"Ripped By mstoll" "You just remember that" "no matter how miserable life is, there are always a few seconds of bliss." "Those few seconds between the waking up and the remembering." "Yeah?" "Yes." "Yeah." "Right!" "Front, march." "Left, left, left, right, left." "Left, left..." " Come on." " Come on, you lazy buggers!" "Let's get up!" "It's time to do an honest day's work for once in your life." "An honest day's work will not hurt you!" "So get out of your filthy bunks before I..." " I have to..." " No." "There are fires to light, food..." "You do not have to do anything any more." "I must." "Not today, though." "Will you live with me?" "Here?" "Yes." "When I shout "turn", you turn your back on the hanging." "We will turn our backs on the hanging." "Yes, all right." "It is I who will shout "turn"." "Okay." "I heard you, you and him." "Better that than talk, you said." "Will you take me to the tent?" "Why?" "To get my bits and pieces." "Why?" "Major Ross wants me to live with him." "And you expect me to just watch you leaving?" "They will not let me in without a soldier." "Come." "How long are you here for, Anne?" "Fourteen years." "A long time." "It is better than the alternative." "The alternative?" "The noose." "You?" "Two years." "Assuming the church is built and a new vicar arrives." "I will miss our..." "What do you call them?" "Sessions?" "Sessions." "Spirits are not bound for geography." "You will be able to speak to them in England." " Then I would need somebody like you." " Yes." "Will I find somebody like you?" "Perhaps." "Perhaps not." "Perhaps not." "Unless..." "Yes?" "You take me with you." "Would that be allowed?" "Why not?" "You and your husband have done good work here." "The Governor owes you a favour." "We could talk to your children the whole way home." "I will talk to Captain Collins to see if it is possible." "There's no need getting excited if it's not at all possible." "Of course not." "But we will see." " Governor?" " Yes?" "Is everything..." "No." "They plan to turn their backs..." "Forgive this interruption." "They plan to turn their backs on the hanging." "Well, that must not happen." "I suggest we hang Barrett from a tree, here and now." "No pomp, no ceremony, no huge audience." "We hang him, we leave him there." "In time, all will see it and know that this is what happens when you strike a soldier." "Barrett deserves better." "Barrett?" "To bring them all together as one allows them to act as one, to demonstrate their strength when they act as one." "Why give them that opportunity?" "So we can never bring them together?" "The hanging, the flogging, the King's birthday?" "No." "This gives us an opportunity, too, to show that even when they act together as one, they fail." "Assuming they fail." "They will fail." "Sir." "The quartermaster has just been here." " We have lost even more of our grain." " How much?" "We have about a quarter of what we started with." "We will have to cut the ration again?" "Yes." "But I will announce it after their rebellion has failed." "That way, I can tell them it is punishment rather than necessity." "Sir." "All the convicts to assemble, sir, or just the men?" "All of them." "Will you marry me?" "He cannot ask you because he has a fiancée" " waiting back home." " I know." "A highfaluting fiancée, posh." "Imagine you turning up at her house." "He would cringe, smuggle you around the back and have a servant take you away." "And what would they say to him when you were gone?" "That you were a soldier far from home so of course you found something to fuck but really, Major, what possessed the little slut to turn up here?" "Marry me." "I offer you a lifetime together." "He offers you a few months in New South Wales before getting back on the ship and heads home, never giving you a second thought." "Would you really" " turn me down for that?" " I must." "I will have you on any terms." "I will have you on the terms that he once had you." "No sex, just come to me and talk to me and..." "I will win you back because I love you more than he." "I will win you back or I will die in the attempt." "Go." "You do not have to attend Barrett's hanging." "No, I have to attend." "If I get special treatment because I'm your woman, they will all shun me." "There might be rebellion." "I might have to act ruthlessly." "If so, I want you to remember it is my duty to act ruthlessly, not my nature." "Of course." " You have asked to see me?" " Yes, yes." "When I'm hanged," "Elizabeth will no longer be married." "Soldiers will try to claim her." "Yes?" "I want her to marry James as soon as I am buried." "Would that be possible?" " Does she want to marry him?" " Yes." "And