The Gospel Makers (20 page)

‘Your people are desirous of being with you, oh Lord!’ he was intoning. ‘We have saved many souls following your divine inspiration, and others will continue our work here on earth. We pray you will receive us this day to work more closely with you for the salvation that is at hand. Even now —’

Nina moved silently up on to the dais. ‘Wait!’ she said loudly, startling them all. Bellringer swung to face her, the bowed heads jerked upright.

‘Let us first give thanks for all the good things of life,’ she improvised wildly. (Would they be in position yet?) ‘Let us remember the love of family and friends and pray they will not grieve too deeply for us.’ She hoped that message would go home.

‘Let us give thanks for birds and flowers and all wild things, for good food and fellowship, for sunshine and rain.’ It was an amalgam of school grace and ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ she thought hysterically as she plunged ahead, intent only on delaying the final, deadly act.

‘Sister Nina —’ Bellringer boomed, and she saw dawning mistrust in his eyes.

‘Please, Captain! I want to pray for my mother and my little girl —’

There was a muffled sob from one of the tables.

Bellringer said angrily, ‘That’s enough! We go forward joyously, regretting nothing! Brothers and sisters —’

And they were there at last, a dozen silent men materializing among them, each aiming for a particular target and searching out the lethal tablets. In a few cases they were too late, but Nina, thankfully stumbling from the room, did not learn that until later.

*

‘So what happens to them now?’ Hannah asked. It was several days later and they were sitting in her dining-room over a celebratory dinner.

‘It’s in the hands of the CPS. Baines and Lübekker are behind bars on a murder charge and the rest of them detained on bail while a report’s made.’

‘But what can they be charged with?’

‘There could be conspiracy charges concerning the murder. And there are three more dead, remember; it’s an offence to aid and abet suicide.’

‘Surely that applies only to Bellringer?’

Webb shrugged. ‘It’ll all be looked into, though I doubt if we’ll proceed against the rest of them. But if Bellringer and that henchman of his are found guilty, they could get up to fourteen years.’

He refilled their glasses. ‘It’s a messy business all round, but it would have been a great deal worse without Nina. It’s been tough on her, though, since she knew them socially. What of your errant girls?’ he added. ‘Will they need de-programming?’

‘I don’t think so; I suspect the final trauma did the trick. One good thing, their parents will pay more attention to them in future. I just wish we’d been in time to save Miss Hendrix.’

‘Some people are natural victims,’ Webb said reflectively. ‘It sounds as though she was one of them.’

‘What about Victoria Drive?’

‘If they’re freed from bail they’ll move out, and if they’re charged it’ll be closed down. Either way, it’s the end of the Revvies as far as Shillingham’s concerned.’

‘Well, that’s certainly worth drinking to,’ Hannah said.

*

Nina lay in bed, grieving for the waste of life she’d been unable to prevent; for Daniel and Adam and gentle Lucy, all of whom had harmed no one. If anyone had to die, she thought rebelliously, why hadn’t it been Bellringer, or Brad and Sarah who, after all, had killed Kershaw? So many deaths, and all because one old lady had disinherited her son.

She let her mind drift back over the last two weeks, remembering the warmth and fellowship which, with whatever ulterior motive, had certainly been offered to her, the meal round the kitchen table, the laughter. Why could it not all have been as it seemed, without those dangerous undercurrents?

She was filled with a helpless hatred of Bellringer for his manipulation of those trusting souls who had followed him. What would Daniel’s grandmother be feeling now — grief, bewilderment, a total lack of comprehension which, perhaps, she had always felt towards him?

And Lucy’s parents? Nina’s hands clenched, knowing how murderous she would feel if anyone harmed Alice. Suddenly she needed to see her, to reassure herself that the child was safe from the threat to which Nina herself had unthinkingly exposed her. The memory of that day in the hills, and the shadow coming over the sun, was still very potent.

She slipped out of bed and went quietly to her daughter’s bedroom. Alice lay asleep on her back, her hair all over the pillow and a copy of The Borrowers face down on the floor beside her.

For several long minutes Nina stood looking down at her, filled with a tumult of love and thankfulness. Then she bent and slowly kissed her forehead.

It was over, they were both safe, and tomorrow was another day. With which philosophical thought she went back to bed.

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