Tribune Today Dec 27th 2038

Yesterday I gave you a brief outline of my arrival at Loxley, and what it feels like to enter through those large wooden gates, I took you up the main road towards the village, and round past the Shooting Range to the Village Hall. Today I will continue on from there but will give you a better insight to the Woodland Realm as I talk to some of its inhabitants as my first day ends.

Day One December 17^th 2038.

My guide, who has arranged a great deal of this trip on my behalf is a woodsman scout based at Loxley. He is a little older than myself at 39 years old, and is called Steven. He is for want of a better word a very able burley man, who is a very knowledgeable and experienced member of the Loxley forces, I feel without him, I would not be able to do this and so I am very grateful indeed.
We must not forget that there is a war currently going on and so Steve is also my advisor as to what can and cannot be shared with you all, especially in the area of tactics and the current position of the Woodland Forces, so if there are any vague areas of this report, you must understand that it is because people are currently on location and could be put at risk.
My time in the Village Hall was coming to an end, most of the tables within the hall, including the large map dotted with coloured pins gave a very precise image of where everyone was at, and so I was asked not to report it, I was also a little saddened to find that the back offices were also off limits, although as I looked down the long hall, I could see three doors on the back wall, one clearly marked Kitchen, which sat on the left hand side as I viewed it, and I presumed the middle one was the office of the Lord of Loxley, with the one at the end being the room for the Fellowship committee members.
My visit had been very exciting and as a small reward for my discretion, I was given the treat of being escorted outside for a short stroll with Mr Simmons, who is a very pleasant and sociable member of the Specialists. We spent our time sat on the green outside the Village Hall in a small space, which he informs me that Lord Loxley intends to turn into a small garden of remembrance, and within reason I am given free licence to ask him about life in Loxley. Mr Simmons is 56 years old, and although I find him to be quite an energetic man, it is obvious by his grey hair and tired eyes, that life has been very pressured of late, I ask him how he finds it living in Loxley?
“I have lived for a great many years in service to the ex Duke, and I was until recently in the employ of his son the new Duke of Gloucester, so I have spent a great deal of my time below stairs.” He smiles and his piercing blue eyes seem to twinkle with great affection. “It feels like I have lived indoors for most of my life, or at least since I was sixteen, so being here and spending a great deal time outdoors has felt very much like a new experience, I find it most rewarding, and I do take a great deal of pleasure from being able to stroll safely around the whole of the Village and Farm estate, you will see in your few days here that there is much to see and do here, not a moment is wasted as all the effort is for one reason alone, and that is the survival of the people living here .”
Simmons has a very slow and calming way to his words, his southern accent is very obvious here so far north, but I am enthralled with his very gentlemanly approach, I think it is very obvious that he is indeed an exceptionally well-educated man. I can see from his very well turned out attire that he is a man who puts in a great effort and believes in standards for himself, although I also feel there is very little judgment on his part of others, if anything he is a very relaxed person indeed.
This place does appear to be very far removed from the life you have lived, what I mean is that even though you have spent your time in service, you obviously must have experienced far more comforts than you would find here in the Stockade. He has quite an infectious chuckle.
“I have indeed lived in some very grand places, but you must understand that although this is very much a complete opposite to the life I have known, Loxley is indeed a very welcoming and warm place, I would even go so far as to say that my level of comfort most recently has been far superior to what I have had in the past.”
You now live with Lord Brandon in one of the cottages, does it not feel strange to almost be living as equals now. I can see the question has surprised him a little, and I do feel a little sorry at first for asking, but he considers the point carefully and relaxes on the bench as we sit to continue our discussion.
