Sebastian sank to his knees looking at the flames as they calmed. He had turned quite pale and found he couldn’t put his thoughts together in any meaningful way, resting back on his haunches and looking into the fire as it finally calmed.
Trudging wearily back to the comfort of the kitchen, he sat down heavily on a kitchen chair. His mind was still in a whirl, and he felt emotionally drained but rose to get the bottle of scotch and pouring himself a good measure downed it in one, feeling the familiar warmth as the amber liquid trickled down his throat. He suddenly felt drained, his eyelids drooping, and he had to struggle to get up from his seat. With an enormous effort, he climbed the stairs and sank gratefully onto his bed, still fully clothed. Sebastian fell at once into a deep sleep and plunged into a series of lurid dreams. He saw himself standing in the bakery in front of the oven with the fire door closed and coming from inside, loud clicks like long twigs snapping. Feeling as if there was someone else there, he turned but saw no one. As he turned again he felt a presence once more, it was as if someone or something was turning in time with him but always remaining behind, out of sight. He began to cry out,
‘Who’s there?’ Each time he shouted, becoming louder and more desperate, and turning faster now he seemed to be spinning around like a top.
With a start, he woke up with beads of perspiration on his brow.
Lying on his back, he stared at the ceiling reliving the dream over and over, then shivered as footsteps sounded on the stairs. Frozen with fear he managed to turn his head to look at the open doorway.
Caroline bounced into the room full of joie de vivre and exclaimed loudly that her poor brother must be feeling his age, fancy needing an afternoon nap!
‘Just look at the time Seb, it’s gone five o'clock, how long have you been lying here?’
Sebastian couldn’t even raise a smile, he had been on the bed for almost the entire day but still felt unnaturally tired.
Caroline was having none of it, though,
‘Come on lazy bones, up you get and make yourself decent. You can take me to dinner somewhere.’
He struggled to get off the bed, but once up, his energy seemed to return.
They drove off about an hour later heading for Marston and the all too familiar pub. There wasn’t much choice for dinner, and even though he had offered to cook, Caroline was having none of it, insisting that she pay. Sebastian thought he might as well take advantage of his sister’s generosity because he knew before long he would be footing the bills for everything.
Seated in the dining room at the pub, Sebastian was feeling very much better. The meal proved to be excellent, washed down with a bottle of reasonable red wine and they were relaxing when Caroline suddenly sat up straight, almost visibly preening herself and looking over Sebastian's shoulder. He felt his skin crawl as whoever it was made their way over to their table. Caroline’s smile broadened to an almost impossible width as the presence manifested itself in front of them.
Sebastian groaned inwardly, it was James, and he could tell by the look in his sister’s eyes that her hitherto broken heart was by some miracle now repaired.
James looked down catching Sebastian’s eye,
‘Won’t disturb you old boy, but happy to see you in here again. You never mentioned you had a gorgeous girlfriend.’ The wink he gave Caroline was not lost on Sebastian, and he cringed inwardly at this latest unfortunate turn of events.
Sebastian looked up without smiling,
‘Caroline’s my sister actually.’
‘Oh, how lovely, how perfectly splendid.’ Said James.
He moved off and sat at the bar still glancing over at their table now and again. Each time Caroline smiled back and coloured up.
Sebastian, confused with all the goings on, paid the bill and they left. Later he reflected that his sister had not bothered to correct him as to who was supposed to pay for dinner, neither did she offer to reimburse him. Chalk another one up to James, he thought, with a grim smile on his face.
Later, in bed, he went over the evening with the realisation that his sister was probably on the verge of a relationship with James, the man who Sebastian firmly believed had attempted to run him down not so long ago.
He worried that any attempt on his part to throw a spanner in the works would simply not wash with Caroline, it would only make James more irresistible in her eyes.
Sleep was eluding him when the thought struck him if James was to become involved with Caroline, then perhaps he would not pay quite so much attention to Briony, allowing himself the opportunity he so very much desired. Perhaps then maybe she could be persuaded to become more open in a relationship.
He slept then, a dreamless sleep and when morning came he awoke feeling refreshed and eager to get back to the work of renovating his new home.
Downstairs, Caroline was, surprisingly, already up and had the coffee brewing. She was even humming a little tune, and Sebastian knew the tide had already turned. She was once again smitten, but at least James wasn't a married man, as far as he knew.
Breakfast over, Caroline tripped back upstairs to ‘make herself beautiful’ while Sebastian prepared to attack the back wall of the pantry. Empty of shelving it still wasn’t very wide, and he had very little space in which to work. He prepared the power hammer drill and fitted it with a spade tip. That should make short work of the old masonry wall. Measuring the floor above he was sure it was not a supporting wall. It looked as if it had been added after the original construction.
