The Perimeter (15 page)

Before bringing her to him, they had disposed of her filthy clothing, bathed her and dressed her in a simple skirt and blouse. Newly fragrant and presentable, she wanted to spit in his face and claw at his eyes. Instead she stood and stared at him, trembling with rage, unable to speak for fear she would lose control altogether. Willing him to shrivel and die on the spot. But of course he did no such thing.

‘Nothing to say?’ he prompted.

She looked him in the eye, still unable to voice the torrent of hatred she felt toward him.

‘Good,’ he said. ‘I need you to listen to what I’m about to say. Lives depend on it.’

She almost laughed at that.
Lives?
What did he care for lives? Unless they were vital to his precious plans.

‘I am letting you go free, sister. You and your little friend.’

Liss heard the words, but she didn’t quite believe it.

‘But I need you to do something for me.’

Of course he did. For when had he ever done anything out of the goodness of his heart? There
was
no goodness in his heart – he may have the face of an angel, but his heart was a pustule-ridden sack of evil.

‘I need you to go south of here, to The Talbot Woods Perimeter. I need you to locate Riley Culpepper and her family, and win their trust.’

Liss was beginning to understand where this one-sided conversation was heading.

‘You must find out where they are holding Our Father hostage,’ said FJ.

‘You want me to get James Grey for you?’ she said.

‘I want you to locate him. Find out where he’s being held. My warriors will march on the perimeter and we will crush them, but before we burn it to the ground, we must save Our Father and we must punish the girl who started this.’

‘Who? You mean Riley?’

‘Who else.’

‘You want me to find Grey for you?’ Liss said quietly. ‘And you want me to betray my friend?’

‘
Friend
? This shows me how lacking in judgment you are. This girl is the essence of evil and she must be punished. You will hand her over to me and she will bleed for her sins.’

Liss shook her head. ‘No.’

FJ smiled. ‘Very well. Say goodbye to mum and dad.’ He clicked his fingers and looked beyond her, to the doorway. Three guards entered the room, her parents between them – two to support her mother, and one to restrain her father. Her mum and dad were still dressed in the same clothes, hair wild and disheveled, faces pale and gaunt, their mouths stuffed with rags. Their appearance was all the more shocking against the backdrop of this luxurious room.

‘Shall we shoot them?’ FJ asked her. ‘Or should they hang?’

‘Alright!’ Liss cried. ‘Alright, you’ve made your point. I’ll do it.’

‘What’s that?’ FJ cupped a hand around his ear.

‘I said I’ll do it. Whatever you want. I’ll do it. But you have to treat them better. Mum’s really ill. She needs a proper doctor and clean clothes, a good meal. I’ll only do it if you . . .’

‘You do not bargain with me,’ he drawled. ‘They will return to their cell and they will remain there until you do what you’re supposed to do. Heretics and evil-doers do not receive privileges. It is the will of God.’

‘The will of FJ more like,’ Liss said under her breath, despair clutching at her like a drowning man. ‘How do I even know you’ll keep your word?’

‘I am a man of God. I always keep my word.’

Liss had no choice. She would have to do it.

Chapter Eighteen

Riley

Liss’s porridge had gone cold. We stared at her, appalled by her terrible story. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing: Her parents captured. FJ’s army coming to destroy the perimeter. And FJ had singled me out. He wanted me dead or worse. Liss had been put in an impossible position. No wonder she was so distraught.

‘He said he’d kill mum and dad unless we did what he told us. And he will do it too. They’re still down there in those horrible cells. I’m so sorry I lied. I really didn’t know what else to do.’

‘Okay,’ Pa said. ‘It’s okay, Liss. I understand. You’re in a terrible position. You did the right thing telling us the truth. Thank you. We’ll sort this out.’

Liss raised her eyes to look at him and relaxed her shoulders when she realised he wasn’t angry with her. ‘I didn’t want to lie, but he’ll kill mum and dad if I don’t do what he wants. If only Our Father – I mean Grey – was still alive, it wouldn’t have been so bad. I could have just rescued him somehow and taken him to appease FJ. I could’ve left Riley here. What am I going to do about mum and dad?’

‘We’ll do everything we can,’ Pa said. ‘Why does he only want Riley? Surely he would want Luc and Denzil too if this was all about revenge.’

‘I . . . I don’t exactly know,’ Liss replied. ‘But he seems to hate her.’

‘We didn’t exactly get along when we last met,’ I said. ‘I think I pissed him off.’

‘More likely he wants to use you as leverage,’ Pa said. He turned back to Liss. ‘When’s he coming? And where are you supposed to meet him? I need you to tell me exactly what the plan is. How were you supposed to get Grey and Riley to FJ?’

