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Post by sleepingdragon on May 22, 2009 7:09:31 GMT
"Foxwell is alright," Don replied quietly.
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Post by Idris on May 24, 2009 19:03:12 GMT
Smith shut his eyes and sighed. “You saved his life. And mine. It won’t be forgotten....”
There was no time for further words as the squad of warders came running up the corridor. Four of them surrounded Don and Smith. Others stood over the unconscious prisoners or checked the open cells. Men shouted to each other or shouted at Don and Foxwell. For a minute there was pandemonium.
“Enough!” The governor’s voice cut through the racket. For someone who looked like a time-serving civil servant, he had a surprisingly firm strong voice.
In the silence he walked forward briskly, boot-heels clacking on the stones. When he saw Don, the governor’s heavy eyebrows shot up.
“You again? I thought I had seen the last of you!”
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Post by sleepingdragon on May 24, 2009 21:23:34 GMT
"If I can get my things without having to rescue a few of your warders and prisoners, governor, I'll be glad to show you my back," Don replied.
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Post by Idris on May 24, 2009 22:24:30 GMT
The governor’s eyebrows came down again in a thunderous frown but before he could answer, Smith raised a hand.
“McGregor is only telling the truth sir,” he said, his voice weak but earnest. “Without his help Fox....Prisoner 231....would have died, and so would I, and the other two. He wasn’t even armed.”
“I’ll speak to you later Smith.” The governor glared at the warder before rattling off a string of orders.
“Stephens, organise stretchers and have these wounded men taken to the hospital wing right away. Jenkins, inform the doctor. If he is indisposed again, you are authorised to bring him here by any means possible. Brown and Jones – bring Prisoner 231 to my office. Murphy, ensure that Mr McGregor's belongings are fetched from the store and have them ready in the gatehouse.”
"Walk with me," the governor said to Don in a tone that brooked no argument.
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Post by sleepingdragon on May 24, 2009 23:04:06 GMT
Don nodded and went to walk with the governor. As soon as they were out of earshot Don spoke to him quietly.
"You should move Foxwell. That was all an attempt to get rid of him, and I suspect at least one of your warders is in on it. I don't see how else two of the conspirators might have managed to be on food duty. And one of them managed to get a cleaver in the bargain."
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Post by Idris on May 26, 2009 20:45:54 GMT
“I should move Foxwell should I? So your time inside has made you into an expert on running a prison?” The governor’s wrathful outburst suddenly changed to a grunt, and he shook his head as if to clear it of unwanted thought.
“You’re right of course McGregor,” he admitted with a sigh. “Foxwell should never have been sent to Wandsworth in the first place. He has not even been convicted although he stands accused of a serious crime. In theory he is here for his own safety!” He snorted with disgust.
He was silent as a warder unlocked the gate and they passed through onto the circular walkway that surrounded the great interior well of the building. Three stories high, it was a hub from which the wings led off like the spokes of a wheel. The governor’s office was reached via a stair further on, but he stopped on the walkway and faced Don.
“I am speaking to you in confidence McGregor, because you saved the life of an extremely important witness in a criminal case, and also the life of one of my most reliable and honest officers. If I had the power, I would release Foxwell today, but my hands are tied. However I will make sure that he is kept apart from the other men for the rest of his stay here. The kitchen staff will be questioned, and the prisoners involved in today’s incident. The involvement of a warder....that is a far more difficult problem.”
The governor’s face was grim. “Until today I would have staked my life on my officers. What would induce a man to turn traitor in such a way?”
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Post by sleepingdragon on May 26, 2009 21:33:11 GMT
Don listened quietly. He was surprised at himself that he had spoken to the governor so bluntly. Don's life had been spent deferring to authority and keeping his misgivings to himself. This was, in fact, only the second time he could remember where he had seriously presumed to confront someone of greater power than himself, and the first time he had used his fists.
Don shrugged in response to the governor's final question. "Money? Blackmail? Something personal? You know your warders better than I do."
Don paused. Something was very wrong in what the governor had said, and he had noticed it instantly, but he was loath to say it. The man would not listen to him - in fact Don was not sure if he would listen to the advice if it were given to him either. It would be mad, and place the governor at risk. Finally Don decided to say it anyway - if the governor judged him mad for it, so be it. Don would probably never even see him again.
