by Jennie Finch
‘Is my probation officer,’ muttered Nick who was shuffling along at the back. Max swung round to face him, keeping a firm grip on Alex.
‘Your probation officer? Well, what the hell’s she doin’ here? Paying a visit maybe, to make sure you’s behaving or summ’et?’
‘Don’t know why she’s out here,’ Nick mumbled. ‘She just drove up and seen us. Now I’s in real trouble on account of I’m in the hostel, see. ’Ent supposed to be out.’
Max reached Alex’s car and dumped her down next to it, glaring at the sorry bunch surrounding him. There was a moment when Alex thought she might be able to talk her way out of her predicament but a swift kick from Max laid her groaning on the ground. This is bad, she thought. This is really bad. Closing her eyes for a moment she tried to remember all her training, desperate to dredge up something, anything that might help, but all the work they’d done at college had been designed to help her avoid this sort of situation in the first place. From what she had seen of Max, from his actions and the tone of his voice, she had little hope of appealing to his better nature. This young man was dangerous, a little psychopath in the making.
‘Reckon we’ve no choice,’ said Max to his followers. ‘Can’t be having you sent back to prison, can we now?’ He chuckled, a humourless sound that made Alex want to shudder. ‘No, I say we put her to good use. Got all these accidents set up as drownings – well, let’s do it properly this time.’
There was a gasp from someone in the group but no-one protested as Max went on.
‘Is sick of all this anyway. We’m clearing off after this, boys. More profit to be made in Bristol any night of the week. Don’t know about you lot but I’m sick of all them yokels. Sick of Old Man Monarch and his stupid secrets an’ all. I say we leave her in the marsh, make it look like all the others and make sure Tom Monarch’s lot get done for it.’
‘How we gonna do that then?’ demanded someone – Jason, Alex thought.
‘Easy,’ said Max. I got a couple of notes from him – just rip off who they’s sent to and leave ’um scattered around. Mr Plod’ll maybe think he lured her out here. And look,’ Max fished in his pocket and pulled out the torch he’d been using out on the marsh, ‘he give us this. Now, it maybe has my prints on the outside so I’ll have to wipe it, but sure as eggs his prints is on the batteries, inside. So that’s getting left too.’
Nice, thought Alex. Cunning – and it just might work. She felt a twinge of pity for ‘Old Man Monarch’, whoever he might be. Sounds like an old river legend, she thought. A venerable fish or maybe a frog … Focus, she told herself fiercely. This is not the time for stupid flights of fancy. Max stood over her and stared at the slumped form.
‘So lads,’ he said, his voice turning sly and suggestive, ‘anyone fancy a bit of fun before we do her?’
Alex went cold with horror, then felt a rush of fury that made her head swim. She forced herself to lie still, waiting for one of them to get within range. As a man, Max’s followers stepped back and Alex was relieved to hear Nick Stevens’ voice.
‘That’s out of order, just wrong that is. ’Ent having nothing to do with that sort of thing.’ There were murmurs of agreement from the others but Max rounded on them angrily.
‘What, you’s not worried about wasting her then? Pretty sick set of values you lot has.’
‘’Ent so sure about that neither,’ muttered someone, and Alex could sense the fear in them now. Max was not about to let any reluctant witnesses leave the scene and they knew it.
‘Well, let’s just get rid of her and be off,’ said Max, and he leaned over to haul her apparently senseless body up.
Despite the desire to flinch away from him, Alex lay heavy and still, her full weight forcing him over towards her. As Max heaved her upright she brought her knee up as fast as she could, slamming it between his legs. Max went down as if he’d been slugged round the back of his head and Alex stepped backwards, looking down at him as he writhed in agony in the mud. She risked a quick glance around and froze in shock as she realized that not three but seven or eight men were now surrounding her. Nick stood a few yards away, his posture rigid, his eyes staring at her in terror and she realized he had something pressed up against his throat, a knife – the stranger behind him was holding a knife to his throat. Moving very slowly she stepped out of reach, searching frantically for a way out of the situation.