do you want to marry her?" "What man would not?" "I will talk to the Governor." "Thank you." "We are good friends." "He is finding it hard." "I'm sure." "What did you do to end up here?" "I have done bad things in my life, Captain Collins." "Things which may well have led me here, to the scaffold, even." "But I never did what it says I did in my file." "Do you believe me?" "Yes." " Goodbye." " Goodbye." " Over this way." " That path." "I've got it." "These four planks and the back two, Sarge." "Hey, you!" "Good morning, Captain." "Good morning, Mrs Johnson." "How are you?" "Fine." "You?" "Fine, thank you." " Can I help you?" " Yes." "There is a rule, is there not, that a convict who performs exceptional service might be allowed to return home?" " Yes." " How would one go about that?" "Do you have a convict in mind?" "Yes." "Anne Meredith." " Anne Meredith?" " Yes." "Well, you would need to tell me the nature of this exceptional service." "Well, that is a problem because it is personal." "I see." "I was hoping you would take my word for it that the service she did me was truly exceptional." "I'm sure." " Would she travel back with you?" " Yes." "Would she stay with you in England?" "I would have to talk to my husband about that but perhaps, yes." "Will you leave it with me, Mrs Johnson?" " You will pursue it?" " Yes," "I will certainly pursue it." "Thank you." "You are welcome." "Did they not think of sending a Catholic priest as well?" " No." " I want to confess." "You see?" "And it's hard to confess to a man who does not believe in confessing." "I believe in talking and telling the truth and doing so in the strictest confidence." "My plan was to confess to get all those black marks off my soul, then drown myself and go straight to heaven." "Trouble with that is the drowning." "Suicide would leave the blackest mark of all." " So I would still be damned." " Yes." "Which means I have to hang Tommy." "Yes." " Unless..." " Yes?" "You get Tommy off." "I tried but I failed." "Try again." "Hello." "Is Private Buckley here?" "I am Private Buckley." "But the damage to your face is so great that I..." "It was a joke." "Forgive me for not splitting my sides." "Of course." "You're here alone?" "Confined to barracks." "I've come to ask you to forgive Barrett and to beg for mercy on his behalf." "Another joke?" "No." "What would you want in return?" "A woman." "That is not my gift." "I have in the past recommended certain men to certain women but in your case I could not." "I would have to say to her, "Meet Private Buckley." ""He took advantage of Tommy Barrett's wife" ""and then told Tommy Barrett all about it." ""When Tommy Barrett attacked, he failed to land a single blow." ""But took revenge" ""by gloating from the side" ""while Tommy Barrett hanged."" "I'm not going, Reverend." "I agree." "But what if I could say," ""Meet Private Buckley, who had every reason" ""to want Tommy Barrett dead but instead forgave him" ""and begged the Governor to show mercy on him."" "Truly, there is no more Christian man in the whole of New South Wales." "A woman would want you then." "Hmm?" "Even you might like yourself a little." "How would I go about it?" "I would pass on your request" " to the Governor." " In private?" "Mmm, yes." "He might refuse it." "He's more than likely to refuse it." " Yes." " In which case, no one would know my magnanimity." "My Christianity would do me no good at all." "You wish to see me, sir?" "Yes." "Have you ever used a pistol?" "Yes, sir." "In anger?" "No, sir." "Could you look a man in the eye and shoot him dead with it?" "I think so, sir." "You think so?" "Yes, sir." "I cannot know it, sir." "I would only know it when I have done it, sir." "There have been times when you have wanted to shoot me." " No, sir." " This conversation is forgotten as soon as it is finished." "There have been times when you have wanted to shoot me." " Yes, sir." " But you lacked the stomach." "No, sir." "I am a Marine." "You are my commanding officer." "That is why I could not do it." "That is the only reason, sir." "Take it." "Sir." "You will bring it to general assembly, leave behind your musket." "Sir." "Dismissed." "Sir." "Boss?" "You want me, boss?" "Yes." "You've been learning to read" " and write, huh?" " Yes." "And yet you signed your own transportation?" "I got someone to sign it for me." " Who?" " My brother." " Back home in England?" " Yes." "Is there something wrong, Reverend?" " The necklace?" " My mother's." " Is it worth anything?" " Only to me." "And you gave it to the ship's purser" " for safekeeping?" " Yes." "And when we landed here, he returned it to you, yes?" " Yes." " You signed for it, Anne." "And