Heller's Punishment (21 page)

“I tried to get
you out, but they overpowered me.” I nodded, remembering the
rattling of the lock and the loud voices I’d heard while in there.
“It’s a horrible experience, isn’t it? I’ve had a few stints in
there over the last few years.”

“Simon. I can’t
bear to think of them hurting you.”

I stayed in bed
for the rest of the day, Simon keeping me company. When we had the
chance between the constant bustle of people coming in and out of
the dorm, we discussed his suspicions about the Head Farmer and
Jye. However, our musings were cut short by everyone trooping in to
clean up for dinner.

Simon helped me
to the dining hall, where we were served Indeterminate Stew and
hard bread again. I hadn’t eaten all day, but was surprisingly not
hungry. I wanted to keep up my strength though and choked down as
much of the meal as I could manage without throwing up. Simon spent
the meal talking on a safe topic, filling me in on the role of the
field worker and what his role as supervisor meant.

I went straight
to bed after dinner, exhausted from the awful day I’d had. And
before sleep claimed me for the night, my only thought was to
wonder sadly if anyone missed me back at the Warehouse.

The next day,
Simon gave me only light tasks to do in the fields, as I was still
recovering from my hot box ordeal. The modern farming equipment the
Farmers owned surprised me, having imagined myself hoeing all day.
I was impressed with the scale of the operation. This wasn’t just
some self-sustaining hippy commune, but a serious, small-scale
agricultural business. Simon told me that they sold their surplus
produce at the local farmers’ markets and had developed quite a
reputation for the quality of their goods. He went on to explain,
with quiet pride, that their stall was now even attracting some of
the local chefs on a regular basis.

I spent the day
sorting apples. It wasn’t an overly strenuous task, but it was
monotonous. It gave me plenty of time to think, which I’m not sure
was such a great thing as my mind kept turning to my communication
dilemma. How in God’s name was I going to contact Heller? He would
be frantic if he couldn’t get in contact with me, although
considering how we’d parted, perhaps he wouldn’t care much at all.
The frustrating thing was just not knowing. I realised then how
much I hated not being able to talk to him. I missed him. A
lot.

We stopped for
a lunch break and Simon and I sat under one of the apple trees,
munching on some bread and cheese, with an apple fresh from the
tree afterwards. It was very tranquil and I closed my eyes and
napped. He did the same, holding my hand, and it reminded me of our
breaks at university where we would lounge on the lawn in between
classes. I felt a nostalgic pang for those innocent days when we
were eighteen and desperately in love with each other. Life had
seemed so much simpler then.

When I opened
my eyes, Simon was leaning over me. We smiled at each other and
there was no ignoring the affection in his eyes. He gently pressed
his lips on mine. It was a sweet kiss.

“I still have a
lot of feelings for you, Tilly,” he admitted, softly stroking my
hair.

“They never go
away, do they?” I smiled at him.

“No, they just
stay buried until one day they all emerge at once and overwhelm you
with their intensity,” he laughed quietly. “I’m wondering if maybe
a celibacy vow isn’t the right way for me to revere God any more.
Especially when He sent you into my life again.”

The voices of
the other workers drifted over to us, and we both sat up quickly,
brushing the grass from our hair. We grinned at each other at our
guilty reactions, even though we hadn’t been doing anything.

The rest of the
week passed in a similar way. I worked in the fields during the day
and tried to avoid the Head Farmer. I was no longer sure what I was
supposed to be doing for her to earn the exorbitant amount of money
she’d paid Heller for my services, but she gave me no instructions,
so I kept working for Simon.

He and I found
more and more secluded places to spend some time together after the
workday was done. Simon found a perfect copse, sheltered and
private and we lay on the grass after work, drinking some of The
Farm’s homemade strawberry wine, which he’d nicked from the pantry.
It didn’t taste too bad and delivered quite a kick, and we both
ended up pleasantly plonked. Just like being at university
again.