‘Do not be afraid,’ said a soft voice, and a tall, muscular figure with greying hair stepped forwards. ‘We don’t mean you harm,’ he continued. ‘We were about to intervene but it seems you’s more than capable of taking care of yourself.’
The unknown man grinned at her, flashing a gold tooth before gesturing to several henchmen to pick up the still-writhing Max. They dragged him away and dumped him unceremoniously beside the other car, leaving Alex in the centre of a group of men, all but one total strangers. She looked at Nick and realized he seemed close to fainting.
‘I don’t think these three were going to go through with anything,’ she said, addressing the man with the gold tooth. ‘Anyway, he’s one of mine and I’ll be in real trouble if he gets killed when he’s supposed to be in the hostel.’ There was an uncertain pause before the man threw back his head and laughed. The others raised a few chuckles but kept tight hold of Max’s gang, watching their leader for any indication of his wishes.
‘You have spirit,’ said the leader nodding with approval. ‘I like that in a woman.’
Now was not the time to protest at being patronized, Alex decided. Anyway, she owed this man and his collection of ruffians a huge debt. Providing they were going to let her go, of course. She wasn’t sure she trusted them and she didn’t like the glint in Gold-tooth’s eyes as he watched her, standing still but poised like a cat wondering whether to pounce.
‘What will you do, to teach him a lesson, if I release him?’ he asked.
Bloody good question, thought Alex. Take him back to court and have him sent down? He wouldn’t like it but he’d not learn much from it either.
‘I want to make sure he learns from this,’ she said, tilting her head defiantly and meeting his stare with a confidence she was far from feeling. ‘If I take him back to court I can get an extended residency order …’ She was losing them. A look of impatience flitted over the leader’s face at the jargon. She took a deep breath and began again. ‘I’m his probation officer and I can make it so he lives where I say, works where I say he can, comes to my centre and does anything I want him to. He will learn a proper trade and I’ll not let him go until he shows he’s fit to mix with decent people. His life will be mine until then.’ At least, that’s the theory, she added silently.
Gold-tooth nodded and a slow grin spread over his face. ‘That is quite a lesson,’ he said. ‘And also quite a task. What makes you think you can do this?’
‘I think it is harder to live under constant supervision for two years than do a short time inside,’ said Alex. ‘If lads like Nick break the law then they give me the right to stick my nose into their lives and tell them what to do until they learn how to behave.’ Or until the probation order ends, she added mentally.
Gold-tooth flicked his fingers and the man holding Nick let him go, stepping away as the young man slumped forwards, almost falling over.
Staring at him, Gold-tooth said, ‘You are fortunate you have someone who cares enough to argue for you. Remember this and learn your lesson. Now go – get off the Levels and stay away.’
Nick needed no encouragement. Taking to the road, he raced out of sight, arms and legs pumping frantically as he tore through the night to the dubious welcome of the hostel in Highpoint.
‘So,’ the man continued, ‘we need to decide what to do with the rest of you.’
Chapter Seventeen
After a short but brutal argument, Dave drove off towards the Levels with Sue following in her own car. Despite his misgivings, her argument that with two vehicles they could cover twice the ground did make sense, though he had ins
isted she take a torch, some chocolate, a flask of hot tea and several blankets. He had also set out her area for the search.
‘Don’t go outside this part,’ he said, marking Sue’s copy of the ‘Edgar’ with a red pen. Sue considered this unnecessarily melodramatic but agreed, somewhat reluctantly, when he added, ‘I don’t want to be looking for you as well. If we meet up at this point here,’ he indicated the road running past Kings Sedgemoor, close to the peat works, ‘say every forty-five minutes, then no-one’s going to be searching for someone who has already been found.’
Slightly reassured by his show of confidence, Sue set off, heading for Godney, where Simon’s mother and two brothers lived with occasional additions from unspecified relatives. Although she had done the journey several times for home visits, she discovered driving on the Levels at night was a whole different game from popping out during the day. Even in winter it was possible to orientate yourself by looking out over the landscape, but in the dark every road, every hedge and ditch looked the same. She found herself resorting to Alex’s method of route finding – reciting landmarks and turns to herself in an effort to keep on track.