the signature is the same as on the transportation, yes?" "Yes." "You wanted to see me, Captain?" "I am so, so sorry, Mrs Johnson." "What is it?" "This woman can read and write." " What?" " Why did you pretend that you could not?" " To get close to your wife." " Exactly." "To ease her pain." "To win her confidence." "No." "What did you do when you were alone together?" "You told Captain Collins that she had performed exceptional service for you." " Yes." " What was it?" "What was this exceptional service?" "I spoke to our children." " I know what you are thinking." " Can we not speak about this?" "You are thinking that this woman has..." "To take part in a pagan ritual is bad enough but to be duped into doing it, to be exploited, used," " abused by a woman such as..." " She did not abuse me." "Will you tell my wife why you are here, Anne?" "What you did in England to merit a punishment" " such as this?" " Shall I?" "No, please, Anne." "I stole two pounds, 10 shillings and sixpence from the vicar of All Souls Abbey." " From the vicar's wife!" " From the vicar's wife." "To whom you told a pack of lies." "I did not lie to you, Mrs Johnson." "You gained the trust of the vicar's wife by telling her a pack of lies, yes?" "Yes." "But I didn't lie to you." "May I go after your wife?" "No." "You pick on vicars and their wives because they turn the other cheek." "But not this time, Anne." "You've exploited the woman that I love most in this world and for that, I will have you flogged." "I have exploited no one." "I told your wife what I believed and it brought her comfort." "What you believe brings her nothing but sorrow." "How dare you compare your faith" " with mine?" " Why not?" "The only difference is you do better out of yours." "Mine got me two pounds, 10 shillings and sixpence and a noose around my neck." "Yours puts food in your belly, clothes on your back and a roof over your head." "Now, if you will not go after the woman you say you love, you bloody hypocrite," "I will." "To hell with you." "I'm praying for you." " Thank you." " We all must pray for you." "No Christian should judge another, I know, but your soul must be as black as the hobs of hell." " I did not lie to you." " Oh!" "If you want me to stay away," "I shall." "But when you have had your baby, I will approach you again." "Whether that is in London or here in New South Wales," "I will approach you and I will say," ""See, Mrs Johnson?" ""I told you I did not lie."" "Your husband wants me flogged." "When you yourself have been wronged, forgiveness is easy." "But when the person you love has been wronged, it is much harder." "I will talk to him." "He will turn the other cheek." " May I ask a favour?" " Yes?" "Will you keep quiet about all this?" "Yes." "That is not a condition." "Forgiveness and mercy do not come with strings attached but I feel..." "I feel rather naked right now." "I promise I will not say a word." "Thank you." "We all know why you are hanging him." "You are doing it to maintain law and order." "If convicts can strike soldiers, where does that leave law and order?" "But what good is law and order without justice?" ""If you hang Tommy Barrett," ""you shit on justice" ""and if you shit on justice," ""can we not shit on your law and order?"" " That is what they're saying, boss." " What else are they saying?" ""Does he think the soldiers control us because they have guns?"" "No." "They're saying, "The soldiers control us" ""because we let them control us."" "Ten convicts to every soldier." ""Does he think they stand a chance if we said 'enough'?" ""Well, if he shits on justice, we might just say that."" "A rebellion." "Who is saying this?" "Would you give me their names?" "Spragg would be one." "Spragg?" "Yes." "Definitely Spragg." "I will be your informer." "I will grass on everyone and everything if you just say I need not hang Tommy Barrett." "Informers are easy to find." "Hangmen are more difficult." "I'm sorry." "Please." " You promised me rum." " Yes." " May I have it now, please?" " When you've hanged him." "I cannot to do it sober!" "You must." "Leave." "Why does the King want me to dress like this?" "It's not so they will respect me, it is so I will despise them." "I in my finery, they in their rags." "I can treat 'em like rats." "Hang 'em, flog 'em, not give a damn." "I know you will do the right thing." "Hey, James, where have you been?" " What?" " Tommy wants us." "Come." " It is general assembly." " Yes." "I will be hanged soon." "We will not let them hang you." " Hold hands." " Why?" "Hold hands, woman." "Promise me you will marry her." "Promise me you will marry her, hmm?" "I promise." "And you will always