He was about to start when Caroline came downstairs and yelled at him to not even think of making any dust! She strutted across the floor towards the door with Sebastian looking on in amazement, his sister was done up like a ‘dog's dinner’, and he merely shook his head slowly from side to side. She rounded on him,
‘What?’ She asked, ‘Just because you don’t dress up anymore doesn’t mean to say I can't.’
‘No, of course not, have a nice day. Seeing James, I suppose?’
She didn’t answer, giving him a little smile and walked out the door to her car. He heard the engine start and dropped his shoulders with a sigh; she’s off again, he thought.
As the sound of the BMW faded, Sebastian set too with the drill. He had thought to buy a face mask and was grateful as the old whitewashed plaster began to flake off creating a veritable dust storm in the confined space. Gradually he began to remove the bricks; the mortar changing into a white powder as the vibrating power tool did its job. It soon became apparent that the wall was quite thick because as he removed one skin of bricks, another remained behind it. He decided to remove one at a time and clear away the rubble as it built up around his feet.
Sebastian looked like a snowman as he sat down to a welcome cup of coffee. One skin of the wall had been removed, and the resulting bricks were stacked beside the bakery. He felt a sensation of satisfaction as his very own renovations had at last begun in earnest. Sipping at his coffee his nose wrinkled as he caught the scent of pipe tobacco. It was the same smell as before and seemed to be emanating from near the old kitchen range. He walked over to the spot and the smell became stronger. It was very puzzling, and once again he inspected the old chimney, but as he got closer the smell decreased. It seemed to be strongest in one spot and Sebastian supposed that at one time a chair would have been there, perhaps several as the occupants gathered around the range in an effort to stave off the winter cold outside.
Deciding it must have been something blown in by the wind he finished his coffee and went back to work in the cupboard. The dust had settled, and he could at least see what he was doing.
He began to prise out the bricks one by one, and soon a reasonable gap was exposed but revealed only blackness. Sebastian retreated to the kitchen to look for a torch and walked back into the cupboard behind the bright white beam.
What he saw chilled him to the marrow. He couldn’t believe it at first and went even closer to the exposed hole.
The torchlight revealed a skull looking str
aight out at him. It had long dark hair and the sight when it finally registered, caused him to step back violently. He stood in the kitchen, staring at the hole in the pantry with disbelief.
Sebastian was still sitting at the kitchen table when the police arrived and merely pointed in the direction of the pantry. The two uniformed police approached the spot cautiously. Sebastian had telephoned to report the discovery and had been told to touch nothing. The officers would deal with it when they arrived. Just how they would ‘deal’ with it, he couldn’t imagine but was content to let someone else take over.
In the end, the police officers themselves did absolutely nothing. They reported back to headquarters and were instructed to maintain a guard on the skeleton until the experts arrived.
Three hours later the yard was full of vehicles, most marked with police signs. The kitchen was full of officials discussing the best plan of attack. They had deemed the house a crime scene which meant that Sebastian would have to find somewhere else to stay but he told them he had to wait for the return of his sister. She was bound to be upset and would also need to stay elsewhere for at least one night.
Caroline arrived at last, and Sebastian explained what had happened. She was about to batter his ears with her day's events, but for once was left speechless as he told her what he had unearthed behind the wall.
They stood just inside the door as the scenes of crimes officers carefully removed the remaining bricks and revealed the interior space. When the dust had settled, it revealed something even more horrific.
The skeleton was standing up because the wrists were fastened in old manacles as were the feet. The skull, balanced on the body, appeared to be very fragile and looked as though it might crash to the floor if disturbed too much. The pathologist was next and made a cursory examination. In his opinion, the remains had been there, undisturbed for years, perhaps hundreds of years.
It was now getting late, and the authorities decided it would be best to remove the body in the morning. Sebastian and Caroline were requested to pack an overnight bag and maybe seek a room at the pub in Marston. The house would be guarded overnight by the police, so there was no need to worry about security.
It was a somewhat glum couple who sat down to dinner in the pub later on. Neither could think of much to say. The discovery was something that only happened to other people, surely.
Halfway through their meal, James walked in. He approached the pair with his big smile firmly in place.
‘What’s this, out again? You two are more like a married couple than brother and sister.’ He said, never taking his eyes from Caroline. She smiled back, but Sebastian remained aloof,
‘Sorry James, not in the mood tonight, something bad happened at the house.’
James pulled up a chair without being invited and became serious.
‘What do you mean? What’s happened?’
Sebastian looked him straight in the eye.
‘You mean apart from a man running from there and ending up hanging in the woods?’
James dropped his eyes,
‘Yes, I know about that, and it’s a damn shame but what else has happened?’
Sebastian explained about his discovery that morning and James drew back, surprise evident on his face. He seemed unable to speak. Caroline went to say something and then noticed James’ face was chalky white.
‘Are you alright, James?’ she asked.
James stared ahead into nothing,
‘Yes, quite alright, thank you, maybe I should leave you two to talk.’
With that he left, without another word.
