Текст книги "Underwood"

Автор книги: Colin Griffiths

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Chapter 17

‘So why would you want to be the new driver’ asked Allan the sheriff to Tony,

His answer was easy he had it all planned,

‘I maintain the bus anyway and besides Steve, other than the deputy’s I was the only one who done any driving, just sort of makes sense’,

The sheriff grunted in his unusual manner as he sat in his office chair, Tony wondered why he needed an office, there was never any paperwork to do, and it was not as if he ever filled out a report,

‘What do you know about the disappearance of Peter Ford’ the sheriff asked changing the subject.

‘I think he went into the woods looking for a way out, he mentioned it once or twice’

‘Stupid man’ the sheriff paused, he liked Tony, other than losing it a bit when his wife passed, he had been a loyal resident and a good servant, ‘do the both jobs then’ he said,

Tony thanked him and left the office, he was now mobile, he may have just secured the vehicle to get those kids out he had told himself, he got into the mini bus and drove it to his car lot,

He struggled to move the casing over the hatch in his workshop, he decided to take some of the heavier stuff off it to make it lighter and easier to move, that’s what he done before going into the basement,

Delyn was sat on the sofa, Tony noticed her tear stained face, he guessed she had been crying since he left, he could see the anxiety in her face and she took a deep breath when she saw him, she noticed he was carrying two carrier bags, and still she thought of implements of torture, she wished she hadn’t watched all those horror films that her parents had forbade her to watch when she was younger.

‘It’s okay I’m not going to hurt you, I have food and drinks’ said Tony trying to reassure her, he sat beside her on the sofa and he was pleased to see she did not flinch, you have to eat something, there’s quite a bit in here and we will keep putting stuff down the chute’, Tony noticed she was still in the dressing gown he had given her,

‘Did you get the clothes’ he added, the look on her face told him she hadn’t, then he realised he had never told her about the chute, he took her into the kitchen, the clothes were there, there was also some shower stuff that Eileen must have put in the bag, he handed them to her and showed her how to work the chute.

‘Go get changed I’ll rustle up some scrambled egg on toast’ and off Delyn went feeling like a lost little girl in a lost little world.

She didn’t realise how hungry she was and wolfed it down in seconds as they sat at the two seater dining table, Tony quickly scrambled her some more and Delyn ate that with the same vigour, and gulped down the Cola in front of her, she felt a lot better and started to put some trust in Tony.

‘Thank you’ she said as she wiped her lips with some tissue,

‘Just eat what you want, there’s plenty, we’ll get you some more clothes, though most are handmade around here’ he realised he was talking dribble and waived his hands as if trying to squat a fly,

‘Why can’t I get out of the basement, what will happen if I do get out?’

Tony grabbed the two empty plates and put them in the sink, he thought of his wife, how she would have been the one to deal with this, he didn’t know the words to comfort her and if he did he did not want to be the one to say them, Delyn just stared at him waiting for the answer, but he had no answer for her.

‘The two girls who helped me this morning are calling in, I’m sure they will tell you everything you want to know’ he told her, that was the best he could do at that particular moment.

Delyn just looked at him, she felt herself filling up, she didn’t want to cry again, a single tear fell onto her cheek, she wiped it away with the back of her hand as another fell, Tony took her hand in both of his,

‘I promise you after they have been if you still want to leave I will let you,

She forced a smile, she liked this man, she had no idea what was happening or where she was, but for some unknown mad reason she felt she could trust him, she had to trust him, she had come to no harm, and the promise that she could go if she still wanted somehow reassured her, at least it gave her something she hadn’t had until now and that was a choice, she felt that she would soon be leaving and that made her feel so much better.

Tony left her on the sofa reading a magazine that was probably 40 years before her time, and as he pushed the case back over the cover, only one thought went through his mind ‘no way is she getting out of here until I take her’ he locked his garage and went into his house, he needed a well-earned rest, his bed was calling him.

Tony slept well and was only woken by the bell being rung on the gate which was wired into his house, as he walked through the car lot, he could see the two girls waiting at the gate, he led them to the person they had come to see.