It was my
second last day on field duty, so we took the opportunity while we
could to be together. We’d spent every lunchtime exploring the top
fields, but hadn’t discovered anything out of the ordinary yet.
We’d agreed to spend the entire afternoon searching tomorrow, my
last field day, but now we happily lazed together in the late
afternoon sun.

Simon
light-heartedly touched my lips with his, but when I returned the
kiss, stroking his back, his kiss grew more demanding and urgent.
Our tongues met and passion ignited. I slipped my hands under his
homespun shirt and caressed his wiry body while he ran his hands
over my breasts. Memories flooded back to me of us shagging in his
car, at my parents’ house when they were out, on the beach, in the
park at night. Anywhere and everywhere we could.

“Oh God,
Tilly,” he groaned and pulled away, his chest heaving, his pants
bulging at the front. “I can’t. It’s wrong.”

I watched as he
battled with himself, his eyes squeezed tight in almost physical
agony, fists clenched.

“I’m sorry, so
sorry. But if I break my vow, it has to be with another Farmer.
It’s the only honest way for me. The only way I can justify
breaking it.”

“That’s okay,
Simon. I understand. Really, I do,” I soothed. He’d unknowingly
shared with me a good lesson in self-control. I only wished I’d
learned it before I went to Will’s house.

Things were a
little awkward between us afterwards. We made our way back to the
compound, probably exciting gossip amongst the others because of
our long absence, but neither of us cared. It wasn’t forbidden for
Farmers to have relationships with each other, and bonding was
encouraged. As far as anyone knew, Simon and I were ‘bonding’, and
that might prove to our advantage later on. At least it gave us an
excuse for any mysterious disappearances.

Dinner tonight
was a green Indeterminate Stew that unbelievably tasted even worse
than the brown one. It astounded me that surrounded by fresh
produce as they were, their meals were so abysmal. When I brought
this up with Simon as we ate, he blamed it on the commune’s ancient
cook who’d been in charge of the kitchen since The Farm started. No
one had the heart to suggest that he retire and hand over his apron
to someone more talented.

“Shame,” I
replied, pushing my half-eaten dinner away. I’d already lost a few
kilos in the week I’d been here from lack of decent food, constant
physical activity and my hours in the hot box. And if the quality
of the meals remained the same, I’d be losing more before the job
finished.

“It doesn’t
bother me too much,” admitted Simon, pushing his away as well. “I
eat most of my food directly from the field.” He smiled. “There are
some advantages to field work.”

The Head Farmer
stared at me constantly throughout the meal, an unpleasant
expression on her face that was hard to decipher. I dreaded working
for her in the office next week, but needed the opportunity to
attempt to contact Heller.

Chapter
14

We worked hard
in the fields the next morning and after lunch, Simon and I stole
away up to the top fields. We explained casually that we were off
for a stroll together and judging from the sly glances, elbow
nudges and snickers, everyone thought we’d planned on a bit of
afternoon delight. Simon blushed convincingly at the teasing, and I
think that was his actual reaction, not acting.

We’d explored
most of the lower section of the top fields, so aimed to reach the
boundaries of the property this afternoon. The very top fields were
large and sprawling, but had become overgrown from neglect, slowing
our progress.

“I can’t
believe they’ve let it go like this,” said Simon, upset. “I could
be using this for crops. It’s such a waste of prime farming land.
What were they thinking?”

We pushed
through some wild undergrowth, only to uncover a surprise. A
cleared field. We exchanged glances when we recognised the crop
that filled the field. Marijuana! Rows and rows of plants. Well,
now we knew what was going on in the top fields. Simon’s instincts
had been correct.

Still, it was
hard to get excited about a marijuana crop. I thought everyone who
lived in the country had one. Wasn’t that the whole point of living
in the country in the first place? We pushed on through the crop to
the next field and discovered another crop. Big deal. Two marijuana
crops. Hardly worth death threats, surely. Then we noticed a
mud-brick building, partially hidden by wilderness at the far side
of the last field.

“I never knew
about that,” admitted Simon, and nosiness propelled us to have a
closer look.

