The Grayson Trilogy

by Georgia Rose

  “Right, come on, you lot, let’s get you working so you have less energy to tease me with.” And we moved into a brisk trot. Everyone more relaxed already, and as I heard the acceleration of the pickup along the road a short distance from us, I felt as settled as could be expected at the moment.

  We covered a good distance round the estate, taking the opportunity to be out for a couple of hours, then headed back to the stables at a walk to cool the horses down. Although we’d spied the pickup a couple of times during the ride, it was currently out of sight. Carlton had done a good job of not drawing too much attention to it as we were trying to make everything as normal as possible for the sake of the children.

  I was at the rear of the group, having put Sophia and Reuben in charge of leading the way home, and I took the opportunity to have a look around, enjoying the chance to appreciate the beauty of the woodland that was so easy to take for granted when you saw it every day. As I checked on the children ahead I felt an uneasy prickling on the back of my neck. I’d missed something. Nothing appeared to have changed around us, but I knew there was something out of place. I could feel it but couldn’t pinpoint the source.

  Stopping Regan, I scanned the scenery again, but this time more slowly, trying to spot the inconsistency that had led to this heightened sense of awareness. Grace pulled up ahead and looked back at me, frowning as she wondered what I was up to. I could see nothing around me and checked again, twisting in the saddle to look further through the woodland, right through as far as the estate wall, only partly visible between the trees. Then I saw it – two black strips stretching across the top of the wall – something out of place.

  I indicated to Grace to carry on and said I’d catch them up in a minute. I turned off the track and headed for the wall. This part of the wall dipped down into a hollow then rose again, and I rode to the highest point, pulling Regan tight up against the wall so he was parallel to it. Standing in the stirrups I leant over as far as I could to try to see what was on the other side. I could see the black strips were bars ending in hooks that curled over the top of the wall and gripped the underside of the overhang. Peering over I could see the black rungs of the ladder they held in place.

  They’d chosen a good point to enter. This part of the wall was well hidden from the road that passed above it, the land falling away into the hollow which meant you couldn’t see anything unless you stopped your car and got out to look for it. I rode down to the bottom of the hill, thinking that until this moment I’d only thought of the threat as being something that might happen one day, and now it was suddenly horribly real. I halted a little short of the area below the metal bars and had a quick look at the ground, searching for clues as to whether someone had already climbed over the wall. It was difficult to tell. There was little grass in this shady area. The ground was covered with leaf litter and small twigs, but being in a hollow the soil was soft, slow to dry out even in the heat of summer. As I leant down over Regan’s withers to look closer, I could definitely see indentations. No clear footprints, though. No clue as to how many had passed that way.

  I sat up quickly, looking around, immediately feeling eyes upon me. But seeing no one as I scanned the woods, I pushed Regan on, hurrying back through the trees to catch up with the others who were nearing the end of the path and about to come out on to the road. As I did so I pulled out my phone and called Trent.

  “Someone’s on the estate,” I said, my heart pounding. Questions followed, details were requested and answered, and my replies were passed on to others around him. I gathered he was in the office. I pictured the room, with probably several of them scanning all the camera angles looking for the intruders. By the time I’d given him all the information I had I’d caught up with the others, and exchanged a look with Grace that told her all she needed to know.

  Trent spoke, clear and concise. “Get everyone back to the stables, Grayson. Update Carlton and Turner, and keep Grace and the children in the cottage until we know more. Understood?”

  “Understood,” I repeated, and ended the call. At that moment I heard an engine rev up and glimpsed the pickup accelerating away down the lane and away from the stables – that was not what I’d been expecting.

  Grace took the lead, trying to act casually so as not to alarm the children. I stayed behind, and as we rode out on to the lane where I’d been expecting to see the pickup, there was only Carlton standing in the road waiting for us. The gateway to the stables was within sight, and I was anxious to get everyone into the yard as if it represented some place of safety. I met Carlton’s eye and he knew immediately something had happened. As I passed him I leant down and spoke quietly.