Both girls had an arm around Delyn’s shoulder after they had told her all that had happened, Ivy’s story being the most daunting even Lily had not heard it all and it brought a tear to her eye, Delyn felt like her whole world had been blown apart, at first she refused to believe it and thought the two girls were some part of it all, some occult that she had been dragged into, and she had grown panicky and started shouting at them, but Ivy’s own tears convinced her otherwise and at that times all 3 girls new that if they ever did get out the mental scars would never fade, they would remain etched forever in their hearts and souls, some more than others, but they would be etched there forever nevertheless.

‘You won’t try to get out will you’ asked Lily after they all had taken some time to compose themselves, after what she had heard it didn’t take long for her to answer,  it was as reassuring as the two girls had hoped.

‘No’ she replied, and she truly meant it as at that time she didn’t see any other choice,

‘If we’re not out soon it won’t be long before I’m down here with you’ said Ivy, referring to her own 16th birthday,

‘That day’ said Lily we will all be together, because if they see Ivy missing it just means they will be keeping more of an eye on me’ she shuddered at her own words, ‘but that won’t happen because my dad and Tony are going to get us out of here’ she bit her bottom lip as it quivered ‘ he’s not dead, he’s on the outside looking in, I know he is’, the three girls embraced until there was a knock on the hatch and Tony’s head appeared, all three girls looked up at him and smiled, it was their way of saying thank you,

‘Time to go girls, don’t want to cause to much suspicion, they said their goodbyes and the two girls climbed out of the basement, before he locked it Tony put his head through and said goodnight to Delyn, who was stood right under the hatch,

‘Tony’ she called and he met her eyes,

‘Thank you’ she added, ‘I think I might be staying here until you say it’s time to go’ and she smiled as she said it,

Tony smiled and gave her a wink and as he closed the hatch and watched the other two girls go he wondered how he had put himself in such a position that the 3 young girls had so much dependence and faith in him,

‘I won’t let them down’ he thought ’you better be on the outside looking in Peter’

He went to the fridge and got a much needed beer, he took the top off and gulped half the bottle, his only solace in his god forsaken world.

‘Sure gonna miss this stuff though’ he said out loud, and laughed to himself, he finished his beer and grabbed another as he looked at the skies, ‘no storms tonight, think I’ll get pissed’

 

Peter still wasn’t sure what he was trying to achieve as he sat in the Iscoed Tafarn, the local pub on a council house estate in South Wales, the pub he previously visited as Underwood social club, as he sipped his shandy he found his head was being filled with all sorts of nonsense, but it was better than his hotel room, at least hear the occasional song on the Juke box would take his mind in other directions, just for a moment, he was pleased to see that the song was modern, he then realised that he had never heard any music in the other Underwood.

Every time the door opened he would look up expecting to see the Sherriff Allan Herapath, but of course he never did, he wished Tony Griffiths was here, but then he wondered how that could possibly be as he was dead, maybe both Tony Griffith’s were dead, he couldn’t work that one out, he was totally confused at this time, it felt like he was living in a world and his family in another, at this stage he was thinking he didn’t care what world it was as long as he was with his family.

It was his duty to protect them, he would do that wherever he was, he was with Tony Griffiths yesterday, today he visited his grave, tomorrow he hoped he would still be helping his family, whoever that Tony Griffiths was he needed him, dead or alive, the whole situation was so unbelievable, he had a job believing it himself.

He went to the bar and ordered another shandy he was greeted and served with the same friendliness, he watched two women in the corner sat with their backs to him, he heard them laugh and as one stood up to turn to go to the bar, Peter almost dropped his beer in shock as his whole body started to shiver and his skin to seep sweat, and now with her stood up he could see the other person, walking towards him to get a drink was June Murphy and sat in the corner was Sue Bradshaw, the two old ladies that had become wino’s, his heart raced and his hand shook, he had to put his beer on the bar or he would have dropped it.

