Diamonds Fall

by Rebecca Gibson

  When they reached the stable Daniel helped Annabel onto the straw, in the exact same place he had laid her before. The memory stirred Annabel back into life.

  "How - how's Jen?" she asked.

  Nobody answered. Billy was hunched over the tiny baby whose cries had now stopped, her breathing heavy and laboured.

  "I - I got the medicine," Annabel stuttered removing the small green bottle from her sleeve where she had managed to conceal it.

  Billy grinned, placing Genevieve down as Daniel approached him. His limp was still bad. His entire body lurched as if he would fall with every step, his face a constant grimace of pain.

  Annabel gave him a weak smile of thanks but he kept his eyes locked on the baby.

  "How do I give it to her?" Annabel asked, holding the medicine out to Daniel who took the bottle from her hands, still avoiding her gaze.

  He put a few drops of the ointment on his finger and fed it into Genevieve's mouth. He did this three times and then put the cork back in the bottle, burying it in the straw beneath them.

  "An' now we wait," he said, sitting back and stretching his legs out in front of him. His ankle clicked as he moved it.

  Annabel noticed he had sat as far away from her as he could.

  "Daniel," she crawled closer to him, her limbs still weak from shock. "Please can we talk?"

  He looked at her properly for the first time in days, his eyes widened as he took in her blood splattered face. A single drop slid down her cheek like a crimson tear.

  "I...let me explain everything from the beginning Daniel, please."

  His features, whilst worried, were still set in anger. His eyes fixated themselves on the ceiling as he slowly nodded.

  Ignoring the fact that Billy was sat beside them, Annabel told Daniel about her entire life, from her upbringing to her betrothal and everything in between.

  "I was supposed to meet him the day I got taken here. There was to be a big ball where it was going to be announced. The engagement isn't even official. For all I know he's already married to someone else by now."

  Hedging her bets, Annabel inched ever so slightly closer and placed her fingers around Daniel's.

  "I love you," she whispered, putting as much force and meaning behind those words as she could. "I've never said that to anyone before but I say it with all my heart. When I'm with you I feel safe, happier than I've ever felt before. You don't change me, or want me to be someone that I'm not, you simply make me better. I can't even explain it, I'm putting this terribly. I don't know what the future holds. I don't know how we will be together. All I know is we will be. I love you, so much I can barely stand it."

  Without shifting his gaze from the cobwebbed ceiling Daniel's fingers tightened, giving Annabel's hand a small squeeze. Unannounced, a single sob escaped her lips in relief.

  That night Daniel and Annabel stayed awake, watching Genevieve sleep. Billy fell asleep within minutes, exhausted after his sleepless night. After about an hour of listening to Billy's low snores, Daniel finally looked at Annabel, the sparkle of his hazel eyes just visible in the gloom.

  "You okay?" he asked. Annabel nodded.

  Very slowly he withdrew his hand from inside Annabel's and cupped it around her cheek. She closed her eyes, absorbing only the feel of him.

  "Are you mad at Patsy?" he whispered.

  Annabel shook her head. She had realised almost immediately it wasn't the young girl's fault. She was looking out for her brother, who had been hurt by love before. The fault was not Patsy's but Annabel's, she had been the betrayer. She couldn't stay mad at Patsy anyway, in fact, she probably loved her even more for her loyalty to her siblings.

  "Everything will be alright in the morning," he muttered, repeating the very words she had told him only days previously, in this very spot.

  Subconsciously Annabel shuffled closer to Daniel. Resting her head upon his shoulder she closed her eyes and listened to the regulating breath of Genevieve beside her. None of them spared so much as a thought to Trevor, lying dead only a few feet away.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was just as she had given into her body's need for sleep when the noise began.

  At first Annabel thought she must surely be dreaming. There was an almighty scream of anguish followed by a single pair of running feet that quickly turned into a stampede. The floor rumbled as the sounds of fear melted effortlessly into laughter. There were screeches of merriment and disbelief.

  Slowly Annabel raised herself to her feet as the noise continued to increase. She poked her head out the door as Patsy, who had come in at some point during the evening, crept up to her side.

