The Monsoon Read Online Free PDF Page A

into a ball.
    William was so close, and coming on so fast, that he could not stop. The only way he could avoid Tom was to jump over him. He cleared him easily, but Tom rolled on to his back in the middle of the muddy path, and reached up to grab William’s ankle while he was in mid-air. He held on with the strength of terror, and the man crashed down in the path on his face. For that instant he was helpless, and Tom scrambled to his feet, was on the point of racing away again, when his anger and hatred took over from his good sense.
    He saw Black Billy sprawling in the mud. The temptation was too much for him to resist: for the very first time in his life his elder brother was at his mercy. Tom pulled back his right leg and took a full swing of the boot.
    He caught William in the side of the head just in front of his ear, but the result was not what he had expected.
    Instead of collapsing, William let out a roar of rage and clutched at Tom’s leg with both hands. With a heave, he flung the boy into the bracken beside the path then hauled himself to his feet and launched himself at Tom before he could recover.
    He straddled his younger brother’s chest, then leaned forward to pin his wrists to the ground above his head.
    Tom could not move, and could hardly breathe as William’s full weight crushed his ribs. William was still gasping and wheezing, but slowly his breathing eased, and he began to smile again, a twisted, painful smile.
    “You’re going to pay for your fun, puppy. You’re going to pay in a heavy coin, that I promise you,” he whispered.
    “Just let me get my breath back and then we’ll finish this business.” The sweat dripped from his chin onto Tom’s upturned face.
    “I hate you!” Tom hissed up at him.
    “We hate you. My brothers, everybody who works here, everybody who knows you, we all hate you!”
    Abruptly William released his grip on one of Tom’s wrists and slashed him across the face with a vicious backhanded blow.
    “For all these years I’ve been trying to teach you manners,” he said softly, “and you never learn.” Tom’s eyes filled with tears of pain, but he still managed to gather a mouthful of saliva and spit it at the swarthy face above him. It splattered across William’s chin, but he ignored it.
    “I’ll get you, Black Billy!” Tom promised, in a painful whisper.
    “One day I’ll get you.”
    “No.” William shook his head.
    “I think not.”
    He smiled, “Have you not heard of the law of primogeniture, little monkey?” He landed another filli-blooded, openhanded blow against the side of Tom’s head. The boy’s eyes glazed, and blood appeared below one nostril.
    “Answer me, brother.” William swung back with the other hand, knocking Tom’s head across.
    “Do you know what it means?” He hit him again, right-handed.
    “Answer me, my little beauty.” The next swing was lefthanded, then right-handed again, and the blows settled into a rhythm. Slam, with the right. Slam, with the left. Tom’s head rolled loosely from side to side. He was swiftly losing consciousness, and the succession of blows never let up.
    “Primogeniture” Slam! “is the” Slam! “right” Slam!
    “of the” Slam “firstborn.” Slam!
    The next blow came from behind Black Billy’s back.
    Dorian had followed them down the path and had seen what was happening to his favourite sibling. The blows raining down on Tom hurt Dorian just as painfully. He looked around desperately for a weapon.
    There was a thick accumulation of fallen branches along the edge of the path.
    He picked up a dry stick as thick as his wrist and as long as his arm and crept up behind William. He had the good sense to give no warning of what he was about to do, just quietly lifted the branch with both hands high above his head. He paused to take aim, gather all his strength, then brought down the branch on top of William’s head with such force that the stick snapped in his hands.
    William’s hands flew to