I
don’t know if Tempo knew at that point my involvement in the events that lead
to Detective Wilkinson’s departure from the police force, but in time he came
to understand my way of handling a difficult situation. We never spoke of it,
or any other of my activities it was a quiet understanding we had. I had my own
way of doing things, and if events ever lead to extremes, I handled them with
extreme measures, but nothing was ever said about it.
Tempo
read out the article that followed the headline, as I made some toast and
coffee, and got myself some breakfast and a cup of tea. The food felt good, it
wasn’t a three-course meal but it filled me, and this was the landmark
breakfast, after this meal I never went hungry again. I always found food from
somewhere, yes sometimes it was from yet another dustbin, but I never went
longer than a few hours before I was fed.
The
report explained that he was found between midnight and one o’clock; on first
discovery it appeared that he been for a drink and stumbled over a wall. On the
road side the wall was only a few feet high, on the other side it fell thirty
feet to a farmer’s field. It explained that he was actually undercover,
although it didn’t say what the case was, those details were released later.
There were no signs of a struggle, no evidence to suggest anyone else was
present, it just seemed he had fell and a large stone from the old Yorkshire
built wall had fallen with him. Even if they did suspect someone else was
there, would they ever even consider it was a little seven-year-old girl? I
silently sniggered to myself; I was getting good at this. I wasn’t proud of
myself, I knew I had done wrong, very wrong, and deep inside I hated what I was
becoming; but each time it came a little easier, a little less frightening, a
little more acceptable, and in time, much more necessary.
This
is most likely where you will hear the story of my life from. Apart from the
murders, my life before the age of seven has not and most likely, will not be
disclosed in newspapers. Tempo agreed to let me stay with him for a while, but
as long as I earned my keep. I knew it wouldn’t be long before social services
caught up with me so I decided to do as Tempo told me and earn his trust. I
hoped by doing this, when they did come he would protect me. For the first few
days I stayed at his house, I made him food and drinks, and cleaned up a bit.
The upstairs of his place was filled with what he called surplus stock: record
players, televisions, and some beet Amax videos that were no good to anyone. A
lot of it was entertainment goods, and at the time, being naïve as I was, I
figured it was something to do with his DJ work. I also helped ‘repair’ these
goods, which involved, scratching off serial numbers; sometimes he took
different ones apart and used different parts to make new ones. As time went on
I was educated in the art of dealing in stolen goods and fencing.
After
a few days Miss Tetley came knocking at his door with a police officer. At
first I thought she knew that I was there, but as I hid upstairs and listened
to their conversation, it turned out to be just routine questioning. Tempo had
been the one who had taken Robert and I to the school after the Enright’s left,
and they were just asking if I had been in touch. He answered their questions,
quite calmly, and denied any knowledge of where I was; he was very convincing.
I hid myself in the spare room with the surplus stock, I kept as quiet as I
could, I didn’t even breathe till I absolutely had to. I heard them leave and
thank him for his co-operation, but I didn’t go downstairs till Tempo came up
and got me, that was when we decided it would be better if I ‘disappeared.’
“Right,
Steve McQuin!” he stated as he slumped in his chair, and I placed myself on the
middle cushion of his couch. “You being here isn’t exactly doing me any
favours.”
“But
I thought I was helping.” I stuttered out, I was terrified he was going to turn
me out in the cold.
“You
are, and you’re doing a good job, but I don’t want the social services to keep
coming round, and I definitely don’t want cops round here all that often. So …
what are we going to do?” I just shrugged my shoulders, as he drew a deep
breath and stared at me. “Look…” he began as he sat forward putting his hands
together. “I like you, you’re a good kid, and you do some decent work for me,
so I’m not gonna ring that Tetley woman up and say you’ve shown up.” I was so
relieved. “But I can’t have anyone on the street seeing you in here and
reporting me. So I’ll do you a deal. You can stay in the garage, it’s quite
warm, it’s got an electric point where you can plug in a kettle, and some space
to set up a camp bed. It’s not gonna be the most glamorous place in the world,
and we’ll have to figure something out about food, but for now it’s either that
or that Moor Green place.”
