“And where are your friends?” I asked, unable to stop myself from biting back. He let out a snigger and said something in Welsh that caused Mair to clench her fists and Gwyn bolted up from the table, his chair scraping against the concrete sending a loud noise out across the bar.
Arthur got to his feet in equal time and the two men faced off with each other. Mair and I jumped from our seats and each grabbed one of Gwyn's arms, lowering him back to his seat. Dai shouted out in Welsh from behind the bar with a gesture of his thumb, which I deduced meant something along the lines of ‘settle down or get out.’ Arthur took his seat again but his smirk remained and his eyes never left us.
“What did he say?” I asked, unsure of how offended I should be. Gwyn looked enraged and clenched his hand so tightly around his tankard that I thought he’d put a dent in it.
“Something disgusting,” Mair replied. “Because he’s disgusting.” She made sure he could hear but it only caused him to snigger again.
We all sat in silence for the next few minutes, Gwyn and Arthur never taking their eyes off each other, until the call for last orders rang through the bar. Taking it as his cue to leave, Arthur knocked back a final swig of his drink and got up from his seat.
“Have a good evening, Mr Jacob,” he said as he passed. “I’ll be seeing you soon.” He barged my shoulder as he moved toward the door and this time I was the one who got up, intending to follow him outside and have it out once and for all. Gwyn and Mair both grabbed me by the arm and Arthur sauntered out sporting his slimy grin once more.
“This has to stop,” I said. “I’ve done nothing to him. If I’m going to stay here, we can’t keep going in circles like this every time we see each other. The man is mad. I’m going to have it out with him.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Gwyn said firmly, putting his hand on my knee under the table. “Leave it be.”
We finished our drinks in silence and made our preparations to leave. As we were gathering our coats the group who had been sitting at the other side of the pub made their exits, leaving just the three of us inside along with Dai.
“You’re still coming back to ours, yes?” Gwyn asked.
“If it’s ok with Mair?”
I looked at her as she tied her bonnet, and waited for her reaction. I knew she wouldn’t say no but I didn’t want to put her in a position where she might feel awkward in her own home.
“As long as one of you makes tea before bed. I’m parched. And I’ll take breakfast in the morning as well,” she joked. “Let’s start the New Year as we mean to go on.”
“With you being waited on, you mean?” Gwyn said, cocking his eyebrow up at his sister.
“Exactly,” she replied.
Dai came from around the bar to see us out, ready to lock up upon our exit. “See you soon, folks,” he said, but as he swung the door open two police officers walked in, forcing us all back into the pub.
They took slow steps as they walked inside, looking around the room before planting themselves between us and the exit. I recognised one of them immediately. He’d been with Arthur when he’d tried to cut my fingers off after first arriving in the village.
“Looks like you’ve been serving after hours, Dai,” he said.
“Of course not, gentlemen,” Dai replied, flashing them a nervous smile. “It’s only ten past the hour. They were just finishing up and leaving.”
“We’re just going on our way, Graham,” Gwyn spoke, attempting to get past him, but the second constable put his hands up to stop him from leaving.
“That’s Constable Morgan to you, Mr Griffiths.”
Morgan, of course. Mair had told me that Arthur’s cousin was the local policeman. It was immediately obvious that his arrival here wasn’t a coincidence.
“We need you to come with us,” he continued, and his colleague reached out for Gwyn's arms.
“What are you doing, get off him!” Mair shouted as she tried to reach her brother. In doing so she barged past Graham Morgan, accidentally knocking him backwards into the wall.
“And we’ll take this one for assaulting an officer of the law,” he said before turning his attention to me. “Now, do we have to restrain you or will you come of your own accord?”
“Come for what?” I argued. “We haven’t done anything. We’ve been here all night.”
I waited for a response but he had no interest in saying anything further. Gwyn was still being held by the other officer but he gave me a nod to let me know he was ok, so against my better judgement I made my way out of the pub with the policemen.
“You can’t do this,” Mair protested as a pair of cuffs were attached to her wrists. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Resisting arrest as well, Constable Johnson. See to it that it’s all recorded for the magistrates.”
“Shut up, Mair,” Gwyn scolded as his hands were being bound. “Just say nothing.”