Chapter Eight

Life with Bridget got better and better. There was no interference from Robert who spent most of his time in his bedroom leaving us in peace. I wasn’t sure whether it was all the kissing and touching between myself and his mother that sickened him but he stayed away. Most young people cringed at the sight of their parents making loving gestures with each other.

One evening I put down my book to enter into a discussion with the love of my life. She looked up at me with her large doleful eyes, her eyelashes flickering as a brief smile touched her lips.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked pleasantly.

‘I’m thinking about your parents,’ I ventured thoughtfully. ‘What happened to them?’

‘My parents,’ she repeated lamely with a slight frown on her face.

‘Where are they? Do they live in the village? I’d like to meet them.’

She shook her head sadly before replying. ‘You won’t’ she answered tersely. ‘It all happened some years ago. A stranger came to the village... a man who was clearly of some account. He was extremely eloquent. He asked Mr. Townsend to call a meeting of everyone at the village hall because he said he had something very important to tell them. On the appointed evening, he spouted about the fantastic life that existed beyond the village where people had televisions, computers, holidays abroad, films and cinemas, and many other things including the opportunity to drink and live a life of luxury. He appealed to the villager’s greed outlining how they could gamble at will, win fortunes on a lottery, and so on and so forth. He appealed to them about freedom , a new way of life, including free healthcare. My parents were influenced by the man whose main aim was to find tenants for the houses he owned and to fill his pockets with the rent. They left here for a new way of life and I haven’t heard from them since.

‘They were allowed to go?’

‘Anyone can leave if they want to.’

‘How long ago was it when your parents left? I might be able to find them for you.’

‘It’s no use,’ she told me sombrely. ‘They’re long dead. I know they are.’

‘How can you be so certain?’ I asked... I had an uncanny feeling that she was correct in her assumption and that she also knew the reason.

‘There’s not to reason why, there’s but to do and die!’ she quoted using the words of Alfred Tennyson in his ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’.

‘I think you owe me a better answer than that,’ I persisted believing that she was telling me a tall story. Why should her parents leave the village to start a new life elsewhere that they knew nothing about?

‘It was quite a long time ago and my parents were fairly old,’ she went on. ‘I’m sure they wouldn’t have survived in the hostile world outside the village. ‘They’d live here all their lives.’

‘Is that the honest truth,’ I demanded, perhaps a little too strongly.

‘Why would I lie to you,’ she returned quickly. ‘I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’

‘Even though I’m a stranger,’ I riposted, wondering what her reaction would be.

‘Especially as you’re a stranger,’ she retorted changing the subject. ‘you’re so different to anyone else here. That’s why I fell in love with you.’ I stared at her beautiful face and it seemed that she was telling me the truth. How could I feel anger towards her when told me something like that. ‘I know that you were in the army in Persia,’ she continued.

‘It’s Iraq now,’ I corrected.

‘I’ve never been overseas. What’s it like in other countries?’

I paused for a moment to reflect. She was bringing the past back to me rapidly and it was my turn to explain. ‘I can only tell you about Iraq. It’s another world out there,’ I informed her, eager to express my views and enjoy a moment of nostalgia. ‘There temperature’s very hot except for certain times in the winter. There’s sand everywhere and occasionally sandstorms which causes day to turn into night. The sand seems to penetrate everywhere. At all other times the sun beats down mercilessly. It gets tremendously hot. Many houses have been demolished in the fighting and the people are split into two factions... the Sunnis and the Shi’ites who tend not to like each other. There are different tribes who hate each other intensely although there’s no real reason. From one town to another, roads have been built, but they are heavily mined in places making it dangerous to walk. They’re put there by people who hate the British invading their country and they want us to leave. There was a joke on a television programme where the interviewer asked: ‘Why is it that five years ago men always walked ten yards ahead of women. Now it’s the other way around.’ The person being interviewed said: ‘Mines!’ I waited for a smile to come from Bridget’s face but she stared at me blankly. I could imagine her difficulty in imagining the place I had just outlined to her.

‘I don’t understand,’ she responded with a puzzled expression on her face. ‘What are mines?’

I waited for a while before continuing. ‘Okay, ‘ I went on, trying to keep my voice on an even level. ‘I had to make sure that peace remained stable in and around the city of Basra. It’s an important town in Iraq. Some Arabs were good and behaved themselves, others were bad and fired guns at us trying to kill us. Occasionally, a mine exploded killing or wounding soldiers or civilians.’ I decided not to boast about the medal awarded to me and it was just as well because she held up her hands to stop me from going on.

