Chapter 25: Victoria Schormann

Ashford, morning: Tuesday, September 23rd

‘They’ve gone.’ River crouched down and peered inside the large pipe.

‘Thank God for that; it stinks in here.’ Seth wriggled out of the blanket that he’d shared with Victoria for the last hour.

River scowled. ‘One of the bloody bitches stamped on my foot. I’ll be keeping a lookout for her on the outside. She’ll be sorry.’ When he suddenly grinned he showed nicotine-stained teeth.

‘Forget it, River,’ Seth said. ‘We don’t want to invite trouble.’

‘Anyway, they’ve gone,’ the Irish man said.

‘What’s that all down your front?’ Seth scrambled on his hands and knees out of the pipe.

‘Pigeon shit. Flying rats.’ River glowered. ‘Pig insisted on going down the basement. The bloody things flew out. Should have locked her in there.’

They hauled Victoria upright. ‘They took their bloody time,’ Seth said, pulling the blanket from her.

River leaned against the wall of the small building that surrounded the pipe. He finished rolling a joint and licked the cigarette paper to seal it, all the while leering at Victoria.

‘Mind you, we didn’t waste ours. Eh, Summer?’ Seth wiped his thumb over her cheek.

As though he could wipe away all the dirt… Victoria bit down on her lip to stop the trembling. She felt dirty inside. Used. At first, when she’d been bundled out of one of the side doors she was bewildered. Being shoved down into the tunnel was degrading. Even after Seth told her he was protecting her, that the police would make her go back home, she was still angry. She might not have chosen to come to this awful old mill of all places but she had chosen to leave home – to be free. No one could make her go back to Llamroth. She was eighteen and she made her own choices about her life.

But she’d no control over what Seth had done. The sex wasn’t what she’d wanted. It made her sick to think about him pushing against her, ignoring her protests, oblivious to her cries of pain as she tried to steady herself against the rough surface of the pipe.

However he looked at her now, with the usual tenderness and concern, Victoria realised that she didn’t know Seth. Or what she meant to him.

‘Just get me out of here,’ she said, ‘I need a wash.’

Seth frowned.

Since her arrival Victoria had become used to flashes of anger crossing his face when he was annoyed and it made her nervous. Being uneasy wasn’t something she was used to. Still, to placate him, she waved her arm towards the tunnel. ‘Horrible thing,’ she said, unaccustomed to the apprehension that flooded through her and unable to stop the tears.

He stood still, distanced from her. ‘At least it hid you from the pigs.’ He stared. ‘What I don’t understand is why they’re looking for you here.’ He glowered. ‘You didn’t tell your lot where you were going, did you?’

‘How could I? I didn’t know where I was going. And I haven’t been outside since I arrived.’ Her hands curled and uncurled.

His face cleared. He leaned forward and kissed her, then stepped back. ‘Hell, you’re right, you stink.’ He grinned.

‘You’re not so sweet yourself?’ She forced a smile, desperate to get away from him. ‘I’ll go and wash.’ But she was thankful he wasn’t angry with her anymore. She needed the security of being his favourite. When the warning had first gone around that it was her the police were looking for, she sensed the antagonism that swept across everyone’s face as she was passed from one to the other and then quickly taken away by Seth. She knew that as far as they were concerned she was a threat to them, to the commune. But with Seth still on her side they wouldn’t dare demand she be kicked out. The last thing she wanted was to be forced to return to her old life: to go back to having to compete and be compared with Richard. For a moment she felt bad, she wouldn’t have wanted to go through half what her brother had and still insist on going to that uni. Art college had been an easy option for her – she’d been glad to leave school at sixteen.

The thought was fleeting; she needed to worry about herself.

Even as she hurried back into the building she was excusing what Seth had done, rationalising the rough sex. Love-making, she amended the thought. He’d obviously wanted her so badly. After all they hadn’t seen much of one another over the last week; he was still so occupied with settling into this place. So he … they, she corrected herself again, had just made the most of the situation.

And she wouldn’t tell him that she’d caught a glimpse of Jackie, from her window. She’d bobbed down when she saw her look up. She certainly wouldn’t tell anyone it was her cousin looking for her. Interfering cow. What on earth had made her look for her here?

Still she’d gone now. Victoria hoped her family … her old family … would leave her alone now to get on with her new life with Seth. Now she was out of it she didn’t even mind having to hide in that old disgusting pipe. It would all be worth it.