ONE
The end of the world for one man can be a new beginning for another. For the men who met in that barn, the end was here. It was January, just above freezing, but the Siberian winds swept over the land like Mongol hordes biting flesh with icy fangs. The rain fell like daggers; it rapped off the tin roof of the stone shed. They were south-west of Wooler, close to the Scottish Border.
The Cheviot Hills loomed in the darkness. The howling weather battered the already beaten structure, but there was an orange glow radiating from lights within, offering the warmth of the inn to a traveller. The heat from the assembled men appeared like smoke, rising from rain drenched coats inside the confines of the shelter. There must have been a hundred ruddy farmers rammed into the barn. They gathered not through choice — it was the fear of change that brought these normally solitary beasts together.
The smell of silage wafted through the space, while a muted hubbub filled the airwaves. The rotund, red-faced orator, who now hushed the crowd, was a man named Rowell. He farmed near enough four hundred acres outside Hexham. Fit as a fiddle though well into his seventies, the man was flanked by his three sons.
As he smashed his fist into his open palm, he bellowed and blustered about the choice these men had to make. Give up their land and livelihood to the local collectives or, with support from Scotland, fight the land reforms. For most, the decision was already sown in the land.
The howling wind which whipped the shelter foretold the storm that was to come. In a dark corner sat a hunched figure, head down with white hair hung loose, meandering around his weathered brow. His hands were clamped together, resting on his lap, swollen and sore from pulling sheep out of snow. As he opened his eyes, Nat Bell looked upon the throng; although he knew every face, he had nothing to say to one. Some looked towards him for direction, but he bowed his head once more, his mind ready to explode as the evils amplified within his skull.
The Border Reiver Description:
NAT BELL’s demons lurk just below the surface.
When his family and farm are threatened by the new English Government, he fights fire with fire. His actions create a legend in the burgeoning rebellion but can he control his rage and protect his daughter from the futility of war?