‘I don’t really want to hear any more,’ she argued. ‘It sounds very terrible and I would not wish to go to places like that. We have such peace in the village. Why should I go elsewhere? It sounds terrible!’

‘Well there are countries where there is no war and everything is pleasant. There are many places tourists go to.’

‘What are tourists?’ she asked becoming further confused.

I could see that I was out of my depth. Modern terminology and situations were completely lost here. ‘Well all I can say is that I served in the British army there and enjoyed the camaraderie of comrades who served with me. We’ll never be able to establish democracy there despite what the politicians want to do...’

‘Democracy?’ she questioned almost at the end of her tether. She regretted having started the conversation because it was so outrageous in her peaceful mind.

‘It’s a political term. Nothing for you to worry about.’

‘You clearly feel very strongly about it,’

‘So would you if your friends and colleagues were injured or killed in the gunfire.’ I snorted changing the subject as her expression indicated her displeasure. ‘So you won’t be travelling abroad to another country.’

‘Firstly, I understand it would need money to do so. I haven’t any. Secondly it’s against the policy of the village to allow any of us to leave for any reason whatsoever especially as... She tailed off in mid-flow preventing me from learning the secret the villagers kept to themselves.

‘Especially what?’ I enquired as calmly as I could.

‘It’s nothing,’ she replied as though I was about to wrest the secret away from her.

‘So there’s a constitution which you all follow,’ I went on intending to press her more firmly.

‘You’ll have to ask Mr. Townsend about it,’ she told me adamantly. ‘I’m sure he’ll answer that question for you.’

I was beginning to hate the sound of the Chairman’s name. ‘Is it available in the library?’

‘Don’t ask me!’ she retorted almost buckling under the pressure. ‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen it. You must realise that I was brought up in the village. The only things I know were passed down to me by my parents, friends and the committee.’

I relented somewhat, softening my approach... ‘You have to realise, darling, I’m a newcomer feeling my way into your society. That’s the reason why I ask so many questions. I want to learn more so that I can integrate into your society much better. I love you and want to live here with you but everyone refuses to answer any questions I ask. They hold back on me which is very frustrating.’

She moved towards me and put her arms around my shoulders. ‘I’m sorry, darling,’ she cooed. ‘I understand how difficult it is for you. But, as I told you before, you have to be patient. You’ll know everything about the village and the people here in time. You will... I promise you.’

I huffed and puffed for a few moments before kissing her gently on the lips. ‘Let’s go to bed,’ I suggested knowing her reply in advance and she jumped at the idea, her eyes lighting up at the pleasure she anticipated.

We went upstairs to the bedroom and undressed until we were standing facing each other in the nude. I pushed her gently on to the bed and began to kiss her cheeks and her neck. I began to feel her wilt as I ran my hands all over her body. My fingers trickled over her nipples and I began to smother her all over with a plethora of kisses before moving my hand between her legs. This was the moment when her ecstasy began and I moved my finger gently and rapidly at the mouth of her vagina. In the past, our love-making was romantic and sensuous where we were both aroused and our emotions were heightened by the ultimate sexual act with a great deal of lust coupled with tenderness. On this occasion, angry with the frustration at being denied the information I want to know, I allowed my feelings to overcome me and I became rough with the woman. After ten minutes of foreplay, where she became fully aroused and extremely moist, I pressed myself inside her forcibly and repeatedly, causing her an element of pain. However, despite the roughness employed by me in the intimate sexual act, it seemed to excite her even more and she did not appear to mind. As we merged together, moving up and down in harmony, my mind drifted to the questions that remained unanswered rather than to the love and tenderness I needed to offer to the woman. My hands ran over her breasts until the nipples became sore and I believed that I had injured her slightly between the legs with the force exerted by me. Eventually, when we were both satisfied, I noticed the pain she was suffering as she went from the bed to the bathroom. When she returned, she looked at me thoughtfully.

‘It was different this time,’ she said, although her tone was such that it was not a reproach. ‘You were a little rough this time.’

I hung my head with shame. ‘I’m sorry, I let my feelings get the better of me.’

‘Don’t apologise,’ she returned smiling. ‘I liked it. It was really good!’

She sat on the bed gingerly, wincing at the soreness between her legs, and I put my arms around her, touching her breasts lightly, noticing that she winced again at the soreness of her nipples. Yet she claimed that she had enjoyed it so there was no reason for me to feel guilty. However, I blamed myself for having lost something in the experience and I made myself a promise not to be so rough with her again. I loved this woman... the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt her.

