GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (2 page)

The accused men staggered in awe, shocked at their accuser’s ruthlessness.
They knew his reputation
,
knew that he
was not known for clemency.
The
men accused
w
ere
all
covenanters
and
herded
together
like cattle
.
   T
he young lad could barely stand.
His legs were shaking and lips quiver
ed
in terror.

‘In case any of you doubt my authority, I am Lieutenant-General William Drummond and Commander of the King
’
s Arms in Scotland
.
’

‘Long live the King!’ the court chorused.

The Lieutenant-General began
to
strut along the line of prisoners
determinedly
, glaring into each man
’
s soul in turn.
Lashed together by their wrists
,
the men could not move much
more
than shuffl
ing
a little
along
the makeshift dock.

‘You all stand before me
:
Peter Gilles, John Bryce, Thomas
Young, William Fiddison and John Bruning.
You are accused for adherence to the Covenance work of Reformation.
How do you plead?’
T
he Lieutenant-General paused and
then continued
,
with a sneer.
‘Speak while you still have
the
breath of life.’

The prisoners said nothing except
for quiet
grunt
s
of
loathing at this man and the cruelty of him and his strange audience of highland locusts.

‘All
of
you stand together accused of stashing weapons, conspiring
against
and attacking the King
’
s Tower at Newmilns.
How do you plead
?
’ he shouted
.
‘I said, how do you plead
?
’
He
str
uc
k his fist off the dock in rage
.

Laughter again came from the court as the judge paced arrogantly back and forth, for he had done this justice many times before. There was a quill pen and paper on the dock.

‘Place you
r
mark her
e
—
it is your last act against
the Reformation of Covenance.’ The
accused
were now completely silent
.
They
nervously
shook
their heads
, every one of them,
uttering not a single word.
They still were men and proud to be Covenanters
;
they would
not agree to the Inlet of Popery.

‘One last thing,’ the man lowered his eyes to look at the ink pot.

Here it comes
, thought the young boy.

‘Who knows of the whereabouts of the holy bond, the Link of God
?
I
t was said to be in the hands of the Covenant
.
Is that so true?
I have been told of this!’
H
is voice lowered and seemed almost friendly
.
‘Speak and I will pardon
that
man
.
I will
spare his life for knowledge of this kingly treasure.’
The
Lieutenant-General’s
eyes did not
rise to meet
the
accused
as he spoke his soft words of deceit.

It was much more than a kingly treasure and much more than
a
priceless artefact.
Dating so far back that no one could remember
its origin, the relic was
elusive as the Holy Grail.
As
rumour
would have it, this thing
could
exhibit strange and awesome powers.
God’s link, as it was called, was v
eiled in secrecy
;
if
it
had been found it remained masked somewhere in the kingdom.

The boy
,
Bruning
,
had been tortured and forced to expose his uncle’s part in a rescue attempt at Newmilns and spoke much under duress to his captor
,
Bloody Claverhouse.
He’d w
itness
ed
his uncle, John Brown,
be
shot six times in the head on his doorstep!

But he didn’t tell
Claverhouse
that, d
ays before the dragoons arrived, a visitor
had come
to his uncle
’
s abode, a holy man who had visited for shelter and for prayers
.
T
hat the visitor,
the
‘
pilgrim’
,
was a bearer of a great and holy gift!
The young boy knew
that
he was doing wrong
when he looked—
he was starving and had
peeked
inside
the man’s
satchel for food and saw th
e
great charm.
The holy man
had
discovered the boy’s indiscretion and forgave his sin.
The boy’s word of silence was enough.
In his terror
at the discovery,
the boy had the wit not
to
speak of this thing.
It would be his bond until death.

The Lieutenant-General closely scrutinized each one so accused, hatefully
,
his malice overwhelming and complete
. The accused
fel
t
his chill breath on their eyes and said nothing.

‘Where is it hidden
?
’
he roared.
No one would speak
.
Rebellion!
Still
,
he had nothing more than a rumour to go on
.
I
t was no use
—
these men knew nothing!

The
accused
silently waited for his
j
udgement
, their mouths gagged tight.

Such was their defence.

‘
M
en of the jury?’
the Lieutenant-General prompted.

T
hey were his own men, his troops
,
the
men of the jury.
All
stood
up as
if
commanded
to do so.
‘These men will not repent
,’ the Lieutenant-General continued. ‘They
remain defiant and are traitors to
the
King and unto God!
I have pleaded with them and
offered them
pardon if they
would
speak.
Such is my clemency; they will not agree.’
His tone
low
ered.
‘
H
ow do you find them
—
guilty or not guilty?’ he paused,
for effect.
‘Guilty or not guilty
?
’
he thundered.

‘Guilty
,
s
ir!’ the men of the jury chorused
,
laughing loudly.
The prisoners moved with fearful excitement, trying to break their bonds in defiance and moaning at the injustice,
voicing their
disobedien
ce
aloud
.
There could only have been one verdict.
The
s
oldiers rais
ed
their bayonets
,
quickly
suppressing the men’s attempted revolt
.

The Covenanters then stood still and wait
ed
for their sentence to be passed.
M
any of their kind had already been sent away on ships to the colonies and new lands; numerous had drowned in shipwrecks
,
while others had been executed.
They waited
on
fate.

‘A just verdict
.
’ Lieutenant-General William Drummond’s arrogance showed no bounds as his rage transformed to a short smile. ‘You have all been found guilty.
I now will pass the King
’
s sentence.
As is the custom
,
you are all sentenced to hang until dead
.
You
will be buried under the gibbet and not suffer us to hear you pray nor read God
’
s word.
You will be taken from here and hanged tomorrow morn.’