The Grave (20 page)

By the time the police arrived Si was groaning and rolling
on the blood stained carpet.  Emergency workers were trying to help him but he
fought and struggled with them.  He was semi-conscious and bleeding from his
ears and nose.  His face was a mass of bruises, his lips were split they
thought some ribs were broken.  The paramedics were trying to calm him and prevent
further harm.  Lennie watched with dead eyes wondering just what damage she had
been able to inflict, hoping it was extensive and permanent.

The bloke from the lower flat was hovering near the door. 
The look on his face said he would rather be anywhere but here.  He had
thundered up the stairs and come upon the scene of devastation without real forethought. 
Though he was completely out of his depth, he was glad he had ‘done something’
for his friend without being required to risk actual physical harm.  He had
dialled 999 and started the whole reaction but now he wanted to go.  He had
wrapped Sylvie and Lennie in the duvet and blanket from the bed.  The dead body
had appalled and terrified him and he had simply let it be and the mess that
was Si had overwhelmed him.  He had tried to put a pillow under the man’s head
but Lennie’s scream had stopped him. 

“Don’t; don’t even touch him, the bastard.  Leave him be
Davey, let him die.” 

The two women were side by side on the edge of the bed. 
Both were shaking with shock and the effects of the adrenaline rush.  Their
hands were clasped on top of the mattress and now and again Sylvie gave a quiet
sob... 

Sylvie hoped the police presence might include the detective
she already knew.  In her befuddled mind it seemed maybe it would help.  They
had not had a chance to formulate a plan and she had no idea what Lennie was
going to say.  Now, if the detective and woman constable arrived then she would
simply hand over to them.  “
Here I am, take me and do what you will.  I am
finished and can’t fight anymore.”

Lennie though wasn’t ready to give in so easily and
immediately the senior police officer, a stranger, approached them and
introduced himself she launched into a tirade.

“Get them buggers out of my place, shift em.  Christ you’re
not even safe in your own home any more.  What are you lot doin’ letting scum
like that roam the streets.  You just think yourself lucky you ‘aven’t got more
bodies to deal with mate.  It’s a miracle we aren’t raped and dead.”  She seemed
to crumble then, her shoulders heaved as she gulped and sniffed.  Sylvie moved
across the bed and cradled her, as they leaned in together Lennie whispered
urgently.  “Keep your mouth shut, don’t say anything.”  She nodded
imperceptibly. 

“Are either of you hurt?  Do you need a doctor or to go to
the hospital?  I can call another ambulance.”

“No, we want to stay here, we want to be together and we
want you to get that filth away from us.”  If this was an act then Lennie was
giving a stunning performance but beneath it all Sylvie knew there was real
fear and true hate.  

“I’m sorry, Lennie, it is Lennie isn’t it?” 

The girl nodded.

“I can’t move ‘em that quickly.  I think it’s best if you
and your friend come with us.”

“Where, where do you want us to go? I’m not goin’ to no
bloody lock up, you can forget that.  No way mate.”

“No, no.  Just come with us we’ll take you to the station,
we have a room there where you can be quiet.  We can get you some tea, a doctor
to check you over if you need it.  It’s just not possible for you to stay here.

“We have to ask you some questions, you must know that and
you need to get out of this place.  Will you come?”

“You’re not arrestin’ us or nothing?”

“No, we’re not.  We just need to be able to do our work here
and we need to get you away from this mess.  Will you come?”

The girls glanced at each other, Sylvie could see Lennie was
trying to convey urgent messages and so she simply clamped her mouth shut and
let the other lead the way.

“Okay, but we want to stay together, we need each other.”

“We will need to take statements, you can’t do it together. 
Come on Lennie you know how this works don’t you?”  The comment told them,
though he was trying to be kind, the policeman wasn’t totally taken in by the
act.

Lennie nodded and on shaking legs they allowed themselves to
be led to the waiting car.  At the door Lennie stopped and gave Dave a hug. 

“Thanks love, you’re a hero you really are.” 

He just nodded and dropped his gaze.  He had long hoped for
physical contact with his upstairs neighbour but realised now this was probably
the nearest he would ever get.

Dull cream walls and a tiny window, the room was small and
institutional.  Sylvie was sitting on a plastic chair.  The police had been
kind, had offered them tea and access to a doctor.  They had been in another
room, carpeted and furnished with soft chairs and with pictures on the walls. 
Now though she was alone.  Lennie was probably in a similar little box
elsewhere in the station.  The detective had been gentle but firm, they needed
statements and to do it the girls had to be separate.  They hadn’t left them
alone since the flat and so she was out on a limb.  There was no way to know
what Lennie was telling them and so she would have to make her own way now.

The door opened and Detective Bailey walked in flanked by a
constable in uniform.

