Free Arrowland by Paul Kane Page A

her son's life.
    "It's Graham," Andy said, as if that was all he needed to add.
    Gwen nodded, allowing the men below to unbolt the gate.
    "Get ready," called down Andy. If this was to work they had to open them at just the right time. The jeep had sped up and was now pelting towards the gates, trailing fire behind it. Andy held up his hand; it was shaking. "Ready..." he repeated and she heard the catch in his voice. " Now!" he barked and let his hand fall.
    The men below swung open the gates, just in time for the jeep to come crashing through the gap. It scraped the side of the opening and, for a second, Gwen feared it might collapse them completely. But Darryl's handiwork was stronger than it looked. Everything held, long enough for the doors to be shut behind the jeep - bullets pinging off the metal. Gwen hoped their enemies didn't have anything that could ram those gates down.
    As she got to the bottom of the ladder, Graham was stumbling out of the jeep. He dropped his gun and fell to his knees, the khaki jumper he was wearing stained red at the front. "Oh no," she heard Andy say from behind. "Fetch the doc."
    By now several of the residents of New Hope had emerged from their homes to see what was going on. Gwen waved to Darryl, told him to get Jeffreys, and to stay with Clive Jr. Minutes later and the medic was examining the man's wound.
    "He's been lucky, it went right through, just missed his lung. But he's bleeding badly. We need to get him to my surgery, as quickly as possible. Here, keep pressure on the wound." Four people picked up Graham, and set off down the road with him. Jeffreys turned to Gwen. "What's the devil's going on? Are we under attack?"
    "Yes," Gwen said.
    "We're not sure yet," Andy broke in, looking at her.
    "Tell that to Graham."
    The sound of gunfire was still echoing loudly from outside. And it wasn't long before more lookouts confirmed that there were several shooters at the back wall as well. These too were keeping out of sight, but if anyone stuck their head above the 'parapet' they were setting themselves up as a target. In fact, shooters had been positioned around the whole wall, it seemed - either the same men circling, or quite a number of them in fixed positions.
    "We're under siege," Gwen stated after they'd called an emergency meeting in the Red Lion pub. Clive Jr was nearby, happily banging plastic bricks together in a playpen.
    "But why?" This came from Karen Shipley, a thirty year old ex-receptionist who'd joined them about six months ago. "I don't understand."
    "Do people need a reason anymore?" Darryl answered, and she looked stung by his remark. Everyone knew she had a crush on Darryl - everyone except the young man himself, apparently. "They see something others have built up, and they want to take it, destroy it." He was quite obviously talking about their experience when Javier had rolled into town; Gwen could empathise. It was the kind of thinking she'd used to motivate these people.
    "Hold on. Look, we still don't know what we're dealing with here," Andy commented. "How many men, how well armed they are."
    "Pretty well armed going by the state of that jeep," Jeffreys chipped in, as he took another look at it through the window. "Put it this way, I'm glad it's not my patient." He'd managed to stabilise Graham. New Hope had boasted a small local practise, even before the name change. The doctor's trainee assistant, a young Indian guy called Sat, was keeping an eye on Graham while Jeffreys attended the crisis talks. He'd alert him if anything happened.
    "Agreed," said Gwen. "And there's something else." She told them about her suspicions that someone had been watching them for a while now.
    "You didn't think to mention this before?" Andy asked.
    "What was I supposed to say? I didn't know anything for certain. What good would it have done to worry everyone needlessly? Besides, it's not the first time I've thought people might be keeping an eye on the village."
    "What?" This was