Liss turned away from Pa and looked at Annabelle, shaking her head. ‘I can’t tell them . . . it’s too awful.’ She turned to me and met my eyes. ‘I would never have betrayed you, Riley. You helped save my life. FJ is a terrible person.’

‘It’s okay, Liss,’ I replied. ‘You’re not responsible for his actions. You can tell us and we won’t judge you. I promise.’

Liss continued shaking her head and so Annabelle spoke up. ‘We were supposed to find a way of getting Riley outside the fence. And then . . . bring her to FJ in exchange for Fred and Jessie. He was planning on using Riley as a bargaining chip to get Grey back. He was going to torture her until you did what he asked.’

Ma’s eyes widened, brightening with tears, while Pa’s face turned a deep shade of red, his whole body tensing up. But I . . . I couldn’t feel anything. It was a scary thing to hear, but for now I was numbed to scary things. Or perhaps I was too shocked to react.

‘When’s all this supposed to take place?’ I asked, my voice calm.

‘Wait a minute, Riley,’ Pa said, his voice deathly quiet. ‘I’m trying to take this in.’ He got to his feet, his face dark, his eyes glittering with rage. He spoke almost to himself. ‘That psychotic little shit was planning on harming my daughter to get what he wanted. I’ll kill him. I’m going out now and I’m going to hunt him down and I’m going to kill him.’

‘Pa, wait,’ I cried. ‘There are better ways to do this. If you go out there, you’ll be killed yourself. You can’t go up against an army on your own.’

‘Watch me.’

‘Pa, please!’

‘Johnny!’ Ma said, sternly. ‘Sit down. What you’re doing is not going to help anyone. Least of all Riley. She’s here. She’s safe. You need to work out a plan, not go storming off half-cocked.’

Pa’s shoulders sagged.

I had to hand it to her – Ma had talked him around. I took her hand across the table and squeezed it.

‘When are you supposed to make the trade?’ I asked. ‘And where?’

‘He said he would meet us two miles due north of here at 5 am on Christmas Eve.’

‘Christmas Eve?’ I said. ‘But that’s only a couple of days away.’

‘Is he coming alone?’ Pa asked. ‘Or is he bringing his army?’

‘Once he has Grey, he’s planning on taking the perimeter by force. He wants to destroy it,’ Annabelle said
. ‘So, yes, he’ll be with his army.’

‘But what should we do now that Grey’s dead?’ Liss said. ‘What about my mum and dad? When I don’t show up, he’ll kill them.’

‘Not if I kill him first,’ Pa said through gritted teeth.

‘It’ll be okay,’ Ma said to the girls. ‘Johnny will sort it out.’

 ‘Right, we need to get organised,’ Pa said. ‘And, Riley, we’ll need to get you away from the perimeter.’

‘I’m not going anywhere.’

‘I don’t want you here when FJ and his lot arrive. You can go and stay with your grandparents in Uley.’

‘No,’ I replied. ‘You need me here.’

‘It won’t be safe for you here. Too much can go wrong. You can go with your mother.’

‘No,’ I said.

‘It’s a good idea,’ Ma said. ‘A trip away will do us both good.’

 ‘I’m not going,’ I said. ‘Anyway, you may need to use me as bait.’

‘Like that’s going to happen,’ Pa replied. ‘We’ll talk about it later. Right now we need to lock this place down tight and I’ve got a few ideas.’

‘Me too,’ I said, standing up. ‘Let’s get started.’ I figured if I could make myself useful, Pa might reconsider sending me away. It was either that, or go into hiding, and I wasn’t one to run away.

Liss and Annabelle had moved into Luc’s house for the time being. Pa didn’t want them staying here in case they changed their minds and fled the perimeter, or were tempted to try and turn me over to FJ. I didn’t think they would betray me, but Pa reminded me that Liss’s family’s lives were at stake. That most people would do anything to save the lives of the ones they loved – betray a friend, kill even. He ordered them watched at all times.

Plus, Ma couldn’t really cope with anybody staying at our house. Sometimes I didn’t think she would ever return to her normal self again. Since Skye’s death, I’d been treating her like a delicate child who could throw a tantrum at any moment. But there wasn’t time to think about Ma’s state of mind. We were all too busy, working round the clock, fortifying the perimeter.

The perimeter had always had its fence. That’s what made it what it was – its towering,
unscalable
electrified fence, keeping us safe inside and everybody else out. But it was only ever built to keep out raiders and looters, vagrants and anarchists. It was never built to withstand an army. To withstand bombs. Since the threat of Grey, the Perimeter Council had built a secondary line of
defence
inside the boundary – a double-skinned wall, built of brick and stone, almost as high as the fence, totally obscuring the inside from view.