  “Carlton, go ahead to the stables. Check if the cottage is okay. Susie will tell you all you need to know. Get the door open and come back out to help me with the horses.” Carlton nodded and I saw him disappear through the gates. We followed him, and as we entered the yard he was already coming back out of the cottage, giving me a surreptitious thumb-up.

  I leapt off Regan and took Monty’s reins from Grace. Carlton came over to take Zodiac and Benjy, which I knew would bring protests from the children as they were used to dealing with their own ponies. Needing to distract them, I invited Sophia and Reuben to have an ice-cream and asked Grace to show them where they were. Grace shepherded them inside while Carlton and I untacked the horses, cleaned them off and led them straight out to the paddock as quickly as we could, speaking under our breath to each other as we did so.

  “Where are Turner and the pickup?” I asked.

  “It started misfiring and I didn’t want it breaking down on us, so I sent him to the farm to get one of the mechanics to have a look at it.”

  “Mechanics?” More new information for me to process.

  “Porter and a couple of the others, Royal Engineers” was Carlton’s matter of fact reply. Of course. I shrugged to myself as I filled him in on my discovery and Trent’s instructions. We left the horses and headed back to the cottage, having a good look up into the trees surrounding us as we went. Carlton went straight through to the sitting room, and I saw him checking out the windows that faced on to the road as he took out his phone to call Porter for an update on the pickup repairs.

  I sat at the table watching Reuben and Sophia as they ate their ice-creams. Sophia had some chocolate round her mouth, and Reuben’s was spread down his chin as well. They watched us silently. They weren’t stupid. They knew something was up; their mother’s badly disguised agitation was hard to ignore, and I didn’t think it would be long before we’d have to tell them what was going on.

  I heard the low murmur of Carlton’s voice, too low to hear what was being said, and then he appeared in the doorway, caught my eye and indicated for me to join him. I followed him through the sitting room into the office, where he announced bluntly, “Turner never reached the farm.”

  Oh crap. A sick feeling turned my stomach. Before I had the chance to say anything Carlton’s phone vibrated, and as he answered the call he mouthed the word “Trent” to me. I nodded, waiting for the update which sounded curt, mirroring Carlton’s perfunctory replies.

  When he hung up he said, “The pickup’s been found driven off the road in the woods between here and the farm. Driver’s side door open, no sign of a disturbance, no sign of Turner.”

  I looked at him. “What do we do?”

  “We sit tight and see what develops.”

  I nodded, then went back to the kitchen. Carlton followed. Grace had cleaned up the children and was busy getting the kettle on for tea. I sent the children through to watch some television while we organised supper. None of us felt like eating, but we took the opportunity to update Grace while we made sandwiches. She didn’t say anything, but busied herself searching my kitchen to add crisps, fruit and cake to the supper, which she eventually served in an overly bright manner as a picnic on the floor of the sitting room. I thought her behaviour would ensure that if the children didn’t think something was up before, they surely
would now. Carlton kept a look out of the window as Grace passed him food, encouraging all of us to eat something, and in doing so indicated silently that she knew we could have a long wait ahead of us.

  I cleared up in the kitchen as Carlton stuck to his position by the front windows. As the light faded he drew the curtains and kept watch through the small gap he’d left in them. The lights were off; the only light flickered from the television, and as time wore on and Grace struggled to find anything that would hold the children’s interest, eventually that was turned off too. They’d done well holding back their questions, but I now heard Sophia’s soft voice asking her mother what was going on. In a speech she’d probably been rehearsing since entering the cottage, I listened as Grace restricted her explanation to the fact that some people had been spotted on the estate that shouldn’t be there, and we were to sit tight until they’d been apprehended.

  Simultaneously Carlton’s and my phones indicated an incoming text. We glanced at each other as we checked the message.

  “Turner’s duress password has been used for three vehicles to enter the estate.”

  I closed my eyes. What’d they done to him? I went to the back door and locked the cat flap before slipping outside, closing the door softly behind me. I stood listening in the dark, not knowing what I was expecting to hear but there was nothing, not even the usual comforting sounds from the stables as the horses were out.