  "Wha's goin' on?" she asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

  "I don't know. It sounds like a festivalºI mean, not that I've ever been to one, they're not-"

  "Festival? Wha's tha?"

  "Oh um...a celebration."

  Patsy continued to look a little confused so the two women snuck outside, closing the door behind them so Billy and Daniel wouldn't wake. Emerging beside the house, keeping to the shadows so they wouldn't be seen, they caught sight of what looked like all the inhabitants of the village gathered in the square. There was a bonfire blazing in the centre with people dancing around it, holding bottles of liquor that sloshed over the sides to make marks on the muddy ground. The strangest thing of all was that every single person wore a smile. They giddily clapped each other on the back like old friends, forgetting everything in their joy. Annabel and Patsy simply looked on perplexed, until a silhouetted figure stumbled out of the house directly beside the stable. The figure was much more intoxicated than the other people, his broad build barely able to hold itself up. Annabel's heart jumped into her mouth as the man turned towards her. His face flickered with the bright orange light from the fire, tears shining on his deranged features...it was Tom.

  His eyes jumped between the two females staring at him from the shadows and his nostrils flared, mucus running into his stupefied mouth.

  Before he spoke a word Annabel knew he had found Trevor.

  Tom stood motionless for a while, staring at them, the firelight casting shadows around him. The absence of his father at his side made him look as if he were missing a vital part of himself, like looking at a man with no limbs. He stumbled forwards and Annabel caught the smell of alcohol on his breath so strongly she gagged.

  "You," he slurred, pointing somewhere slightly to the left of Annabel. "You did this!"

  She shook her head.

  "What - what was me? What's happened?"

  She tried to feign some kind of concern, making her voice sound fake to her own ears.

  "YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!"

  Spit flew from Tom's mouth and landed on Annabel's skin. She fought as hard as she could to keep the revulsion off her face.

  "N - no I don't." She straightened up, reaching for his raw, calloused hand. "T - tell me what happened."

  "YOU KNOW YA BITCH, GE'OFF ME!"

  He shook her off so violently she was forced back, dropping his hand as quickly as she could. Patsy looked on at the exchange with wide eyed wonder, clenching her fists and frowning. Her eyes kept darting towards the door of the stable, dreading the awakening of her brothers.

  "Please Tom, let me h-help you," Annabel stammered, her mouth was so dry her tongue stuck to the roof.

  "'E's dead!" Tom screamed.

  "H-how?" she asked, although she already knew the answer to that.

  "You did summit, you must'a."

  "With what Tom?"

  Tom was getting really angry now.

  "I'll tell your people. Tell `em you're a mad woman! You'll be ruined," he hissed.

  Somehow this was more menacing than if he had shouted, however the absurdity of his words made Annabel laugh out loud. The reaction surprised even herself.

  "You think people would believe you over me? I'm from one of the most powerful families in the entire world and you - you're nothing, less than nothing."

  She employed h
er best scornful tone, one she was well rehearsed at using. The effect had obviously been good as he staggered back a step as if she had slapped him.

  "I'll show ya who's nothing!"

  As quick as a flash his hand came up and he grabbed a fist full of Annabel's hair. A high pitched shriek left her mouth. Patsy jumped forward, hitting every part of her brother as Annabel was dragged down onto the ground. Despite the young girl's efforts, her brother was too intoxicated on alcohol and grief to feel physical pain.

  Still holding onto Annabel's hair, Tom dragged her into the small, smokey house bathed almost completely in darkness. He threw her down at the foot of the bed, beneath which she had stolen the medicine just hours earlier. There were still blood stains, partly dried and congealed into large clots, on the sheets and floor.

  Tom bent down, grabbing her chin, and tilted it up roughly so she was forced to look upon Trevor's face. His skin was pale, his eyes unfocused and lifeless.

  "Look whacha did! Look at `im!"

  Tears were now racing themselves into his rough beard as he stumbled, falling against the wall. He looked up at her through hazy eyes, trembling with an anger so great it looked as if he would explode with it. Eventually the alcohol took its full hold over him and he slid down to the floor, crying disgustingly into his hands with great, gulping sobs.

