The Cycle of Five: Silent Nights

By Ashika P

In The Cycle of Five, silent nights, author Ashika P skillfully portrays characters who endure incredible challenges in life. It is a story brimming with the essence of family, the vitality of relationships and the despair of betrayal.

A seemingly idyllic setting, where family values are strong and where hard work is rewarded with success,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ashika Laldaparsad
• Release date: Jun 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9780648067016

Book preview

Chapter 1

Pitt Summerfield and Jody Mitchell have a beautiful home set in one of England’s most picturesque corners. It is built on a huge block of table-top land and has a mixture of both Spanish and Dutch architectural design. The house has a massive shed in the backyard, and there is enough room for their five beautiful kids – two girls and three boys – to grow up. The girls are named Ashley and Ann and the boys Adrian, Andrew and Andy.

Ashley is the oldest while Ann is the youngest. Pitt has a thriving trucking business. He has contracts with major trucking magnates and his business has been lucrative for the past couple of years. Pitt has a group of loyal and dedicated staff who work for him.

Pitt and Jody had an arranged marriage organised by their families. They fell in love the moment they set eyes on each other. In those days it was common to have arranged marriages because parents always looked out for the best interests of their children and Pitt and Jody’s parents were no different.

Pitt and Jody had a beautiful wedding on a small country farm, not far from their house. Pitt worked extremely hard from a young age. He was totally dedicated and loyal towards his family and his growing business, and he put in a lot of effort into starting the business, watching it grow and taking it to higher levels. Pitt was a person driven by ambition, who took challenges and risks in life, he lived on the edge and was never afraid of trying something new or getting involved in a new adventure. That made Pitt the person he was, shaping his personality and driving him to do things his own way. He had a quiet but imaginative mind, and always did things the way he wanted to. Once Pitt’s mind was set on something, he merely went out and did it, there was no holding back. One could describe Pitt as strong, bold and fearless.

Some saw him as a man of adventure while others saw him as a risk taker but, whichever way you looked at him, he was a man of his own character and nobody could change his mind once it was made up. Not knowing Pitt, one might conclude he was a rude and arrogant man, or at least that’s the way he came across, but after getting to know him only then would one understand his personality and character.

As a young teenager Pitt worked after school and over the holidays on his uncle’s farm. It was here he developed a passion for trucks. Pitt loved trucks. He sometimes used to make wooden trucks and play with them, pretending he had tons of loads to push out. Pitt roped his cousins into his games and they would use leaves as money and play courier company games.

Pitt started driving one of his uncle’s delivery trucks at the age of seventeen, then graduated to his uncle’s loaders and to other more impressive machines like haul trucks.

Pitt often recalls his teenage years with his uncle Dawson. Dawson was rather mean to Pitt and his three cousins. Dawson insisted the young men in the family not attend school but start working for the family from a very early age. Dawson saw no value in his nephews attending high school. He would rather have all the nephews work for him instead. Pitt did not have much of a choice as uncles Dawson’s word was final, and he was not to be questioned. No family member dared question him.

Dawson’s teasing name was ‘Doodles’. He was the youngest and the meanest of eleven brothers. Doodles’ father owned a massive block of land on the farm and died without leaving a valid will. After Doodles’ father died, Doodles’ plied his brothers with alcohol and made them sign their piece of land over to him. Doodles’ succeeded in getting four of the eleven brothers to sign over their land and houses. The rest of the brothers Doodles’ bribed with alcohol, vehicles, fancy clothes and forged lease agreements.

Doodles’ brothers were uneducated and could not read or write but Doodles’ could, so he lied and read out letters from the council that stated the land had to be taxed and taxes had to be payed to the council. The brothers were poor and could not afford to pay taxes, so they decided Doodles’ should handle most of the legal paperwork and the council. Little did they realise they were signing away their land over to Doodles’.

Doodles’ treated the wives of his late brothers poorly. He would walk into their houses unannounced, and demand a brother’s wife declare all monies earned from selling their vegetables in the markets.

Doodles’ lied he had to make tax collections and took most of the money away from the brothers’ wives which they kept hidden in nooks and crannies. Sometimes some of the brothers’ wives would have to hide money outside the house in old containers like jam tins and burry the tins in the garden, just so Doodles’ never got his hands on it.

All the brothers and their families lived together on a massive farm, each having their own little plot of land. They each farmed their own animals and grew their own vegetables. There was a nearby spring and a flowing river from where they got water.

The brothers who passed on entrusted their wives and children to the next brother to take care of, and this tradition continued. These families were treated especially inhumanely. The children were not allowed to go to school and instead forced to work. When the families had a good harvest season, huge profits were made on the farm, however most of this money was swindled by Doodles’ claiming it had to be paid in taxes.