“I would say Lord Brandon and myself have never really thought of it that way, you see for most of his life he has been in my care, so I suppose in many ways the roles of servant and master have never really applied. We share the house with Lady Citrine and we all get along very well indeed, I would say the experience is very much that of family, it certainly feels that way, I think they would both agree. Loxley is in many ways like a very large extended family to all of us, and so we naturally all feel very involved, it is possibly why Loxley has thrived when others in the past have failed. I must admit that it is not as grand as say some of the duke’s estates, but that is not why we are really here is it? I would say that we have the comforts of home, which is really what is important, it matters not to us the value of the chair we use, most of us here are safe and well cared for, something I fear is a feeling many outside of these walls do not have the luxury of. ”
I find that a fascinating concept, after all the Lox brothers, Robert and John are the landowners and landlords to everyone in the Stockade. I must admit I have been itching to ask about the Lox brothers, and of course Lord Loxley, and so knowing I have just a limited time I move onto the subject of the Lox family. So even though the Lox brothers are the landlords, and their son, Young Robert is the lord of Loxley, you do not see them as the over lords of this area? Mr Simmons gives his head a shake; it appears that this concept that seems quite logical to me is completely alien to him.
“Oh dear no not at all, my dear man it is nothing like that at all, I think the way in which the estate is managed feels completely different. I would say yes. They are the landowners, and Robert senior is the leader of the Fellowship, but no I think their approach to this place is very far removed from anything I have ever known. For instance the way in which the rents are conducted are nothing like I have seen in other places. Most of these houses come as part of the jobs on the farm or within the ranks of the military, they are not really revenue raising. Loxley is the centre of most the cause to defeat Knox, just about everyone here is playing their part in the effort to stop him.”
So accommodations and food are all part of the working week?
“Oh yes very much so, it was something started by Roberts father Jake Lox, and he feels its his duty to continue his fathers legacy, and I know for a fact it is something that Robbie wishes to continue. I think if you look at it through his eyes you would see it all very differently, I know Robbie very well, I have worked very closely with him, and I see how much he wants to help and protect the world he knows, I would even hazard to guess that in his mind this has nothing at all to do with business, and everything to do with preventing Mason Knox from destroying everything.”
I think it is very apparent that Mr Simmons has a great deal of respect for the Lox family, but I have to ask the one question that is discussed by just about everyone across the green land. Is the Knox Empire really as dangerous as people make out, especially considering recent events with Mason? Mr Simmons gives a resounding nod.
“I think young man that if you had seen what I have seen, and most certainly if you had witnessed some of things the Specialists have encountered you would not need to ask that. I believe that Mason’s greed and lust for power and complete domination were never meant to stop at these shores, I think Britain was just the start of his plans, and his family intend to follow them through. You see men like the Knox family know no bounds, they can not be stopped because rationale arguments do not apply to them, I feel they believe they are the makers of the rules, and so if something displeases them, they will just change the rules until they get what they want. You can not think of them in the way that you would those around you, these people are a breed unto themselves, they do not feel they have anything in common with us at all, if anything I would say they think we are inferior and need to be swept aside, they truly are that arrogant and cold hearted.”
He moves to reposition himself on the seat and maintains good eye contact, it is clear his mind is in thought and he wishes to continue, so I wait a moment for him to continue. “I think our biggest problem is that there are too many rumours going around, it is not easy but we have put great efforts into trying to get the facts out there. You see the Knox family enjoy the fear the rumours they create, and that gives them more power to do as they please. All they care about is controlling the masses; I think Scotland of late is a prime example. Many years ago Mason arrived with his ships laden with food and goods, and for those people his arrival felt like that of an oncoming saviour. Mason built towns, which expanded into cities under the guise that he was rebuilding their communities, but as we all know now, what he was really doing was preparing those poor people for slavery. Once the cities were built he put tall walls around them and locked the gates, and then the brutality of his soldiers began, but it was too late for those caught behind the walls, and they had no choice but to settle into their new prison. He has done the same in the centre of England, we have the large wall south of old Birmingham, and none of us really know what is happening behind them, rumours come and go, but there are no real facts of what life is really like there.
