The Border Reiver by Nick Christofides

his heart: he would not be able to stand back and wait.
    His mind moved to the girl: he loved her like she was his own daughter. At eighteen, she was a young woman - could he leave her here if he had to go across the border? He thought to himself: she is too headstrong, too wily. She would be behind him in no time but not with him…no, he would take her with him if he went, at least then he could look out for her. He knew it was not a perfect plan, but what else could he do? And, he knew that she could look after herself if it became necessary. Nat had taught Amber to hunt and shoot and live off the land at a very young age. She was far stealthier than either of the men; they used to joke that she could stalk a roe deer and catch it with her bare hands.
    He looked across at Amber, her eyes burning a hole in the rug as she chewed on a fingernail nervously. He wouldn’t say anything of his newly hatched plan as he thought it better to sleep on it. If there was no news in the morning he would leave for Nat’s farm then.
    He stood up. “I’ve got to get back to the beasts. Help yourself to whatever you need, and I’ll be in the bottom field if you feel like working off the worry.”
    With that, he quietly slugged the last of his brew, moved to where his boots lay, tugged them back onto his feet and left the house.
    Amber stared at the floor as a tear trickled down her cheek.

SEVEN
     
    Condensation hung on the huge sash windows highlighted by the morning sun. Ben Baines rubbed his eyes; he had slept in the office again last night. Now he pored over the papers and nursed a strong coffee. He was not that fond of strong quality coffee - it gave him a headache - but after sleeping on a Chesterfield he needed something to kick start his head. He wore a well-cut suit and shirt with no tie, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar.
    The media were backing the new regime. There were many positive stories of collective industry setting up across the country; of employment for people who had never worked in their life; class sizes halving and wage increases.
    There were also reports of the banks being frozen, personal capital of the rich being confiscated by the government to be funnelled into the system. Companies were being taken over by the government. Put into the hands of collectives with only one change: all the profits were pumped straight back into the government and the business itself as investment or fair wages. Shareholders were abolished; the employees owned the company, they set the wage structures, and they had control of the purse strings.
    Every employee and board member of every company was free to stay in the role they performed before the advent of the NSO. But those at the top would be paid a fraction of their previous salaries whilst the rest would receive better pay.
    The rich had already fled or were in the process of escaping England en masse. Taking with them whatever assets they could move on their person. Everything else had been locked down by the NSO and the threat of retribution by regime enforcers was all too real for those who were not willing to fall into line with the movement.
    The revolution was very popular on the whole. Business leaders, landowners and bankers were in such a minority they had no voice against the ordinary people who were desperate for a viable alternative to the previous system.
    Although he was well supported, Baines knew there was opposition, even if the papers were not reporting it. There was more and more resistance to his land reforms day by day. It was they who would lose everything if they left their farms and estates who were fighting back. They did not have the capital or a brand to transfer across international borders.
    As unrest in the countryside flared, the more Lucas Start’s mercenaries clamped down hard on rural communities in an attempt to take control. Baines was continually forced by events to allow Lucas Start more and more power and control over the