Doodles’ got his money mostly from robbing his brothers, and then used this money to buy vehicles, trucks and loaders. He started a small trucking business mining and carting sand from the nearby river and selling it to builders. He also fraudulently claimed mining leases from the local council and paid big bribes to council officials in exchange for granting him leases or extending his current lease.

Doodles struck it rich after he was awarded a mining lease for ten years, during which time he became very wealthy. There was lots of construction going on at the time – sand was in demand and Doodles’ made a fortune in the boom.

He employed a lot more staff and also got his nephews to drive and transport sand to all these construction sites.

When it was time for Doodles’ to pay the weekly wages he always short-changed his staff and sometimes even kept half their money back. Doodles’ lied and told his staff, including his nephews that he was investing these monies on their behalf and convinced them he did this for the benefit of their families in case any emergencies arose.

Doodles’ drove around in the best of cars and wore the finest clothes. He always wore his watch suspended with a gold chain from his top pocket, and he loved smoking cigars. His shoes were spotless and were polished every morning by his kitchen maid, and his pants had to be ironed with a clear straight line down the middle.

Doodles remarried after his first wife burnt herself to death. To this day nobody knows the circumstances surrounding his first wife’s death, rumours swirled that he used to abuse her and she could not tolerate the abuse and burnt herself.

Not many spoke about her, and the few who knew about her were not game to talk about her out of fear. There were even stories that after her death she made him miserable. Stories of her haunting him swirled about by servants in the household, while his own guilt ate away at him slowly.

He was even spotted once running nude in the middle of the night through the home’s hallways, screaming and crying saying: ‘Please forgive me, I’m so sorry for hurting you.’ Some family members whispered that Doodles’ could never go to bed sober, he always had to drink until he was drunk and only then did he’d go into his bedroom.

Doodles’ also screamed in his sleep, he would sometimes call out to Hendry late at night to come over and sleep outside his room door. Hendry lived in a hovel on one end the farm. He was Doodles’ loyal gardener who always looked out for him. Hendry knew Doodles’ was a wicked man, but somehow managed to survive in Doodles’ employment for years. Family members could not understand why Hendry did not leave.

When Doodles’ could no longer bear the torment of his burnt wife, he called Hendry and said: ‘Hendry, you have been always loyal and dedicated to me. I know I have done wrong by you several times, but you still choose to watch out for me. Now I need your help, would you help me Hendry?’

‘Yes master, I will help you in whatever way I can. What it is you want master?’ Hendry replies.

‘Hendry, I heard rumours there is a witch doctor that lives in the mountains,’ Doodles begins. ‘She is known to speak to the people who have passed away. I need you to bring her here. I want her to chase my wife’s spirit away from this house as she haunts me every night. Can you help me Hendry? Can you go and bring the witch doctor please?’

‘Yes master, I will help you,’ Hendry replies. He sets off to the mountains early the next morning. He brings the witch doctor to Doodles’ house. Doodles’ is horrified when he meets the witch doctor. The witch doctor is wearing a cape made from goat skin. She wears a long, black skirt which has lots of different trinkets attached to the skirt. She seems old and all wrinkled up, her nails are long and dirty and she wears a chain around her neck made from animal teeth and bird skulls. The soles of her shoes are made from a tyre with cow skin straps, and she has her hair braided with brightly coloured beads.

The witch doctor comes inside the house and sits on the floor. Doodles’ had asked all his servants to leave the house and work outside before the witch doctor arrived. He explains his situation to the witch doctor and tells her how he sees his dead wife haunting him by trying to burn him while he’s sleeping. Sometimes she even tries to press his neck. At times in order to escape from her after being doused with fuel, he has to run without his clothing before the lit match gets to him.

After listening, the witch doctor takes out a small bag from her pocket and asks Doodles’ for something that he uses something ‘personal’. Doodles’ gives her a hankie that he has on him. The witch doctor takes the hankie and wraps it around the small bag. She then chants a mantra and starts to sway her body - and after a short while throws the hankie and small bag on the floor. Out comes a whole lot of animal teeth, finger nails, bones and small clay rocks. The witch doctor jumps up and shouts: ‘She’s very upset, very upset with you! You robbed her of her life, you stole her life from her, you will suffer, and you will pay! Doom on you, doom on you. You will go to hell!’

The witch doctor then comes out of her trance, and tells Hendry she must leave immediately. ‘This house is cursed, nobody will be happy here,’ she says. ‘She lives in the house, her soul roams this house daily and she will not rest until she gets her revenge!’ The witch doctor grabs her bag, throws Doodles’ hankie at his face and leaves immediately. ‘I’m going, don’t ever ask me to come back here, this house is cursed!’ she tells Hendry.