  A staccato sound cracked through the night. My mouth went dry as my breath caught. Forcing myself to breathe normally, I heard another burst of gunfire and ran back inside.

  Carlton was in the kitchen. “Did I just hear what I thought I heard?”

  I nodded dumbly. What we had feared was here. Where was Trent? I wanted to do something, but there was nothing I could do. I paced the kitchen, arms crossed over my chest, phone clamped in one hand, my eyes fixed on the quarry tiles as I followed a line of grouting up and down, up and down. Carlton kept a watch on the lane. I could hear Grace telling the children stories as she huddled with them, wrapped in blankets on the settee.

  My phone vibrated, making me jump. Thank God, it was Trent. I hadn’t realised how much I’d needed to hear his voice, to hear he was all right. I wanted to hear that everyone was okay, that it was all over, but his voice, low and authoritative, shocked me.

  “Grayson, we’re pinned down in what’s looking like a diversion. One vehicle is heading in your direction. We believe target to be Grace and the children. I need you to get them out of there.” I swallowed, something jagged in my throat as I wondered how he was expecting me to do that.

  “How?” I managed.

  “Take your pickup, get them off the estate. Carlton, can he...” A loud burst of gunfire coming out of the phone made me jump again. A grunting curse, silence. Nothing more. I stared at the phone in horror; my knees buckled beneath me as my heart felt as though it was collapsing in on itself. Carlton had heard the shots and spoke to me firmly, not letting me dwell on the horrific possibilities.

  “He’ll be fine, Grayson. What did he say?”

  I couldn’t make my voice work.

  “Grayson,” he barked fiercely, “what did he say?” An order this time. He gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him, forcing me to tear my gaze from the phone and my thoughts from Trent’s fate.

  “One vehicle headed this way, target Grace and the children. He – he told me to get them out of here. Use the pickup.” I looked up at him, feeling desperate at my uselessness in this situation. We both froze, hearing a vehicle, still at a distance but approaching rapidly. Carlton dashed to the front window, peering out. He glanced back at me, his expression telling me all I needed to know. Get a grip, I told myself.

  Using the pickup was not an option now; they’d be on us before we got out of the gate. A solution presented itself; not an easy one, but our enemies might not expect it. I collected a couple of bags from the boot room and calling Carlton into the kitchen whispered my plan, stuffing supplies into the bags as I did so. I needed him to give us as much cover as he could. I knew that, like Trent, Carlton carried a gun, but one gun would only give us limited time. Carlton nodded his agreement to the plan, and went to rouse Grace and the children as I grabbed a torch to shove into one of the bags.

  At the back door I met the others, Grace pushing the sleepy children’s feet into their boots as they pulled on their jackets. I knelt in front of them, not wanting to frighten them as I explained, as gently as possible, the adventure in front of us. I saw their eyes widen at what I was expecting, and as I met Grace’s eyes I saw her resolve grow at what I needed her to do. Handing her one of the bags to carry, I swung the other on to my back.

  We all heard the vehicle slowing down before it reached the cottage, squealing brakes being applied to a vehicle being driven too fast. I hustled everyone out the door. Carlton and I exchanged loaded glances as I bent to touch Susie’s head then I slipped out, silently closing the door behind me.

  Crossing the yard, we stayed in the shadow of the buildings until we got to the tack room. I unlocked it, and without turning on the light grabbed and passed round bridles, pulling a stirrup leather from a saddle to make do as a neck-strap for Monty. Urging everyone to move fast, I crept out to the paddock.

  As we went I heard shouting and hoped Carlton was all right. He hadn’t questioned my decision to leave him behind, I realised, and I felt ashamed at my selfishness. I hadn’t questioned my decision either: it had seemed the only solution.

  The horses, though bemused at this unusual night-time activity, let us catch them. Putting Regan’s bridle on over the head collar he was already wearing, I led him to the gate, feeling his bewilderment at these goings-on in the dark. The others followed me through the gate as I grabbed the lead ropes from the fence and crammed them into my bag.

