Dory's Avengers (56 page)

Laughing, Alan replied, ‘Nicely put, Mr O'Reilly.'

‘Do you have a message for Faye?'

Alan shook his head, while playing a guitar riff that the
music loving Mortimer recognised as being from a song called Get Over It.

‘What about you, young lady?'

‘Tell her she's an old slag, if you want,' said Faye's daughter without hesitation. Seeing the horror on Mortimer's face, she added, ‘Don't worry, Mr O'Reilly; you don't have to tell her that…'

‘You can tell His Lordshit something from me, Mortimer, if you'd be so kind,' said Theo unexpectedly. ‘Tell him not to forget the carrot. He'll know what I mean.' Everyone in the bar looked baffled, apart from Theo's sister who started to giggle uncontrollably. Putting his arms round Matilda, Theo continued.

‘I'm getting very intimately acquainted with this beautiful lady here. It just wouldn't seem right to end up sharing a half-brother or sister with her; so please, Mortimer, don't let His Lordshit forget the carrot.'

Chapter Twenty-two

True to his word, Philip and his family started gathering their things together in order to make the journey back to London as soon as Mortimer had left the inn. Stephen Dyer had been personally instructed by His Lordship to let the Lorimers leave Applethwaite, so he and his band of thugs looked on from the road as Philip backed his Range Rover up to the door of the inn and started loading it for the journey. While the Lorimers were packing, the rest of the Unsponsored had a quick debate as to whether anyone else should risk travelling back to London in Philip's car. Max was very eager to try escaping. Not only would he then be able to re-launch the Unsponsored network and newsletter, he would also be able to carry on his very pleasant friendship with Cathie.

‘How many more do you think Philip can carry?' asked Brains, as Simone entered the bar with her luggage.

‘Well, we've got all our stuff to fit in too,' she replied, hearing Brains's question. ‘Only another one in addition to Max, I would say.'

‘That is, if the thugs let you…' began Dex, but Theo interrupted.

‘They've not got a brain cell between them, Dex,' he said. ‘As long as all they see is Philip's car leaving with Philip, Simone and Cathie in it, they'll consider His Lordshit's orders to have been carried out…'

‘But it won't just have Philip, Simone and Cathie in, will it?' wailed Max, his frustration returning with a vengeance as he thought Theo was suggesting he stay in Applethwaite.

‘Listen to me, Max!' said Theo. ‘I said as long as that's all they
see
. Philip has lots of space to conceal you until you're well clear of Applethwaite.' Max's spirits lifted immediately as he realised what Theo meant.

‘Sorry to be leaving the Avengers without a drummer, but the network must go on,' he said. ‘Ads said he'd fill in for me on drums.'

‘I probably won't be very good…' began Adam, but Abi stopped him.

‘You should have heard Max when Dory's Avengers first started,' she said with a grin. ‘You can't be any worse, Ads.'

‘I'll let that one go, Abilene,' said Max, irrepressibly high-spirited at the prospect of his forthcoming freedom, ‘being as I'm terrified of you. She broke my nose once, Adam!'

‘You deserved it back then,' replied Abi, laughing. It was hard to believe that Abi had once loathed Max; over time, since his rejection of Sponsorship, they'd become firm friends. Hugging Max warmly, Abi added, ‘Take care, Moronis Maximus; I'm going to miss you.'

‘Who else is coming with us?' asked Simone. ‘Only Phil's starting to load the car up now, so there's not much time.'

‘Sarah?' asked Lysander. ‘Do you want to go to Rick?' Sarah looked undecided for a moment, then came to a quick decision.

‘No,' she said. ‘Much as I love my brother's family, my place is here with Louis and Jenny. Oh, and Gideon too…'

‘ME?'

‘Yes you, you silly man. I thought you'd guessed by now…'

‘We'll carry on with this conversation later, and we
will
carry it on,' said Louis, his face shining with delight. ‘But it's more pressing we decide who else is joining Max and the Lorimers.'

‘Brains or Chloe maybe?' said Dex. ‘We should share the bright sparks with London, I guess; although, on the other hand, that means separating Dad from daughter.' Looking over at Matilda, Dex carried on.