"You're wrong about something. You can set him free. You just can't do so legally. You might forge something stating he was to be set free - you might be called on it, but probably not fast enough. You won't do this, most likely, and I can't blame you because I probably wouldn't either - but you should know you have the option even if you're too afraid to take it. Your hands are only bound because you let them be."
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Post by Idris on May 29, 2009 19:29:29 GMT
The governor stared at Don.
“You’re a dangerous man McGregor. I think you are probably a well-meaning man, but if you ever say anything of that kind in the wrong company, the best that will happen to you is that you will be locked up. Anarchist sentiments are not well regarded in this country.”
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Post by sleepingdragon on May 29, 2009 20:37:01 GMT
Don frowned. "The only things I've ever heard about anarchists is that they like to set off bombs and shoot people. If I wanted to do those things I'd have stayed in the army, I was encouraged to do them there. I suppose my old commanders must have been anarchists."
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Post by Idris on May 29, 2009 23:23:07 GMT
“Dear God! You are making it worse!” the governor exclaimed, pacing up and down. He stopped abruptly and looked Don in the eye.
“I say this for your own good McGregor, because I do not want to see you back in my prison. Keep your subversive ideas to yourself or you will be taken for an agitator like Foxwell & you have seen what happened to him. You have unexpectedly been granted your freedom. It will not happen twice.”
“Now here is Murphy to take you to the gatehouse.” The governor was clearly relieved to see the warder.
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Post by sleepingdragon on May 30, 2009 9:24:24 GMT
Don's spine stiffened and he made sure to hold the governor's gaze. His father had taught him nothing if not to be stubborn. "I'll keep that in mind," he said.
When the warder arrived Don went over to him and waited to be led to the gatehouse, thinking. Something the governor had said was niggling. Taken for an agitator like Foxwell...has not even been convicted although he stands accused of a serious crime.
"Adieu, governor," Don said as he left.
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Post by Idris on Jun 4, 2009 21:24:07 GMT
"I hope so," the governor muttered as he turned away from Don, dismissing him instantly.
Murphy was a stolid silent man who led Don down via the iron stairs and walkways until at last they arrived on the ground floor, and a large guarded door leading into the gatehouse.
Silently Murphy took a tray of articles and placed them on a table in front of Don, then presented him with a form.
"Sign there, or put your mark." Murphy said, pointing to the bottom of the form.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jun 7, 2009 15:02:48 GMT
Don signed his name and grabbed at his few meagre possessions - a spare set of clothes, small change, a sturdy pack, and some tools for repairing metal items - chisels, pliers, a small hammer, a set of small screwdrivers.
Don took one last look around, gave a nod to Murphy, and made his way to the door.
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Post by Idris on Jun 10, 2009 22:49:05 GMT
Murphy accompanied Don through two more locked doors and into a great ill-lit space dominated by the massive iron-studded outer gate of the prison. As they approached, a man moved out of the gloom where he had been leaning against the wall. It was Warder Smith. He looked dreadful, with a bandage around his head and blood soaking his uniform, but pulled himself up as straight as he could and motioned to Murphy to go.
“Ive got away from that old soak of a doctor, but the Governor isn’t a fool. He’ll be asking questions.” Smith said, with a painful smile. “I needed to speak to you before you left. About what happened with Foxwell..... “
A spasm passed across Smith’s face but he forced himself to go on. “You know bad things happen in here, it is a hard, tough place, and that’s the point of it. But this....this business is plain wrong. They told us Foxwell had been locked up for his own protection, but there are forces working towards his destruction right here inside the prison. I'm doing my best to guard against that but I can’t be everywhere. It’s got so none of us know who we can trust.”
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jun 11, 2009 17:21:20 GMT
"The Governor said the same thing, that Foxwell was here for his own safety, but then I made him angry and he said Foxwell was an agitator and that's what's got him into this. I told him he should move Foxwell but he won't," said Don.
Don paused. He had no reason to involve himself in this, and he was about to be a truly free man, but by now he had begun to wonder what this whole business was about so he added quietly, "Where do you live? I'm going to look into something..."
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