Turns out Mary is good for something afterall! She has made a decent job of patching my thumb up. No point in going tothe hospital now, there’s nothing they could do for it. I am not giving thebitch credit though, don’t want the glory going straight to her stupid littlehead now, do we? That’s the last thing we need right now, her getting too bigfor her boots! I say nothing to her, she might as well be invisible. I don allthe winter woollens and head outside.
The storm is fierce, and I curse himagain. I should be tucked up indoors right now getting cosy and steadilymerrier. But instead, I am out here braving the elements, breathing quickly andshallowly as my thumb throbs painfully all the while. Where is he? Where thefuck is he? I scan the surroundings, but he is nowhere to be seen. I continuedown the path towards the barn but, nothing. I reach the barn itself and peerin but again, nothing. “Thomas, THOMAS!” Hopeless and futile. There’s noway he’d hear me over the noise of the wind. What was he doing out here inthis? Exactly where does he expect to find her?
I spend the next short while pacing aroundthe perimeter of the croft, but he is nowhere to be seen. What is he playingat? Well, he has certainly succeeded in one thing – making me more pissed off!Wait until I get my hands on him! If there’s one thing I will not tolerate,it’s disobedience. I gave him a direct order to get back to the croft and nowhe is A.W.O.L.
With no other option,I head back indoors to see if the delectable Mary can shed any light on hiswhereabouts. The two of them are always conspiring, she’s bound to know whathe’s up to. Isn’t it funny how the sight of someone can make you feel physicallysick? Well, that’s how I feel every time I see the wench. No wonder I’ve beendrinking more these days when that’s what is waiting for me at the end of ahard day’s work. Nice little touch too dearest, feigning concern when I came inearlier dripping blood. You almost pulled it off too but we both know that waspurely to save your own skin. I imagine you were blissful inside, glowing atthe thought of me getting injured. Well, I can soon knock that out of you tooand make no mistake.
Rather than address her by name, I chooseto slam my (uninjured) fist down in front of her; a good way to get herattention and scare her witless at the same time. That is how I like to keepher – teetering on the edge. Expect the unexpected, Mary, that is just how Iroll. It wouldn’t do to have you too comfortable and at ease for any length oftime now, would it? Where’s the fun in that?
“Where is he then?” She stutters aresponse and it makes her seem even more pathetic, adding fuel to the fire ofrage I can feel smouldering away in the pit of my stomach.
“I … I … d-don’t know, Sir.”
“Like hell you don’t! You and I both knowyou two are as thick as thieves so out with it; spit it out, woman!”
“Honestly, I don’t know!”
“OK, I’m a patient man, let’s look at itfrom a different angle then, shall we? He’s gone to fetch Caroline, soenlighten me, where would the wonderful Caroline be, pray tell?”
There is a lengthy pause before sheanswers, this had better be good. “I’m sorry, I honestly can’t think.” She islying to me; it is blatantly obvious. Something inside of me snaps. No more MrNice Guy. I’m on top of her in a flash, the weight of my body pinning her down.There is no way she can break free. She doesn’t even resist; she knows thatwould be pointless.
I position my forearm across her throat,pressing my upper body weight down onto her, restricting her airways. “Maybethis will help jog your memory, Mary!” She makes a few involuntary chokingnoises but doesn’t try to speak. “Aah, I’m being too lenient with you, am I? Well,we can easily fix that!” I bear all my weight down onto her and watchfascinated as the veins bulge in her neck and her face swells up, turning alovely shade of purple. But hey presto, it has done the trick – she waves herarms, flailing them about – and reading the expression on her face, she hassomething to say so I back off slightly.
It takes a while for her to gather herselfand I am all ears. She looks as though she’s ready to speak. “Well, spit it outthen!” But nothing! She genuinely looked as though she was going to speak butthought better of it. “Oh, you need a little more coaxing, do you? Not aproblem.” This time I go in for the kill, pressing my full weight on top of herwith force. She makes some strange noises then everything goes eerily quiet.Did I push too far? I back off entirely and for a few moments there’s nothing,she’s just lying there limply. Then she bucks upwards, gasping for breath. Ilook at her eyes and I can tell she is utterly terrified – she thought she wasgoing to meet her maker.
I watch as she slowly gathers herself. Shetries to speak but nothing comes out. She is really pushing my buttons. I placea glass of water in front of her and she gingerly lifts it up. Her hand isshaking so violently there is no way the water is going to make it anywherenear her mouth. “You useless piece of shit! I’ll need to do it for you, will I!Open wide Mary – do it!” She opens her mouth and I take it in – she looks likea lifeless fish; mouth gaped open wide, and it is a sorry sight to behold.Let’s get this over with. I let a good measure pour down her throat. Shegargles, chokes, and splutters then finally something is uttered but it’s sofaint I have to ask