***

Bridget, Robert and myself were having breakfast the following morning when Robert pushed his bowl of cereal aside and looked directly at me which he did not do normally.

‘I think you’d better come to the school today,’ he rendered before turning away again.

‘Why should I do that?’ I enquired puzzled. He had never wanted me to go anywhere near to the school before.

‘There may be trouble,’ he went on, ‘and as you’re the security officer for the village you ought to be there.’

‘What sort of trouble?’ asked Bridget, with a frown appeared on her face. The classes had always been peaceful with the children extremely attentive.

‘It’s not for me to say but someone ought to be there,’ the boy continued seriously.

‘Is someone bullying you? Has anyone threatened you?’ Bridget was quite concerned.

‘It’s nothing like that,’ stated the lad, standing up to collect his satchel. ‘I consider it to be far worse.’

‘You’ll have to be more specific, Robert,’ I told him. ‘What are you trying to tell me?’

He failed to answer, walking towards the door and looking back at me with an element of audacity in his eyes before leaving. I looked at Bridget who simply shrugged her shoulders aimlessly and shook her head, helpless to clarify the situation.

‘You know what boys are like,’ she uttered slowly. ‘They make up all kinds of stories.’

‘I don’t know,’ I countered thoughtfully. ‘He’s never said anything like this before. Why today? Why the school? Do you think I should go there to check it out?’

‘I wouldn’t bother,’ she said flatly. ‘He’s just making it up to get our attention.’

I took her at her word for it and went to the entrance of the village once more to undertake the security role handed out to me. The morning passed by without incident. I sat on the stub of a tree waiting for strangers to try to get into the village but nobody came. It was at lunchtime when I went to the cafeteria that I met the Secretary again. She was truly a beautiful woman but she didn’t like me and she released all her inhibitions upon me the moment she came near.

‘You’re the security guard supposed to be guarding the village!’ she accused unreasonably. ‘Why aren’t you at the school today?’

‘What’s going on there?’ I asked with concern that something might have happened to Robert. The boy had warned me of trouble but Bridget had discounted the idea as the boy’s tale.

‘A riot’s going on,’ stated the woman bluntly. ‘All the children in every class have started to riot.’

All the children, I thought vaguely. What the hell was going on?

‘No one knows why they’re doing it but the Headmaster’s at his wits end. They smashed up the chairs and the desks... vandals every single one of them!’

‘Really,’ I managed to say. ‘All the chairs and the desks!’

‘And where were you?’ she snarled angrily. ‘Sitting on your backside at the entrance to the village where nothing was happening... wasting your time!’

‘It’s my job!’ I countered defensively. ‘I’m employed to be there to stop strangers coming in!’

She snorted angrily and swept out of the cafeteria in disgust. I followed her out to go back home. It was my intention to find out from Robert what really was going on. However the house was empty... there was no one at home. I pressed on to the school to discover dozens of children in the playground chanting at the top of their voices.

‘We want our freedom... freedom is our aim,’ they shouted time and time again, some of them doing so from the roof of the school.

I had known many children who had hated school in my early days and who tried every trick in the book to avoid going there but I had never seen anything quite like this. The children were fervent in their appeal, raising their fists in the air in anger as they chanted, and not one of the teachers was able to bring them under control. They milled to and fro and one of the girls on the roof slipped and broke her arm as she fell to the ground requiring someone to take her to the surgery for treatment. I managed to catch the sleeve of one young boy and pulled him aside.

‘What are you after? What do you want?’ I demanded urgently. ‘Why are you doing this?’

‘You’re the stranger,’ he retorted. ‘I’m not allowed to speak to you!’

He tore himself away from my grasp and raced away to join the rest of the children who continued to chant. I could see Townsend at the other end of the school yard talking to the Headmaster but he seemed to be taking no notice of the riot. It was presumably his intention to allow the children to wear themselves out and redress the situation on the following day.

In due course, I found Robert and took hold of his arm. He struggled for a while and then gave up.

‘You won’t know nothing about this,’ he stated firmly. ‘I warned you this morning but you won’t understand why we’re taking this action.’

His words were so prefect, his elocution so good, that I wondered how a small boy could make such a statement. Then I remembered that he had told me he was forty-two years of age. Although he had the appearance of an eleven year old, he acted and sounded like a middle-aged man. It was most uncanny.

The riot broke up eventually and I walked home with Robert. He refused to take my hand and he wouldn’t give me an explanation, so we walked back in silence. As we entered the house, he turned to me and grabbed my arm.

‘I like you,’ he told me. ‘I like you a lot but I’m afraid you wouldn’t understand it if I explained it to you. So let’s forget it, shall we?’

