The Great Scottish Land Grab Book 2: The Great Scottish Land Grab, #2

By Mark Anderson Smith

The First Minister is missing... Scotland is divided… The referendum is in crisis...

Only Robert Castle has a vision for Scotland that could unite both sides in the independence debate.

Helen Castle fears that politics could destroy Robert. As the campaign intensifies she must face one of the hardest decisions of her life.

News that the First Minister of Scotland is missing, with only four months until the referendum on Scottish independence, challenges Robert Castle to decide whether he will fight for Scotland’s future.

Sensing that the theft of Scotland’s land over many centuries has robbed the people of their opportunity to be independent, Castle fights for a modern day land grab - to reverse the clearances that stole Scotland’s land from the people.

But if the First Minister is not found, it will not just be the referendum at stake but the government of Scotland.

Challenging an out of touch parliament, Robert turns government on its head by introducing Cafe Politics - a way for communities to debate and agree their own policies.

Can this attempt at democracy succeed? Will Castle’s determination to win this battle drive him and his wife apart? Will it cost him more than he can bear to lose?

Praise for the other books in The Great Scottish Land Grab series:

“Power to the people! I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in current events in Scotland, though I know a fair few who would be shouting at the screen. Look forward to the next instalment if only to find out what he has done to Eck”

“Great debut story! Really enjoyed this story and can’t wait for the second part. Left readers with a real cliff hanger of an ending. Whether you intend to vote yes, no or couldn't care less this book will be of interest.”

“Can't wait until the next book is issued in July!”

“In the land of fiction, independence is real. In the real world, Scotland has said no. But in the land of fiction, the Scots have gone one step further and have voted for a land grab as well as independence. Robert Castle intends to fulfil his promise to the Scottish nation, no matter what the cost. Yet again, Mark Anderson Smith has made the improbable believable. Indeed, after reading this, I thought independence would happen! Alex Salmond may have gone but there may be a real Robert Castle out there. Watch out Westminster - according to Mark Anderson Smith, it ain't over yet!”

The final book is now available.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Anderson Smith
• Release date: Mar 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9780992988319

Book preview

Copyright

First published in Great Britain by Mark Anderson Smith, 2014

This ePub edition published in 2015 by

Mark Anderson Smith

http://my100goals.blogspot.com

[e-mail]

Copyright © Mark Anderson Smith, 2014

All rights reserved.

No reproduction without permission.

A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library.

ISBN 978-0-9929883-1-9

The right of Mark Anderson Smith to be

identified as the author of this work

has been asserted by him in accordance with

the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locations, is entirely coincidental.

BOOK TWO

CHAPTER NINE

Maybe this will keep them happy. John Anderson flung the report onto the coffee table.

It’s just a temporary stay. Angus Carlisle mused. Ten years isn’t that long and the agitators will be using the time to keep pushing for additional changes.

Where do they think this is going to end? John pushed himself up from the armchair and walked over to the open fire-place. He poked at the logs, which had been starting to die down, causing flames to rise again. He took another log and placed it on top, watching as the red and yellow tongues caressed the wood. They must know we’ll fight them to the last.

The law’s on our side, John, at the moment. We need to ensure it stays that way.

More money, more time wasted, trying to protect something that has been in our families’ possession for centuries. Haven’t these people had enough from us, demanding to tramp across our land, destroying the careful ecology we’ve worked so hard to protect?

They don’t see it that way... I know, it should be irrelevant what they think. But we have to be careful. Hundreds of years ago we had to put down uprisings. It’s no different today – just how we go about it.

Nothing a shotgun to the back of the head won’t resolve.

Angus examined his pipe, which was going out. If it comes to that then we’ve probably lost the war. He watched John get up from the fire and begin to pace back and forth across the drawing room. Did you actually read the report?

I didn’t need to read it. First they document who owns what land, then they question how they came to own it. All this is... John gestured back at the report. Is a chance for them to cast doubt on our rights as land owners. If the Scottish Government actually takes on the recommendations, it’s the first nail in our coffin.

