FULL NOVELXO Chapter Chapter Two.
Aldridge Simonds was a brute, and he glared at the two men standing before him, he was a big man, muscular, and of a frightening appearance, and he also had a three-inch-long scar cut across his mouth to just below his left eye.
“What do you mean Higgins is dead,” he shouted. “I saw him this morning, and where is his cargo…? don’t tell me she was not there or I’ll cut out your tongues.
The two men quivered in fear, knowing they had no choice than to tell Aldridge that the girl had gone.
“Sir, only Higgins was found, and his body was bloated looking as if it had been dead for weeks, and it was partly eaten by rats, maggots were crawling on his remains and, and well the girl was nowhere to be found.”
Aldridge lashed out in anger and impacted his heavy fist into the man’s face.
“Count yourself lucky I have not cut out your tongue you, squealing toad, now go and find her as she can’t have gone far, out with you before I change my mind and stop showing mercy,”
He knew from the description of Higgins body that magic must have been involved and this concerned him.
Franks and his brother Dent’s quickly vacated the room, Franks’ nose was broken, and he spat a tooth into his cupped hand as they ran leaving the building.
“How is it our fault that fat Higgins went and died, it’s not as if we had anything to do with it, we were only there to collect the child, and bring her to Aldridge,” he exclaimed.
Dent’s looked at his brother with understanding and sympathy.
“At least we still have our tongues, that beast Aldridge cut out Samuels tongue just for swearing at him,” he replied.
As they made their way into the back alleys, a feeling of fear descended upon them, there some twenty yards ahead of them, a crowd was gathering, and cries of pain could be heard, then as the crowd parted five Abbey guards barged their way through making way for another six guards leading an injured man away.
Both Frank’s and Dent went pale as they realised it was Lewis Armitage their broker of kidnapped children, his body was limp, beaten, bleeding, and he was babbling some incoherent noise. As the guards passed, Frank’s and Dent realised the man’s tongue was cut out and that he had been badly beaten suffering at least a fractured if not a broken leg, dislocated arms and a fractured skull, yet they knew he would still be tortured until he died.
Frank’s let the guards pass and then looked at his brother
“We had better get away while we still can, or Aldridge will blame us for this as well.”
At that, they quickly departed the area and headed towards the Brent point in the marshlands of Somerset, where they intended hiding and surviving on wildfowl, as anything was better than facing Aldridge.
Lewis Armitage was brought before the inquisitor who on realising his tongue had been forcibly removed chastised the guards until it was explained this was how they had found him. Yes, orders had been given for his arrest, but somehow Aldridge had learnt of the forthcoming arrest and had his men take care of Lewis, ensuring he could not talk, and to send a message to others instilling fear into their minds.
Franks and Dent’s had made it out of the immediate town, and as they made their way towards Brent, they could not help feeling they were been watched, yet every time the turned around they were alone other than crows and various vermin and wildlife.
As night arrived both men climbed an old oak tree and secured themselves a makeshift bed in the upper branches, it was cold and dangerous, yet better than being attacked and murdered while they slept on the ground.
As the night eventually turned into day, both men were awoken by the sound of horses thundering past, and as they viewed from their vantage point, they saw at least twenty of the Kings armed soldiers riding towards Glastonbury. As soon as they passed and Frank’s and Dents were certain there were no more riders approaching, they made their way down and headed immediately towards the wetlands, it was more difficult to traverse, but it kept them away from soldiers on horseback and further danger of being seen.
The area was known to them, as occasionally they had traded with the people of the Marsh, and who had previously granted permission for boats to pass their lands which eventually led into the sea. Their row boats known as coracles were crude and only capable of carrying small quantities of merchandise, but the larger row boats that usually came from the mighty sail ships and birthed in the shadows of Brent’s hill, and from there they could travel no further, taking instead to smaller circular boats that could more easily pass through the dense reeds and in time take them nearer to Glastonbury.
From their traders were met by Mule bearers, and their cargo was unloaded and taken to Glastonbury, this route was also used in reverse by unscrupulous slave traders trafficking children to various ports, one been Bristol which was the heart of the slave trade. From there the captured children were sold to Mill owners from the Midland, to Mining owners, and other unsavoury establishments.
By nightfall, Frank’s and his brother Dent had made it to Burtle, and there they rested knowing that they were still in danger, again they constantly felt they were under observation, it could be fear, yet it was something they had both developed and learnt to accept that when danger was near, they just seemed to be aware something was wrong.
Yet as they surveyed their surroundings, they could only see miles of reads, vermin and birds, there were very few locals in this area, and those who had forged a living in this hostile environment, tended to protect their land from strangers with an insanity of attacking first and asking questions if you were still alive.
It was wiser to remain unseen and quietly swim your way along the various channels and avoiding detection and if possible, also to avoid other dangers, as there were areas of bogland where if you entered you were more than likely to become entrapped and slowly sink alive into a grave of peat. And struggling only made the situation worst and sealed one’s fate, unless by some miracle others came to your rescue.
The area stank of stagnant polluted water, and vermin, like huge rats scurried along the reed beds, both Frank’s and his brother were filthy and tired and rotting vegetation hung from their heads, and the occasional rat scurried over their bodies to reach more dense reed beds.
Dent found his legs were held firm by reeds and the more he struggled the firmer the reeds gripped him pulling him down under the water. As he called in fear to his brother, Franks turned realising the danger and told his brother to stop struggling and rest, then as his brother just managed to hold his head above the water, Franks withdrew a hunting knife and started cutting his brother free.
Incredibly from nowhere, a circular boat appeared from a cluster of reeds, and it drifted slowly to their side. Frank’s remained still expecting its owner to appear, instead a large crow squawked at them as it stood on the wicker boat looking at the two brothers. Frank took hold of the coracle and drew himself in and then reached for his brother. As the sun set and darkness settled, the two men made their way deeper towards the colony of Brent where they knew the locals, and sought to see if they would offer sanctuary.