“Hello again Sylvie.”  He threw a plastic file onto the
table and dragged up a chair.  “Are you okay?” 

She nodded.

“Well, you have been leading us a bit of a dance haven’t
you?”  He tipped his head to one side, he wasn’t threatening but she couldn’t
trust him, couldn’t trust herself.  She tried to swallow but her throat was
parched.

“Can I have a drink, some water?”

“Of course.  Constable, would you?...”

“Are you better now?”

“Thanks, yes.”

“Okay.  Where do we start? Well, why don’t you tell me why
you ran?  I don’t understand at all.  You were so concerned, in the hospital,
distraught really and then you just left him, Samuel.  We can’t make any sense
of it.”

“Is he okay, Samuel?”

“He’s not doing badly at all.  He’s out of the woods
anyway.”

“Has he mentioned me?”

“No, he hasn’t and this is where it is all so very
confusing.  You told us you were an item.  The landlady at the hotel said you
were like ‘Love’s young dream’ her words! But he doesn’t remember you and you
left him in intensive care fighting to live.  Doesn’t really gel now does it?”

Sylvie shook her head.  She had to manage this, had to
fashion a history to fit with what had happened. She coughed.

“I know, I know.  I think maybe I was a bit, well you know,
over enthusiastic.  I was so worried about him and I thought if I told you we
had only just got together you wouldn’t let me stay.”

“Okay.  So why not tell me all about it and then we can
maybe move on?”

“Yes, yes I will.  He gave me a lift, I told you I met him
in a bar and it’s true.  I wanted to come here and he gave me a lift.  It
started then but…” here she shrugged and gave a little grin.  “Well you know,
he was nice, really kind and we were in the car for a long time.  We had to
stay overnight in it.  Well, do I need to spell it out?”

“No, probably not.  How long were you together then?”

“A few days that’s all.  But he was so nice and then he
brought me here, well he was bringing me.  He’s got a house, in the Lakes and
we stayed there and then he said he’d bring me here, I wanted to visit
Liverpool.  Anyway, the car broke down, he had to leave it on the motorway, we
hitched in a truck and then we found the hotel.”

“The man you shot?”

“I don’t know, I really don’t.”  Here she knotted her
fingers together.  Writhing and twisting on the table top they silently
witnessed her anxiety.  Her shoulders were hunched she was a picture of misery
and fear.

“We went into town, it was nice and we had a good time. 
Then we went back to the room and that man was there.  I didn’t understand any
of it.  I don’t know if Samuel knew him but anyway, oh God.  It all got out of
hand and he shot Samuel, he beat me up and I thought he was going to rape me. 
I shot him, I told you didn’t I? already, I told you I shot him.  Will I go to
jail.  Am I a murderer?”

“If you don’t think Samuel knew the man why do you think he
was there, in the room?”

“I don’t know, I honestly don’t know.”

The detective sighed.  “These other men, the ones from today
in Lennie’s flat. Who are they?”

“You’ll have to ask Lennie.  I don’t know about them. 
Lennie’s lovely she helped me but those men have been following her and I just
got mixed up in it.  Is Lennie okay?”

“She’s fine.  She’s being very helpful. I think the things
she knows are going to be very important.  You though, you don’t know anything
about Si and Mo, where they came from or who they are.”

“
Oh yes I know, I know they were animals, I know that no
matter what I’m glad we hurt them, I wish they were both dead not just one of
them.  Oh yes I know them.”

She simply shook her head and shrugged.

“Okay, I think that’ll do for the moment anyway.  Are you
okay, do you need anything?”

“I’m all right.  What’s going to happen to me though, am I
going to jail?”

“Well, let’s just say that if your mate Lennie has anything
to do with it neither of you will be going anywhere near a jail.” 

He smiled at her now and left her on her own in an agony of
worry in the plain little place.  She was cut off from the world, separated
from her friend and, she knew now, totally divorced from any sort of life with
Samuel.  She sat back against the hard plastic.  Maybe it didn’t matter, she’d
had so very little to lose, if Lennie could work things to their advantage, if
she could stay out of jail, so many questions but at the end of the day she
could do little about it and she was tired and dispirited and so there was
nothing to do but wait...

Lennie swung around and dragged Sylvie into a great hug. 
The other girl grinned back, her eyes glittered as she peered around in disbelief
at the glorious sunshine, the  row of palm trees and the unbelievably blue arch
of sky.

“I can’t believe it, I really can’t.  Are we really in
Spain, honestly Spain?”

“I know, I know.  Hey that guy there has my name on a board.”

“No, he doesn…” here they dissolved into slightly hysterical
giggles.  Hanging on to each other they approached the taxi driver.

“Senorita Lynne.  I am your driver, you can come with me,
Si?”