look after her." "I will always look after her if she allows it." "Yeah." " And promise me you will have him." " There is no need to promise anything." "They will not hang you." " Promise me you will have him." " We will not let them hang you." "Promise me." "I promise." "And I promise you that I will watch over you both." "I promise that I will bring you a ship full of food." "And I promise you, you will survive." " Secure his hands and bring him up." " No!" "Sorry, Thomas Barrett, it is time to go." "No." "Are you allowing this to happen?" "Pray with me, Elizabeth." " I will not pray with you." " Our Father..." "Do you call this justice?" "Stop talking!" "You have no..." "How dare you lay your hands on a man of God?" "A man of God?" "He's a man of God?" "I have shivved better!" " Why are you praying, vicar?" " Our Father..." "Not for Tommy but for you, for yourself." "You lose yourself in prayer when you were deaf to appeals for justice." "Lose yourself in prayer and you can ignore the fact that this too is a crucifixion?" "You should be ashamed." "And you, Governor, you and your "birth of a nation"." "What kind of a nation?" "I am carrying this man's child." "Hang him and the first child born in New South Wales will have no father." "And what a father, brave, strong, true, principled to every virtue that a newborn nation will need." " Can you not see this?" "Let..." " Enough!" "Elizabeth, the less he deserves to die, the better." "If Christ himself had struck a soldier, I would hang him, such is the enormity of the offence." "Without soldiers, Elizabeth, we die." "Be strong, Tommy." "Order, please." "Order." "Order, please." "Order!" "I'm going to tell you something about convicts." "I'm going to tell you something about convicts." "Something that not one of you is prepared to admit." "'Tis this." "You would sooner 100 soldiers in charge than 100 fellow convicts." "Do you think 100 convicts with guns would share out the food equally?" "No, they would kill you first." "You need these soldiers." "You need them to protect you from the natives, yes, but you also need them to protect you from each other." "Turn!" "Turn and face the scaffold." "A convict recently told me that we govern you only with your consent." "That is true." "But to withhold consent is certain death." "To rebel is certain death." "Now, turn and face the scaffold." "Turn and face the scaffold." " Major Ross." " Yes, sir." "Do whatever it takes to get every man and woman facing this scaffold." "Yes, sir." " Spragg!" " Yes, boss?" "Raise your hand." "Identify yourself." "Here, boss." "Keep your hand raised." "Corporal MacDonald." "Yes, sir." " Approach Mr Spragg." " Yes, sir." " Touch him." " Yes, sir." " Draw your pistol." " Yes, sir." "I will count to 10." "If, on the count of 10," "Spragg has not turned to face the scaffold," " shoot him dead." " Yes, sir." "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10." "Corporal MacDonald." "Yes, sir." "Touch the next man on your right." "Yes, sir." "Reload." "Yes, sir." "Reloaded, sir." "I will count to 10." "If, on the count of 10, your convict has not turned to face the scaffold," " shoot him dead." " Yes, sir." "One, two, three, four, five, six..." "Major Ross, sir." "Yes." "I am Letters Molloy, sir." " Corporal MacDonald." " Yes, sir." "Move to the next man on your left." "Yes, sir." " Touch him." " Yes, sir." "I will count to 10." "If, on the count of 10, this man does not turn and face the scaffold," " shoot him dead." " Yes, sir." "One, two, three, four, five, six..." "Major Ross, sir." "Yes." "I'm the blacksmith, sir." "Major Ross, sir." "Permission to put that man out of his misery, sir." "Denied." "I'm essential to the running of this colony, sir." "Eight, nine..." "I'm essential." "I am indispensable!" " Corporal MacDonald." " Yes, sir." "Move to the next man on your left." "Touch him." "Yes, sir." "I will count to 10." "If, on the count of 10, this man has not turned to face the scaffold, shoot him dead." "Yes, sir." "One, two..." "Corporal MacDonald." "Yes, sir." "Put that man out of his misery." "Yes, sir." "Reload." "Yes, sir." "Governor." "Thank you, Major." "I represent the King." "To turn your back on me is to turn your back on the King." "And that will not be allowed to happen." "Thomas Barrett, do you have any last words?" "No, boss." "Will the hangman step forward, please?" "Major Ross, permission to speak, sir." "Granted." "You can see what he did to me in his vicious and cowardly attack." "Nevertheless, I forgive this man and I ask you, the Governor, to show this man mercy." "I, the victim, ask you, the Governor, to show this man mercy." "Merciful and gracious