She had
the most time to take in what happened next. The time between the treble and all of the other bells standing was less than a second. The bells continued to stand at hand-stroke. Four, five, six. The wave of motion whipped round to the ninth which her husband was ringing.

  He was not standing anymore; he was off his feet, being powered up to the ceiling by the rope. It happened so fast that he did not have time to speak or shout.

  His head cracked against the rafters fifteen feet above before he tumbled to the floor. Out of control, falling head first downwards, he smashed into the polished oak floor boards with a deadly crunch.

  Archie was still holding onto the sally. He had dared not move as he was balancing the whole weight of the tenor on the balance and knew the broken stay would not support the weight of the bell.

  David rushed over to the crumpled body of the Tower Captain, who was soon surrounded by the rest of the ringers in the tower.

  Archie managed to tap Richard with his outstretched right arm who had been ringing the eighth on the other side of the Tower Captain. Richard refocused on Archie who was still standing holding his rope, Archie pleaded with him,

  “Can you ring the tenor down? There’s no stay on this bell either and I need to phone for help and direct the ambulance crew up the tower.”

  At that moment, there were footsteps coming up the ringing chamber steps. What was he doing here? Archie could not believe it as Commander Edgar Bennett appeared.

  Chapter 85

  The Commander reviewed the scene that lay before his eyes. The Tower Captain appeared still, not moving and lying on the floor just off centre.

  Most of the ringers were gathered around him, one checking for a pulse. Another, it was David, was holding his head and attempting to hear breathing or see his chest rise or fall. Archie, yes it was Archie, was scrambling up the ladder leading to the bell chamber. The Commander did not know that Archie was joining Jackie and Jo above to finally liberate Emma. A man was ringing down the lowest sounding bell, presumably the heaviest, in front of him, and the faces of all in the room were showing shock, strain and stress. They were in need for someone to take control.

  The Commander was the man for the job. He called for calm. He organised the group of people to see if any had first aid experience. A couple had recently been on a refresher CPR course. “Get on with it then,” said the Commander. The two ringers with the most resuscitation knowledge went to work. Once the Tower Captain had received air, the other ringer pressed down over his heart, pumping his lifeless chest in line with the numbers that he was counting, one through to fifteen. There was no reaction. They kept giving CPR, on and on. The ambulance crew had to be on site soon and take over but, in the meantime, the ringers did what they could.

  David was in shock at having seen the Tower Captain hit his head and then crumple to the ringing chamber floor. The Tower Captain had been a father figure to him. Mavis was staring at David, almost crying, although she was not able to look at her husband lying on the floor of the ringing room, incapacitated and not responding to her fellow bell-ringers’ attempts to bring him round.

  Mavis eventually let the tears flood down her cheeks. The stream did not relent. On and on her tears flowed. She was crying for her dead husband, the Tower Captain, for her daughter Monica and how she would cope without a father and for David, the Tower Captain’s honorary son.

  The Tower Captain had always wanted a son and this had not been a part of their life together. When David came along as a student to the St. Mary’s and Portsmouth Cathedral ringing group, the Tower Captain had wanted to get to know David. They became close. The Tower Captain had let David into their business venture. David was already dealing; but this was on a much larger scale. He had known that he could trust David, and the Tower Captain had been an important figurehead and mentor for him. Mavis continued to weep.

  Chapter 86

  The ambulance paramedics had an air of efficiency and training and appeared on the scene wearing their green overalls and took over from the two ringers who had attempted to revive the Tower Captain. Their local team was having a busy morning with their colleagues attending an accident on the M275. The authoritative voice of Commander Edgar Bennett subsequently ushered all of the ringers out of the tower and told them to wait at the bottom of the narrow stone steps.

  This allowed the paramedics to go to work. Meanwhile, the Commander scaled the belfry ladder that continued up to the tower roof. At the top of the ladder the Commander had difficulty pushing open the hatch. The daylight streamed down towards him as he tilted his head upwards. He was greeted by Jo and Jackie who had stepped aside for Archie to talk with Emma.

  Archie and Emma turned their attention towards the Commander.

  “I was wrong,” the Commander said simply to Archie. “We now have your man David downstairs, and it looks as though the ringleader has passed away. I’ve also had to surprise my personal assistant Monica, who was the daughter of the Tower Captain, as you probably already knew. They are both being led away from the Cathedral as we speak.”