I was too stunned to comment and, anyway, his mother entered the house at that moment, asking what was going on at the school. I felt annoyed that everyone was treating me like a child, telling me that I wouldn’t understand. Surely someone could have explained what was going on. I would have been able to take it!

Ten minutes later, I returned to the cafeteria for lunch although I had lost my appetite. I wasn’t suffering pain... it was more like a malaise as though I had eaten something that disagreed with me and I had noticed early in the morning that my eyes had become slightly jaundiced. I took it that the tablets I had been taking were having an effect, reducing the amount of iron in my blood.

There were a few people sitting at the tables eating and drinking and their main topic of conversation was the riot at the school. They rambled on gossiping about the incident although none of them had been there to witness what was happening. Then, after a short while, one of the women leaned across to my table inquisitively.

‘What happened at the school today, Mr. Security man?’ she asked politely.

‘There was a riot by the children,’ I told her flatly. ‘Apparently they smashed up the chairs and desks chanting ‘We want freedom... freedom is our aim’. Nut it’s all over now. The children have all returned home.’

‘Was anyone injured?

‘Only one girl who broke her arm when she fell off the roof,’ I explained briefly.

‘Did they say why they were rioting, other than shouting ‘freedom’.’

‘No.’ I returned smartly. ‘That’s all there was to it.’

I ordered my favourite steak, chips and peas only this time the woman behind the counter smiled at me in a strange way showing her approval of me.

‘I had a word with Bridget,’ she told me eagerly as she took my order. ‘She says you two are getting along fine... .real fine!’ The smile on her face led me to believe that Bridget had been quite free with the news of our intimate relationship.

‘Yes we are,’ I returned with the element of a smile on my face. ‘Real fine!’

The woman burst into laughter as she turned to prepare my lunch. It was quite evident that she knew much more about Bridget and myself than was necessary. However it had made me another friend in the village and there were few of those at the present time. The only person I could never get on my side was the Secretary... not in a hundred years!

That evening I was reading Westward Ho! While Bridget was reading the poems of Tennyson. We broke away from the books to have some tea and I decided to broach a different subject to her.

‘You say you’ve never been out of the village in your whole life,’ I advanced. ‘Why don’t you come with me to meet my sister? She doesn’t live far from here. It’ll be like an adventure.’

She stopped in her tracks to think about the suggestion before replying. ‘I don’t think they’ll allow either of us to leave the village,’ she told me earnestly. ‘Anyone who wants to do so must get dispensation first and permission is impossible to achieve.’

‘Don’t you want to meet my sister?’ I asked wondering whether she wanted to or not.

‘I would love to meet her,’ she replied, ‘but you’ll have to ask r. Townsend for permission. You can’t simply walk out of here.’

I shrugged my shoulders aimlessly angry that I would have to approach the Chairman for permission. I knew exactly what he would say, ‘Let me do it on my own at first,’ I suggested. ‘There’s a detective in the jail who’s been chasing me to leave the village. My brother-in-law sent him to get me out of here. If I visit my sister, I can put her mind at rest. Why not come with me?’

She tossed the idea around in her mind for a few moments. ‘We’ll go and see Mr. Townsend tomorrow for his dispensation and then we have to go to the police station for their permission.’

‘Do we really have to go through all that rigmarole just to leave here?’ I was completely puzzled by the complicated structure for someone wanting to leave the village.

‘I’m afraid so,’ she replied. ‘If you think it’s going to be wasy you’re wrong.’

‘Your parents did so, You told me that!’

‘That’s right and I haven’t heard of them since.’

‘Do you mean that someone here did something to them?’

‘I can’t say. But they never contacted me again.’

I lay awake in the bed that night knowing that I would dream about the impossible task of going out into the real world. I twisted and turned between the sheets as I tried, in my sleep, to unfold a maze of secrets. Eventually, I fell into a deep slumber seeing Townsend shaking his head vigorously as he refused to grant me permission and the desk sergeant doing exactly the same thing, slamming the day book closed and leading me to one of the cells, locking the door behind me. Later, during the night, I sat up in bed wide awake from the terrible nightmare shouting at the top of my voice. I was drenched in perspiration and so were the sheets. Bridget who had been disturbed by my tossing and turning burst into laughter as I stared bleakly at the wall. The ordeal of leaving the village had already started... before I had spoken to anyone about it!

***

I was called to the police station by a young messenger the following day. Wayne was being released and the desk sergeant read him the Riot Act who turned to me when he had finished.

