The Asylum Chapter 12

Chapter 12 “Ariadne, I’m sorry about this,” said Amelie, as she locked Ariadne in place. But her tone of voice said that, sorry or not, this was necessary, and was going to happen. “You, Ariadne Keswick-East, are on trial today for the crimes committed against us and against all the previous inmates of those attics and these rooms, since Wolvercote House was first built.” Pete’s voice was implacable.
“The list of names will now be read.”
It was finding the list that had finally convinced the others that they really had no choice about this. Pete had been ready to tear the building apart, stone by stone to find out where they had hidden Ariadne. Every person who had ever been in those rooms, from the very beginning, named and numbered. Pete had been number 125. Ariadne listened, her face growing ever paler with worry, as name after name was read out, with the dates of their incarceration and, where they knew about this, brief details of their fate. She had thought that these people were her friends, but now they faced her as accusers. Jonas sat down as he finished his part, which had ended with their own names. Pete spoke again. “This court holds that in inheriting the Wolvercote fortunes and possessions, you also inherited the debts they owe. And you must pay them. The punishment has already been decided: all that remains is to set the length of the sentence.”
Amelie spoke. “Your sentence will be served here, in Wolvercote House. Which we are now re-naming Wolvercote Prison. This collar that I wear can be set to any length of time. Once it is on you, you will not be able to pass the main gates at all. Other gates and doors can be set to be opened or locked by it. The court will now debate the length of sentence.”
“Don’t I get to speak in my own defence?”
“You have no defence.” That was Pete again. “Ten years,” Pete said. “Ten years you owe – to each of us still living. Fifty years in total. You would be eligible for parole after you have served half of it.”
(“What if we put Ariadne on trial?” Amelie had said, to a Pete raging up and down the room.
He’d paused. “Properly? And all of us would abide by it, really make her serve her sentence?” They’d all agreed, thrashed out details, debated suitable punishments. “This isn’t the Middle Ages, Pete. No dungeons! No thumbscrews!” But he’d been quite accepting.
“No, of course not. A proper prison sentence in a proper prison.”) Ariadne was aghast. He couldn’t mean that! But Amelie was standing up and unfastening the collar she wore. And speaking.
“Wolvercote wanted to turn me into a soldier – and he’s succeeded. But he thought that to be a good soldier, I had to enjoy killing, had to want to kill. He set that interface to fill me with those desires: revenge, death. He didn’t know about my grandfather – a career soldier and a military historian, he’d taught me what being a soldier really was about, even though I’d never wanted to be one. I fought those desires, but I couldn’t deny them completely. Like Pete, I wanted revenge on the Wolvercote family, and when the rage swept over me, I wanted revenge on you.”
Amelie took a deep breath.
“I took that revenge. I was the one who locked you in the cellar, I was the one who put that mask on you. Olaf unlocked my door by accident, the night before he let Jonas out. I was the one who put those gauntlets on you.”
“I thought that was you!” Pete and Jonas said to each other simultaneously.
“You owe me nothing now. I do not want those ten years from you, and I do not ask for them.” Then Jonas stood up. “Because you spotted a margin note, and asked Olaf about it, you put him on the right lines. Without that, I would still have metal hands, feet and face. I do not ask for those ten years from you.” Olaf spoke next. “Jonas is right. I don’t want ten years of Ariadne’s life. She got me out of my cell and out of my visor. Her hands did it.” “Ariadne, if you hadn’t come here, we would all have died. Your garden has helped feed us, keep us healthy – and you are going to make a new life possible for Jonas. You have paid your debts to me – I do not want ten years from you.” The tears were running down Ariadne’s face, tears she couldn’t wipe away. They didn’t blame her! They were her friends! But what would Pete say? The other four were holding their breath, hoping that their testimonies would swing Pete far enough away from his dreams of revenge, move him back towards a more sane approach. And it nearly did: Elise could see the play of emotion in his face – and then his face hardened again.
“But I do want those ten years. You owe me a debt, and that will pay it.”
Amelie breathed out in relief. Failing Pete forgiving Ariadne for his perceived wrongs, this was what she and Elise had been hoping for – that Pete would name the debt due and the payment. That, they reckoned, would break the hold on his mind. And she’d done what she could to make the next ten years easier for Ariadne. Better ten years here than dead.
But Pete hadn’t finished. “And what about all those other names? Wolvercote House owes them too. A hundred and twenty names – I want another twenty years. Parole considered after half the sentence has been served.” And he took the collar to set the time.
Thirty years! Ariadne’s heart nearly stopped beating. Pete came towards her to lock the collar around her neck. Then Elise sprang up.
