The Hurst Chronicles (Book 1): Hurst
Page 36
Victor presented the handle of the knife to Briggs who took it and weighed it for size, patting it while he nodded, fixing Terra with a look of reproach. He made a low tutting sound and got wearily to his feet, seemingly disappointed by this small act of treachery.
“It’s lucky you were here Victor. Your instincts serve you well, unlike you two, you useless bastards,” he said gesturing towards his bodyguards, who were doing their best to blame each other.
“It’s stuffy in here. Let’s take some air. I can’t think in this room. Victor, Terra, Hatch? There’s something I want to show you. Follow me.”
He opened the door and waited for the three others to head out into the front lobby area and courtyard beyond. Outside it had stopped drizzling. Rainwater was dripping from roofs and gutters, collecting in large barrels positioned underneath drain pipes. Their shoes crunched across the wet gravel. Terra was still shoeless and tiptoed in bare feet, pushed from behind when her pace slowed.
They climbed the steep steps covered with moss through a large archway on to the ramparts of the old keep and the walls that ran along the top. The view up here was magnificent, stretching across the island. The city of Portsmouth was visible in the distance to their right across the Solent as they walked, sweeping fields and countryside to the south and west, the houses and streets of Newport set out below. Briggs stopped at the highest point, leaning against the railing, out of breath, waiting for the others to join him.
The thin wooden rail was all that stood between them and a vertical drop some hundred feet or so down to the ruins of some buildings nestled against the castle walls below, shrouded in bushes and trees.
He put his arm around Terra’s shoulders, pulling her towards him. His fingers kneaded the muscles at the base of her neck. She flinched, trembling slightly but made no attempt to move away.
“What do you see Terra?” He extended his arm over the sweeping landscape stretching into the distance. She stayed silent, terrified. “What do you see when you look at this beautiful island? I’ll tell you. Opportunity.”
He smiled, grasping the air with his hand. He squeezed her around the waist before pushing her away roughly. “But you disappoint me, Terra.”
He let his words hang for a couple of seconds before continuing.
“I don’t like disappointment. I asked you before if I could trust you, and you lied. I have no time for liars. Without loyalty, without trust, there is nothing. Do you understand?”
Terra nodded, feeling the wooden rail give a little as she leaned against it. Suddenly she felt very afraid, staring down into the abyss beneath her bare feet. She gripped the edge of the stones with her toes and swallowed hard. She fully expected this to be her last breath before tumbling over to meet her maker, consoling herself that at least it would be a quick end. A short fall and then nothing. The pain would be momentary.
“You and I could have been something. We could have ruled this island like King and Queen. Don’t you see that? But how can I ever trust you again?”
He shook his head but kept staring out over the countryside beyond. She started to apologise but he raised a finger to silence her.
“Hatch, get over here.”
He gestured towards the gentle giant of a man, who wandered closer.
“How long have we known each other? Five, no six years. You my friend have one job. You know what it is? To ensure my safety. To stop people like her trying to do me harm.”
“Yes boss, it was like this...”
“No explanation needed Hatch. You did your best. I get that. I can’t ask for more. And yet your best is not good enough. Not by a long stretch of the imagination. You let this, this feeble woman, smuggle a knife in close without anyone even noticing.”
“Sorry boss, it won’t happen again.” He was all of six feet four inches and yet he looked like a scolded schoolboy.
“That’s right Hatch, it won’t happen again.”
Briggs stepped back and braced himself against the raised outer wall of the castle and kicked hard into the small of Hatch’s back. Despite his size, he was off balance and the railing did little to arrest his forward momentum. He crashed through the barrier and plummeted some hundred feet down on to the rocks below.
Terra and Victor followed his flailing arms and brief fall, hearing his skull crack against the stone foundations of a storage shed. Terra could just make out the slow trickle of blood from a head wound dripping onto the white stone and start pooling beneath his body.
Briggs turned to face Victor.
“Victor. Looks like a position in my organization has just opened up. Do you want in?”