‘I wouldn't want to be parted from Matty at the moment; I know I'm not her real dad, but all the same…'

‘All the same you love her, just like I love my daughter,' Brains finished for Dex. ‘I'm sorry, but I'd go mad if I were in London; not knowing what was happening to Chlo, and having no way of finding out. Sorry, selfish I know…'

‘Urgency, everyone,' said Philip, appearing in the bar. ‘The thugs will get suspicious if it takes us much longer to load up the car, then no one will be coming with us.'

Pausing only to wave around the bar and wish everyone luck, Max grabbed his small holdall and dived into the back of Philip's four by four, concealing himself entirely under some coats.

‘Looks like Moronis Maximus can't wait to get away,' said Louis, laughing. ‘Anyone else? Theo?'

‘Piss off!'

‘That'll be a no, then.' Looking around the bar, Louis said to the London Unsponsored, ‘It's between you guys, I think. Everyone else has too much of a reason to stay.'

‘I'll go, if that's OK,' said Jim, the man Louis had first met when he was unceremoniously hauled into the London warehouse that Jim called home the previous summer. ‘I may not be the brightest, but I'm good with my hands. Could be useful, help the newly homeless get as comfortable as they can, that sort of thing…'

Briefly hugging his friends, Jim joined Max in the back of Philip's car.

‘Don't you fret, Sarah; I'll find Rick,' called Jim before he disappeared. The Lorimers then did a tour of the bar, saying their goodbyes and exchanging good luck wishes, before shutting the doors on their stowaways and beginning
their journey south. The thugs, as instructed by His Lordship, parted and let Philip Lorimer drive through with his wife and daughter. Had Dyer and his companions had a brain cell between them, they might have wondered why there was so much jubilation coming from The White Lion as Philip drove out of Applethwaite, but Theo had been spot on concerning their lack of intelligence.

‘Now then, Sarah,' said Louis as the furore died down a bit. ‘You and Gideon, eh?'

‘First I've heard of it,' said Gideon, making a pathetic attempt at his usual bad-tempered growl while grinning broadly. Blushing slightly, eyes gleaming, Sarah started to smile.

‘I thought you'd guessed, Gideon,' she said. ‘Are you going to turn me down?'

Looking at Sarah with undisguised adoration, Gideon replied, ‘No way. No way am I going to turn you down…' He didn't manage to say any more before Sarah engulfed him in her arms and kissed him. Absolutely delighted to discover that two people he loved dearly had been harbouring feelings for each other, Louis did a jubilant circuit of the bar. Hugging everyone in sight, and taking advantage of Gideon's distraction to perform a few untidy backflips, he then burst into song, hopelessly off-key.

‘I think this is definitely a champagne moment,' yelled Georgie. Commenting to the tone-deaf Louis that he'd better stick to the gymnastics, Georgie handed some bottles of champagne over to Izzy before grabbing her bass guitar and leaping on to the stage. The band, with their newly appointed drummer, then launched into a spontaneous rendition of ‘Love Is in the Air', while Gideon and Sarah remained in their private little bubble. Outside, the Sponsor thugs listened to the happy sounds coming from The White Lion and wondered if the Unsponsored had finally gone mad.

As soon as Max arrived in London, he wasted no time in resurrecting the Unsponsored newsletter from the network's new headquarters: a large, disused power station next to the river. Within a couple of days, the Unsponsored around the country knew about the isolation of Applethwaite and Lord William's plans to render the Unsponsored homeless. Max also informed the Unsponsored of Mortimer O'Reilly's visit to The White Lion, and the revelations the money man had made concerning His Lordship's latest bed partner.

By 18 June, many of Rick and Lisa Lonsdale's neighbours were rehomed with families as yet untouched by Lord William's initiative to displace them. Instead of heading to flats still housing Unsponsored friends, the Lonsdales themselves chose to settle in the old industrial buildings around the Unsponsored network headquarters. Far from being crushed by Lord William's cruelty, the Unsponsored seemed to almost thrive on it, and their camaraderie grew by the day.

Realising that so many of the Unsponsored, including Sarah's family, were becoming homeless on his birthday, Theo was undecided whether or not to celebrate in any way. The rest of Dory's Avengers were determined that Theo should enjoy his day, free from his imprisonment for the first time in ten years. Having been separated from Theo for so long, Isabelle and Louis were particularly adamant that Theo's birthday should be one big party, and Sarah reassured him that she'd be partying as hard as anyone else.

