Hurst by Robin Crumby (the reading list book TXT) 📖

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. To the south and west were sweeping fields and countryside, 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 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 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, 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 organisation has just opened up. Do you want in?”

Victor was staring down at the man’s body below, the left foot still twitching. 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. Get that railing fixed, will you? 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. That’s enough excitement for one day. Let’s get you inside and back in your cell.”

Terra looked up with tears in her eyes as she shivered in the 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,” 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’re like me. An opportunist. You’ve survived because you evolve and adapt, stay close to those in power. Bide your time, make the most of a good thing.

“You know nothing about me. Don’t underestimate me, Victor.”

“You’re wrong. I hold you in the highest regard.” She looked confused and relaxed a fraction, puzzling over his words. “Things are about to get interesting. If I was you, I’d stick around. Don’t give up now, just when you’ve landed yourself a position of influence. Those others he took. The hostages. They were worthless, except to trade or use as human shields perhaps. Whereas you, Terra. You’re the key to all this. 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. 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.”

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 edge, 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 versus 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 it was 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.

Chapter Fifty-nine

Riley sat down next to Adele, supportively holding her hand, while the little girl buried her face into her shoulder. The medical officer from the Chester swabbed the inside of Adele’s arm with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. He tapped two fingers against her inner arm and inserted the needle into a raised vein.

“It’ll all be over in a minute.” The doctor smiled as the syringe slowly filled with the little girl’s blood they hoped would help them understand more about the virus. He withdrew the needle, keeping the pressure on the puncture mark with his gloved finger, and stuck a plaster over the expanding pinprick of blood, handing the syringe to his assistant.

Riley’s thoughts were elsewhere. She couldn't stop thinking about Stella and what she had seen at the hotel. After the fire, an outbreak of the virus was a cruel blow. She had to believe that Stella was indeed immune, as was being suggested.

The ride home in the helicopter had been in silence. There was nothing Peterson could say that could possibly make things better, so he gave up and left Riley to her dark thoughts.

“We’ll need to get this blood sample to Professor Nichols’s team at St. Mary’s as soon as possible. Can you make the arrangements, please?” the doctor asked his assistant.

He turned back to face Adele who was rubbing her throbbing arm, keeping it elevated. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. He was used to treating burly marines and tattooed engineers, so was doing his best to adjust his bedside manner. His breath was stale and stank of coffee. It was making the little girl screw up her face in disgust. Riley nudged her in the ribs and told her to behave.

“You’ve been very brave, young lady. You know you’re a very special girl, Adele. There’s a good chance that your blood can teach us how to stop people getting sick. What do you think of that?”

“That’s what the other doctors told me back at the hospital, right before they hurt me. Are you going to hurt me too?”

The doctor exchanged puzzled glances with Riley and the nurse before reassuring Adele. “No, child, no one’s going to hurt you. We’re going to look after you and make sure no bad men hurt you ever again. You’re safe here. Okay?” The doctor noticed the rabbit's foot key ring the girl was clutching in her right hand. “That's a nice key ring. Did someone give it to you? Your mummy or daddy maybe?” he asked with interest, turning it over in his hand. It felt surprisingly real to the touch.

“No one gave it to me. I made it myself,” she responded in a flat voice. “I couldn't look after him any more and knew he would die, so we ate him and I kept his foot as a memento. It brings me luck.”

The doctor dropped the key ring into her palm, puzzled by her detachment, wondering at how desensitised she had become. He shrugged his shoulders and patted her on the shoulder with a wry smile. “Well, I sure hope he brings you a lot of luck.”

Riley thanked the doctor and led Adele down the corridor and outside to the castle courtyard where some of the other children were playing a noisy game of baseball with bored-looking grown-ups. Riley and Adele stopped to watch as Toby whacked the ball high into the air, threw down his bat and set off to first base. The ball came rolling to a stop to their right as two boys raced to retrieve it. All eyes turned in their direction. Adele looked up at Riley for permission before hurrying after the ball and athletically throwing it back over the head of a small boy with foppish blonde hair.

“Nice throw,” he muttered begrudgingly before running back to join the game.