Читать книгу Neil White 3 Book Bundle - Neil White - Страница 48

John stood by the front door on guard duty, holding the shotgun, his eyes scanning the dark hills, trying to see into the shadows. He was still shaking after Dawn’s attempted escape, because he didn’t know what Henry would have done if she had got away.

It was still quiet. There were no headlights on the road, no people coming across the field. If Henry was right, people were coming to get them, but all he could hear was the crack of the branches in the woods opposite, and the occasional rustle of leaves as a bird took flight. The light from the house spilled over onto the edge of the field, the stone circle taking on an amber hue. He remembered what Dawn had said, that it was a graveyard, Henry’s legacy just a field filled with dead bodies.

John looked back and along the hall to where Dawn was trussed up, her hands bound in front of her. He wanted to go to her and find out more about Henry, but the rest of the group were sitting and watching her, making sure that she didn’t make another attempt at running.

Gemma walked along the hallway towards him. She looked distracted, her teeth teasing at her lip. As she leant against the doorjamb and looked over the field, John said, ‘Where did Henry come from?’

She looked at him. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘How did he become the leader? What’s his background?’

Gemma shrugged. ‘Just like us. I know what he told us, that he grew up the hard way and so understands.’

‘But those are just words. They don’t mean anything.’

‘You want specifics?’ Gemma said, and then she sighed. ‘He’s from Manchester. His father was a drinker, and he used to beat Henry, so Henry left home. He learned the guitar and survived by busking. That’s how he fell in with the festival crowd. He roamed around until eventually he ended up here. Just about being lost and found.’

‘What about prison?’ John said, and when Gemma scowled, he added, ‘Dawn said that he’d done some bad stuff, and had gone to prison for abusing a young boy.’

‘That was a set-up – Henry told us about that. It was just some daft kid who liked to make things up.’

‘He was convicted though, and went to prison.’

‘Prison is full of innocents,’ Gemma said. ‘He told us that his beliefs were founded there, because it gave him space to think.’

‘If you are in prison, you will think about being free,’ John said. ‘It’s natural.’ He turned to Gemma. ‘Dawn talked about Billy Privett.’

Gemma looked back into the house towards Dawn. ‘We’re not about the past anymore.’

‘She was going to tell me something about Billy Privett.’

‘So it’s good that she didn’t.’

‘What do you mean?’

Gemma shook her head. ‘You don’t need to know. We’re about the future now, about fighting back.’

‘Was it anything to do with Alice Kenyon?’

‘Why do you say that?’ Gemma said, her eyes suddenly flashing angry.

John took a step back. ‘Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that,’ he said. ‘But why else would Dawn mention Billy, because she was talking about other things Henry had done?’

‘Why is that your concern?’

John thought about what to say, but as Gemma scowled at him, all he could think of was not upsetting her, and so he smiled an apology and said, ‘I just don’t want anything to stop us.’

‘Why would that stop us?’

‘I don’t know,’ John said, shrugging. ‘If the police come for Henry because of what happened to Alice, they won’t care about his vision.’

Gemma thought about that, and then, ‘Do you trust him?’

John considered that for a moment and then nodded. ‘Henry? Of course I trust him.’

‘So stop worrying,’ Gemma said. ‘Henry has it all under control.’ Then she frowned. ‘If the police go after Henry, we all go down. Henry, Arni. Even me. Is that what you want, to see me go down?’

‘Were you there?’

Gemma stepped forward and stroked John’s cheek with her fingers. She leaned into him and kissed him softly. ‘We don’t need to talk about that night,’ she whispered.

John’s misgivings about Billy Privett seemed to dissolve as he tasted her lips on his. He wanted to feel her body under his, the soft feel of her skin under his fingers. He closed his eyes. ‘I just don’t want to lose you.’

‘If you stick with us and trust Henry, you won’t lose me.’

He opened his eyes and smiled at her.

‘You do still trust him? And me?’

John looked at Gemma, and her eyes were wide, appealing to him, and he felt that pull, a need to hold her, almost as if it didn’t matter what she might have done. What any of them had done.

‘I’m falling in love with you,’ he said.

Gemma started to laugh.

‘Stop it,’ he said, feeling embarrassed.

‘I’m not laughing at you,’ she said, and kissed him on his cheek. ‘I’m loving you. Stay with us, babe. We’ll get through this.’

John flushed. He wanted to hold her, for them both to run away and leave Henry behind, but he knew one thing; he wasn’t going to leave Gemma there.

‘Stay strong,’ she said, and hugged him. He pulled her in close, inhaled the scent of her hair, felt her ribs under his fingers.

They stood there together, Gemma in the crook of his arm. Watching. Waiting.