The Knapthorne Conspiracy by Malcolm Ballard (best english novels for beginners txt) 📕

“Decided that you’re going to enjoy it have you. There’s a good girl.” Rapidly, he removed his shoes and began to unbuckle his belt. Bella’s eyes were still closed and she heard it before he did, a car’s engine. Someone was coming up the drive. Her spirits lifted as it came round the last bend and Kyle finally heard it, his trousers and underpants halfway down his legs.

“Quiet! Not a word, do you hear,” he threatened, in a whisper. The vehicle parked close by, its engine still running as Kyle bent to pick up the knife. With some difficulty he hoisted his trousers and pants up again then knelt close to her, the point of the knife over her heart. It had become extremely warm in the van and they were both perspiring, Kyle far more than Bella and he raised a hand to his eyes to wipe away the sweat.

“Hello! Anybody home?” Mickey’s voice came from somewhere adjacent to the van and Kyle was momentarily distracted. Bella seized her chance and lunged forward, nearly pulling her shoulders from their sockets, and butted him in the face. Caught off guard, Kyle fell over backwards dropping the knife in the process.

“Mickey!” Bella screamed, and began banging her head on the side panelling. “Mickey, it’s Bella! Help me! Mickey!!” She kept on banging with her head as Kyle struggled to his feet, reaching for the knife. Just then, the doors flew open and Mickey stood there, his bright blue eyes firmly fastened on Bella.

“Watch out, he’s got a knife!” Bella yelled as Kyle ran at Mickey with a demonic roar. In an instant the young postman was prepared for the attack and ducked back from the wild swing of the vicious blade then used the bigger man’s own momentum to toss him out of the van. Mickey held onto him as he cartwheeled through the air and hit the ground with a solid thump. When he tried to get up and reach for the knife, Mickey gave him a back elbow to the chin which laid him out cold.

Bella watched in disbelief as Mickey, smiling broadly and knife in hand, approached the van. The euphoria created by his appearance began to wear off as she realised she was safe. Minutes earlier she’d given herself up for dead and shock set in as first the tears began to flow then she started to shiver, uncontrollably. Mickey saw her distress and climbed in the back of the van to pick up Kyle’s jacket and averted his eyes as he laid it over her. Then he went to work on the ropes to free her hands, holding each one as he sliced through the rope then taking its weight as it dropped free. Bella was still crying, her eyes glistening with tears as she put her hands round his neck and pulled him forward to kiss his forehead.

“Where did you learn that stuff?” she asked, sniffing noisily then wiping her runny nose on the sleeve of Kyle’s jacket.

“Been doing martial arts for years. You never know when it might come in handy.” She couldn’t believe he was so matter of fact about it.

“Mickey, you just saved my life!” As she started to gently massage her wrists, her head began to pound and she thought she was going to be sick.

“You ok?” He could see how pale she had gone but, before she had a chance to answer, the roar of the mail van’s engine filled the air. Before Mickey had a chance to move, the van sped past the open doors heading for the drive and by the time Mickey was out he’d lost sight of it.

Kyle raced off down the muddy drive in a black rage, his head throbbing from the blow to his face. How could it all have gone so wrong? The sight of her naked body was indelibly printed on his memory, robbing him of his concentration as he slammed the gear stick from second to third. As his frustration and anger boiled over he caught a movement to his left out of the corner of his eye. Whipping his head round he found himself staring at a cat, its green-gold eyes appearing to glow against the deep brown almost black colouring. It had been sniffing around the postbag on the floor when Kyle took off, catching the cat off balance and throwing it on its back. Ubix gave out a spine-tingling screech and launched itself at Kyle’s face. In an act of self defence, he raised his hands to protect himself and slid down in the seat. In doing so his foot jammed down on the accelerator and the engine screamed as the van lurched out of control. Ubix slashed at the man’s face and bare torso mercilessly, raking him with its claws and Kyle’s eyes blurred with the pain of it as the van hurtled towards the bottom of the drive. Then suddenly, the cat leaped out of the open window but Kyle didn’t even have time to feel relief. Looking up, his face turned into a mask of horror, the big oak tree seeming to fill his windscreen as the van smashed headlong into it at over forty miles an hour.

Epilogue

Lucca, Tuscany

The afternoon sun created a rippling haze over the flat brown landscape out of which rose the dark, roughly corrugated profile of the low hills some twenty kilometres distant.  Tall, leggy trees dotted the view some standing haughtily alone while others huddled in twos and threes, as if in whispered conversation. Looking like some vast agrarian army standing to attention in precise formation, rows of young vines stretched away into the distance, the bare essentials of a future harvest. Little had altered here in centuries, investing the area with a solid, dependable permanence that some found reassuring in a world besotted with change. Bella had come here to look after Maria who had needed chemotherapy