The night had become raucous, with too much home brew, too much cannabis. Laughter, drinking, some people naked, as if it was the best party they had ever been to, Henry moving from person to person, asking for promises of loyalty. They had all given it, even Dawn.
He collapsed back onto the bed, sucking in air to calm the nauseous roll of his stomach. Gemma’s body was warm next to him. She mumbled and moved, her arm going over his chest as she shuffled closer, her head against his body. He smiled and ran one hand over her hair and then along her back, her skin soft, just the sharp ridges of her spine disrupting the smooth feel of her body. His mind went back to the night before, but it came back to him in flashes. Gemma on him, passionate, her shouts of pleasure, uninhibited and joyful. And there were other people with them, their hands on him, on Gemma.
He closed his eyes. It had got too wild. Gemma didn’t move as he climbed out of bed. He got to his feet, groaning, and then stumbled his way to the bathroom. He sat on the toilet for a while, wondering what lay ahead for the rest of the day. Henry had said that things were happening now, that the day ahead would be important.
There were footsteps on the landing. John coughed to let whoever who it was know that he was in there. There was no door on the bathroom. Henry didn’t like doors. Whoever was on the landing was walking softly, sounding like they were barefoot.
He froze when he heard a voice say, ‘John?’ It was Henry.
John flushed the toilet and scrambled to his feet, before stumbling onto the landing.
‘Morning Henry,’ he said, trying hard for normality. ‘The home brew came back and bit me.’
Henry grinned. ‘It can rot you from the inside if you don’t keep an eye on it.’
‘Were you looking for me?’
‘I was. Come with me, for a walk. You look like you need some fresh air,’ and he headed down the stairs and out of the main door, the one that opened onto the field, the Seven Sisters in view.
John ran to get some clothes. He paused to gaze down at Gemma, and he felt a moment of longing, a need to be with her again, but he looked away. Henry was waiting for him.
When John joined him outside, Henry was sitting on the stone slab of the Seven Sisters.
‘What do you think when you look at the stones?’ Henry said.
John placed his hand on one. It was cold, just stone, but he remembered Dawn’s description. ‘It’s a legacy, something for people to remember us by.’
Henry nodded and smiled. ‘We’ll need a legacy, because we are nearly ready,’ he said. ‘We just need people to help us with our mission, and only those people will know about it.’
‘What mission is that?’
‘The fulfilment of our plans,’ Henry said. ‘We’ve had them in place for a while, but it is about picking the right moment, and the right people. You are one of those people. We need you.’
‘But I can’t agree to something I don’t know about.’
‘You trust me?’
John nodded. ‘Of course I do, Henry.’
‘So trust me on this.’
‘And if I change my mind when I know the details?’
Henry glanced towards the rest of the stones. ‘We find someone else.’
John rubbed his eyes, still tired, as he thought about what Henry was saying. ‘Why me?’ he said eventually.
‘Because no one will know you. That’s important. How long have you been with us? Three weeks?’
John nodded.
‘That’s why we kept you up here,’ Henry said. ‘You got to know the group, and I got to know you, but also so no one would know you were with us, because the police watch us, I know that. They won’t know you though. You are our secret weapon.’
John nodded slowly, taking in what Henry was saying. ‘So what are your plans?’
Henry grinned. ‘We are going to strike at the heart of it all.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Soldiers, John, that’s what we are. You too. But you have to agree, because that is how we are, that we live our lives by consent. If you want me to tell you, there is no backing out. Do you understand that?’
John nodded. ‘Tell me.’
Henry smiled paternally and stepped closer to John. ‘We have explosives,’ Henry said in a whisper. ‘Bad stuff. Ammonium nitrate. But we are at a farm. No one would suspect. It’s fertiliser.’ Henry began to laugh. ‘Genius, isn’t it? The detonators are with a different group. Just phones and wires, nothing sinister on their own.’
John’s mind flashed back to the white crystals in the metal drum. ‘Is it legal?’
‘It’s lawful rebellion, John, they can’t punish us for that.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘The Magna Carta. You’ve heard of it? It’s our country’s constitution and Parliament cannot take it away. If we are being ruled unjustly, we can fight back, and that starts with us not obeying their laws, because the Magna Carta says that we can.’
‘But they can just lock us up, can’t they?’
‘They can’t unless we are doing something contrary to the law of the land, and if the Magna Carta allows us to conduct lawful rebellion, how can it be unlawful?’
‘So what do we do?’
‘We do what others won’t. There are a lot of people who think like us, but they don’t have the heart that we do, because they take the fight to the courts, by not paying taxes and bank debts. Except that doesn’t hurt the slugs who rule us. No, we are launching the real rebellion. So we are going to London, to the heart of the beast.’
‘London? What’s the target?’
‘Trafalgar Square,’ Henry said, his eyes wide with excitement. ‘We are taking down the column.’
John let out a slow whistle. ‘Why Nelson’s Column?’
‘Because it is symbolic of our wonderful fucking empire, when we ruled and robbed and pillaged our way round the world. Think about it. Where does everyone go when we celebrate our greatness? Trafalgar Square, like it is some kind of magnet, a totem for our great nation. But what if we could take it down? It would show what we can do, how it is just a start.’
‘Won’t people get hurt?’
‘This is our war,’ Henry said. ‘There is always collateral damage.’
John nodded slowly. ‘I can see how it would send a message, but how will it work?’
‘There’ll be three of you, just playing at being tourists. No rucksacks, too obvious. We’ll line your coats instead and go when the weather is bad, so that your coats don’t look conspicuous. You’ll be the excited visitor, clambering on the lions, posing for pictures. Just take off your coat for a better picture, as will the other two, and you’ll leave them at the base of the Column. You need to be in the Square when it goes off though, because you will use the confusion to get away.’
‘And where will you be?’
‘I’ll be one of the decoys. We will go to the financial district, and so if they think we are planning something, they will follow us and not you.’ Henry smiled. ‘I’ve been watching you, and you can do this.’
John frowned. ‘I’m not sure. I mean, what if people get hurt? How near is this thing from happening?’
Henry stepped forward and grabbed John by his T-shirt. He pulled him close, Henry’s breath rancid from stale