‘Right on to gravelly bit, big hedge on my left,’ she sang softly as she bowled through the night. ‘Then left at the willows, watch out for the rocks.’ She swerved round the broken stones in the centre of the track and headed up the slow, low hill towards her destination. Suddenly there was a bright, white flash followed by an explosion behind her and off to the left. Sue slammed on her brakes and leapt from the car, peering out over the marsh and blinking to clear the faint spots from her vision. All was still and she was just about to dismiss the incident as kids playing with fireworks when the faintest sounds reached her. Tiny, plaintive voices were coming from the same direction as the explosion. Gritting her teeth as she wrestled with the heavy steering, Sue fought the car into a multiple-point turn and headed down towards the source of the noise. It was close to the meeting point and only a bit off her designated area, she thought. It wasn’t like she was going to get lost on the marsh.
Simon had also seen the flash and was heading towards it as fast as his tired legs could carry him. He didn’t like fireworks and the bang had caused him to stop in his tracks, frozen for a moment as he shivered in the cold air, but Alex was relying on him: he had promised to get help and Simon always tried to keep his word. Rounding a long, slow bend in the road he slowed when he saw several figures hurrying towards him. Slipping in amongst the stunted willows, Simon shuffled forwards, alert and ready to bolt past if necessary.
‘Who’s that then?’ came a voice ahead of him and he stepped out into the road with a sense of relief.
‘Mrs Mallory?’ he managed, though his breath was coming in short gasps. He was an accomplished runner but steady, long distances were his great strength. In his anxiety over Alex he had upped his pace too high and had been fading fast.
‘Oh – ’tis you lad. Just in time too. Come on – ’ent no time to waste, else he’ll be gone. Come on!’ Ada grabbed Simon’s arm and began hauling him towards the path leading to the first hidden bridge. Simon flinched, pulling his hand away and scuttling out of reach.
‘No, you’s gotta come with I,’ he said. ‘She’s out there, and they’s looking for her and I promised.’ He was almost crying in his desperation.
Ada grabbed him again and held on more firmly this time.
‘I don’t know what you is on about, boy, but unless your friend is up to their neck in the marsh I reckon we got more of an emergency situation right here. Now come on!’
Swerving round the bend, Sue almost took them all out. Responding instinctively to their shocked, white faces she slammed on the brakes, swerving over to the other side of the road and just missing Lily by a few feet.
‘Simon!’ she shouted as she flung open the door and hurried across the road. Simon took one look at her and tried to bolt but Ada still had him firmly by the arm, determined he was not going anywhere.
‘Where the bloody hell have you been?’ Sue demanded, then paused as she took in the motley little group. ‘And just what is going on?’
Stepping into the silence, Ada gestured urgently.
‘There’s a man fallen in the marsh. He’s sinking – could even be gone if we’m going to stand around here gabbing. You got to help, both of you.’ Still gripping Simon’s arm she dragged him towards a narrow gap in the hedge.
‘I got to go,’ wailed Simon. ‘I left her and they was looking for her. ’Ent safe – and I promised.’
Sue leaned forwards and took hold of his other arm.
‘Promised who? Who’s not safe? Come on Simon!’
‘You’m hurting,’ said Simon. ‘You’s pulling me in two. Let go or I ’ent going nowhere.’
Sue let go of him and gestured to Ada who reluctantly released the distressed young man. Simon groaned and rubbed at his wrists and elbows, turning his back on the others before speaking over his shoulder.
‘Is Alex, out there, up along she is. Was a couple of lads from Bristol an’ one from hostel and they was chasing but I hid her. So I got to get back with help and soon ’cos I reckon she ’ent safe there. Not for long.’
‘We can go after,’ said Ada. ‘You got to help – he’s drowning out there!’
Sue laid her hand gently on Simon’s shoulder and spoke to him softly.
‘We have to help Ada’s friend,’ she said. ‘Then we’ll go and get Alex, I promise. Come on – Ada, you lead the way.’