“The
garage sounds great!” I jumped in before he could say anything else. “I can
even do some work down there for you if you like.” He gave me a smile, and got
up to go into the kitchen, as he did he pointed at the telly, which was my cue
to get out the Marijuana and start cutting and weighing. I smiled back and got
to work, ‘we’ decided to wait until late at night till we walked down to the
garage, so not to be seen.
The
garage wasn’t great, but after I substituted the kettle for an electric heater,
it soon warmed up. At first I felt like a stray cat, Tempo would come down
twice a day and bring me scraps of dinner and a two-litre bottle of water. I
had a bucket in the corner as a toilet, which I would empty late at night down
a drain at the end of the road. I wasn’t exactly living the high life, but I
was comfortable. I worked for Tempo inside the ‘enclosure’, just small things
at first, rewiring plugs, checking fuses, scratching serial numbers, and testing
everything, telly’s, stereo’s, video’s, even toasters and other appliances,
anything he could lay his hands on. I also helped with the car ringing whenever
he got one in. I didn’t really understand what we were doing, all I knew was I
was earning my keep. For the first couple of weeks that was my life, when Tempo
wasn’t around and there was no work to do, I would curl up next to the heater,
and read the paper Tempo had left behind, or a book that he said he had
‘found’. Some were interesting, some were boring, but they kept me occupied and
entertained. Life went on day to day and I was happy, it wasn’t a family or a
real home, but I had what I thought was a friend and roof over my head. My work
progressed, I started rewiring whole stereo systems and TV’s, and stripping
some down, taking out car stereos and fitting them in others, I actually
thought this was a real repair shop. I soon learned the reality of Tempo’s
occupation, but still it didn’t bother me that much, I had done much worse than
dealing in stolen goods.
The
day came for what we called my first ‘field mission’. It was just the two of us
on this occasion, he brought me some black leggings and a black sweater, a hat
and some kid sized goalie gloves; he couldn’t find leather gloves in children’s
sizes. By this time it was March, I had been hiding for nearly two months, and
I hadn’t seen proper daylight for some time, only as a silhouette in the garage
doorway when Tempo brought me lunch.
March
3rd 1990, my first time out on the job, it was a little scary and a little
nerve racking, but also very exciting. I got all my gear out at seven o’clock,
made sure everything was there, I laid it all out neat, almost like an officer
preparing his uniform. I then poured a small cup of water and brushed my teeth,
my conditions might not have been the cleanest and brightest, but I always took
care in my personal hygiene. I then stripped and wiped myself down with a
sponge, pulled one of Tempo’s T-shirts over me, and got into my little bed,
Tempo was coming for me at two-thirty, so I set my alarm for one-thirty so I
could get myself ready in time. It was no use, I was so excited I couldn’t
sleep, I just kept tossing and turning and going to the toilet. By the time my
alarm went off, I had already got dressed, brushed my teeth again and emptied
my ‘potty’. I still had an hour to go, so I made sure the car I shared my
‘room’ with was all empty and clear, Tempo said that was important. It was only
an old banger, and Tempo said it wouldn’t be sold on, we would take all the
good stuff and then scrap it, ‘the disposable partner’ he called it. I waited
and waited, all sat ready to go, I could feel the adrenaline pump through me,
and I could barely sit still. Time went by, two-thirty came and went, three
o’clock the same, just as I was starting to feel disappointed and ready to go
back to sleep, the garage door opened at three-thirty-five.
“Sorry
smudge.” Tempo yawned as he made his way in; he never called me by my real
name, ever. “I overslept, but I’m here now so let’s get going, we’re already
behind.” He looked like death, he had obviously been ‘smoking’ and whatever
else, but I didn’t care, I was too excited to care. He opened the car door and
I ran round and got in the passenger side, we drove out the garage, and he got out
and closed it, then we were off.
“Where
are we going?” I asked all fidgety after five minutes.
“A
mate I know gave me a tip on some stock, so we’re going to pick it up. I
thought it’d be good for you to learn how the whole of my business works.” He
smiled and winked as if I got the joke. “When you’re a bit bigger, I’ll also
show you how to drive, just in case you’re needed.” My eyes widened with
surprise and joy, ‘me, drive? How cool would that be?’