‘Rick, Lisa and the kids will be fine, Theo,' she said to the young man, when he apologised yet again for the fact they were to lose their home. ‘They've got friends; they're survivors. His Lordshit won't crush the Unsponsored that easily, so stop your fretting and enjoy your birthday!'

Lord William did his best to dampen the party spirit in The White Lion. He had commissioned huge screens to be
erected in the street and meadow around the inn, showing footage of Unsponsored homes being destroyed. There was no way anyone could look out from the inn without seeing the high-rises falling to the ground, the sound of controlled explosions and collapsing masonry booming from huge loudspeakers. In response, Dory's Avengers turned up their amps, rock music vying with dynamite to shatter the usual peace and tranquillity of the Lake District village. By the evening, Lord William had made good his threat to destroy the homes of the Walworth Unsponsored, making way for new constructions to benefit the loyal and respectable Sponsored. To his disappointment, though, he didn't feel as triumphant as he'd been anticipating. Long after Lord William's show had finished, the show designed to crush the spirit of the Unsponsored in The White Lion and ruin Theo's birthday, all he could hear was the sound of celebration from inside the pub. Frequently, Lord William recognised the unmistakeable laughter of his son. Theo, far from considering his birthday ruined, was clearly having a ball.

The defiant high spirits of Theo and his companions would have been enough to dampen Lord William's mood, but his misery was compounded by Faye. It was becoming increasingly clear to His Lordship that Faye still fancied the man who had fathered her daughter all those years ago; more than that, she seemed obsessed with him. Although Faye attended to His Lordship's needs more than adequately, not shying away from any of his obscure sexual preferences, it was highly offensive to his ego that she always seemed to steer the conversation back to her former lover whenever they joined the other Sponsors in the bar. While Lord William was intent on trying to ruin Theo's birthday celebrations, Faye listened to Alan's expert guitar playing, clearly audible from the pub, with a dreamy expression on her face. Lord William overheard a conversation between
Faye and Mortimer O'Reilly towards the end of the day which pretty much tipped him over the edge.

‘That's your Alan playing, isn't it, Faye?' asked Mortimer, obviously enjoying the music.

‘Oh yes,' replied Faye breathlessly, eyes shining. ‘He's simply amazing. He's the best…'

Just as Lord William was about to order his Sponsors back to the Applethwaite Guesthouse, Alan himself appeared briefly at the door of the inn to shoot a champagne cork in the direction of Lord William's big screen and offer a cheeky salute to the Sponsors. Despite the fact the man was camper than camp, Faye's tongue appeared between her lips and her eyes were full of desire as she gazed longingly in his direction.

‘Faye,' snapped Lord William, ‘come back with me, now!'

Turning vacuously towards His Lordship, Faye did as she was told. Once back in their luxury room, Lord William rounded on Faye and let loose a furious tirade.

‘I've had enough of your lack of respect, Faye,' he roared, his temper flaring even more when she didn't even flinch.

‘You are sharing my bed, Maloney. MY bed. You are MINE! What the Hell do you think you're doing, lusting after that Unsponsored queer all the time? GET OVER IT! He's never going to fancy you unless you grow a cock and balls, you stupid woman.'

When Faye still didn't reply, Lord William grabbed her clothes and slammed her violently against the wall.

‘I am going to CRUSH the Unsponsored, Maloney. I am going to crush that disrespectful scum in The White Lion, starting with that poof you're so hot for. I'm going to hurt him. Hurt him badly. I'm going to FUCKING HURT HIM!'

Every time Lord William said the word ‘hurt', he slapped Faye hard across the face. As he threw her onto the bed and began tearing her clothes off her body, she could already feel her lips swelling painfully. Sex for Faye had always been
a pleasurable experience, but as Lord William forced himself roughly into her she discovered that when sex was actually rape it was far from enjoyable.

It was a couple of weeks before Lord William came up with a plan to crush the spirit of The White Lion, as news from London kept him distracted from his task. Facing a grim-faced Lady Rosanna on his computer screen a couple of days after his attack on Faye, Lord William and his Sponsors listened to her words with dismay.

‘The Unsponsored are getting very vocal and very visible, Father,' she told His Lordship. ‘They're starting to gather in their masses here in London.'

‘Step up security then, Rose!' snapped Lord William. ‘You don't need me to tell you that…'