An Englishman's Castle
By luigi_pagano
Tue, 31 Oct 2017
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4 comments
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“Hi Mum.”
“Hello darling, how was school?”
“It was good. The teacher told us that bones have been found in Hermit’s cave and they might
even be those of a dinosaur.”
“That’s fantastic, darling; those caves are very old, so it is possible.”
“Mum?”
“Yes, Pippa”
“Will daddy be back soon and will he take me trick or treating?”
The question took Jane by surprise and she had to think fast.
“Yes, your daddy will be here”, she said.
“But your father won’t”, she thought, and her mind went back to an Halloween night,
eight years before.
*
She had had only been married to Kenneth for a year. As his salary wasn’t much she had
found employment as a supply teacher to supplement their income. She liked her colleagues
among which there was a history teacher, Rodney, who rather fancied himself as a lady killer.
Beware of the ‘Rod’, she’d been warned but she had laughed it off.
“I can take care of myself, I wasn’t born yesterday.”
She was happy to indulge in flirting and light, frivolous banter with the stud.
Ken often worked late shifts and on the eve of All Saints he was at work. There was a knock
at the door and Jane was ready to hand over toffees to young beggars.
The visitor was unexpected. Standing in front of her was Rodney grinning and holding a bottle.
“Trick or treat?” he asked and before she could respond he stepped inside.
The situation did not seem dangerous. She was in control and, being a perfect hostess, could not say no to sharing a glass of Montrachet with the uninvited guest.
He was very polite, graciously accepting her refusal of a second glass of wine.
When she started being woozy and losing focus she realised that her drink had been spiked.
The drug was soporific and in her stupor she felt a motion as if she was floating on her back on the crest of a wave and only became aware that he had penetrated her when she felt his forceful thrusts and heard his grunts as he ejaculated.
The shocking realisation provoked a belated reaction. Somehow she managed to get a pair
of scissor from a sewing box next to the sofa on which she lay and she stabbed him on
the back.
Her husband, on his return, was met by a dead body and a semi-clad hysterical wife.
With Jane sedated and safely in bed, he called on some colleagues for help in disposing of the
corpse.
Kenneth was arrested two days later; not because of Rodney – who had disappeared – but for
burglary, his late shift being a euphemism. His fingerprints had been found on a safe he had
tried to crack.
The judge who sentenced him for aggravated burglary said in his summing up that ‘a house was an Englishman’s castle and violating it was a heinous crime’ and sent him down for ten years.
*
Now he was going to return home on parole after eight years and meet the daughter he had
never seen.
He had fiercely opposed any talk of abortion and had accepted the girl as his.
Jane, who had had to raise Philippa on her own, remained grateful and loyal to him and
maintained the pretence that daddy was away on business.
She wondered if those bones were Rodney’s and hoped that no other monster would lurk
behind the mask of the next trick-or-treater that would next call at her door.
© Luigi Pagano
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Comments
A very nice twist to this one
Permalink Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on
A very nice twist to this one!
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Great story for the I P Luigi
Permalink Submitted by skinner_jennifer on
Great story for the I P Luigi. Never open the door on Hallowene, you don't know who's going to come knocking. Might be the devil himself. 
Ha, ha, Only Joking. 
Jenny. xx
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