We
drove right across town to a place called Boothtown. We drove straight through
on the main road, and just before we got to the top of the hill we turned up a
cobbled hill. There were three or four very tall houses, all built in old
stone, all the houses were dark, except one had what looked like a landing light
on, classic ‘out’ sign. The street was dark and quiet except for the
streetlights and night shift Lorries. We walked round to the front of the
houses on the main road, there were some steps leading down to the front
kitchen doors, and we made our way down the steps of the first house, the one
with the light on. Standing outside the door Tempo took a quick look around and
turned to me. He seemed nervous and anxious, and shaking, but I think that was
the cold, I was freezing; I was only wearing thin leggings.
“Right
smudge, time for an Oliver Twist.” He said looking at me rubbing his hands
together. I had read that book, and enjoyed it, but I didn’t quite understand
what he was getting at. He looked down, at the bottom of the door was a small
cat flap, I still didn’t get it, I just looked at him. “Well what are you
waiting for?” I just looked at him, and then all around me, and then back at
Tempo, I had no idea. He bent down and guided me to do the same, pointing at
the cat flap he looked at me, quite annoyed, and said, “You, go through there.”
Now I got it, but it was tiny, I knew I was small, but I wasn’t sure I could
get through that. Seeing he was annoyed I thought I’d better try, so I reached
in, arms first and went to slide my head and shoulders in. “Once you’re in,
unlock the door, or if the key’s not there, the window and let me in.” I nodded
to say I understood and attempted to wiggle my way through the tiny hole. It
took me a while, the hardest part was getting my shoulders through, it took
some pulling and pushing, and at one point I thought I had knocked one out of
it’s socket, but it was just where it still hurt from Martin’s hammer. I still
screamed. Tempo kicked my foot to tell me to shut up, so I just gritted my
teeth and carried on squeezing. Eventually I pulled myself back out, I sat on
the stone cold floor and just stared at Tempo, his face said I wasn’t allowed
to give up but I couldn’t really see an option. I sat and looked at the hole,
assessing the situation I thought for a while, and just as Tempo was about to
say something I jumped to my feet and walked up the steps. I knew he wanted to
shout after me but he couldn’t risk waking any of the neighbours up. As he
followed me up, ready to blow his top, I took off my shoes and socks, jumped on
the railings round the steps and grabbed the metal drainpipe. The bathroom
window was small but it was bigger than the cat flap. I shimmied my way up,
gripping it with my feet, and quite quickly, got up the tall building. I leant
over to the frosted window and balanced one foot on the ledge.
“It’s
shut!” Tempo whispered up behind me, still annoyed. I just ignored him; I got
my balance and as quietly as I could, punched the window frame. It worked like
a charm; it was an old window and had a fastener that allowed you to have it
open at different lengths. It popped off the hook, and getting my fingernails
underneath I was able to wedge it open. I reached inside and gripping the
frame, pulled my whole body onto the ledge, once on I slithered myself through
the window. On hitting the floor, head first, I got my socks out from where I’d
tucked them into my leggings, put them on and ran downstairs.
I
let Tempo in through the kitchen window; I couldn’t find the key for the door
so he had to do a bit of climbing as well. He didn’t say anything when he got
in, he just ran up the stairs to the living room. It was a tall, but very thin
house, the kitchen was at the bottom, the living room above, and then above
that a small bedroom and bathroom. I followed him up and watched as he scanned
the room and its contents, he pulled a post it pad out of his pocket and
started sticking the pages on things.
“Anything
with a sticker on, that you can carry, unplug and take down to the kitchen.” He
said in a hurried whisper, he was anxious about something, almost panicking, I
soon learned that this was just his way; he always acted like this on the job.
I did as I was told and carried the VCR, a lamp, a couple of speakers and some
tapes and videocassettes down to the kitchen, I couldn’t carry the telly, it
was huge. After making a small pile in the middle of the kitchen I went back
upstairs to find Tempo rummaging through little pots, like he was madly trying
to find something.
“Is
everything all right?” I asked after a minute or two, I was unsure of what to
say, he seemed very much on edge.
“We
need a key!” he stated as he started throwing things on the floor.
“A
key?” I asked curiously, I didn’t understand, we were already in the house.
