Rottenhouse (40 page)

‘
You would die of
starvation in a pie shop, Mr Rowling. Tonight is voting night. Dad
put yaforward, remember?’

And Simon did remember, and his guts
churned a little at the thought of it. ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about
that.’

‘
Forgot about it.’
Barbara said mimicking him, and as she pulled away from him she
made sure to keep her hands on his sweaty chest. ‘Christ alive,
Simon, it’s not every day you are put forward to be Chairman. Now
come inside and have yer lunch before it gets any
colder.’

Simon took Barbara’s hand and they
walked together up to their new home built on the foundation of the
house that Simon had razed to the ground wSimonh fire. He walked
past the pigs and their pigsties and whispered to them to shush as
when one started they all went crazy and it drove him mad. He loved
those pigs though, especially when it came to market day.

And when he past the pigs and the
pigsties he looked up at the house that he had built with the help
of the men from Rottenhouse and smiled and took in a deep breath
that filled his nose with the smell of fresh wood, tar, and
lavender, and Simon said ‘Home sweet home’ and the pigs behind him
snorted as if in agreement and continued on eating the bones of a
man that had broken the rules he Simon would soon be charged in
keeping.

The End