Peter panicked as she came towards him, his whole mind now in total confusion he rushed out of the bar and into the car park, he found that he was struggling for air as he panted at each breath, he controlled his breathing and sat down on an outside table, a young couple were staring at him and he raised his hands to tell them he was okay, they looked away and took no more notice.

He lit a cigarette and took a long drag, he kept telling himself to pull himself together, he was no good to anyone in this frame of mind, and he cleared his head the best he could.

He had another cigarette went back into the bar, his pint was still there, he took a sip and went and sat down by the two ladies’ he had butterflies in his stomach, his throat felt dry even though he sipped his shandy, he wiped the palm of his hands on his jeans as he spoke,

‘Evening girls’ he said,

The two girls looked at Peter, he noticed they looked the same age as the other 2 women in Underwood, his heart was racing, he had a knot it his stomach, he felt like he wanted to scream, ‘what the fucks happening to me he thought’ he was half expecting voices in his head to start answering him.

‘All right love’ said June, Sue took a sip of her wine ‘aint seen you here before’ June added, but something was telling Peter something else, it was the look in June’s eye that gave it away.

‘Just looking around the area thinking of moving here’ he told the two girls, he studied them it was definitely the same two ladies,

‘Can I get you a drink’ he asked them,

‘No thanks mate’ said Sue, she wasn’t really taken with the man who had invaded her space, she didn’t like strangers, she thought Peter looked suspect in some way, but then again Sue Bradshaw thought everyone was suspect.

‘I’ll have a bottle of wine’ said June,

‘Haven’t they heard of glasses in this place’ he thought, Peter got up to go to the bar, and the simple task of buying someone a drink filled his body with adrenalin.

‘You sure you don’t want one’ he asked Sue, expecting her to share June’s bottle,

‘Go on then’ Sue said ‘I’ll have a bottle of white too’ she had suddenly warmed to Peter, and she looked at June and winked at her, the suspicion temporary suspended, or a suspicion that wasn’t really there at all, 5 minutes and £25 the poorer Peter handed them the bottles of wine and sat back down, the conversation flowed as well as the wine and Peter grew to like the two old ladies, but he was still on edge as he sat there, trying to find something that would give him a clue, just something to hang on to, they each bought him a pint of shandy, Peter was concerned of being over the limit, a law that didn’t seem to apply in the other Underwood.

As the conversation and the wine flowed, Peter had no idea what he was looking for, he didn’t know whether the other Underwood he had seen them in was a life in the past or one yet to come, Tony Griffiths was dead, somehow he could get his head around that, but these two were alive, just as they were in his other life, ‘they can’t be, they have to be dead in one of them’ he thought,

‘What interests you in coming to Underwood’ asked Sue slurring her words, Peter saw his opportunity,

‘I heard it’s a mysterious place and the woods are haunted or something, and didn’t people die in the old army huts’

‘See I told you’ said Sue, she leaned forward ‘I have the visions about the woods, the other day June fell in them and almost died until someone dragged her out’

‘Yea she also sees old ladies eating apples’ laughed June, ‘mad as a hatter she is love’

Sue slumped back in her chair, took a large sip of wine,

‘I don’t give a fuck’ she said, ‘those woods got ghosts in um’

‘Can you see what I got to put up with’ laughed June as she looked at Peter, he was looking at Sue, into her eyes, even though at that time she was just a drunken old lady, he could see she had troubles,

‘Well I like it here’, he told them,

‘I’s a nice place’ said June,

‘It’s shit’ said Sue.

Peter laughed and got up to go to the toilet, as he washed his hands he was thinking of what to say in order to try and gather some information, what Sue had said about the woods intrigued him, it was like she knew it happened, he wondered whether these two people were the actual link to Underwood, the thing that connects both worlds, that idea appeared to work for him, they had to be the connection.