‘This is the man you said you know. We’re releasing him today on his solemn promise that he won’t return. I’d like you to escort him off the premises before we take further action against him’ His terminology was so intimidating that Wayne’s legs almost gave way beneath him.

‘I’ll make sure he doesn’t,’ I told him, taking Wayne by the arm and leading him outside. ‘Look, Wayne!’ I warned him. ‘Don’t let me catch you here again or you’re life will be forfeit. Tell Mary I’m going to visit her shortly. I want to set her mind at rest but there’s no point in you chasing me here. Is that understood?’

He nodded his head as though he was a broken man, full of fear, unfit for any further detective work with my brother-in-law. I led him along the main path out of the village and bade him farewell for the last time. There was no doubt that he would never return to the village again. His problem was to determine where he would go from here. But it was his problem... not mine!

At lunchtime, I picked up Bridget and we went to find Townsend. He was at the village hall preparing for a committee meeting. He was examining some papers he intended to use when we entered.

‘Mr. Townsend,’ began Bridget in her dulcet tone of voice. ‘We’d like dispensation to leave the village for three days.’

He looked up, his lips twisting as he thought about her request. Clearly it was unusual for anyone to ask to leave the village and his body language led me to believe it.

‘Out of the question!’ he retorted sharply. ‘Why do you want to leave?’

‘I want Bridget to meet my sister and brother-in-law,’ I intervened quickly hoping to relieve her of the pressure.

‘For what reason?’ The question was fired like an arrow from a cross-bow.

‘We may be getting married in the near future,’ I told him boldly. ‘I want her to meet my family. You can’t deny that I have one!’

‘We do not encourage strangers coming into the village or the villagers going outside,’ he spat. ‘In any case, I’m not sure I approve of your marriage to each other.’

‘Come on now!’ I returned feeling anger welling up inside me. ‘This is a free country. In the world out there, Moslems marry Christians, Catholics marry Anglicans, blacks marry whites...’

‘That happens in the outside world... not here! The reasons you give are just cause for us to restrict people leaving our village. We don’t like change, Mr. Ross. We resist it at all times. I can’t change the rules just for you.’

‘Three days... that’s all I ask. I promise I’ll bring Bridget back if it bothers you that much.’

‘Indeed it does, Mr. Ross. Indeed it does! Once you leave this village everything will change. Promises become worthless. Of curse it troubles me. I’m responsible for every person here. We have a population of eleven hundred people and it’s vital to maintain it at that number.’

‘Why do you insist on that figure?’ I demanded expecting him to reply cogently.

‘It’s vital,’ he went on. ‘As soon as we weaken and change the rules the village will go to the wall. We cannot afford that to happen. It must not happen!’

I considered his reply to be a complete over-reaction. What was the man wittering on about. The population would still be at eleven hundred when we returned. What difference did it make anyway?

‘You’re doing an excellent job here, Mr. Townsend ,’ I continued in my ignorance, ‘but I think the situation has got to you. You’re becoming paranoid. Our visit to my sister for three days will come and go so fast you won’t even notice it.’

‘You misunderstand me, Mr. Ross,’ he countered swiftly. ‘The ways of this village are most singular. The world outside doesn’t understand us and there are rumours abound about our customs which they believe to be true. One of them is that we sacrifice a virgin each year at Halloween. The more we mix with other people, the more we weaken our community. As a result, I cannot endorse any plans you might have to leave the village.

‘And what if I take Bridget and we leave of our own accord?’ I ventured, treading on very dangerous ground... ‘What could you do about it?’

‘For one thing,’ he replied slowly, ‘I would ensure that neither of you could ever return. Mrs. McBain would leave her son here. She would never see him again.’

At that point, Bridget went into a spin. ‘No,’ she cried out, ‘that must never happen.’

I turned to her in amazement. ‘We can always take Robert with us.’

A smile appeared at the corners of Townsend’s mouth as he knew that he had won the battle. ‘There’s a lot you don’t know about us, Mr. Ross. I suggest that you set aside your venture to leave the village and stay with us here. It’s far better for both of you in the long run, I assure you.’

Bridget held on to my arm with tears appearing in her eyes. ‘Listen to him, Sam,’ she pleaded. ‘I can’t lose Robert!’

I was stunned at her reaction. She had been so supportive earlier yet the threat against Robert had forced her to change her mind. The Chairman was absolutely right... I didn’t know what was going on!