  The moon was very nearly full, everyone’s faces ashen in its cold light. Sophia and Reuben jumped on to their ponies as Grace manoeuvred Monty, already jittery, alongside the post and rail fence, using it for a leg-up. I saw her wrap her hand in his mane as she grabbed the neck-strap. Though she was a confident rider, I’d never seen her ride bareback before, and she’d need all the help she could get on a horse that was skittish at the best of times.

  More shouting broke out. I thought I could hear Carlton’s voice. Then a shocking spray of gunfire, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. My heart jolted. Regan, startled by the noise, shot forward, but rather than hold him back I ran alongside, leaping up the stack of jumping blocks piled outside the arena and throwing myself on to his back. Regan kept going as we flew towards the barn, the others following.

  More gunfire, single shots in response, further gunfire coming from the direction of the Manor as we rounded the back of the barn. I intended to leave the yard by taking an uphill route through the trees. Looking up briefly, I could see the Manor across the parkland in the distance, but it was too far away to see any detail.

  Spotting the gap in the trees I was aiming for, I glanced back to check on the others. Grimly determined, Grace was hanging on tight. Then her mouth opened in alarm at something ahead, and as I turned forward again I saw a man move in front of us, coming out of the shadows, blocking our escape route. I hauled on the reins, slipping forward on Regan’s back as I did so. Grace pulled Monty up alongside, and the children fell in behind.

  The man was armed. If he hadn’t been I’d have ridden straight through him, but he held the gun he trained on us two-handed. He appeared as surprised to have come across us escaping as we were to find him in our way. But having brought us to a halt, he didn’t seem to know what to do next, and as we stared at each other I tried to think of a way out of the situation. Then, during a lull in the gunfire, he yelled. A warning? Or for help? I couldn’t tell as I didn’t understand a word of what he said, but I heard a car’s engine roar into life as if roused by his words, and at that precise moment a shot rang out. Just one, that sounded like the crack of a whip. A spray of blood exploded from side of the man’s hea
d. He remained upright for the briefest moment, then crumpled to the ground as limp as a rag doll.

  I froze, not believing what I’d seen. Bile rose in my throat. Grace, stronger than I, urged the children to look away, and sheltered them from the sight by blocking their view with Monty’s body. I shook myself into action. The enemy vehicle was about to turn into the gateway, and before we could be caught in its headlights I hurried everyone along, leading the way around the body and into the trees. The path we were taking was overgrown and barely one horse wide. The ponies followed me, with Grace bringing up the rear as we all clambered up the steep incline. I felt myself slip on Regan’s back, and wrapped my legs tighter around him, my fingers buried in his mane as I clung on, calling back for everyone to hold on tight.

  I hoped, if I’d got my geography of the paths right, that once we’d scrambled through this tough uphill section we would eventually meet up with one of the more familiar paths. I thought there’d be more light on a wider path; at the moment it was difficult to see anything, the moonlight blocked out by foliage. Cursing under my breath as an unseen branch smacked across my forehead, I called a warning back to Grace, wishing I’d made time for us to have brought our hats. I let one hand go from Regan’s mane and rubbed the stinging pain, then cursed again as my knee slammed into a tree. I allowed Regan to find his own way as I held on tight, and leant forward to help him stay in balance as he climbed.

  Aware of shouts amid occasional shots, which I hoped meant Carlton was still in action, we rode up to the top of the incline, and I took a deep breath of relief once the path plateaued and opened out a little. Headlights pierced the woods to our left then disappeared again, leading me to believe the vehicle had turned around and would now be heading out of the yard and along the lane, hoping to find us further on.

  I brought Regan to a halt as everyone reached the top of the hill and came to a standstill beside me. It had been hard work getting up this far; the horses were blowing and, like us, needed a minute’s rest. I took advantage of that to check that everyone was okay, though I couldn’t imagine any of us felt as if we’d ever be okay again. I received the mute bobbing of heads to my questions and settled for that.