He went back into the bar to where they were sitting, but the two old ladies were no longer there, he hung on for a few minutes wondering if they had gone to the toilet, but their glasses and empty bottles were gone, he guessed the barmaid had cleared them away, he walked over to the bar and caught the eye of the barmaid who had served him earlier,

‘Those two old ladies I was sat with. Do you know where they went’ he asked her,

The barmaid, looked across to where he was sat then reverted her eyes to Peter,

‘Think you’ve had one too many love, you’ve been sat on your own all night’

Peter opened his mouth to say something but no words come out, he left the pub and sat in his SUV, staring into space, it took him a while to notice the slip of paper that had been put behind his windscreen wiper, he quickly got out of the car, grabbed it and sat back in the driver seat, he unfolded the piece of paper, it read

It was a lovely evening

Just to let you know your family are ok

Tony is looking out for them

Sue and June

His head exploded in a panic, he rammed the car into gear and sped out of the car park, he knew these two ladies lived at Willow drive, he wanted answers and this time he wasn’t going until he had them, he raced to Willow drive with the intention of blowing the whole place open.

He parked outside the house and ran down the garden path, he banged the door with his fist,

‘I know you’re in there’ he shouted’

Moments later the door was answered by a man in his thirties, stood behind him was his wife, Peter tried to barge past him, the man just managed to stop him, they were now stood in the doorway,

‘I know there here I want to talk to them’ Peter screamed, his heart was racing as he tried to push past, the man put both hands round his neck and his wife started kicking Peter in the legs, they pushed him out of the door and Peter fell to the floor, he lay looking up at the two people who just threw him out,

‘Sue and June, I know there in there ‘he cried, ‘I’ve just been drinking with them’

By now neighbours had come out onto the street and were walking towards the fracas,

‘You all right Jamie’ one shouted as he stood at the top of the path, by now six others had joined him’

‘Some idiot looking for some Sue and June’ said the man in the doorway,

‘Do you want him gone’ said the guy who was now walking down the path along with the others,

‘I do’ he replied,

Peter stood up, his legs were hurting from where he had been kicked, and he put his hands up in the air as if to surrender,

‘I’m looking for two old ladies who may have information about my missing family’ he told them,

That soothed the crowd a bit and the mood changed,

‘Why would they be here’ said Jamie the man in the door way,

Peter who still had his hands in the air lowered them, everyone noticed the look of despair on his face,

‘I just, he paused searching for the words, ‘I got the wrong place’ he said with a look of defeat,

He walked to his car, watched by all in the street until he had drove out of sight, when they went back to their own homes.

Peter pulled up when he was out of site, he rubbed his legs and his neck ached where the man had part choked him, he lit a cigarette and opened the car window, ignoring the no smoking sign stuck on the dashboard.

‘I should have known they weren’t there’ he thought, he looked at the piece of paper, he smiled at the words on it,

‘Thankyou girls’ he said out loud and threw his cigarette out of the window.

As he drove he wondered what world he was actually in, he drove out of Underwood, without any problem, and that’s what was bothering him.

Chapter 18

The following days were warm and sunny and the people of Underwood went about their normal business, the shops were still fairly well stocked, the pump in the social club still pulled the finest homebrew, and the fields by the centre were still being reaped of the finest cannabis, the body of Steve Duce was bagged and left in the field as some residents built the stage he would be burned on the following Sunday, there would be a big turnout, the story was out that Steve Duce died of natural causes, an unusual way to die in Underwood and for a small moment his death brought a bit of normality back to the town.

Andy Thomas the vicar still went around the town blessing as many people he could, wishing them full life and healthy daughters, knowing that in the coming weeks a new breeding machine can be started by the pretty girl in number 13 Hawthorne, it would soon be his job to select suitable fathers.

Philip Lenan spent most of the days trying to think of new laws, disappointed that the death of the bus driver was natural causes, he wanted a murder charge brought, people were far too well behaved for his liking, he was working on a law to introduce a fighting pit, where those who offer no benefit to the town would fight to the death, the victor choosing the woman of his choice to spend their last days with, it was going to be a spectacle beyond anything he could have imagined, the body’s would be slung in the woods, to feed the devil.

