The Village King by Eddie McGarrity Page B

just hear. “That night
you found us. He was one of the two who brought us up the road. I could tell he
was scared and didn’t want to be there. But he would have hurt us, Stephen. He
would have done what his friends wanted him to do.”
    He felt his neck bend and his
head flopped over. She went on, “And those soldiers would have done the same
thing. Can you imagine what winter would have been like with them here and
Morgan in charge? And Rory? Me and Karen would not have waited to find out.”
    Stephen breathed. “Morgan would
have kept them in line.”
    “I doubt it,” she said quickly.
“I’ve locked all their gear in the police cell. But there isn’t much of it.
Sure, they’ve had access to a large cache of weapons and ammunition in the past,
but there’s not much left.”
    “Really?” He was shocked.
    “And how tough was Morgan,
really? How did we really take him out? Because of our superior training and
firepower? No, because he’d gotten soft and when his men ran out of ammo they
would have run out of discipline and this whole place would have gone up in
smoke.”
    He knew she was right. “Can
Pullman keep discipline?”
    “Maybe.” Alana sipped her tea
again. “You know she could have taken us out don’t you?”
    “I’ve been thinking about that,”
agreed Stephen. “How did she slip away? To the toilets for crying out loud. And
then she just walked round the corner.”
    “So why didn’t she just shoot
you?” Alana asked but he guessed she knew the answer.
    “She wanted the Colonel out the
way?”
    “Maybe, but maybe she just wanted
to be a soldier again. Even if you were going to kill her, she wanted to go out
with her boots on.”
    Stephen thought about that and
tried to understand the implication. “So, we keep on her good side.”
    “No. You,” said Alana, pointedly,
“you keep her in line.”

29
     
    M orning
arrived with Phil
and Gary entering the house, after guarding the soldiers all night. Cold and
tired, they slumped down in the kitchen. Stephen came in after them and asked
them how they were.
    Gary yawned. “We’re fine. We’ve
left Charlie looking after them. But two of them cleared off in the night.”
    “Two of the soldiers?”
    “Yeah,” said Phil. “I took them
outside for a piss and they just legged it.”
    Stephen paused. “What did you
do?”
    Phil looked at Gary. They both
looked worried. Gary said, “We just let them go. No point shooting them. They
never took anything with them.”
    “And they just ran towards the
trees,” Phil added.
    “Okay,” said Stephen. “Right
decision.” The two boys grinned at each other as Stephen started to fix some
breakfast.
     
    Stephen went out to inspect the troops. The soldiers
were lined up and standing to attention. Newly promoted Colonel Pullman walked
alongside, her rifle stowed somewhere in the church. Behind them, in the manse’s
large garden, Alana was running a horse in a circle while Karen bobbed happily
on its back. The men glanced warily at each other out the corner of their eyes
but they did their best to concentrate on standing to attention. Gary and Phil
fell in behind Stephen and Pullman. Charlie and Vincent had been let go but
they hung back at the burnt-out hall, observing.
    Stephen stood and faced them. There
were five now. Weak sunshine, diffused by a thin high cloud, warmed their
shoulders. They looked tough and weathered. At least they could consolidate the
ammunition, thought Stephen. He waited a moment before speaking.
    “Good morning, men. My name is
Stephen Arnott. Last night, Davis and Anderson deserted. Today, you have the
same choice. Leave now, with the clothes on your back. Like they did.”
    Stephen waited. Eyes swivelled amongst
the ranks, looking at what the others might do. He went on, “Or stay. You will
work, you will train, and you will do your duty. Eventually, you will have your
weapons back. You can hunt for food and you can defend this village.”
    He waited again. Turning