  Archie viewed the Commander through fresh eyes. “I did not know about Monica and I am pleased that you caught David. Whilst we’re unable to track down all of the South American suppliers, we’ve closed down this UK group for good.” Archie’s face lit up, all his worrying over the last few months might finally have come to an end.

  “Fancy a walk,” Archie said to all present.

  It was on the seafront promenade that Emma and Archie, Jackie and Jo, and the Commander found themselves twenty minutes later. Wind blowing through their hair, the salt spray visible off the bow waves of the sailing yachts in the distance, all of the party took a moment to breathe in the air and absorb the far reaching horizon. The hovercraft was zooming across to Ryde on the Isle of Wight and the Pride of Bilbao ferry was making its way through the entry buoys. The ferry carefully kept the bobbing red buoys to the left and the green starboard buoys to the right. The ferry sea lane cut through this swathe of the Solent, leading all the way to the harbour entrance.

  Not so many luxury cruise ships passed through Portsmouth anymore. When they did, the age old saying of “Port Out, Starboard Home” had significance if the occupants of the cabins wanted to have the view of the shoreline. These cabins were always the far more expensive quarters.

  The Commander turned to Archie, “We need to catch up with all of the main stock that was brought off the Islander.”

  Archie nodded, for he had already had similar thoughts. “Let’s take a trip up to the Tower Captain’s place.”

  The five of them piled into the Commander’s old Volvo and were soon off the Portsmouth roads and skirting through the southern Hampshire countryside. The outskirts of the town had given way to hedgerows, brambles and trees. The Commander wound down his window and rested a hand out onto the edge of the metal roof of the car.

  The Volvo swept into the Tower Captain’s grounds and up the long gravel drive to the beautiful old house. Archie had an intake of breath at the size of the property and Emma and the girls in the back savoured the perfectly manicured lawns and were peering as far as possible to the paddocks beyond.

  What a place! It was impressive what drug money could buy. It took the five of them over thirty minutes to properly inspect the property and outbuildings. Emma had not been able to take her eyes off the pigs and hens. An incredible life, she considered. It was only once they had scoured the whole property that the car in the outbuildings and the other small packages in its boot were revealed to contain the remainder of the stock from the freighter; an incredible haul. The vehicle was full to the brim of cocaine, packaged in every way inside the metal chassis, which had been specially designed to take the sealed packages.

  The Commander called in the Police and, once they had arrived, suggested that they all properly retire to the local public house, The Bell Inn.

  “The property will have to go up for auction, you know Archie,” said the Commander. “It would be
a shame for a hard worker to miss out on such a beautiful rare opportunity, especially when that hard worker is still working in conjunction with the Navy, albeit discreetly, and would be at the top end of any previous officer scale.”

  Archie was stunned and could not keep his grin from showing. He had work to do, which included the lady opposite him. She was chatting away with Jackie and Jo, giggling at something that had amused them all, loving the scenery and surroundings and letting the countryside do much of the talking.

  “I might just go for that auction, Commander, I might just do that.” The five headed back up the lane by foot to the local hostelry. They could hear the police sirens closing in. Archie was warm inside and could not resist grabbing Emma’s hand.

  At last, Archie considered, life was definitely on the up.

  Epilogue

  Archie was humming to himself. He was digging over a vegetable bed, removing all of the weeds that had appeared over the previous wintry months. Many of the roots were extremely resistant to his pulling and levering. The local blackbird was singing in the tree above him and the nosy neighbourhood robin kept hopping forward and turning its head to an odd angle, checking to see if he had upturned any worms.

  The young plants that Emma had grown from seed could shortly be planted. The seedlings had shot up in the greenhouse and were now thickening out ready to take their chances against any wild rabbits, rodents and general garden bugs.

  Archie had extended the existing, traditional, vegetable patch to the house, by incorporating a couple of raised beds. He had also added fruit. The thin and wiry raspberry canes stood in front of one of the perimeter hedges, crisscrossed and internally dissected by the many blackberry brambles which led onto the gooseberry and blueberry bushes.

  Archie turned towards the house, a good few hundred metres in the distance. Emma had appeared from the back door and she beckoned him in as lunch was ready.