Big House

Larche Davies

Description

Lucy is 15. She and her teenage friends are waiting to give evidence in criminal trials against a fanatical religious sect that worships the Magnifico and disposes of detractors by lethal injection.Their lives are in danger and they are sent out of London for their own safety, and placed in a foster house in Wales where the Magnifico has no followers. The foster mother seems kind, but they are unable to trust anyone but themselves. Their experience of the world outside the confines of the sect is extremely limited and they have to rely on their wits and resilience to battle through dark times. Although they are careful never to divulge anything that might help the Magnifico to track them down, his agents have their ways and means.A sequel to The Father's House.

Sujets

• City (Londres)
• City of London
• Cité de Londres
• Thriller

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 09 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781838599768
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2019 Larche Davies

The moral right of the author has been asserted.


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.


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ISBN 978 1838599 768

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.


Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

For Alun and Dafydd.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter One
“Beelzebub’s brats must be brought to justice!” bellowed the yellow-haired man into the phone.
There was a murmured response from head office. The man detected a note of reproof.
“They are no longer my children!” he shouted. “I disown them. The Magnifico disowns them. He will find them and strike them down, and they shall perish in the fire of the melting flesh.”
He slammed the phone down and cursed the holy leaders, those long-bearded idiots! They couldn’t even be trusted to keep track of a bunch of kids. The fools had lost them. He strode across the room, swearing as he knocked his leg against the corner of the coffee table. Damn this tiny flat! Built for midgets! He pulled his briefcase out from behind the sofa, laid it on the table, and opened it up.
Bad seed must be destroyed . Those who dishonoured their father, dishonoured the Magnifico. That’s what it said in the Holy Word. His hands shook as he shuffled through the briefcase. Underneath the bank accounts, share certificates and property holdings, he found what he was looking for. He controlled himself and breathed deeply. There were lists of marriages and births and natural deaths, and of the disposals of various unwanted or non-useful individuals.
Memories flashed through his mind as he saw the names of aunts, wives and children that the Good Doctors had disposed of on his behalf. He ran his finger down the list of living children, crossed out two names in angry strokes of thick, black ink, and wrote ‘disowned’ alongside them. Good riddance. Dorothy and David were no longer his children. It was disposal for them, and for the two Copse kids.
*
The door of the safe house shut behind them. Lucy grabbed Paul’s hand, and they ran through the blinding rain. Despite the dribbles of water inside her collar, she could feel the Magnifico’s burning breath on the back of her neck. With every step towards the waiting car she breathed he doesn’t exist, he doesn’t exist .
“Choppity chop!” the escort called briskly.
Dorothy was already in the back seat when they reached the car. Lucy pushed Paul along next to her and followed him in. David climbed in after them and the door slammed shut.
The escort settled herself into the passenger seat and pressed the lock. She called over her shoulder, “Hope you’re not too squashed back there. I’m Beverley, by the way, and this is Pete.”
The driver nodded and switched on the engine.
For once in her life, Lucy was glad she was skinny. Even so, it was a tight squeeze. If they had to sit like this for two hundred and twenty miles, they’d all expire. She studied the back of Beverley’s geometric hairstyle, and wondered who she really was. They’d been told they’d be escorted by a trustworthy person, whatever that meant. How on earth could they trust anyone?
Paul wriggled. “I’m squashed,” he said, and Lucy hauled him onto her lap.
“We’ll take turns with him,” whispered Dorothy.
The car nosed its way out of the side road and into the heavy traffic. For the next hour or so it stopped and started, moved forward a few yards and stopped again, until Lucy began to doubt that they would ever reach the motorway. One thing about it though, anyone who grabbed them here wouldn’t be able to get them away. London traffic congestion had its advantages.
“Can the Magnifico drive?” asked Paul.
“No,” said Lucy, “because he doesn’t exist.”
Paul squirmed, and twisted himself sideways on her lap as he made himself comfortable. His curly, brown hair was wet from the rain, and Lucy dried it as best she could with her handkerchief. He settled himself ready for sleep. She put her arms round him and held him tight. He was really heavy, but she didn’t shift her position. The longer he slept the sooner he’d get there she thought, nestling her face into the top of his head.
It was six months since she had discovered that Paul was her brother, and she could still hardly believe it. She glanced left at David. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing deeply and slowly; in, out, in, out. The pounding of her own heart had settled down a little, but she guessed his was still going strong. On her right, Dorothy sat with her head held high, as bolt upright as it was possible to be in the back seat of a car while rigid with determination to think positive. Lucy smiled to herself. Not only did she have a real brother, but she also had a blood brother and a blood sister. She remembered the oath they had taken, to be a family and never to be separated. For a moment, despite the ever-present fear of pursuit, she felt a flush of happiness.