It is only recently that we have been able to see inside the walls of his large city at Scarborough, and that to a degree has given us some idea of what he plans for the rest of the country, you mark my words, his plans have been carefully drawn up with care and contain little emotion as to what will become of the people of this land, it is one of the most important reasons for the survival of Loxley, here we have an open policy where people can come and go and talk freely and openly, and that is our blue print for the rest of the land, all we need to do is get everyone else to stop spreading gossip and just focus on the facts, something which on its own will help remove a lot of the hurdles we face in this fight. Your flyer for instance is a very good thing indeed, it gets taken round the whole country by the postal riders, and it allows people the chance to read the news for themselves, I must admit I have a few of your sheets in the office, it is a good service you are doing for everyone.”
I feel a certain sense of pride to know my small contribution to returning things to normal has been noticed by Mr Simmons, but as much as I would love to sit and talk more my time with him comes to an end, he is a very busy man and he is needed back in the hall. I felt very at ease with him, and could have talked the rest of the day away as I shook his hand goodbye, but he had indeed given me much to think about as I wandered onto the market ground, which was coming very close to closing down as the sun had started to drift down in the sky. I watched the happy faces as the traders packed up with their happy banter, and Simmons was right, there was a very warm feeling to the people, and as the sun began to fade I walked up the Hawthorn lined lane and took my first look at Lox Farm as I passed it on the way to my accommodations, which were courtesy of Steve and his wife Jane, on the east road just a short way down from the large farm.
As the thin sun drifted down I enjoyed the company of my hosts and a hot meal, and by the time it was finished and all was cleared away, it was completely dark. I ventured outside to smoke a pipe for a while and take in the air, it was as quiet as the grave and very cold indeed, and I reflected on my first day here. Jane had spoken with great affection during our meal, and had told me of how her and her husband had seen the Cutter raids at Ashbourne and had come to Loxley seeking help. It appeared Robert Lox had not hesitated in bringing them into safety, and Steve who had very good archery skills, had been enrolled in the Bowman and his wife had worked in the Village Hall in the kitchens. With the arrival of the new lord and his wishes to make Loxley the focal point of the fight against the Knox family, it had been Jane who was first assigned to Mr Simmons to help him settle in, and it was very clear how fond she was of him, her words resounded in my head “True gent if ever I met one that Mr Simmons, sweetest man you could ever wish to meet he is, and very clever, we will do just fine with him at the wheel.”
As the cold air drew in, I returned indoors to sort through my notes, but I found as I read through them I began to think of my own life, and my own hometown. Today brought to mind the actions of my father during the Red Death, I was only a young boy of nine when it happened, and luckily I was sheltered from the worst of it, although I do remember my father taking me up the rise and standing there watching out over Manchester as the sky turned red and orange from the flames as everything burned. I always related the redness of the sky to the event and saw nothing of those who suffered the pains of the red swollen infection. Life changed on the week when the sky was red all night for me, as I remember the change in my mother and father and the way in which suddenly every detail of our future survival became important.
We were farmers back then, and like the Lox family owned our own land, I saw the kindness my family showed to those around us, and how my father helped, taking in some of the homeless who passed through the remains of our town, which like most other places burned house by house as we looked down from the hill. The Lox family have done exactly the same as my own parents did, they have just done it on a much bigger scale, and in many ways I felt talking to Mr Simmons that maybe this is the plan Lord Loxley has for the rest of the country. My father has always referred to it as simple humanity, something he says much of the world lacked before the Red Death, and I think tonight that he is right, for if we have no humanity then how can this country rebuild and become something better than it was before? It appears to be such a simple form of logical progression, and yet I can clearly see that for everyone here in Loxley engaged in what is looking like a long drawn out brutal war, it has become the defining difference between those here and the Knox Empire.
In many ways I have began to form my own opinion of Loxley and the lord that runs it, I have found out that he is away with a large group of the Specialists on duty, but it was rumoured he would return before the Yule celebrations, and it is my hope to try and meet with him and his wife, but for now I have a good start and think day one has been quite a success. As to what the next few days will bring me I do not know, but somehow I feel it will be an eventful and exciting few days at the heart of everything, which I will share with you tomorrow as I move further into Loxley with a trip to the postal office, and a chat with a few of the people who I already know from my dealings with the postal service.