Later that evening, after my angst had reduced to a lower level, I decided to take the law into my own hands. There was a secret about Obadiah Numbwinton that needed to be revealed to me and I intended to find out about it. The convention, the rules, the details about the man and his work, and the village, were resting quietly somewhere inside the library and I was determined to find them. As it grew dark, I left the house and went to the end of the village where it was located. My father had been a master locksmith and he had taught me the rudiments of his trade. Subsequently, I had little difficulty in unlocking the door and entered the building surreptitiously. This was a Victorian village so there were no alarms or electronic devices to alert the authorities. As the library was at the far end of the village, I decided to risk lighting a paraffin lamp. I looked at the shelves with a multitude of books wondering where the important document would be kept. There were some cupboards on one side. I searched them eagerly in vain. As time went on, finding nothing at all, my attention turned to the statue of the great man. At the foot of it, there appeared to be a handle which I assumed was attached to a drawer. I went towards it just as PC7 entered.

‘Hello, hello, hello!’ he began in his usual manner. ‘What’s going on here?’

I was caught in the act but I pretended that I was innocent. ‘I found the door open and the paraffin lamp lit,’ I lied blatantly, trying to keep my voice on an even keel. ‘I didn’t know we had any burglars in this community.’

He looked at me suspiciously for a short while. ‘Strange,’ he commented. ‘The door was open and the lamp was on, you say... ’

‘That’s right,’ I followed up. ‘But there was no one here. Baffling, isn’t it?’

‘Certainly is,’ he muttered. ‘Baffling!’

‘Just as well I came along. This place could have caught fire.’ I turned off the paraffin lamp and walked towards the door. ‘Maybe the librarian left the lamp on and forgot to lock the door.’

‘That would be unusual,’ he rattled turning with me to leave.

I made my way back home with a sigh of relief, unhappy that my trip had been in vain. There had to be papers about Numbwinton and the village somewhere. Unfortunately I hadn’t found them but I believed I knew where to look next time.!

***

At the earliest opportunity I took Bridget to the police station where we appealed to the desk sergeant.

‘Look,’ I began, ‘we want to visit my sister for three days. It’s a prerequisite before we get married. It’s only right that Bridget meets my family.’

‘Yes,’ intruded Bridget quickly. ‘We’ve seen Mr. Townsend but he’s not too happy to let us go. So we’ve come to ask you to persuade him otherwise.’

‘It’s only for three days, dammit!’ I urged angrily. ‘We’d be back here in no time.

The desk sergeant turned up his nose. ‘We never have people in this village leaving here. It’s not done. You’re the first stranger we’ve admitted here to my memory and now you want to leave. What if you decide not to come back. The population figure would fall and we wouldn’t be able to get it up again. And what will happen to Mrs. McBain?’

‘She’ll be with me,’ I told him wondering what he was talking about. ‘What do you think will happen to her?’

‘That’s not for me to say,’ he retorted realising that he had said too much. He thought over our request for a few moments and then nodded his head. ‘Very well, I’ll have a word with Mr. Townsend but I don’t hold out much hope. I’ll repeat all the facts to him and see what he says.’

‘I’ll lower it to two days if that helps. Just two days,’ I repeated, pulling a face at the lesser option. ‘But I can’t understand why everyone’s so paranoid about it.’

The next day Bridget and I were called back to the police station to face the desk sergeant again.

‘I’ve spoken with the Chairman and he states that he cannot allow you to leave the village. However, as you intend to marry, he will allow you, Mr. Ross, to visit your sister to tell her the news. But you will return here within two days. Is that understood?’

‘What about Bridget?’ I asked with concern.

‘She will not be allowed to leave.,’ he said sternly.

I turned to Bridget solemnly. ‘Do you mind if I go alone. I really need to see my sister at least one more time.’

She hesitated for a few moments and then conceded. ‘Make sure you come back,’ she told me sadly. ‘Promise me that!’

I was furious at the decision claiming to have won half the battled. It would never be the same to visit Mary without Bridget but that was how it would be. I was allowed to leave only in the clothes I had come in and I went to the garage to collect my car. Within the hour I was standing on the front doorstep of my sister’s house. I knocked on the door and it was good to see the relief on her face.

‘Oh, my God!’ she shrieked loudly, ‘It’s Sam!’ She turned to Tim in the hallway. ‘Sam’s back!’ she shouted excitedly. He’s back!’ We hugged each other warmly and she led me into the lounge where there were two other people. ‘These are two friends of ours, Maurice and Irene.‘

I nodded to both of them and we all sat down with drinks in our hands as Mary looked at me searchingly.

‘Well, tell us all about it! Wayne’s gone into hiding somewhere so we had no idea what was going on. He rang Tim to say that you were staying at the village but I knew that couldn’t be true.’

