vomit cascaded to the ground, splashing his feet. Gasping for breath, he felt the rough stone at his back, the only thing that was holding him upright.
"Tell me," Brian hissed.
Ziggy closed his eyes. "Nothing to tell," he squeezed out.
By the time Kenny returned, he'd taken a few more blows. He didn't know it was possible to feel this much pain without passing out. Blood covered his chin from a split lip, and his kidneys were sending sharp stabs of agony through his body.
"What kept you?" Brian demanded. He yanked Ziggy's hands in front of him. "Tie one end round his wrists," he ordered Kenny.
"What are you going to do to me?" Ziggy asked through swollen lips.
Brian grinned. "Make you talk, cocksucker."
When Kenny had finished, Brian took the rope. He wound a loop round Ziggy's waist, tying it tightly. Now his hands were held firm against his body. Brian yanked on the rope. "Come on, we've got business to attend to." Ziggy dug his heels in, but Donny grabbed the rope with Brian and yanked so hard they nearly pulled him off his feet. "Kenny, check it's all clear."
Kenny ran ahead to the archway. He looked up The Scores. There was no sign of life. It was too cold to be out walking for pleasure, and still too early for the last-minute dog walkers. "Nobody around, Bri," he called softly.
Hauling on the rope, Brian and Donny set off. "Faster," Brian said to Donny. They trotted up The Scores, Ziggy desperately trying to keep his balance while also tugging at his hands to see if he could free himself. What the hell were they going to do to him? It was high tide. Surely they weren't going to lower him into the sea? People died in the North Sea in a matter of minutes. Whatever they had planned, he knew instinctively it was going to be worse than anything he could imagine.
The ground fell away under his feet without warning and Ziggy tumbled to the ground, rolling over and over, crashing into Brian and Donny's legs. A storm of swearing, then hands on his body, pulling him roughly to his feet, shoving him face first into a wall. Ziggy slowly orientated himself. They were standing on the path that ran alongside the wall that surrounded the castle. This wasn't a medieval rampart, just a modern barrier to deter vandals and lovers. Were they going to take him inside and hang him from the battlements?
"What are we doing here?" Donny asked uneasily. He wasn't sure he had the stomach for whatever Brian had planned.
"Kenny, over the wall," Brian said.
Accustomed to Brian's leadership, Kenny did as he was told, scrambling up the six feet and disappearing over the other side. "I'm throwing the rope over, Kenny," Brian shouted. "Grab a hold of it."
He turned to Donny. "We're going to have to hoist him over. Like tossing the caber, only two-handed."
"You'll break my neck," Ziggy protested.
"Not if you're careful. We'll give you a leg up. You can turn yourself around when you get to the top and drop down."
"I can't do that."
Brian shrugged. "It's your choice. You can go head first or feet first, but you're going. Unless, that is, you're ready to tell me the truth?"
"I've told you the truth," Ziggy yelled. "You've got to believe me."
Brian shook his head. "I'll know the truth when I hear it. You right, Donny?"
Ziggy tried to make a break for it, but they were on him. They whirled him round to face the wall then, taking a leg each, they heaved Ziggy precariously aloft. He didn't dare struggle; he knew how fragile the spinal cord's protection was at the base of the skull and he didn't want to end up paraplegic. He ended up bent over the wall like a sack of potatoes. Slowly, with infinite caution, he worked his way round till he had one leg on either side of the wall. Then, even more slowly, he inched round till the other leg was on top of the wall. His scraped knuckles seared fresh pain up his arms. "Come on, cocksucker," Brian shouted impatiently.
He launched himself at the wall and within seconds, he was alongside Ziggy's foot. He shoved it roughly to the side, throwing him off balance. Ziggy's bladder gave up its contents as he fell backward through the air, alarm pumping his adrenaline levels even higher. He landed heavily on his feet, knees and ankles collapsing under the strain. He lay huddled on the