We’ve still a lot of influence over Holyrood. We’ll rally the troops. Start putting pressure on the right people. There are a lot of ways to bury this. The courts have been in our pockets for centuries remember. Ownership has always been nine tenths of the law.

I don’t trust them. If we let other people fight our battles we’ve got no guarantee that their stake is as high as ours.

Then we need to raise the stakes. John, relax. Sit down, or better still pour us both a drink.

John harrumphed across the room to the drinks cabinet. Glen Affric, I think. He said. Slightly bitter. Appropriate.

He poured two glasses and turned to Angus. Water?

Yes. Thanks.

John handed a glass to Angus and returned to stand by the fireplace. You’re right, Angus.

Angus gave John a disbelieving look.

We need to raise the stakes.

Ah, I see. Should I leave before this harmony is disrupted?

John sipped at his whiskey. Hear me out, Angus. If we don’t act now we may be unable to act in the future.

Angus sighed and moved his hand to indicate he was listening. John told him his thoughts and as Angus listened and eventually discussed, the thoughts became plans.

****

…Are you watching the news?

No, just having a night off…

Turn on the news now! Call me back. Gordon hung up.

A strange feeling in his stomach, Robert walked back into the sitting room.

Who was it?

Robert didn’t answer. He changed the channel on the TV and searched for BBC News.

Robert? Helen asked again.

He said nothing as he saw the headline: First Minister missing, feared drowned.

Robert fished his mobile out of his pocket and called Gordon.

Are you watching? Gordon asked.

The First Minister?

It’s worse than that. We need to talk!

Robert kept watching the TV and slowly sank to sit beside Helen. It’s Gordon. He said at last to Helen.

This is a game changer, Robert. Gordon continued. The leadership of the SNP has been decimated. First Minister and Deputy both dead…

The news is saying missing.

Keep watching. There’s no way he survived. Reports are saying he was out of his seat, giving an impromptu speech, when the bus crashed.

Robert looked in horror at the images on the TV, which showed a bus being pulled out of a river.

Helen turned up the volume.

…To recap, four people are missing, including the First Minister, and six people have died, after the SNP campaign bus crashed off the bridge behind me into the river Dee in Aberdeen. Witnesses report hearing a loud bang followed by the bus veering onto the wrong side of the carriageway on the bridge, narrowly missing oncoming vehicles. The bus crashed through the wall and into the water some 20 feet below. We believe there have been 23 survivors, many of whom have been rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and are now in critical condition.

Robert turned to Helen and saw she was as shocked as he felt. He placed a hand on hers briefly then stood and walked away to speak with Gordon. He was holding the mobile too tightly against his ear and eased up. You said we needed to talk...

I’ve been mulling over what you said last night. I want you and Helen to come over to ours tomorrow evening.

Tuesday? Helen’s normally... Why? Robert realised he didn’t know where Gordon was going with this.

This is your chance, Robert. If you really meant what you said last night, if you have ever wanted to make a major change in society, then this might be your only chance to do something about it.

The broadcast he’d just heard played through his mind: ‘...Four people missing, six people dead...’ Robert winced, rebelling against the conclusion he was drawing.

I’ve no desire to become a politician, Gordon... And the timing... We don’t even know if some of these people are alive or dead.

You’re not thinking big enough. Look, cancel everything. Come round tomorrow, Seven PM. We’ll feed you and talk. Just think about what this means. Think about what it could mean...

Gordon said goodbye and hung up leaving Robert feeling shell-shocked. He walked back into the sitting room.

This is horrible. Helen said.

Robert sat, unsure what to say. The news report switched to footage and he realised he’d seen it before. They were looping through with nothing new to say. Robert took the controller and muted the TV.

Helen looked at him. What? She finally asked.

That was Gordon.

You said. He wasn’t calling to crow was he?

You know he wouldn’t do that.

He always hated the SNP. Surprised he never went with you to the Stronger United campaign meetings. Well? She looked at the TV, which was again showing a reporter. You never liked the SNP either... No jokes to crack, Robert?

He couldn’t put into words what he was thinking. Helen turned back to him with a questioning look.

You look more shocked than I am. What did Gordon say?

Think about what it means... Think about what it could mean... All the research he’d been doing; all the doubts he’d had while campaigning.