‘How strange.’ Murmured Caroline, he was totally normal this afternoon, in fact, more than normal, if you know what I mean?’
Sebastian groaned,
‘What, already? You mean to tell me that you and that man have had sex?’
Caroline’s head snapped to attention,
‘So what if we did? It’s none of your business!’
‘So, why tell me then?’ Sebastian replied.
Caroline bent to finish her meal, which was cold now but anything was better than her brother’s stare.
Sebastian didn’t want to know, but curiosity got the better of him.
‘So, where did it happen and while we’re on the subject is he married?'
Caroline allowed a trace of a smile to cross her face,
‘Knew you would want to know. We had lunch here and after went back to his office. He’s got a nice little set up out back, very comfy.’
‘You still didn’t say if he was married.’ Sebastian insisted.
Caroline smirked.
‘No, and he never has been, I’ve actually found a bachelor.’
‘Well, at least that’s something, but I have to tell you, dear sister, that I really don’t like the fellow and wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.’
‘Why ever not?’ She almost shouted.
‘Because the crazy bastard nearly ran me over, that’s why!’ He shouted back.
Caroline got up from the table and walked off. Sebastian calling after her,
‘I’ll pay then, shall I?’
Chapter 19
Luke and his small band of followers travelled quickly, making their way North as fast as they dare. They didn’t know they were not being pursued and had, in fact, got away with murder. They were running away from nothing but lived every day in fear for their lives. They lived off the land and stole where they could, mostly from isolated farms. With no women and children to worry about they could move swiftly. Luke had no idea what their end plan might be. For Gypsies, there was no future in Cromwell’s United Kingdom. He was determined to eradicate them and to that end began posting reward notices for any that might give them up.
Back at the camp, they had left behind only a few days ago, pandemonium reigned. The woman and children belonging to Luke’s group were crying and screaming as troopers rounded them up with the rest of the camp. They had rushed in at first light when most were still asleep. A few shots were fired in the air to subdue any defenders, and there were mercifully no casualties. However, once again they were all prisoners. This troop was led by an experienced senior officer with plenty of men at his command. There would be no escape this time.
The camp was a blazing inferno as the prisoners were marched off. They had been chained together in pairs and formed a long line. Babies were carried by their mothers while the children were placed in separate lines, also lightly shackled.
Marched to the port of Boston, they were forced into the holds of ships especially fitted out for the transportation of prisoners. The first part of their journey took them around the Southern tip of England and up to the port of Liverpool from where they headed out into the Atlantic en route to the Indies or the Americas.
On arrival, they were indentured to plantation owners. A benign form of slavery which only just separated them from the black slaves from Africa. However, they did have some hope, unlike the Africans. The day might come when they would be given their freedom at the end of their period of indenture.
In practice however, although they were certainly treated better than the Africans in respect to punishment, they were still used and abused by their custodians. The women rarely escaped the odious attentions of the plantation owners and white overseers.
Many of the male prisoners held skills such as tinsmithing and were valued in the new communities; the children became house servants along with the women.
Very few ever returned to the United Kingdom, the place which had so violently rejected them as ‘Egyptians’. When their period of indenture was up, they either elected to remain with a small wage or headed for America, from where stories of opportunity filtered down even to the lowliest of slaves. A few of the women having borne children to their masters ended up marrying their abusers, and so established a new line of settlers. New generations of Gypsies would spread throughout the new world and make their mark on society.
Luke, of course, knew nothing o
f the fate which had befallen the rest of his wife’s family or their friends in the encampment. They were busy merely staying alive and forever heading North in search of some place where they might be safe from pursuit.
They reached the lowland borders of Scotland and headed West, to the harshest part of that area. Perhaps the soldiers would be less inclined to be too thorough in that unfriendly terrain. The Scots were no friends to the English even though Cromwell remained their ‘Lord Protector’.
After weeks of travel over rough ground, avoiding roads wherever possible, Luke and his small band of men arrived at the coastal town of Plockton. They had reached the sea and decided they may be safe in this lonely outpost. Luke stood on a small hill overlooking a lake which he later found out was Loch Carron and soaked up the atmosphere. The area was naturally beautiful and a far cry from the flatness of Lincolnshire. He was surprised at the climate, expecting only cold and wet dreary conditions for days on end. Instead, he turned his face to a warm sun and looked out over lush vegetation, smiling at his companions he asserted,
‘This will do, boys, this will do.’
The locals treated them with suspicion, fearing yet another invasion by the hated English, but were surprised to hear tales from the newcomers of this new plan to rid the country of the despised ‘Egyptians’, a term used to describe Gypsies. Indeed these men appeared to hate the English as much as they themselves did so in that at least they were welcome. Luke’s followers all showed various talents in working with iron, tin and wood, while Luke obtained employment immediately with the local baker who was always looking for men prepared to work the unsocial hours of that profession.
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