The sheriff Allan Herapath was doing an itinerary of the residents of the town, every home had been searched for the missing Perter Ford, but neither he or a body was found, so it was put down that he was deceased, that the woods had taken him, the sheriff was of course disappointed with this as he had shown great potential, he was just pleased that he had not taken his beautiful daughter with him, it had been arranged the keep a special eye on her, the population of Underwood stood at 243.

Tony griffiths drank a lot of beer, drove the odd person around in his bus and made sure Delyn brown had everything he could possible give her, he spent a lot of the time studying the weather, looking for a storm, cursing the sunshine, he visited Eileen and Lily and their neighbours whenever he could without being suspicious, the two girls had also visited Delyn again, where more promises to each other were made.

With Nathan next door at No.13, Eileen and Lily sat at the kitchen table with a cold drink, it had been a hot day, and they had all come in from the garden as they felt their skin burning, life had taken on a different meaning for Eileen, she had no man in her life now to depend on, she had to put her trust in somebody else, a complete stranger, for all she knew he could have been responsible for Peter going missing, the more she thought about it the more likely it seemed that he had perished, her and Rebecca were growing close and she was valuing her friendship, as were their sons and daughters, but they knew it wouldn’t last long, not with Ivy’s 16th birthday coming very soon.

The back door was open letting in what little breeze there was as both girls sipped their cool drinks.

Stuart Hillman the bony toothless faced odd job man had to take on a bit more responsibility since the disappearance of Peter Ford and for that reason alone would have been enough to take what rightly he could claim his own, “no woman belongs to any man” was one rule of this town, so the lady in No.12 was his by rights and as he climbed over the wall of No.12 Hawthorne into the back garden, and with Peter Ford out of the way he only had one thought in his mind,

‘I’m going to take what is rightly mine to take’ and he thought of all the nice things he could do to her, and maybe the not so nice.

‘What the fuck do you want’ asked Lily at the man who stood by the back door, Eileen got of her chair closely followed by Lily, and Stuart Hillman was stood there in the doorway grinning.

‘I’ve come to give your mother a good servicing’ he laughed as he took hold of Lily by the waist and upended her carrying her up the stairs,

‘I’ll kill her if you stop me ‘ he told Eileen as she followed him, Lily kicked and punched and screamed as much as she could but the man was stronger than he looked and try as she might she could not get free.

Stuart Hillman dropped her into the bath and took the key out of the door and locked it just before Eileen jumped on his back, punching and screaming she pulled at his hair and felt pieces of it come away in her hand, with Eileen still on his back he slammed her into the wall Eileen catching the back of her head on the door frame, momentarily it took the fight from her as she literally fell off his back onto the floor, then the fight all went out of her as she felt a boot into her ribs and as she lay on the landing floor she felt her jeans being pulled from around her waist, she clawed at him with her hands but the fist in her face saw to that as her jeans were off and Stuart Hillman started to take off Eileen’s panties.

‘You’re so going to enjoy this’ he told her.

Lily lowered her legs out of the bathroom window, until she felt the plastic pipe running under the window, she slowly put her weight on it praying that it would hold, but she had to act fast she knew that, she shimmied across the pipe to the down pipe and hurriedly climbed down, straight into the kitchen, with sheer panic in her young confused mind she opened the kitchen drawer and for reasons that she will never really know why, as quiet as a mouse she went up the stairs.

Stuart looked down at the beautiful lady naked from the waist down in front of him, it had been a long time since he had someone so fine, he wanted to hurry it up or it would be over before he started, he let his trousers drop to the floor.

For a millisecond he thought it was a cramping in his neck, until he could feel his neck leaking and his throat fill up with blood and it was still pumping out as he collapsed on top of the beaten Eileen soaking her with his blood as Lily repeatedly stabbed him in the neck, until all her energy had been sapped away from her as she screamed at the carnage that she had just caused, she was now looking at the knife in her own hands as if someone else had put it there, her hands red with blood, her face and clothes splattered with it, Eileen managed to slide herself out from underneath the dead body, her legs and torso saturated in blood as the mother and daughter looked at each other.

