Next month NO Phones.
To be held in J and S
Not
Disappointed
Mary
Cavendish was sat in her kitchen drinking coffee her husband was in
the garden as she looked out into the avenue they lived in it was
strange and very quiet. They had only been in the house a matter of
months before then they lived in a noisy town house but all that
changed as did their name in the space of a second it seemed to her
she remembered that time as if it was yesterday.
“Ready”
Christopher said as he stood up. The day had finally arrived after
months of planning and going back over their testimony it was time
for them to give evidence. They had been unfortunate to have
witnessed a shooting by the leader of a gang known as The Firm he
shot a young boy as he was walking home. The accused whose name was
Juan Fortez had been in front of a judge many times but this was the
first time there had been a witness willing to testify in the other
cases they had retracted their statements or simply disappeared. To
say they were scared was an understatement they were in fact
terrified but they had been promised that once the trial was over
they would be given new identities and a new home.
They were escorted
to the court house by an armed guard. Once inside they realised what
they were about to do. Christopher’s name was called he stood and
stated his name and swore on the bible to tell the truth. All the
time he was given his evidence he felt the eyes of the members of the
gang that were present on him at last it was over then Mary was
called she went through the same experience.
Then it was an anxious
wait whilst the jury reached a verdict. After eight hours they were
called back into the court room and they were not Disappointed the
judge asked if a verdict had been reached the head juror replied yes
and read out guilty of murder in the first degree. There was uproar
in the crowd and they were quickly taken from the court back to the
hotel. The next day four men arrived with papers, passports, money
and credit cards everything they needed to start their new life only
one of the men knew where they would be going and if needed in an
emergency he could be contacted.
The next thing they were on a plane
and headed for Lincoln. The first weeks were terrible Mary
desperately wanted to get in contact with her mother who she had
always been very close to but knew she never could for her safety as
well as theirs. It was not so bad for Chris as a job in a local
timber yard had been found for him and his parents passed away years
ago. Also he had joined a youth group for troubled teenagers as a
leader an adviser which he enjoyed. As she sat remembering her former
life tears started to fall from her eyes and she knew she could not
go on and she took the pills one by one until the bottle was empty
she then went and laid on the bed.
When Chris finally came in from
the garden and found her he called an ambulance but it was to late.
Mary had left a letter saying she was sorry but on the day they
witnessed that killing she died as well having to leave everything
and everyone she loved and hoped that he would understand when he
read the enclosed clipping she had found on the Internet from the
local paper where they used to live. It was the notification of her
mother’s death and funeral details. He realised then how unhappy
she had been and blamed himself as it was him that had agreed they
would give evidence. Over the next few weeks he thought many times of
joining her but decided that he would spend the rest of his life
working with young people and trying to keep them from joining gangs
and ending up like the young boy who unknowingly dictated the rest of
his life.