Doodles’ is so terrified he can barely move and ends up wetting his pants. He pants for breath and stumbles outside trying to gasp a breath of fresh air.

After his meeting with the witch doctor and seeing his burnt wife in the house, his fears deepened and he decided he could no longer stay in the house. So he lived with another brother and his family for a while until his two children from his first marriage turned three when he decided he wanted to remarry. He wanted a wife who was going to take care of his children, so one day he was taken to another farm hundreds of kilometres away and was introduced to Gracie Hurt.

Doodles’ marry Gracie Hurt after he is told of her coming wealth. Doodles’ and Gracie’s marriage was a match made in hell and they ruled with an iron fist. They were both equally mean and cruel to all the families on the farm. Gracie wasn’t any masterpiece but she was the heiress to a very rich family, and Doodles’ only thought was the inheritance and money that would come her way after her parents – who owned many farms, and many vehicles – died.

Gracie was miserable and hopeless, nobody wanted to take her hand in marriage as she was obese and did nothing much besides eat and sleep the entire day. She never liked to cook, clean or keep house. She preferred to roam the entire day with Doodles’ in his car while he ran errands. Gracie was mean and bitter to all and always looked upset.

Gracie followed Doodles’ everywhere he went. She chose most of Doodles’ clothes and insisted he dress his best every day, even on days when he stayed at home. She was quite bossy too, telling Doodles’ what to do and how to run his life and business. She made a horrible stepmother and loved to push Doodles’ two children from his previous marriage around.

Whenever she hosted family gatherings she made the women in the family come early in the morning and prepare heaps of food. The brothers’ wives spent the entire day cooking and cleaning and feeding Gracie’s family, and when it was time for them to sit down and eat at the end of the day, she would come over to the table to ensure they had only just enough food, and they were not allowed to take a second helping. The family functions went on till late in the night as Gracie, who always over-dressed for these occasions and looked ridiculous, loved to party and dance into the early hours of the morning.

She weighed a ton and wore heaps of make-up. She always wore her hair in a beehive festooned with flowers. She looked clownish most of the time. She got the nephews in the midday break to come over and tidy up the house. At times she even chastised the nephews for not bringing the milk on time in the morning or not hosing down the porch.

Gracie left long lists of chores to be done and would leave the sink full of dishes from the night before for the nephews to wash up. She had a strong dislike for housework and hated doing any chores around the house.

She would not even make her bed in the mornings. The moment her eyes opened in the morning she would go to the bathroom and get ready for the day, dolled up as if she was going to a wedding, and come to the kitchen to have her breakfast, which had to be ready on time.

Gracie loved her bacon rashers crisp and if they were not, she would throw them out and get the maid to start all over again. The poor maid was not even allowed to eat the bacon she threw out, it had to go straight in the bin. However, once Gracie left the kitchen, the maid quickly took the bacon from the bin, rinsed it and quickly ate it.

One rainy day the weather was thoroughly miserable, with thunder and lightning all around. Doodles’ and Gracie had just returned from town after completing the day’s errands, like the banking and dropping off the company’s invoices, when the telephone rang.

Doodles’ picked up the phone and was on it for a while when a tree near the house was struck by lightning and fell onto the phone line. The lightning strike was so severe it discharged a power surge which sent the strike through the telephone line.

The surge struck Doodles’ face through the phone handset. The impact was so severe it permanently disfigured his lip, wrenching his bottom lip to one side of his face. Gracie yelled out to the three most abused nephews to come over quickly and rush him to hospital.

The rain came down in torrents and caused major flooding on the roads. Because the roads were mainly unsealed, most of them washed away making it difficult for vehicles to pass. After several hours the nephews reached the hospital and took Doodles’ in.

The doctors who treated him could not do much since the damage was already done, so they sent him back home asking Gracie to put a warm salt pack on the left side of his face. They told her the salt would help the facial muscles and after some time it should help his lip too. Gracie took Doodles’ home and followed the doctor’s instructions, heating salt packs and applying them to his face in the mornings and afternoons.

His face looked terrible, as if he had suffered a stroke and the paralysis showed on his face for months. The salt packs did help to a certain extent, the face was more or less back to almost normal after two months but the lip remained lopsided, and when he spoke his mouth sloped to one side.

When family members saw him after the incident, they thought he deserved this fate for he was a mean and nasty man who always did ill and treated people cruelly. The children in the family laughed behind his back, and the nephews killed themselves laughing when he smoked his cigars because he looked hilarious.

Being struck by lightning did not make him a better man or even someone who might consider they had just experienced a wake-up call. Instead the episode made him more bitter and angry and even more disgruntled with life. Because he felt miserable, he made all those around him feel miserable too. He got the nephews to chop down all the trees around the house to prevent this ever happening again, and whenever there was lightning he disconnected the phone immediately and never went anywhere near it.