is the Lord." "Slow to anger and abounding in kindness." "Amen." "I thank you, Private Buckley, but Barrett is not being hanged for what he did to you." "He's being hanged for what he did to the uniform, to the flag, to the King himself." "Will the hangman step forward now, please?" "Will the hangman step forward now, please?" "Come up onto the scaffold." " Will you tell them why, Governor?" " Bind his ankles." "I'm doing this upon pain of death!" "I had the hood over my head, the noose around my neck and in the last second, he offered me life!" "He offered me life if I agreed to be the hangman." "And I agreed." "As you all would have done." "I hang or I am hanged." "Bind his ankles." "God gave you courage, Tommy." "He gave me none." "That's the only difference between us." "Not courage, James." "Love." "I loved you too much to do this to you." "I loved you, Tommy." "But I loved life more." "You think your life will be worth living now?" "They will all despise you." "They will all be looking for a chance to slit your throat." "Oh, the irony, James, when you end up hanging yourself." "Hood?" "No." "Reverend." "Have mercy upon this miserable offender, O Lord." "We'll be in paradise together, Tommy." "Me and you in eternity ahead of us." "I love you, Tommy." "Tommy Barrett, the bravest." "Tommy Barrett, the toughest." "Tommy Barrett, the strongest." "Tommy Barrett, the shrewdest." " Pull!" " Tommy Barrett, the kindest." "I love you, Tommy Barrett." "I love you with all my heart, Tommy Barrett." "I love the way you make love to me, Tommy Barrett." "I love the way you sing to me when you make love to me." "I love the way you whisper in my ear when you make love to me." "I love you with all my heart, Tommy Barrett." "I love you." "I love you." "I love you." " Pull!" " I love you." "I love you." "I love you." "I love you." "I love you." "Let us dispel the myth that I do not have it in me to hang a man." "If I could hang a man like Thomas Barrett," "then I can hang any." "Private Buckley." "Sir." "You will guard our hangman, Private Buckley." "If he dies, you die." "Sir." "I thought current rations were too low." "In fact, I thought about increasing them, to make the hanging of Barrett more palatable." "But this disobedience shows you have energy to burn." "Free her hands." "Accordingly, I hereby reduce your rations by a further quarter." "And for the first time in New South Wales, this cut applies to convicts only." "And that is due entirely to your disobedience." "This man will be protected day and night." "If you threaten him in any way, you will be shot, as that man there was shot." " Disperse!" " Disperse!" "Disperse!" "Disperse now!" "Disperse!" "Disperse." "Disperse!" "Disperse!" "You may go to him." "Take him down." "Help me." "Leave him." "Leave him, woman, or I'll shoot you!" " No, no, no!" " I will shoot you!" "Buckley, do not shoot." "Do not shoot!" "Do not shoot!" "You wrote a last letter home for Tommy Barrett?" "Yes, boss, to his mother." "Full of lies." "Well-intentioned lies, boss." "Lies designed to spare his mother pain." "You know why he went to his death, you saw how he went to his death." "You saw it with your own eyes." "You did not read it in a file." "Yes?" "Yes, boss." "Could any man be braver, any mother prouder?" "No, boss." "Then write that." "Write the truth." " If you insist, boss." " I do." "Dear Elizabeth," "I refused the hood because I wanted your face to be the last thing I saw." "The face I loved more than anything else in the world." "This is the first thing I've ever written." "I will consider it a huge honour if you'd accept this from me." "It says, "Tommy Barrett."" "Tommy Barrett." "Saint..." "Paul." "# Rock of Ages" "# Cleft for me" "# Let me hide myself in Thee" "# Let the water and the blood" "# From Thy riven side which flowed" "# Be of sin the double cure" "# Save me from its guilt and power" "# Not the labours of my hands" "# Can fulfil Thy law's demands" "# Can my zeal no respite know" "# Could my tears forever flow" "# All for sin could not atone" "# Thou must save and Thou alone" "What are you doing?" "Katherine McVitie, Letters Molloy," "Elizabeth Quinn." "Notice I did not change her name to Barrett once she married." "You see, within these files, nothing can change." "Why are you doing this?" "What did you think of Tommy Barrett?" "Brave, principled, heroic." "Not in my file." "My file described him an incorrigible rogue, no morals whatsoever." "I am sorry." "I am so, so sorry." "I get more rations now." "I could give you some." "I promised Tommy I'd look after you, you see, and I will." "For as long as I live," "I will look after you." "Ripped By mstoll"