They’re decimated.

Who?

Has it said who else was on the bus?

No. Just the First Minister and Deputy Minister.

And the core SNP campaign team. People we never hear or see but who are directing the campaign.

What campaign? What does it matter who was on the bus?

Why did you come with me to the Stronger United meeting?

What... What’s that got to do with anything?

Please. Think back, the one time you came, why did you?

You dragged me along... Helen sighed. Okay, maybe not dragged but... You know why.

Because, while you support the SNP, you’re not sure you want independence from the UK.

That was last year. Come on, Robert. Keep up.

Now?

I have no idea. She looked back at the images on the TV, looping back to show the bus being dragged out of the water. I might have voted Yes. Now...

Robert gestured at the TV. "There are hundreds, maybe thousands of people campaigning for a Yes vote around Scotland but their biggest asset, or liability... has gone. The Yes campaign seems to have far more active supporters than Stronger United but the First Minister was their mouthpiece. He was their most capable speaker. He had the facts engrained and was skilled at deflecting questions he didn’t want to answer.

For all the SNP and the Yes campaign kept claiming this was not about one man, the fact is he was their leader. I have to suspect that if they had a succession plan it would have involved the Deputy. Does any organization ever seriously entertain that their entire core staff could be wiped out?

I don’t know. I don’t really care. Can we put this off? I thought we both needed a night off?

Robert turned off the TV. What if he’s right?

Who? Robert, you’re not making much sense.

Gordon. What if this was the only chance we had to change the referendum debate? What if independence wasn’t about staying in the UK or Europe or whether the SNP are in charge but was actually about Scotland, about what’s best for us?

That is what it’s about.

No. It should be but neither side in the debate is really proposing anything different. Even the SNP are proposing to mimic UK law and Government for the first few years.

That’s what they do. New Labour did that after the Conservatives and the Coalition were the same. It takes time to change things. You try and do everything at once and you would never be able to do it.

If the whole point about independence is a different direction to the failed policies of the UK then it makes no sense to replicate those failed policies. What if we could change everything? What if we could… Robert stood abruptly and left the room. He found his Kindle and brought it back.

Helen made to get up.

Please. Robert held up a hand. Just give me a couple of minutes.

Sitting back down, Helen curled up on the sofa resting her arm across the back and leaning her head against her hand. Two minutes. She said flatly.

Maybe three, anyway, this book... He held up the Kindle. The Poor Had No Lawyers. Almost nothing has changed in the centuries since those first land grabs. The rich and powerful control the courts, control the government, and ultimately the whole country. You and I are told by the media that we live in a democracy but we’re not allowed to do any more than vote one representative every five years. When they ignore us, when they disagree with us, when they make laws that we hate… What can we do? They’ve even taken away our right to protest.

They’re evil... They’re corrupt... Blah, blah, blah… Are you getting to a point?

I told Gordon I wasn’t interested in politics. He told me to think bigger. He’s right. Hundreds of thousands of us have been put off of politics because nothing we do makes a difference. But what if this accident… He pointed at the TV. What if the referendum on independence gave us an opportunity to organise ourselves and take power away from parliament? Take control of Scotland for ourselves.

Helen sat up. What you’re talking about… That’s almost a revolution. How would you… You're not serious about this, are you?

I think I have to be. This is the moment. Maybe the only time Scotland will ever have to come together. If I can do something to improve life for millions of people and I don’t… I'll regret it for the rest of my life.

I couldn’t be a politician’s wife. I certainly couldn’t be a revolutionary’s!

Did I tell you about Iceland?

What’s Iceland got to do with anything?

They had a peaceful revolution.

In the eighteen hundreds?

Just a few years ago, after the government went bankrupt over the banking crisis.

Helen shook her head. No, no, no. I don’t know what happened in Iceland and I don’t care. Even if they did manage to change their government, there is no way you can predict what would happen here. Anyway, you need to get a job. We can’t survive on hope and dreams. And what if you get locked up, or worse…

Robert sat down, laying his Kindle on the table. "I’m not thinking about starting riots in the streets, I’m wondering if there are people out there who want something better but don’t know