‘Mum’ Lily cried as she shook with terror as she collapsed to the floor, looking at the body that lay there, looking at the man she just killed as the carpet soaked up the blood, she let the knife drop to the floor.

Eileen held her as close as she could,

‘It will be ok, ‘she told her.

She knew it never could be, not after this.

Eileen took her daughter into the bathroom, she ran the shower and stripped her daughter off and washed the blood from her, Lily still shaking in a trance like state, still trying to work out what had happened, Eileen then showered herself and she threw the both sets of bloodied cloths into the bath, they grabbed a towel each to cover their nakedness.

‘You need to go and get dressed’ Eileen told her,

‘I don’t want to walk past it mum’ she pleaded,

Eileen held both her shoulders and their eyes met, Lily noticed that her lip had been cut,

‘Just look straight ahead, I’ll follow you, we will both get some clothes then go downstairs’ she shook Lily gently ‘ok’ she asked her

‘Ok’ Lily answered,

They opened the bathroom door, Lily hoping that Stuart Hillman had somehow got up and walked away, but the body was still there, the hacked neck had now stopped spurting blood as it pooled around the body, Eileen wishing now that she had just let Stuart Hillman have his way and saved her daughter from this ordeal, but it was Lily who had saved her, and as they dressed in silence, they both wondered what this place had turned them into.

Neither Eileen or Lily wanted to leave the bedroom, knowing what was lying on the landing, Lily had stopped shaking but neither her or her mother really taking in  what had happened, this town had turned them into killers and the evidence of it was lying the other side of the bedroom door.

Eileen opened the door slowly telling Lily to hold on to her and not to look at the floor, they did this successfully until they turned to the top of the stairs when both of the girls had frozen in fear, in front of them, just two steps from the top and looking at the very bloodied body of Stuart Hillman, was Andy Thomas, the vicar of Underwood, or as he would call himself the god of the town, he reached the top of the stairs as the two girls stepped back onto the landing, trembling with fear, Lily bit her lip and tasted her own blood, Eileen tried to shuffle her daughter behind her as if pretending she wasn’t there.

The vicars eyes went back and forth to the body and then to the mother and daughter,

‘Well,’ he simply said,

Lily started mumbling something but Eileen put her hand over her mouth and then took one step forward and looked the vicar in the eye.

‘He tried to rape my daughter,’ she told him, ‘you know the rules, she’s not quite 15,’

The vicar raised his eyebrows,

‘He locked me in the bathroom, I had to climb down, he had her naked by the time I got to him,’ she sounded assured confident, she just hoped she would be believed, the vicar pushed Eileen aside and glanced at Lily,

‘Did he have his way’ his eyes were cold, his words piercing,

‘No,’ Lily stuttered, ‘my mum caught him before he could’

The vicar bent down beside the body as if to examine it, the two girls just watched, within a minute he was stood back up,

‘Do you not think stabbing him once would have been ample,’ he asked, Eileen stuttered her words out,

‘He wouldn’t let go of her and I just panicked, I didn’t mean to kill him,’

Andy Thomas grinned, he was a man of god, and the bible said an eye for an eye, but this was not representative of his bible, he clicked on his walkie talkie, Lily and Eileen recognised the name he was speaking to.

The vicar closed down his radio, he grabbed Eileen by the wrist, she screamed at him to let her go, Lily started punching the vicar in the arm that held her mothers, all the time the vicar was laughing,

‘I’m arresting you for murder’ he laughed.

The only prison cell in Underwood was occupied once more, Eileen was taken there by the two deputy’s, neither deputy wanted to do it and Sandra promised to help her in any way that she could.

Eileen was mostly concerned for her children rather than herself, being locked up in a cell left them vulnerable, she just hoped that the people that she had met would look after them, the reliable Craig brought food and drink for her and as she sat on the floor of her cell, not wanting to sit on the filthy mattress she wondered how some people could be so caring in a place that was full of evil.