“Yes
a key, a key!” he hissed at me. I was scared now, I didn’t like it when he got
angry, as I understood it angry people hurt you. I quickly darted up the
stairs, I didn’t want to be in his way, and I had a feeling. I remembered when
I lived at Martin’s house, Kevin used to keep a spare key in a slipper in his
wardrobe, it was left there in case of emergencies. I ran into the bedroom, it
was bigger than you’d expect, or at least it seemed to be. There was a double
bed, a bedside table with a full ashtray on it, and that was basically it,
typical bachelor pad. The wardrobe was big, in fact it was massive, but it was
built into the wall, so I guess that saved space, and so made the room seem
bigger. The doors were massive, and were all mirrors, even the handles. I
didn’t bother switching the light on, but I could still see my reflection. I
hated looking in the mirror; it always reminded me of when I would lock myself
in the bathroom after Martin had beaten me. Looking over the bruises, feeling
the agony, wanting to cry, but never! I would never cry, not for anyone. It
also meant I had to look at myself; I didn’t like looking at myself, especially
my eyes. Looking into my own eyes, I could see me. Any other time I could
ignore it, but when I saw myself, my own eyes, my own evil eyes staring back at
me, I knew what I really was. I quickly flung open the wardrobe door to stop
myself from freaking out and started searching. There wasn’t much in there, I
guess who ever lived here had gone on a long holiday, there were no shoes, and
there were no keys in the slippers. I started rummaging through coat pockets,
but still nothing. I didn’t want to go back down stairs empty handed, I thought
Tempo would be angry, so I just sat on the end of the bed and tried to think. I
was about to give up and go down and face the music when I noticed a photo on
the windowsill. It was a man and a woman, both quite young, I’d say early
twenties, and I figured it was the owner and his girlfriend. I stared at it for
a minute or two, and thought about what we were doing. I wasn’t as naïve as I’d
like to have thought, I knew we burgling this man’s house, stealing all his
possessions that he had worked hard to pay for. In one night we were taking it
all away. If he had the time, I think Tempo would have taken the kitchen sink,
he was totally gutting the place, I don’t know how we got it all in the car. I
stared at the picture in its nice silver frame; they looked happy, really in
love, and totally unaware.
“Are
you having a shit or sommat?” I heard Tempo scream from downstairs, he was
getting frustrated. I jumped up from the bed and grabbed the photo, smashing it
on the windowsill I ripped the happy moment out of the frame and just as I
thought, there was a key. I grabbed it, dropped the frame on the floor and ran
downstairs. Tempo had his angry face on and stared at me as though he was ready
to blow, but before he could shout anything, I held the key up. His scowl
turned to relief, and he grabbed the key out of my hand.
“Right,
let’s get all of this out and into the car.” He said as he rushed down to the
kitchen. “Then we can get the hell out of here!” He opened the kitchen door and
I started carrying things out, the video, tapes, the toaster, a blender, the
stereo and even some toilet roll, Tempo said he was running out and it beat
buying any. The car had a really big boot, and nearly everything fit in, the
telly and the stereo system went on the back seat, we loaded up and then as
fast as he could Tempo drove us back to the garage. We got everything out and
stacked it up; he said we would deal with it all in the morning. We then
started pulling the car apart, taking the stereo out, even the seats; we left
just the ‘vitals’ that the car needed to run on.
“Right,
now I’m gonna show you what we do with the getaway car.” He said smiling with
relief that it was nearly over. If he hadn’t slept in, it would’ve been over an
hour ago. We got in the car and once again drove off, we drove along the dark
back roads and up into the surrounding hillsides. We drove for about half an
hour at high speeds, along winding country roads, and up steep hills, the
surroundings were peaceful, yet a little creepy. Mist seemed to creep over the
horizon like a haunting shadow; it was just like a scene out of a Hitchcock
film. Finally we stopped, we were in the middle of nowhere, there were no
houses, no streetlights, nothing, just rolling fields of heather. We got out of
the car into the freezing cold night air, and Tempo popped the hood on the car.
“Smudge,
come round here.” He beckoned me over to the front of the vehicle with the
bonnet open. “Grab those spark plugs, they could be useful.” I did as I was
told, and then Tempo used his hand to shoo me away, telling me to stand clear.
He took a box of matches out his pocket, undoing the cap on the engine, he lit
a match and holding his hand round it so it didn’t blow out, dropped it in the
engine. He then came over to me, grabbed my arm and shouted; “Now we leg it!” I
ran along with him as fast as I could, I had trouble running because of my leg,
but I put up with the pain, I didn’t want to get left behind in this place.