“No! What good will that do? How will that help those people long gone?” Pete held his hands out to ward her off, but she went on. “Do something that makes a difference for those people! How will keeping Ariadne in prison for thirty years do that?” “Then suggest something yourself,” Pete snapped back at her.
“Tell their stories,” Elise said softly. “Tell about the wrongs done to them. Clear their names. You’re the journalist, you’re the writer. Let the light in on the past.” She was right. Pete could see that. But he still thought Ariadne should pay them back somehow…The idea came to him complete.
“You’re right,” he said to Elise. “I can at least tell their stories. I’ve got ten years’ worth of articles here, on a person a month. Never mind the follow-up stories. Some people lost everything being sent here.” They both thought of little Peregrine Norwich.
“But Ariadne has to help. Has to find the notes, do the research, academic and practical. I’ll come here once a month to write the next article, and she has to have all the notes ready.” “You’re not to…to hurt Ariadne. In fact, she doesn’t have to see you if she doesn’t want to.”
“Fair enough. But she will be my research assistant. If she agrees to this, then I’ll set this collar to ten years only. But with no parole.”
Ariadne listened, helpless, as the others debated her future, thrashed out the details with Pete.
No face-to-face contact unless Ariadne consented to it. At least she wouldn’t have to see Pete.
A certain number of hours a week from her. Yes, but none in the first three months – and Pete wasn’t to touch the stories for that length of time either. He needed a breathing space.
What about pay if the articles sold? Ariadne could nominate a charity, and Pete would give something to that. In the end, Amelie came over to Ariadne.
“You can choose. Ten years, but you help Pete, or the thirty year sentence, with a possibility of parole – we’d set the collar to fifteen years, and then review your case when those years were nearly up.” “Prisoner at the bar, what do you say?” When Pete locked the collar around her neck, Ariadne knew that it wouldn’t open again for the next ten years. “Right, I have to show you what I’ve done.” Amelie pulled Ariadne into the front hall.
Ariadne was still moving like a sleep-walker, unable to believe what had just happened to her.
But as she followed Amelie out into the grey spring morning, even Ariadne came back to life a little. The place had been transformed. “You can do a lot very quickly, if you’ve got enough money to spend on it,” Amelie said. “And you’ve got a lot of money.” She took Ariadne round the back and showed her the pond, the orchard with the hen-house, the as-yet-unplanted garden. “Let me know what seeds you want, and I’ll get them for you.” Talking to Pete, Olaf could already feel the difference, now that Ariadne was tried and sentenced. That thirst for personal revenge was gone, and with it the dangerous edge to Pete that had been developing. Now they needed to get Wolvercote House turned into Wolvercote Prison. “Right, you’ve transferred all the money we should need, and a buffer as well. I’ll keep full and detailed accounts, and send them to you quarterly. Now you need to change all your passwords, because I know them. We’ve set up an account for your food and other necessities, and a yearly payment into that. Once a month, there will be a food delivery – they’ll leave it outside the front door, and you’ll have a brief window to collect it in, once the van’s gone.” She paused.
“We all hoped Pete would soften – but we knew there was a strong chance he wouldn’t. We want both of you safe and well. This is the only way to do it.” She left Ariadne in private, and Ariadne stared numbly at the screen and wondered how she was going to cope. And yet she believed Amelie: had seen Pete’s attitude to herself worsen over the months they’d all spent here, and watched him change after they’d all sentenced her. Was it only four hours ago? It seemed like forever. After Amelie had spoken to Ariadne, she was locked up again downstairs, No question of it being for her protection this time.
Upstairs, the five of them began to debate the fine detail – how her days should be arranged, what she should have to eat – and the big changes – how to turn Wolvercote House into Wolvercote Prison. The four of them watched Pete nervously, but all his suggestions were fair and reasonable, in the context of a prison environment. The builders arrived two days later – Amelie told them they were converting the house to rent out for use as a television location. “The four of us will be the prison staff,” Amelie said. “Not you, Pete. And we will make sure that she is all right while she’s in prison – we can monitor everything she does. We’ll do a yearly board – and one after the first six months as well, I think. You’re not going to be given any webcam access for the first six months – you need a break, Elise says. You can see her arrival, but that’s all.”
Pete could see the sense in that – and he’d a great respect for Elise’s opinion.
The building work was done, the security systems were all in place, the electronic locks had been tested. Ariadne could begin her sentence in a proper environment soon. Pete went and looked at Ariadne in the basement room and felt a quiet sense of satisfaction. This was what should happen: Ariadne should be paying those debts. He didn’t want to hurt her any more, just to make sure that she paid properly and fairly.