“Si, yes we can.  Do you know where you’re taking us?”

“Si, the village, the Bodega Seven Stars.  You are the new
owner I think.”

“Yes, me and my friend, this is Stella.  We are the new
owners.”  The driver grinned at the little jump of excitement she gave.  Okay,
yet another English bar owner to thrive or fail in Spain but it didn’t impact
on him and she was so very excited only a hard man would fail to be amused. 
Her little friend, Stella was quieter, more withdrawn.  He gave a little shrug,
maybe they would make it work, it wasn’t his problem.

“I take you now to your flat yes, and then to the Bodega.” 

“Yes, yes thank you.” 

So it began, a new life, an escape for both of them, new
names, new identities and, providing they could make it work a new business to
run.  When Lennie had suggested to the police that she would like to have a bar
in Spain it made sense.  They both knew the ups and downs of bar work and
Lennie was confident she could handle the rest of it. They had a new flat,
passports, a little money, a very little money in truth but they didn’t care. 
It was up to them, for the first time either of them could remember they were
in charge of their own destinies and so they strode out into the sunshine and
followed the taxi driver to the airport car park.  Their arms were linked,
futures entwined and the past receding slowly very slowly as the wounds healed
and the hope grew…

They knew it wasn’t quite over, as part of the deal they had
sworn to give evidence at the trials, Lennie more than Sylvie was under an
obligation that would run for many years.  They would be disguised; they
wouldn’t even be in the court rooms, probably not even in England.  It would be
done by video links and as much as possible would be done to protect their new
identities.  They were determined to do it.   They acknowledged that, for a long
time yet, there was a small risk.  The tentacles of the drug gang were long and
intertwined with many businesses and authorities but they’d had nothing to lose
and they had judged it a small price to pay for this once in a lifetime chance for
a new beginning. 

****

After he left the hospital and moved back home Samuel was
driven by a great need.   His recovering body worked against him and it was
weeks before he could make the journey.  Some of his neighbours offered to
drive but when he did it everything must be right.  No car, no company just
himself.  At last he felt strong enough and so he rose at dawn and packed a
bag.  The house was a home again now, it would never be what it had been but it
was a haven and it was enough. 

Down the path and out of the wooden gate, he turned to the
rise of land beyond the little stone wall.  There was a tug in his memory of a
dark night, screaming tyres and danger but he let it go, today was about
renewal and moving forward.  He lifted his face to the sun and breathed the
thin air of the Lakeland springtime.  His newly recovered muscles warmed with
the activity and the long hike became a pleasure.  He stopped often and
absorbed the peace and the glory before walking on steadily. 

Several hours later he turned into a gateway, past discreet
signage and understated buildings.  There was a place in the porch to leave his
bag and stow his walking shoes.  His stockinged feet made small sounds on the
slate floor as he slipped into the little chapel to light two candles, one for
each soul.  After a brief rest on the pale wooden bench in the dappled quiet he
resumed the journey.  Out again into the sunshine and down a bark strewn path
into the edge of the woods.  He was unfaltering, though it was a large area he
knew just where it was, how it lined up against the distant hills and the bend
in the river, this spot was burned into his memory and he knew he would always
find it.  She was here.

He laid his hand on the turf.  She was with him now he
sensed it.  The sun was warm against his back and before him lake, meadow and hamlet
basked in the northern light. 

His spirit had lifted with each step along the lanes from the
house, many miles walking alone to reach this place, it felt good to be here. 
Now he let the tears flow, there was no-one to see them and anyway he didn’t
care, after the horror that his life had been this honest emotion was cleansing. 
  

There were no markings, it was a gentle slope of woodland, a
tiny stream danced and sparkled at the edge of his vision.  He loved this burial
ground for its beauty and for the precious thing beneath the earth.  She was
sleeping here, cradling their unborn child forever. 

“I’m so sorry Marie, I’m so very sorry.”   He had loved her
and had no doubt she had loved him.  Surely love accepts and forgives and
though things he had done had been dreadful and wicked this was a second
chance.  The betrayal and the forfeit of the other burgeoning love had been a
great sacrifice but he had grasped the opportunity and could only hope he had
been right.  He would have preferred that the price paid had been exacted from
him alone but it wasn’t to be.

As the sun began to dip and the blackbird took to the
treetops to sing to the evening he uncurled and pushed to his feet.  He touched
his fingers to his lips and dropped a kiss upon the earth where his wife and
child slept.  Turning away he faced the evening glow, bowed his head and
whispered to the breeze.  “And you Sylvie, I’m so very sorry, forgive me.” 
With the gloaming song of the bird filling the air and the sky bleeding crimson
into the distant lake Samuel stepped away from the grave and took the first
steps into his future. 

The End