Of the seven nephews who worked for the couple, Callum, aged seventeen, ran away from the farm as he could not tolerate the verbal and physical abuse from Doodles’. Callum stole a lot of Doodles’ belongings as he felt this would compensate for the wages he had withheld. Callum took Doodles’ expensive tools, barrels of engine oil, food from the pantry and whatever else he could get his hands on.

Callums’ mum witnessed a lot of the abuse he endured and asked Callum to run away from the farm and seek work in the city as nobody was brave enough to stand up to Doodles’. After Callum escaped the abuse on the farm, he indirectly created a pathway for the rest of the boys in the family. Over the years as Doodles’ brothers’ sons reached seventeen, eighteen years of age, they too ran away from the farm never to return.

Doodles’ now only had three nephews who remained on the farm. He continued to treat them appallingly. Pitt was one of the three abused nephews, the other two were Gordon and Robbie. The three boys saw what was happening, and all the abuse that went on at the farm under Doodles’ control and decided, they would be smart and win their uncle’s confidence and trust.

The three boys always tried to keep their guard up. They would often sneak into their uncle’s house once he and Gracie had gone to town and eat all the good food, like the gourmet cheese and crackers, ham, deserts and whatever was in the cupboards. They even stole food for their families, things like rice, flour, sugar and cooking oil.

They made sure they left no evidence behind and left everything exactly how it was, even sweeping out their footprints. They removed their shoes and two would go inside while one stood guard outside and watched for the uncle and aunts return. Doodles’ house was built on a flat piece of land but the road to town was up a steep hill. And if a vehicle went past, you could see it clearly coming back down the hill.

The nephews had some fun times in Doodles’ house. They relaxed inside the house in the hot summer months under the huge ceiling fans. They often played tricks with the uncle’s and aunt’s underwear. They would sleep in their beds and sit on the uncle’s rocking chair and have turns rocking each other. Once they even took itching powder and rubbed it into Doodles’ underwear and pyjamas. The itching powder never seemed to affect Doodles’ as he appeared fine the next morning, but Gracie broke out with a severe mouth rash. She complained about the rash for several days.

They also role played in their uncle and aunt’s clothes and danced around the house with belts and whips. They sometimes even put on the auntie’s make-up and shimmied around the house. Gordon would twist his lip and talk like the uncle and yell out, ‘Gracie, Gracie, where are you, please bring my pen book from the office, darling’, then Robbie would reply in Gracie’s voice, ‘Doodles’, Doodles’, come and get your own book, I ate so much this morning for breakfast I can’t even move, and my back hurts, please go and get it yourself my dear Doodles’.

The boys replayed the scene after Doodles’ was struck by lightning as he lay on the floor shaking. Gordon played Doodles’. After being struck by lightning, Gordon falls to the ground and moves his body as if he is experiencing spasms of some sort. Then Robbie, pretending to be Gracie, runs to Doodles’ while he is on the floor shaking and puts a metal spoon in his mouth, not realising he is shocked. The metal spoon aggravates Doodles’ condition and he wakes up after a few minutes with his hair standing on end. Gordon then runs towards Gracie, played by Robbie, and falls on top of him.

They had so much fun in the house with their role playing games. This was their way of coping with the abuse they endured. By doing this, it gave them some sort of enjoyment and got them through the harsh days that always lay just around the corner.

The three boys tried to be as polite as possible and do everything they could to please Aunt Gracie and uncle Doodles’, so they did not get into any trouble with them. The boys remembered their cousins’ who had run away, and the whip marks on their cousins’ bodies, and how they all suffered on the farm.

At nightfall, the nephews snuck back to the farm and stole fruit and vegetables for their families back home.

On days when the delivery truck came and stocked up the pantry the boys would sometimes raid the pantry at night. Gracie loved food, so she always bought in bulk. Robbie, Pitt and Gordon would steal little bags of food like flour, grains and beans, leaving the window open to make it look as if the pantry had been broken into.

Since the house was massive – the pantry was at one end in the basement far from the uncle’s bedroom. Doodles’ would not hear anything at night because of the distance.

Doodles’ had a habit of employing a lot of casual labourers on the farm, and he would get them to bring their young children to help dig trenches because he planned to build another house at one end of his massive land.

He told the labourers if they brought the children and made them work, they could have a meal and a small wage. In those days people were extremely poor and they mainly worked for food and to survive for the day. So these poor men out of desperation brought their young children aged between five and ten to work on the farm for Doodles’. So as not to get into trouble with the law on account of employing child labour, he made the men dig a big hole in the back yard