Pond story

Bianca and Albin were back in the area. They worked together as man and wife persecutors, silently hunting down and cleansing the area of those in the community who were deemed undesirable or inferior. They'd been searching for the Rail family all night, systematically scanning every dark corner and potential hiding hole in the district. The Rails did their best to protect their two children from sensing the danger they were in, but Galina, the mother, couldn't stop shaking, her eyes were red and wide open and her voice had an unmistakeable tremble in it. She had a habit of twitching her shoulders when the terror became too much for her. Robert, the father, felt both pity and anger when he saw his wife do this; he hated himself for feeling this way, for resenting the fear that visibly engulfed her, but he hated even more the idea his children might detect any sign of it.

"Why does mummy look so funny?" Jacob asked his father.

"She's got a tummy ache, it makes her feel tired."

"But she doesn't look tired" said Jacob as he played with a stick he'd fashioned into a sailing boat.

"That's enough, go back to bed or you'll wake your sister".

He hoped his voice sounded ordinary though their lives were in imminent danger. Bianca and Albin were the most aggressively vicious persecutors in the neighbourhood. What frightened him most was the way they carried out their duties with such hungry pleasure.

Last week Galina and Robert had seen this cruelty for themselves, cowering for cover instead of trying to help their neighbours of several years, the Hewitts. They were ashamed of this - their cowardly paralysis, but the violence unleashed upon their neighbours was beyond all intervention. They'd seen poor Mrs Hewitt held down in three feet of water and drowned, while Mr Hewitt was beaten and stamped on by Bianca. The memory was more than they could bear. As the two huge Mute Swans approached the reed-bank Galina stifled a sob, if this was the end she hoped it would be quick, but the terrifying, muscular swans, seemed to revel in prolonging the pain they inflicted on Moorhens and all creatures considered lesser species. Even if they survived the night it was clear the pond on Tooting Bec Common was no longer safe. Somehow they had to find a new refuge. Robert had recently overheard three Coots discussing a pond further South of Tooting, towards Norwood. Perhaps this might be a safe haven, somewhere the kids could have a real future? One without the constant threat of violence. As he thought about this dream Robert stayed very still. He was glad to see the kids were both asleep. Albin and Bianca were now perilously close to the nest, he could see Albin's huge orange and black fringed bill and Bianca's bead-like black eyes. The water made tell-tale lapping sounds as it carried them. He only let himself breathe once they had passed.