After about five minutes we heard a bang, and turning round we saw the flames
reaching into the dark sky, it was almost artistic as the bright orange flames
rose like a giant against the silhouette of the dark moors. Job done!
Life
went back to normal; me in the garage fixing bits and bobs, and making the most
of my situation. Tempo off loaded the goods and he said he made a good return
on them. He even gave me a little bit of spending money, not a lot, just ten
quid, but it made me feel good, like I had a proper job. I didn’t really have
anything to spend money on, I stayed in the garage all the time, and so I saved
it under my pillow. After a few more jobs it started to build, and so did I, I
didn’t feel guilty about ripping people off anymore, they had their living, I
had mine, that’s life! I was encouraged more when Tempo said the customers were
really happy with my work; that was the key to any good business, making sure
the customers are happy with your standards so they’ll come back. Of course our
settings increased when we ‘expanded’ but at this time we worked from the
council garage on small jobs, robbing houses, a bit of car ringing and trading
stolen goods. Still it was here where I learned everything I know about being a
pro criminal, and as I got deeper into this life, the guilt over what had come
before started to fade away. It was all in the past, I couldn’t change it, and
it got to the point where even if I could, I didn’t want to change it, I didn’t
give a damn. I still never looked in a mirror, I didn’t have to, I knew what I
was, I didn’t have to see it. I hardened myself to everything; I was turning
into a reflection of Tempo, ‘live for today; for tomorrow may never come. Screw
the past; it can’t be changed, and if anyone asks; lie!’ It might not be
moralistic, but at that time in my life I had nothing to guide me but Tempo, he
was my parent, my teacher and my best friend, the biggest influence in my life,
what else would you expect me to become?
I
started to get braver as I got harder and would venture out during the day,
still only in hours when I knew people were at work and kids at school, I had
to remember I used to live here as a neighbour, people knew me. I got myself
into the small town by the market place, and bought myself a six-way extension
lead, a kettle, and a second hand sandwich toaster with the money I had saved
under my pillow. I got the bus back up to the garage, and I paid the fare!
Tempo brought me down some tea bags and sugar, two cups, butter, cheese and a
knife, I plugged in the heater, kettle and toaster; which needed rewiring. I
then used the other three sockets for a surplus telly, a video and a little
portable radio. I could only watch videotapes, as there was no aerial, but I
would watch all the ones we got in before they were sold on.
By
June I started to get more involved with the business, not only was I an expert
cat burglar, you could lock all the doors and windows and tape down all the pet
entrances, and I could still get in and rob you blind. I was also quite a
talented salesman. I would go to the car boot sales with Tempo, never the local
ones, but over to Wakefield and Bingley where no one could recognise me. Tempo
said I was a natural; I would sell twice as much as he would, and always for
more than the original tagged price, he said ‘I could sell tea to a china-man.’
I didn’t know what that meant but I loved it when he praised my efforts, for
once in my life I had someone encouraging me. My education didn’t go that much
unattended to either; I read books all the time, and newspapers, tabloids and
broadsheets. Tempo ‘found’ me a dictionary after he got sick of all my
questions. I soon learned the basics of politics, I knew the government
structure, and that Edwina Curry had seriously pissed off farmers, and that in
fact, there wasn’t a wide spread salmonella outbreak. I read books that were
way beyond my age, but I enjoyed and understood them, (except for Shakespeare,
no-one understands Shakespeare.) I could write well, not neatly but well, and I
would be in charge of ‘stock’ listing. My maths abilities stayed strong as
well, I would price everything up, receipt everything that came in and out, and
eventually made up the ‘books’ keeping check of all the money that came in. I
was eight years old and basically running a private business, Tempo was always
the boss, but I was the one who looked after all the ‘business’s interests’ and
I was as good as any accountant. If I hadn’t spiralled into the life I did, I
truly believe I could have made a decent life for myself in the world of
business; I certainly had the head for it.
The world of Tallenmere was born in January, 2011
with this first exciting story about Caliphany, an elven noblewoman who longs
to leave her gilded cage, and Galadin, the half-elf former pirate who trains
her to do just that. To better reflect its place in the burgeoning series and
Caliphany's choice between two good men, cover artist Caroline Andrus and I
tore down the original cover to make room for a whole new look! 
About the Author