Toward the top of the wall, a series of wooden walkways jutted out, running almost halfway around the northern perimeter. They were to be used as lookout posts and, in the case of an attack, as shooting platforms. Holes had been left in the wall for the guards to fire out of – an idea borrowed from the walls which enclosed Salisbury.

The day after Liss and Annabelle’s arrival, hundreds of us lined the perimeter, busily topping the new brick wall with razor wire and glass. I worked in a team with Liss, Annabelle, Luc and a guard called Jenny who had been posted with us to keep an eye on Liss and Annabelle. We had one ladder between us, some clay-grass cement, and a bucket of broken glass.

The sun shone and the temperature had warmed up a little from previous days, but the mood was somber and quiet. We spoke to each other in hushed whispers, everyone worried about the approach of FJ and his army. What would he do once he discovered Grey was dead? Was he really only coming for me and Grey? Or did he have another agenda? Pa was convinced he was after our oil supply and most people agreed with him.

Luc and Liss stood on one of the high platforms, setting vicious shards of glass into wet cement, Annabelle was halfway up the ladder and Jenny stood at the bottom, passing up the glass. I, meanwhile, was mixing up the next lot of clay and grass concrete, adding water to achieve the right consistency.

We’d tried to tell Liss and Annabelle that they didn’t need to work today. That they should rest. It was obvious they were half-starved and exhausted, but they said they wanted to help and we couldn’t persuade them otherwise. Thankfully, Pa hadn’t mentioned packing me off to my grandparents again. I think he was too busy. Either that, or he had given up once he realised I wouldn’t back down.

I hadn’t even had time to think about Lou and the gypsies. Yesterday’s visit to The Walls felt like a lifetime ago. No one had mentioned the missing firewood, so I hoped I’d gotten away with it.

Liss gasped, interrupting my thoughts. ‘Are you alright?’ I heard her say.

I jerked my head up to see Luc holding his hand, crimson blood soaking into his gloves.

‘Luc, come down,’ I called. ‘I’ll run and get some bandages. Won’t be a minute.’ I turned to go.

‘It’s okay,’ Liss called down from the platform. She reached under her coat and tore a strip of material from her shirt – well actually it was
my
shirt. Liss carefully peeled the glove off his injured hand and Luc held it out while she wrapped the cloth around his sliced fingers.

‘You should get that cleaned,’ I called up. ‘In case it gets infected.’

‘I’ll be fine, Riley,’ he said without looking down. ‘Liss has sorted me out.’ He smiled at her and she flushed, bowing her head.

Annabelle saw me looking at them and I gave her a quick smile and got back to mixing my cement. What had I just witnessed? Did Liss have feelings for Luc? Were her feelings reciprocated? I told myself not to be ridiculous. The girls had only arrived yesterday. They’d only spent one night at the Donovans’ house. Liss was simply being helpful, that was all.

Things were still so awkward between me and Luc. He hadn’t initiated any conversation with me today and I couldn’t think of anything to say to him either. I folded more grass into the clay mixture and stomped on it. Liss was very pretty. Petite and fair, she reminded me of one of the flower fairies from a bedtime story book Ma used to read us when we were little. I, on the other hand, was tall and ungainly like a giraffe. Liss was quiet and self-contained, while I was outspoken and unladylike. Was it any wonder Luc preferred her company.

‘You ready for the next lot of cement?’ I called up.

‘I’ll come down in a sec,’ Luc said. ‘We need to move along to the next platform.’

‘Okay.’

Liss climbed down the ladder while Luc finished setting the last few shards of glass, ignoring his blood-soaked bandage.

‘I don’t think broken glass will be enough to stop my brother,’ Liss said. ‘He’s always been very determined. You don’t know what he’s like.’

‘I think I’m learning,’ I replied. ‘And the glass is only one line of defence. We’ve got a lot of other strategies.’

‘Good,’ she replied. ‘You’ll need them.’

As the minutes rolled by, we worked our way steadily along our section of the wall, hardly speaking, just concentrating on the job in hand. Tension hung in the air like a thick mist. Liss had been right – it didn’t feel like we were doing nearly enough. What if Grey’s army used explosives like before? All it would take was a single blast in the right location and our defences would be breached.

As soon as we broke for lunch, I decided to make an excuse and leave. We’d all brought food, but I didn’t think I would be able to bear the awkward silences and overt politeness between me and Luc.  Things were still frosty and it was doing my head in.

‘I’ll be back after lunch,’ I said.

‘We’re only stopping for twenty minutes or so,’ Luc said. ‘There’s loads left to do.’

‘That’s okay,’ I replied. ‘I won’t be long.’ But I had no intention of returning. I would go up to the guards’ house and see if they could find me another job. Luc and the girls could easily manage without my help.