The Talisman by Lynda La Plante Read Free Book Online Page A

bastard Mask, that stinking gyppo, would sell you, and anyone else who worked for him, for a ten-bob note, and you’re too dumb to know it. But your pal Sid isn’t . . . He’s been very helpful – how do you think we picked you up? Now, you’ve had time to think about it, so talk if you know what’s good for you.’ He slapped Alex’s face, first one side, then the other. The ice-blue eyes never flickered, and there was a slight hint of a smile on his face.
    ‘Get him out of here. You’re going to the Scrubs this time, son, that’ll teach yer. See how long the smile stays on your face in there. Go on, get him out of my sight.’
    Evelyne had to fight to keep herself from weeping openly. Alex had changed, she hardly recognized him. His broken nose had healed crooked, and his hair was combed back from his forehead, the blond curls flattened with grease. The two warders stopped at the door of the visiting-room and Alex walked forward. He put his hand out to her and one of the warders motioned him back. Evelyne was shocked at the coarseness in his voice when he turned on the warder. ‘I just wanna hold ’er ’and, fer Chrissakes.’
    Evelyne withdrew her hand sharply. She was afraid to ask what he had been up to while on the run. He had not made contact with her, and now he sat there like a stranger. She couldn’t speak, and began to wonder if all the terrible things she had been told about him were true.
    Alex’s bravado began to slip. She was so frail, so helpless, and her desperate, pleading eyes made him want to weep. His voice was softer. ‘I love you, Ma, I love you . . . Don’t worry about me. Don’t come to court – fings’ll be all right, you’ll see.’
    Their time was up, and the warders led him out. He didn’t look back, he didn’t have to, he could hear her sobbing. Alone in his cell he felt full of remorse, and he vowed he would make it up to her, somehow.
    The lawyer Evelyne had hired for Alex came to visit him. Alex told him exactly why he had attacked Taylor, and watched him write copious notes. He listened to everything Alex told him, and spoke reassuringly. He would see what he could do.
    Alex did not see Evelyne as he was led into court. She sat alone in the gallery, hands tightly clasped. The lawyer had told her that, under the circumstances, he felt sure Alex would be sent to a borstal for young offenders. He chose his words carefully as he explained her son’s reason for running away from Oakwood Hall, and told her a full statement had been handed to the court and the education authorities.
    Alex’s case was heard in fifteen minutes flat. The judge, known for his harshness, dismissed the lawyer’s plea for Alex to be returned to reform school. He sentenced Alex to four years in Wormwood Scrubs, one of the country’s toughest prisons, which had a section for hardened juvenile offenders.
    The judge’s voice grated in Alex’s ears. He clenched his hands violently. So much for that sweet-talking bastard lawyer, so much for justice. As he was led down from the dock, he knew his mother was there, and he stared frantically around the courtroom as the warders pulled at his handcuffs to drag him out. He caught sight of her in the gallery and forced a smile, looking up at her . . . But all his cocksure manner had gone, he was just a boy and very frightened. ‘Mum! Mum!’
    They hauled him out, but she could still hear him calling for her, his terrible screams, and she could do nothing. She was still sitting in the gallery an hour later when one of the clerks told her gently that she would have to leave, the court session was over.

Chapter Two
     
    I f Edward Stubbs felt any remorse for the murder of his father, he never showed it. Even immediately after the killing all he had felt was relief, that Alex had agreed to say that he’d done it.
    He adapted quickly to his new life, putting the past behind him, including his brother. He refused to think about Alex, and was capable of behaving