It was dark when they arrived. The car drew up outside a handsome, three-storey house, and, with a grunt of relief, Pete turned off the engine. He stepped out into the road, stretched his legs and rubbed his back.
“Blimey! I thought the journey would never end,” he grumbled, as he shuffled round to the rear of the car. “An’ I’ve got to drive all the way back to London tomorrow. You’d think they could’ve let me have a couple of days off at the seaside.”
Beverley rolled down her window and looked out. “At least it’s stopped raining,” she said.
Four squashed bodies uncurled in the back seat. David scrambled out and stretched, and ran round to the boot. He lifted out four plastic carrier bags, and lined them up on the pavement. Dorothy crawled out, rubbing the backs of her legs.
“I’m too stiff to walk,” she groaned. “Why are you being so efficient?”
David laughed. “It’s exciting! Look, we’re here!”
The four of them stood in a row, looking up at the house. Its fine, red bricks gleamed in the streetlight, and a soft glow from the downstairs living rooms invited them in.
Paul took hold of his sister’s hand. “Lucy?” he said. His voice was anxious. “Is this Wales?”
“Yes,” said Lucy. “We’ll be safe here.”
They thanked Pete politely and followed Beverley up a shrub-lined path to the porch at the side of the house. A lantern beamed overhead, and light from the hall shone onto their faces through panes of coloured glass. Beverley pulled at an old-fashioned bell rope, and the door opened immediately to reveal two almost-middle-aged women, both dressed entirely in grey.
“Good evening, ladies!” chirruped Beverley. “I’ve brought you four little Londoners.” She smiled brightly with Hollywood-white teeth, and turned to wink at the children.
Little! Lucy had often been told she was puny, but she and David were fifteen! Plus he was nearly six foot. And Dorothy was sixteen. Hardly what you’d call little!
As she stepped into the hall, she glanced quickly around. It was big and square, and all the doors leading off it were shut. A wide, mahogany staircase swept up from its centre and curved round at the top. No escape there, unless they jumped out of a window.
The older woman in grey was talking. Lucy remembered the manners Aunt Sarah had taught her, and turned to look at her.
“How do you do?” she was saying. “Do come in, all of you. I am Miss Clements, and this is my sister, Miss Marilyn.” Her hands were folded peacefully across her stomach. “Now, my dears, tell me who’s who.”
Lucy wondered what was going on behind that benevolent expression.
In fact, what Miss Clements was thinking, as Dorothy and David stepped forward, was that they were both too thin. She liked a challenge. With plenty of good food she would build them up in no time.
Dorothy shook hands with both women and said cheerfully, “I’m Dorothy, and this is my half-brother, David.”
Miss Clements looked from one to the other. So those were the Drax children, she thought, one dark and one blond, and not at all alike except for their height.
“But we’re all four of us blood brothers and sisters,” said David firmly, as he shook hands with the two women. “It’s best to make it clear from the beginning, in case they haven’t explained it to you.” The flicker of anxiety in his eyes belied his air of confidence. “We took a vow never to be separated, and have formed our