Ada was off across the fringes of the marsh, bounding from one tuft of reeds to another with a speed and grace that belied her years. Lily, who had been silent throughout this exchange, gave Sue a hard look and set off after Ada, her face grim as she hopped carefully across the worst of the mud.
Reluctantly, Simon followed with Sue bringing up the rear, her feet still encased in light sandals despite Dave’s good advice. The dank water oozed around her feet, trickling between her toes, and she fought the temptation to rip off the useless shoes and scrub her feet clean on the drier grass. Some ‘night in’ this was turning out to be, she thought, as with gritted teeth she ploughed after the others.
Out in the marsh, Tom still clung to the fragile mat of withies but he could feel his strength failing and it was getting harder to grip with every passing minute. It would be so much easier just to let go and slip beneath the surface but his will to live was strong and he tilted his head back, thinking of Ada. How would she feel, he thought, coming all this way round to find him gone. She’d had enough grief this past year without having to carry that as well. Despite appearances, Tom was at heart a kind man and he had always nursed an affection for Ada. He rather wished he had hung around when they were both young and free but he had followed the kumpania, still being the dutiful son, and by the time they had returned to the Levels Ada was walking out with Frank Mallory. He closed his eyes, remembering Ada as she had been all those years ago, but forced them open again as he felt himself drifting, in danger of falling asleep as the cold wormed its way through his body, slowing his heart and making each breath a little shorter than the last.
It would not be long now, he thought. There were lights dancing in front of his eyes and he was beginning to hallucinate, soft voices whispering his name out in the dark.
‘Tom? Tom! Don’t you go dying on me now! I ’ent been ploughing through all this muck just to see you give up.’
He wasn’t hallucinating and the lights were reflections from the torches held by Ada and her friend. Friends, he corrected himself as he saw the shadowy figures out of the corner of his eye. Oh, she was a real miracle worker. He smiled and felt the surrounding water slip up around his mouth. Too late, he realized, just a few minutes too late …
There was a flash of agony from his head and he felt his face rise an inch or two out of the water. Not daring to open his mouth to protest, he stifled a moan as Ada, leaning far out across the mud, held on to him by his hair. Behind her, Lily held her by the belt of her coat with Simon and
Sue hovering on the little mound, unsure what they should do.
‘Gimme your belt,’ Ada puffed. ‘Come on Lily, we needs something for a rope here.’
Tom, his head pulled back by Ada’s fierce grip, wondered briefly if she was going to lasso him around the neck and try to pull him out that way. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t prefer that – quick strangulation would be preferable to scalping. Then he heard another voice in the distance, a man, and he had a horrible vision of Max returning to gloat over his plight.
‘Sue? Sue – I saw your car. What the hell are you doing out there?’ called Dave Brown, hovering on the solid ground and peering out over the mud.
‘Dave? Dave, stay where you are!’ yelled Sue, turning to Ada for help.
‘I don’t know the way – can you show him?’
‘And how do you suggest I do that then?’ puffed Ada from her prone position holding on to Tom. ‘Lily, gimme the belt – hurry up woman. Now go and get that lad. ‘Nother pair of strong arms is what we need.’
Lily slid down the side of the mound and began to retrace her steps across the little causeway towards Dave.
‘Ask him if he’s got anything useful in that car of his,’ Ada shouted after her, ‘like a rope or summat.’
Dave watched in astonishment as Lily appeared to walk on the water towards him, her feet hidden by the low layer of mist that clung to the landscape, coiling around the willows and snaking through the reeds.
‘Stop looking like that,’ she said, reaching the bank beside him. ‘Like a guppy, with yer mouth all flapping open. Now, you got anything useful in yer car? I’m assuming you is in a car, unless you’s another crazy runner like young Simon.’ She blinked up at him, eyes bright in the moonlight. Like a curious little bird, he thought.
‘Do you know Simon?’ he asked, still trying to understand what was going on.
‘Course,’ said Lily pushing past him. ‘Everyone knows Simon. Now – have you got a rope or summat useful or not? A man’s drownin’ out there. Hurry up, will you?’