‘You’re wrong, Mary,’ I related. ‘I am staying at the village. It’s a fantastic place. There’s nothing modern there... no television, radio, computers and the like but there’s peace and tranquillity.’

‘Are you sure about that,’ cut in Tim. ‘There’s been so many rumours about the place.’

‘None of which are true. I mean they don’t accept strangers, that’s for sure, but it’s a heavenly place Even better, I’ve met a woman I want to marry. She’s really beautiful. She’s a widow with a young son and I would have liked to bring her along... maybe next time.’

‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Sam. They haven’t hypnotised you or something like that, have they?’

‘I’m fine, Mary, absolutely fine.’ I sat there envisaging what Bridget would have thought had she been there. All the modern appliances, the modern furniture and décor... a kitchen with an washing-machine, a dish-washer and a microwave and there was electric light and a telephone. It would have blown her mind. And we were all drinking and Tim was smoking a large cigar. She wouldn’t understand what was happening.

Tim was delighted that I had returned. He had taken a great deal of stick from his wife as a result of my leaving to find the village while Wayne had achieved nothing of notable significance. Later on, I discovered that he had departed elsewhere having resigned form the partnership. His nerves were so shot from his experience at the village that I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had gone to a nursing home for a time to recover.

I resented the way Mary berated the village and all those who lived there. She really knew nothing about it but she had been a journalist before she met Tim and words came to her in battalions... often caustic and harsh and always critical. She would have thought very little about Bridget staring vaguely at programmes on the television set, jumping at the sound of the telephone ringing, listening to the hi-fi, looking at people making jokes, enjoying themselves with drinks, and talking about football or golf. Bridget would have been plied with questions and probably smirked at for wearing such out-dated clothes. She would certainly have been asked why the village stayed with tradition Victorian times when the world had moved on so much and then there would be questions about sacrifices and black magic which were totally unwarranted.

‘Tell us more about the place and the people,’ advanced Mary, interested in hearing more.’

Her words caused me to be in a dilemma, There was so much I wanted to tell her about Numbwinton and all its advantages but I held my tongue because I was sure my words would fall on deaf ears. She would pick holes in everything I said. She would not be able to appreciate anything I would tell her... How could she understand that no money ever passed hands amongst a community of eleven hundred people? That there were no loans or mortgages or any kind of debt whatsoever and there were no communications with anyone else in the world. Or that there were no cars or vehicles, no need for petrol, no insurance no gas or electricity... no litigation or Court cases... nothing!... and yet the people there survived happily and prospered.

‘There’s peace and harmony in the village,’ I managed to say. ‘No murders, no violent crimes, no theft or burglary, no hatred, no salesmen, no unpleasant features that muddle up lives... simply peace and goodwill. We have a large school, ample medical facilities, a library, a village hall, and a police station. There’s no gambling, no drug-dealing, no smoking, and no drinking.’

‘No drinking!’ echoed Tim. ‘Don’t they have a public house.’

‘There’s no public house,’ I confirmed.

‘If there’s no crime,’ cut in Maurice, ‘why do they need a police station?’

‘To deal with trespassers and strangers who come to the village,’ I retorted sharply. ‘Bridget and I will be getting married and we shall live in Numbwinton for the rest of our lives.’

‘Will the wedding be held there’ asked Mary.

‘Definitely,’ I replied affirmatively. ‘We’ll be married there.’

‘Will they allow you to have guests... seeing that they’re not partial to strangers?’ asked Tim.

‘For one day they will, but don’t expect too much. It’ll be very much a Victorian wedding with only non-alcoholic drinks.’

‘Just a word about Wayne,’ I mentioned quietly to my brother-in-law. ‘He got into a real mess at Numbwinton. He dressed up in Victorian clothes to pass himself off as one of them and got caught. I kept telling him not to trouble me but he persisted in chasing me all over the place. They put him in jail for two days on a charge of vagrancy and threatened him that if he came back they would... ... well you can imagine what they would do.’

‘What puzzled me,’ returned Tim, ‘is that he rang me a few times in distress. Well he’s resigned so it’s no skin off my nose any more, and anyway you’ve come back.’

‘For just one day. I go back tomorrow. There’s a woman waiting for me.’

‘Are you really going to marry someone and live in that unholy place?‘ Irene stared at me as though I was going to inhabit Hell with Satan.

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’ I responded rudely. ‘So in your ignorance I suggest that you say nothing more about the place or the villagers. There’s been too much gossip already and all of it’s untrue.’

