Blood Line: What if your family was the last left alive? (The Blood Line Trilogy Book 1)

by Michael Green

  Duncan breathed a little easier.

  Nigel nodded to his sons. Damian picked up the axe; there were gasps and cries of ‘No!’ as Jasper dragged Aunt Margaret towards the block. The crowd surged forward.

  ‘Hold it there, or else!’ Greg shouted from the parapet. They stopped again. Many of them were crying as Jasper forced Aunt Margaret’s head across the block.

  ‘Is there anything you want to say?’ Nigel asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Aunt Margaret said in a clear, defiant voice.

  Even the sobs were muffled as people leaned forward to hear what she had to say.

  ‘Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.’

  ‘No prayers!’ Nigel shrieked.

  ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.’

  The axe came crashing down.

  ‘On earth as it is in heaven.’ It was Diana’s voice.

  As Aunt Margaret’s severed head fell into the basket in front of the block, the others joined in. ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’

  ‘Stop the prayers!’ Nigel yelled.

  However, no one was listening and he knew he’d lost control. He jumped down off the cart, followed by Jasper and Damian.

  ‘Forgive those who trespass against us,’ rang defiantly in Nigel’s ears as he hurried from the courtyard.

  Greg, alone on the parapet manning the machine gun, was perplexed; he’d just seen his father and brothers disobeyed.

  As soon as the Lord’s Prayer was finished, the sound of Aunt Margaret’s favourite hymn, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’, reverberated around Flag Court.

  ‘No hymns!’ Greg shouted, but hardly anyone heard him above the singing, and those who could hear him no longer cared.

  The community pushed the cart bearing Aunt Margaret’s body through the central arch beneath Cromwell’s Tower and into Lawn Court. Then they walked down the central flagstone path and across the grass before halting beside the statue of Venus. Paul collected spades and as they all sang hymns, Warren, Paul and Cameron dug the grave. It took many hymns before they had dug six feet into the lawn.

  They lowered Aunt Margaret’s body into the earth and Charlene read the Christian burial service from Aunt Margaret’s own prayer book. Then the hymns began again and continued throughout the morning.

  As Nigel sat alone in the King’s Room, trying to ignore the singing, he looked down at the crumpled envelope lying in the wastepaper bin. He’d found the letter the night before, propped up on his pillow. How dare anyone enter his quarters and leave a letter?

  When none of the Morgan girls would admit to leaving it, he’d punished the whole family by putting them on treadmill duty. Then he’d screwed up the envelope and thrown it into the bin.

  He’d looked at the envelope many times since. With the Morgan girls on treadmill duty his wastepaper basket hadn’t been emptied, as it normally would have been.

  Finally, the hymns grating on his nerves, his inquisitiveness got the better of him. He stooped down, picked up the crumpled envelope, removed the wrinkled letter and smoothed it out on his precious silver table. Then he took his spectacles and began to read:

  Dear Nigel,

  The fact you are reading this letter will indicate that we are now safely away from Haver.

  I would have liked to have had a discussion with you pointing out the advantages that would accrue to everyone, including yourself and your sons, were the community at Haver to be governed on a democratic basis.

  However, I fear there are none so deaf as those who do not wish to hear, and consequently I am simply instructing you to install democracy at Haver immediately.

  The community is to be governed by a committee representing all families. All basic human rights are to be observed.

  At some time in the future we will return. It may be tomorrow, next week, next year, or the year after. When we do, we will be prepared. If the community is not being run along democratic lines, you will be held to account.

  Finally, if you, or your sons, harm any of my relatives in my absence, you will be tried for your crime upon my return.

  Yours sincerely,

  Mark Chatfield

  A message from the Author

  I hope you enjoyed this book. If you did, PLEASE recommend it to your friends. REVIEWS would also be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. Thank you.

  If you would like to read the other books in the trilogy, learn more about the author or read his blog, please visit www.mgc.co.nz

  ‘The Blood Line Trilogy’

  Blood Line (the first volume): When a pandemic strikes, members of the Chatfield family possess a crucial advantage. Guessing that their relatives on the other side of the world might also have escaped the devastating super-SARS virus, and knowing that for their ultimate survival they must increase their gene pool, two members of the family’s New Zealand branch embark on a perilous journey in a small yacht. The community they find on the other side of the world is a very different one, based on the rule of fear. Not only does it look impossible to take anyone back to New Zealand, but it may also be impossible for them to escape themselves… A dazzling debut, sharp, gripping and plausibly scary.

  Blood Bond (The second volume): Escaping the repressive regime at Haver Hall in the UK, a group sails back to the southern hemisphere. Stopping in South Africa and then Australia, they are faced by unexpected dangers but also the hope that there might be other survivors of the super-SARS pandemic. What awaits them in New Zealand, though, is even more challenging. And can those left in the UK survive one another? An exciting page-turner that keeps surprising… up to the last page.

  Blood Roots (The third volume): The Chatfield family, scattered across the globe, fight for survival. Their only hope is to form one strong community together, but power struggles, violence and disruption keep them apart. In this thrilling conclusion to the Blood Line Trilogy, the New Zealand community makes a last desperate bid to return to their relatives and Blood Roots in England. Along the way they discover more survivors of the super-SARS pandemic, but is this new addition to the gene pool more trouble than it’s worth? Blood Roots is another exciting page turner that will keep you guessing till the very end.

  About the Author

  Michael Green is a professional speaker and author. Formerly a merchant seaman, computer consultant and founder of several successful IT recruitment companies, Michael now spends his time writing and travelling.