by Graham West
Garret’s eyes darkened. “You’re a proper little jobsworth, aren’t ya? Too frightened to be on your own? Is that it?”
“No. I’m doing what I’ve been asked and, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m senior to you, so we stay as a team. That’s an order. You’ve spent long enough in the army—you should be used to obeying them.”
Garret’s shoulders dropped. One more complaint and he’d be on his way out; he knew that. “Okay, it’s still crazy, though. It’s only a forest. We’re not fighting the fucking Taliban.”
Alex was relieved at having avoided any further conflict, plus he didn’t really like grassing up other members of team to Blakely, no matter how much he might dislike them.
Garret looked at his watch with its many dials and buttons. “We’ve got three hours till sundown,” he said in his best commando tone. “We need to find her before then.”
“I’m surprised you can tell the time on that thing,” Alex quipped, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s got more fingers than me.”
“It’s bomb-proof,” Garret announced proudly. “Literally bomb-proof. You could drop it in the ocean and it would still be working a week later.”
Alex didn’t comment. His £15 watch from the local supermarket had been ticking away for the past five years without losing a minute.
They reached the clearing and Garret spotted the cottage straight away. “Fuck me! Who’d wanna live there?”
“Well, judging by the state of it, no one does.”
Alex’s mild sarcasm was lost on his companion, who was already heading for the door. “That kid might be in here. Come on, let’s take a look.”
Alex followed at a distance. There was a chance, of course, but it was unlikely. The kid was probably still wandering around in the undergrowth, trying to avoid anything that might jump out or sting her.
Garret looked like he was on some kind of raid, pushing against the door with his shoulder when it was pretty clear a good sneeze would have blown it off its rusty hinges.
Alex slowed down and waited. The pseudo commando would emerge at any moment, on his own, and no doubt act as if searching the cottage had been Alex’s idea.
Except he didn’t emerge. Silence fell across the whole clearing, only to be broken by a scream that ripped through the forest and turned Alex’s blood to ice.
He ran towards the cottage, expecting to find the body of a dead girl. Instead, he found Liam Garret lying prostrate on the floor, his eyes filled with terror.
“What the f…”
Garret looked beyond Alex at something only he could see. “Get me out of h-he-here,” he pleaded. “Please g-g-get me out now!”
***
Jenny found her father sitting in the bar, hanging over a mug of coffee, while Josie and Jake shared a bottle of wine. They all looked suitably surprised and pleased to see Danni, assuming that her presence meant she’d seen sense and forgiven Darren.
“Want to take your son to the play park for a while?” Jenny asked Jake curtly with a look that told him he didn’t really have a choice.
“Sure,” he replied. “You can finish my wine if you want.”
She detected neither animosity nor sarcasm in his tone and felt guilty for having snapped at him.
Jake stood and ruffled Isaac’s hair. “Hey, buddy, fancy going on the big slide?”
Isaac grinned and nodded, grabbing his father’s hand. Jake led him away, glancing over his shoulder to say, “Nice to see you, Danni.”
Danni smiled and turned back to the others. “I’m sorry about some of the stuff I said, Mr. Adams. And you too, Josie. I think it’s wonderful what you’ve done for Darren.”
Josie smiled. “Hey, hun, it’s fine. We understand. We’re just glad you’re here. Darren would have been heartbroken if he’d lost you.”
Danni flushed. There was something of the schoolgirl bashfulness still lurking there.
“He might not have lost her,” Jenny interjected, “but we seem to have lost him.”
Her father frowned. “He’s still with that photographer guy?”
Danni nodded. “I can’t get in touch. No signal, apparently.”
Jenny’s father pulled out his phone. Seconds later, he was talking to Blakely. “Hi, Dennis. Look, I know you’re busy, but have you seen that photographer anywhere? Darren went to meet him in the woods and we haven’t seen him since.” He listened to whatever Blakely replied, his expression changing. “No, there was some bloke coming to do some wildlife stuff. Owen something or other. He said he’d got permission.” … “Well, the guy must have gone through reception at some point!”
Jenny could hear Blakely’s voice, but the words were muffled. Her father killed the call, looking agitated.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
“Blakely’s in reception now. He said no one by that name signed in, and they would never give a day pass to anyone unless they were guests of a resident family.”
Panic flashed across Danni’s face. “Not even if they were working? You know, taking photographs for a magazine or something?”
“That’s just it. Blakely was adamant that they wouldn’t let anyone go into those woods—not beyond the boundaries.”
They all looked at each other.
“And the other thing is that bloody stupid girl has gone missing again. They’ve got four staff out looking for her!”