‘Surely she would prefer to marry someone in Numbwinton.’ she persisted. She had to have a had a hide like a rhinoceros.

‘She’s been married before,’ I returned quickly. ‘She’s a widow with a young son of eleven.’ I had to admit that the information went down like a lead balloon causing the woman to fall into silence. It was all too infra dig for her. ‘If you’re interested,’ I persisted even though she had lost interest, ‘her husband fell ill and died because her refused to take his tablets.’

‘When did this happen?’ asked Mary.

‘About two weeks ago,’ ’I said slowly.

The room fell completely silent. My sister was clearly appalled with my comment. ‘Are you saying that her husband died two weeks ago and she’s agreed to marry you?’

‘That’s exactly the case. They don’t grieve for the dead in Numbwinton. Life goes on.’

‘She’s bewitched you1’ declared my sister.

‘I knew there was black magic being practised there,’ intervened the snooty woman who claimed she knew everything about the village but actually knew nothing.

‘This isn’t Basra,’ I claimed irately. ‘I’m perfectly safe there and I know what I’m doing.’

‘I suppose they count their years like those people in the Bible,’ exclaimed Irene cutting in once more. ‘Like Methuselah who lived for over nine hundred years.’

‘As it happens they do. Bridget is eighty-seven years old by their calculations.’

‘I’ve never heard the likes of it.’ stated Mary curtly. ‘Eighty-seven years old indeed.’

I stayed overnight at my sister’s house but she could not accept my relationship with the widow. Nor was she impressed with all that I had told her about the village. She skirted around her suspicious and it was much to my relief when I left the following day. When I got back to the village, I parked the car outside the police station to announce my return...

’I’m back,’ announced proudly. ’Two days away and I’m back.’

He stared at me with hooded eyes. ’Were you affected in any way?’ he asked bluntly.

I shrugged my shoulders aimlessly. ‘What kind of question is that?’ I riposted. ‘Of course I’m not affected. I just went to see my sister.’

He nodded sagely allowing silence to prevail. ‘That’s good,’ he muttered. ‘I’ll tell Mr. Townsend that you’ve returned.’

I went back home to Bridget, kissing her and hugging her dearly.

‘I missed you,’ I told her. ‘I couldn’t wait to get back.’

‘I missed you too, darling,’ she returned sweetly. ‘I was scared you’d stay away for good. I don’t think I could bear that.’

‘You’re kidding. Wild horses wouldn’t keep me away from you!’

Robert was reading a book but he closed the cover and went directly upstairs to his bedroom. In my opinion, he was a strange lad, clearly under some kind of pressure, but I accepted that all boys went through phases as they grew up.

It was two days since I had made love with Bridget and we both felt the strain of Cupid’s arrow. She was so highly desirable that I could not resist her. I wanted to make love to her twenty-four hours a day even if I recognised that fact to be impossible. As soon as Robert left us, I went over to her and lifted her up in my arms, carrying her directly to the bedroom. Giggling at each other, we quickly stripped off our clothes and tumbled into the bed. I threw my arms around her and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She responded even more eager than myself, impatient for the love-making to start. I ran my hands over the parts of her body which excited her so much. I needn’t have troubled to do so because she was already on cloud nine, moist, tender, waiting for me eagerly to penetrate her body. It was the most perfect union any couple ever experienced because it was as though we were one person. We had always enjoyed unprotected sex which moved our love-making to a higher level. Each time, I envisaged that if we carried on in the same way she would eventually become pregnant. It was a racing certainty... .and the idea of raising a family led me to reinforce my actions to make sure that it happened. As we moved up and down in a completely new sexual position, Bridget began to sigh louder and louder as her exhilaration mounted.

’Don’t stop!’ she screamed at the top of her voice. ’Don’t stop!’ Her body began to press itself into me with such force that I felt I would not be able to stand the strain. My penis was as firm as a rod and I was so much inside her that there was nothing more left for me to thrust. Then after what seemed to be a considerable time, her body went into a violent sexual spasm before she collapsed on to the bed sighing loudly. She was so satisfied that I could hardly believe her passion. Before I could move, she threw her arms around me and began to kiss me all over, right down between my legs. She felt sensational... a complete woman! Quite clearly I had set off an emotional trigger which allowed her to reach the ultimate peak in our sexual relationship. I couldn’t have been more pleased at her reaction but I knew that she would want to do the same thing immediately without delay. Our intimate relationship seemed to have set off something inside her which acted like a drug. The more times we made love, the more she demanded it time and time again.

The sad thing was that I was uncertain I could keep up with her any more.