The Talisman
| The Talisman |
| The Legacy [2] |
| Lynda La Plante |
| UK (1987) |
- who inherits his father's looks . . . and his curse. Alex, his brother
- whose quest for revenge will fuel an empire built on corruption. And
Evelyne and Juliana, the fourth generation - still haunted by the
family's past.
have been buried with the gold necklace that he earned in the
Heavyweight Championships. Instead, the family kept it, ready to sell
should they fall on hard times. But Freedom's spirit is restless while
his talisman is not buried with him in his grave.
of the war years to the glamorous present, in London, America and South
Africa, Lynda La Plante continues the bestselling saga that began with
The Legacy. The passionate story of a family's lives and fortunes, and the curse that forged their names.
Lynda La Plante
was born in Liverpool. She trained for the stage at RADA and worked with the National Theatre and RSC before becoming a television actress. She then turned to writing – and made her breakthrough with the phenomenally successful TV series
Widows
.
Her novels have all been international bestsellers. Her original script for the much-acclaimed
Prime Suspect
won awards from the BAFTA, British Broadcasting and the Royal Television Society as well as the 1993 Edgar Allan Poe Writer’s Award.
Lynda La Plante has been made an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and was given the BAFTA Dennis Potter Writer’s Award 2000. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2008, and was inaugurated into the Crime Thriller Writer’s Hall of Fame in 2009.
Visit Lynda at her website: www.Lyndalaplante.com
Follow her on Twitter @LaPlanteLynda
Also by Lynda La Plante
Wrongful Death
Backlash
Bloodline
Blind Fury
Silent Scream
Deadly Intent
Clean Cut
The Red Dahlia
Above Suspicion
The Legacy
Bella Mafia
Entwined
Cold Shoulder
Cold Blood
Cold Heart
Sleeping Cruelty
Royal Flush
The Little One: Quick Read 2011
Prime Suspect
Seekers
She’s Out
The Governor
The Governor II
Trial and Retribution
Trial and Retribution II
Trial and Retribution III
Trial and Retribution IV
Trial and Retribution V
First published in Great Britain by Sidgwick & Jackson, 1987
This paperback edition first published by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2013
A CBS COMPANY
Copyright © Lynda La Plante, 1987
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
® and © 1997 Simon & Schuster Inc.
All rights reserved.
The right of Lynda La Plante to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
1st Floor
222 Gray’s Inn Road
London WC1X 8HB
Simon & Schuster Australia, Sydney
Simon & Schuster India, New Delhi
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Paperback ISBN 978-1-47113-081-6
Ebook ISBN 978-1-47113-082-3
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Typeset in Bembo by M Rules
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Dedicated to my beloved sister
Gilly Titchmarsh
My sincere thanks to Suzanne Baboneau and Ian Chapman for their constant support and encouragement over the many years we have worked together. I am so thrilled that Simon & Schuster are publishing
The Talisman
as it will breathe new life into the novel that is closest to my heart. It seems a long time ago when I first began to research the characters, and was led into the Romany world by some very special people.
Jake ‘The rake’ Woodly, his manushi Eda, his docha Tina and his stories and dreams, made the writing an exciting journey. So much so, that I found it hard to finish the book as I literally fell in love with the characters and their lives – they became like family to me. I recall how their deaths affected me emotionally, as sometimes you reach into real events and release the words that you should have said long ago, but the timing never seemed right.
The Legacy
and
The Talisman
were the beginning of my writing career and to have Suzanne Baboneau, who along with the late Susan Hill, was so supportive throughout my early career as a novelist, I think was more than fortunate. I am sincerely grateful for my on-going relationship with Suzanne who remains enthusiastic and encouraging and a dear, treasured friend.
ROMANY CURSE
He must lie with his treasures, be they tin or gold.
Resting in finery, his back to the soil.
One wheel of his vargon must light up with fire.
In the flame is the evil, his pain and his soul.
But beware of his talisman, carved out of stone.
If not in his palm, then a curse is foretold.
For who steals the charm of a dukkerin’s son,
Will walk in his shadow, bleed with his blood,
Cry loud with his anguish and suffer his pain.
His unquiet spirit will rise up again,
His footsteps will echo unseen on the ground
Until the curse is fulfilled, the talisman found.
D
uring the Second World War Blitz on the East End of London, Freedom Stubbs, the Romany ex-British Heavyweight Boxing Champion, was killed by his eldest son, Edward. Edward had just received confirmation that he had won a scholarship to Cambridge University, the fulfilment of a long-held dream of his mother’s. To enable him to continue his studies, his younger brother, Alex, agreed to confess to the killing of their father.
The two brothers were parted: Alex going to jail to await sentence and Edward to university. Neither of them went to their father’s burial, but many East Enders showed their respect, saying farewell to their gentle champion by walking silently behind the hearse. The mourners were joined by gypsies who came from all parts of England. Freedom had been not only their champion, but also the son of a dukkerin, and a prince of royal Romany blood.
In the past, Romanies of high rank were buried with their most valuable possessions. All their other belongings were burnt to ensure that the soul of the dead would rest in peace and not haunt the living. Freedom was buried in his best and only suit. During his life he had become a kairengo, a house-dweller, so there was no vargon or caravan wheel to burn, but, ironically, his house had burned down in the Blitz. His wife, Evelyne, left alone with the gypsies by her husband’s grave, was asked if a talisman could be buried with Freedom, as was their custom. It should be something gold, and honoured by the dead man.
Freedom had no talisman, but Evelyne promised that she would return to place in his grave the one item of value the family still had. This was a gold necklace, and was accepted by the gypsies as appropriate for their royal prince.
Freedom Stubbs had given the necklace to his wife, given it with pride and love when he was the British Heavyweight champion, when the long-awaited World Championship was to be his next fight. The necklace represented his success, and even when he lost the title, along with his winnings, even when the family had sunk into poverty, it was never sold. The gypsies were right; it was Freedom’s talisman, and with it in the palm of his hand it could be seen that he had once achieved something, he had been somebody. So it was right that he should lie in his grave with the gold that he had fought so hard for; it was right he should be given the dream that was so very nearly his.
The promise was made in good faith, but the forthcoming trial of Evelyne’s younger son, Alex, made it appear wasteful, even sinful, to bury such a valuable possession in a grave. Evelyne felt that when Alex was released from jail they would need the financial security the necklace could bring them.
The unquiet soul of Freedom began to weep, reaching out to the son who had inherited the powers of the dukkerin. The restless spirit with soundless footsteps began to haunt the living . . .
T
wo weeks after the burial of his father, Alex Stubbs was sent to a remand home, Rochester House, a large Victorian building with a six-foot wall and another six feet of barbed wire on top. Not exactly a prison, yet it still had the feel of one, and for those boys sent there Rochester House was anything but homely. They all wore grey shorts and socks, with navy blue pullovers over white vests, and black plimsolls. There were strict rules and regulations. Rochester was an assessment point, a halfway house until the boys went before the ‘beak’ to be sentenced for their crimes. It was therefore imperative that they obey the strict regime. Many of them would, after assessment, be released, but those with a past record would be sentenced and transferred to the reform schools.
The boys’ hair was cut short to avoid nits spreading, and they all smelt of carbolic from the showers, and of mothballs from their institutional sweaters. Their ages ranged from ten to sixteen. Alex, being fifteen, was placed in a dormitory with the older boys, all of whom were already hardened to reform school life, having been in and out of institutions since they were ten.
