Underwood by Colin Griffiths Read Free Book Online Page A

strength of an ox’ others would say, murderous bastard most called him but never to his face, no Allan Herapath was never up early, one of the reasons being, the only reason being was that Allan Herapath, the sheriff of Underwood never slept.
     
    He sat at his Kitchen table in his modest home, a home that he had no desire to live in, in a town he had no desire to live in, his home must have been elsewhere because this never felt like a home to Allan, no breakfast or coffee lay in front of him nothing frying on the stove, the kitchen standing as if it had never been used, it was unlived in as a home could ever be, it was just the way he wanted it, he was focussing on the duties he had to do today, that’s all that was on his mind, his performance as the sheriff of Underwood, sadly there was a burial, 32 year old Haydn Williams was to be buried today, or what was left of him, that was at midday, there were two refusals of pro-creating that had to be dealt with, but that was easily dealt with, as the Vicar would say “ what they are not prepared to give, shall be taken from them” ‘when will these women learn’ he said to himself, but all that was the norm for a Sunday, in fact this Sunday was quite quiet, which he was glad as he had a new family to welcome, the population of Underwood had just gone up by four, which he thought was good as some outsiders were very rare in Underwood.
    ‘I hope they got skills’ Allan thought, ‘ sure could use them’.
     
    He looked at himself in the mirror, straightened his tie, his uniform was always pristine, his gun always polished and cleaned, he looked at his shiny boot’s, yes that was okay he could see his face in them, he put on his flat cap, rubbed his fingers against his chin, hoping he could feel no stubble or he would have to shave again, it was good, he walked out of his front door to meet his day, and the day of the residents of Underwood, the sun was shining, he didn’t much care for that, he would much prefer the rain, rain sometimes brought results.
     
    He had been the Sheriff of Underwood for a long time now, too many years for him to remember, ever since he created it, ever since he had restored this once failing neighbourhood into the glory it stood in now, yes he had created a fine place to live, that’s all he wanted, sometimes he thought the people of Underwood didn’t appreciate what he had done for them, he had told them sacrifices would have to be made, which may involve loss of life, he had told them that he would create a new generation of Underwood beings, he had warned them not to go into the woods, but still people occasionally tried to flee, he had told them there was no way out, it was a man’s Town he created, he knew that, but where he came from the male was the king of that particular jungle, now Underwood was his jungle and those who lived in it would see him as king.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    For a while Peter and Eileen just stood there holding their children, Peter could feel Nathan shaking and he wasn’t sure if he was shaking as well, Eileen cuddled Lily, both had tears running down their cheeks, they all went into a group hug, as they tried to take in their surroundings, the surroundings that weren’t there just a couple of hours ago, all the time expecting some logical explanation to bounce out before their eyes, but it never came, and the more they thought about it, the less likely it was to come.
    ‘What’s happening dad?’ Lily cried, her voice showing her fear as she looked at the trees where once stood a road, her young mind not quite taking everything in, Peter didn’t answer at first, he wasn’t sure what was happening, yesterday they were leaving Sheffield for a holiday in Cornwall, nothing extravagant, just a caravan on a holiday site in Newquay, 24 hours later they were stood in a place where the trees appeared to move, and the people were more than just a little strange, he wanted to walk into the woods, find the