The door to the
building was bolted and securely locked with a very professional
and hardcore locking system. I knew from my work at
Heller’s
that it was a top-of-the-range lock, extremely expensive and almost
impossible to break.

Curious
,
I thought. Why would anyone need a full-on security system in such
an isolated location like this? What on earth was in that building
that required so much protection?

We didn’t
bother trying the door, but peered into a window. No good. It was
encrusted with grime and completely opaque. We moved from window to
window, attempting to find some small patch of clear glass. We
didn’t hit the jackpot until we reached the back of the building,
scratched by the overgrowth we had to first climb through. A small
hopper window, possibly protected from the elements by the
wilderness, gave us a good view of the main room. But we weren’t
much wiser after looking through the window.

“What’s all
that equipment for?” asked Simon, a frown crinkling his
forehead.

I had no idea,
but it looked like some type of laboratory or factory set up. The
sound of a motor broke the silence and we exchanged frightened
glances. We were well hidden where we were, so I held Simon’s hand
tightly and gave him a signal to be quiet. The throbbing engine
noise became louder and louder until it abruptly cut off at the
front of the building. We could hear voices and the clank and
rattle of the lock being opened. We peered cautiously through the
window.

Jye walked into
the room, followed by two men wearing business suits and ties. Jye
opened a container and showed the men what it held – a lumpy
plastic bag. They nodded their heads approvingly and the smaller
man slipped on a disposable glove, opened the plastic bag, and held
up a crystal-like substance. He and the other man peered at it
intently from all angles before nodding again. The taller man
allowed a tight smile to escape his expressionless mask.

The smaller man
took the container from Jye and handed over – and I swear this is
the honest truth – a brown paper bag. Jye opened it and quickly
counted out what seemed to be wads of cash before holding out his
hand. He shook both men’s hands solemnly and the men departed. The
whole transaction took less than five minutes.

When he was
alone, Jye high-fived the air and jauntily left the building,
locking up carefully after himself. Simon and I exchanged glances
again. Jye and the Head Farmer were up to their necks in something
bad.

“What are they
making?” asked Simon, in his innocence. He probably hadn’t watched
any news for years, and gee, it was a rare day that I was able to
feel more worldly than another person.

“I think it’s a
meth lab and they’re making ice, crystal meth.” He shot me a
surprised glance and I hastened to explain. “I saw a documentary on
it. Ice is the purest form of meth and terribly addictive. I think
they must be making it on a reasonably big scale too. It looks
fairly industrial in there, doesn’t it?”

He nodded
grimly. “Tilly, this is not what The Farm is about. It’s for
helping people and promoting self-growth, knowledge and the love of
God, not destruction and drug-addiction. I just can’t believe the
community I’m living in any more. I can’t believe the Head Farmer
has allowed this.”

“I’m sorry for
what’s happened here, Simon. But the best thing we can do is to
shut all this down. The Head Farmer and Jye are evil. Not
misguided, not misunderstood, but just plain evil. We have to stop
them somehow. I really need to talk to Heller.”

“Who’s
Heller?”

“My boss. He
knows what to do in these kinds of situations. He’s tough and
strong and smart.” I felt a little teary thinking about him. “This
is the longest I’ve gone without any contact with him since we met.
I miss him so much.”

“You sound
really fond of him, Tilly.”

An overpowering
wave of homesickness enveloped me and I wiped the moisture from my
eyes. “Yeah, I guess I kind of love him, and I know he cares a lot
about me too. But we fight all the time. He thinks I’m ungrateful
because I don’t want him controlling me and telling me what to do.
And we don’t think the same way about important matters.”

“Sounds
complicated.”

I laughed
unwillingly. “It sure is.”

“Maybe you’re
both feeling your way into the relationship? Some things take
time.” He slipped his arm around my shoulder in comfort. “When I’m
sowing a new patch of earth, sometimes seeds bloom quickly. They
don’t tend to survive. It’s usually the slow-blooming seedlings
that grow and thrive because they’ve taken the time to establish a
strong basis, in this case their root system, in your case you and
your boss developing a better understanding of each other.”