Victor was staring down at the man’s body, whose left foot was still twitching below. He looked up into Briggs’s expressionless eyes and nodded. Briggs turned his back on them and started walking away.
“You can start by clearing up that mess and get that railing fixed. It was an accident waiting to happen.”
Victor nodded and mumbled his assent, hurrying after his new boss. He stopped and turned to find Terra still staring at the crumpled body below, its shape twisted awkwardly, broken against the rock.
“Come on. Let’s get you inside and back in your cell. We’ve had enough excitement for one day.”
Terra looked up with tears in her eyes, shivering in the cold morning breeze. She took a step towards the edge, backing away from him.
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll jump.”
Victor stared at her motionless.
“We both know that’s not going to happen. Don’t we?” he said mocking her.
“I’ll do it. Don’t think I’m not capable,” said Terra shaking her head, her whole body trembling with fear and adrenaline.
“Oh, I know you’re capable Terra. But I also know that you won’t jump.”
“Don’t be so sure. You don’t know what I’ve done to survive. You underestimate me.”
“You’re wrong, I hold you in the highest regard. You’re like me, Terra. You’re an opportunist. You’re adaptable. That’s why you’ve survived because you evolve and adapt, stay close to those in power. Bide your time, make the most of a good thing. I like that, you’re like me.”
She looked confused and relaxed a fraction, puzzling over his words.
“Stick around Terra. Things are about to get interesting, don’t you think? Don’t give up now, just when you’ve landed yourself a position of influence. Those others he took. The hostages. They were worthless. Nobodies. No good to me. He will try to trade them, or hold them as a human shield perhaps. Whereas you Terra. You’re the key to Hurst. The Queen of Hurst he calls you. You could help unite these disparate groups. He needs you. Stay close to Briggs and you’ll be at the heart of this growing rebellion against the Americans. Just imagine, riches and power beyond your wildest dreams. If we work together we can rule this new world. It’s ours for the taking, don’t you think?”
She put her hand back against the railing post behind her, blinking back at him, digesting his offer of partnership. Victor seized his chance and reached out to grab her sleeve before she could react.”
“Don’t touch me. You’re wrong. You’re as bad as the rest of them. You all deserve to die.”
He slapped her hard across the face and hauled her away from the precipice, dragging her back towards the stairs to the main building. Terra took one last look across the countryside to the north and west. She couldn’t see Hurst but she imagined Jack and Zed standing on top of the Gun Tower in the distance. If only she could get a message to them, tell them where she was. She had to believe they would come for her. In the meantime, she must bide her time, do what she could to stay alive and regain Briggs’s trust, whatever it took. The future of the island, even the whole region, depended on her. Fail and nothing would stand between Briggs and his plan for chaos and disorder.
It was an impossible choice. Bend to Briggs’s will, betray everything she had worked so hard for. And for what, wealth and power? What did they really count for versu
s the new life she had built for herself at Hurst? And yet part of her was silently screaming that it was a price worth paying, wasn’t it?
With a loud sigh, she swallowed her pride and succumbed to logic. She gave in and allowed herself to be hauled back to her cell. There would be no shortage of hours to ponder her next move. It was time for metamorphosis, for the real Terra to emerge and spread her wings.
Was it her imagination or could she hear the sound of breaking waves, carried on the wind? Perhaps the remnants of the late spring storm that had battered the island over the past week, rollers surging in from the English Channel. The sound was distant yet somehow familiar and soothing. It reminded her of home.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter twenty-five
Chapter twenty-six
Chapter twenty-seven
Chapter twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter thirty-two
Chapter thirty-three
Chapter thirty-four
Chapter thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter thirty-nine
Chapter forty
Chapter forty-one
Chapter forty-two
Chapter forty-three
Chapter forty-four
Chapter forty-five
Chapter forty-six
Chapter forty-seven
Chapter forty-eight
Chapter forty-nine
Chapter fifty
Chapter fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter fifty-three
Chapter fifty-four
Chapter fifty-five
Chapter fifty-six
Chapter fifty-seven
Chapter fifty-eight
Chapter fifty-nine