  Before he could come to his senses, Annabel got to her feet and fled the room.

  When she reached the kitchen Tom's mother was bent over the fire, stirring at the pot so violently the thin stew leapt out, sizzling as the drops landed on the burning embers. Looking up she directed a look of undiluted hatred in Annabel's direction.

  "Witch!" she spat. "You've ruined my `usband an' my son!"

  Annabel shook her head. "No...me and Daniel..."

  "You stupid? I don' care `bout `im, ya ruined Tom. He were the only true child o' mine."

  Annabel's mouth fell open with a small pop.

  "Are you...joking? Can you not see the terror that Trevor and Tom place on everyone else in this God forsaken village? You need to wake up woman and realise their suffering is far from overdue."

  The old woman stood up, so quickly Annabel would have missed it if she'd blinked, and struck her hand hard across Annabel's cheek. She stumbled back, stunned.

  "Your other children are beautiful, why do you refuse to see that?" Annabel retorted when she regained the ability to speak.

  "Wha', girls an' idiots? I shoulda drowned `em soon as they were born."

  "Your ignorance will leave you in the shadows whilst the rest of them bloom into the fantastic people they are. I'll see to that if it's the last thing I ever do." Annabel turned towards the door in disgust to see Daniel standing just inside the threshold, staring at his mother with a dumb founded expression on his face.

  "Drowned? I've only ever tried to `elp you. I stayed in this hell for you," he murmured stepping closer to his mother, brushing his fingers against Annabel's hand as he walked past. "I've `unted your food since I could walk, taken your beatings wi'out battin' an eye cuz you're my mother and I wanted to help you."

  "Daniel," she soothed, reaching up her hand to rest on his arm, her expression still distant and uncaring. "We can't live wi'out food. Ya gunna let your family starve?"

  He scoffed. "You don' care if ya never see me again, you jus' want me to keep gettin' your food? Screw you. Listen Mama...the whole village is celebrating his accident."

  "Accident! She did this!"

  "How? Look at `er, how could she have hit someone hard enough to do that much damage?" Daniel left a dramatic pause, as if he had rehearsed the whole thing in his head. "It was me."

  Daniel grabbed Annabel's hand and without so much as a breath, walked back to the stable. Once inside he immediately burst out laughing. Annabel looked on a little worried.

  "You were amazing!" he exclaimed, placing a hand on either side of Annabel's face and kissing her hard on the mouth.

  "Daniel, wait." Annabel said, trying to make him think straight. "You - you took the blame for me, why would you do that? Tom will kill you."

  "Cuz I love you Anna, cuz I bloody love you." He laughed again, picking her up and spinning her around with a look of ecstasy on his face.

  "We'll run away," he said as he put her back down. "Now."

  Daniel had a serious look on his face as he gazed deeply into Annabel's eyes, searching for something.

  "It's too risky."

  "So's stayin'! The village's so busy, we could go without bein' noticed. We gotta go now Anna!"

  "H-how?"

  "We'll take the horses. Billy an' Patsy on one, you an' me on the other."

  "That'd be really inconspicuous, wouldn't it?"

  "I don' even know wha' tha' means." Daniel bent his head to kiss her again, "but it'll work. I feel lucky."

  "We still need...we can't just...a plan of some sort. I don't know what to do, I've never-"

  "How'd ya get `ere? Wha' can ya remember?" Daniel asked, his serious expression back in place.

  "Um...I'm not sure, I was unconscious and they blindfolded me. Um, we - we followed the stream I think but like I said, I only remember bits of it. I'm sorry."

  "Nah, tha' good. We follow the stream."

  The idea of having a plan, even with all the risks, sent a thrill of anticipation through Annabel's body. "I'm going home. Am I really going home?"

  "No Anna, we're goin' home."

  Daniel released Annabel now and began to pace across the floor. The straw crunched beneath his feet.

  Annabel rushed up the ladder. Bending down to reach her hand in the small space between the bed and the wall, she pulled out the ornate hair comb and the carving Daniel had made for her. She wrapped them in a strip of her unworn nightgown and secured them inside the bodice of her dress.

  Once she had done this she folded up the patchwork blanket made for her by Patsy, bringing it down to the ground floor, knowing they would need it to keep warm during the cold nights they would have to spend in the forest.

  "Yes, tha's a good idea." Daniel mused looking at the blanket in her hands. "We won' be able to light fires, not for longer than it takes to cook, the smoke'd make us easier to find if anyone's followin' and they will be when they know we're gone. You're worth a lot o' money."

  Annabel nodded. She hadn't given that a thought. It was at that moment that Patsy came back through the door looking flustered. She had disappeared when Tom had dragged Annabel into the house but no one knew where she had gone.

  "Mama jus' saw me." She looked panicked. "She said Daniel killed Papa and that Tom'd kill `im when he woke up."

  "Patsy we're leaving," Daniel said, taking her hand. "Tonight...now. Anna says we gotta follow the stream, we'll take the horses and jus' go while the village is so busy, we can sneak away wi'out bein' seen. We gotta try, we got nothin' left in this place."

  Patsy grinned, then frowned.

  "Wha' about the boys?"

  "What boys?" Annabel asked.

  "Hetty's boys. I can' leave `em."

  Patsy's face was stern, only her eyes gave away her desperation to run. Annabel thought on her feet, going with the first idea she had.

  "When we get back, it will only be a few days, I will tell my people where the village is. I will have the boys rescued. They can live with me too or I can pay for them to be looked after somewhere elseºwhatever you want to do. My family is powerful Patsy but we cannot help them from here. I know it's hard but we have to leave them, just for a few days. Tom won't hurt his sons, they mean everything to him."

  Patsy opened her mouth as if to protest but closed it again and nodded, bending to fold up Billy's blanket as well.

  "If someone sees us, we'll all ge' killed." Patsy whispered.

  "We'll be killed if we stay. I can feel it Patsy, the violence that's shadowed our lives has peaked, it's now or never." Daniel placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. Patsy nodded again and set the neatly folded blanket down beside Annabel's, seeing the truth in Daniel's anxiou
s words.

  "We'll need food," she said. "And Billy."

  "I'll get `im." Daniel said, swiftly climbing the ladder as Patsy began to heave a cracked, creaking saddle onto the closest of the horses.

  Annabel could hear Daniel treading across the rafters overhead before Billy's gentle voice started up. Billy emerged just as the horses had finished being tacked.

  "Wha' Billy need to know?" he asked, confused.

  "We're leavin' Billy. We're going to take the `orses and Jen to the big `ouse, Anna's house. We'll be far away from Trevor and Tom, we can make money an' - an' eat meat for dinner every night! Jen'll be safe to do everythin' she wants to do." Patsy explained.

  Billy's eyes lit up and his face split into the most beautiful smile. "Horses come?"

  Daniel nodded, squeezing his elder brother's hand. "We leave now bu' listen, we mus' be very very quiet okay? It's dangerous we're leavin', no-one mus' know. A secret."

  "Yeah secret, shh." Billy put his finger to his lips and all of them grinned, giddy at the idea of their imminent rebellion.

  Patsy snuck out for a last ditch attempt to gather what supplies they could, coming back with a stale loaf of bread and a water bottle made from what looked like a cows stomach. Daniel looked up, disbelief in his eyes.

  "Where did you get that?" he asked, incredulous.

  "Stole it. It were on a horse by the blacksmiths." Patsy shifted her feet guiltily whilst Daniel continued to look from her to the bottle and back as if she held an entire fortune in her hands, instead of the mangy looking container. He filled it with milk for the baby then strapped the blankets and supplies onto the saddles. A pair of trousers were thrown in Annabel's direction.

  "Why are you giving me these?" she asked, looking at Daniel.

  "You can't ride proper in a dress." He laughed at her expression and so, to avoid argument, Annabel slipped the trousers under her dress. Daniel passed her a knife and she reluctantly made a large slit up the front of her dress so she would have the room to ride properly.

  "You okay?" Daniel asked once she was finished, standing awkwardly in the middle of the floor.