***
Liam Garret grasped Alex’s hand as he reached down. His fingers felt cold and slimy, like meat way past its sell-by date. A stench emanated from his body that made Alex recoil.
“What the hell is it?” he asked. “What have you seen?”
Liam stared back, his eyes filled with terror. “There’s something in here,” he gasped. “Something bad.”
Alex pulled as hard as he could, but Garret struggled to sit up. “I can’t seem to…I can’t…”
“Try! Come on!”
“I am fucking trying!”
Alex felt as if something was sucking every ounce of energy from his body. “I can’t pull any harder.”
Garret gritted his teeth and, with one final effort, managed to sit up. From that position, he twisted onto his knee and slowly pulled himself to his feet. He looked Alex in the eyes, his body swaying. “Help me!” He gulped. “Please, help me!”
“Let’s get out of here,” Alex said, trying to calm him. “You’ll be okay when we get out of the woods.”
“I can’t! It won’t let me! It won’t let me go!”
“What won’t? What the fuck are you talking about?”
Garret took a step forward, “Holy shit! Just get out! Run! Run now!”
“Not without you. We’re going together.”
There was a loud crack as Garret was thrown across the room, crashing into the wall. Alex stared in horror at his companion who lay on the floor with blood seeping from his head. The force had knocked him out cold. There was nothing Alex could do. Garret was too heavy for him to carry.
His strength returned a little as he staggered across the clearing, fighting for every breath against a tightness in his lungs and throat as if something were trying to choke him. His heart raced, and it was hard to keep going, but unless he got help, Liam Garret would probably die in that cottage.
He climbed up onto the perimeter fence, falling to his hands and knees on the other side. It was early evening, and most of the guests would be eating. He had to call Blakely and explain why he’d aborted the search. The sooner he confessed to having made a run for it, the better.
***
The second Alex had a signal on his phone, he called his boss.
“You found her yet?” Blakely barked.
“No. Something’s happened.”
“What?”
“In the cottage. Something happened to Liam.”
Alex’s voice faltered as he told Blakely everything, exactly as he remembered it. He half expected to be met with a polite, managerial version of ridicule, but instead was greeted with silence.
/>
“Oh, Jesus,” Blakely muttered finally. “We need to get someone over there.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t leave Liam in that cottage.”
The phone went dead, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. At least he’d not been instructed to go back in. There was no way he was going anywhere near that cottage, even if it meant losing his job. A child passed him on a trike, followed closely by his father. They both waved, blissfully unaware of what had occurred beyond the fence. Alex remained, feeling a duty to wait and keep an eye out for the missing girl. At least he was doing something. His radio link crackled; a voice came through. It was Stan Moorcroft.
“Where are you? Over.”
Alex didn’t want to relate the whole story nor admit he’d cut and run. “I’m on the edge of the wood—just in case she comes out. Over.”
“No sign of her yet? Over.”
“Nope. Is Holly still with you? Over.”
“Yes. Why? Over.”
“Make sure you stay together—and don’t go near that cottage! Over.”
“Yeah, okay. But why? Over.”
“I can’t explain now, but just stay away. It’s not safe. Over.”
Alex stopped short of telling them to get the hell out of the forest as fast as they could. Stan was in his mid-sixties, a friendly face on a staff of twenty-somethings that the grandparents could relate to. Blakely knew more than he was letting on. That was why he’d insisted they stayed together in pairs. So why had he sent them in to begin with? Why had he taken that risk?
Alex sank down on a wooden seat that had been carved from a tree trunk; maybe Garret would emerge, a little shaken and bruised but still very much alive. Maybe. But Alex recalled the terror in those eyes. It was as if something had taken hold of Liam. Something that could toss an adult across a room with ease.
Something that would still be there, waiting, when he regained consciousness.
***
Blakely felt the migraine coming on, moving in like a storm cloud. He popped several pills, two more than the pharmacy label on the bottle advised, but they weren’t the ones who had to suffer the blinding pain.
“What is it?” Penny stood over him as he threw up in the sink. She’d know something or someone had brought this on. He could cope with the everyday stress of running the park; he loved the place. This only happened when something went wrong.
“Not now, Pen,” he muttered, wiping the vomit from his chin.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let this go. It’ll be easier if you just tell me.”
“It’s the woods.” Blakely groaned, steadying himself. “Alex and Liam went into that old cottage—where I found the pitchfork—and something happened.”
Penny frowned. “What, exactly?”
“Alex said he found Liam on the floor, screaming to get out, and then he got flung across the room. Alex ran to get help. I think Liam is unconscious.”
“Oh God!”
“We need to get help, but who are we going to ask? The police? And what do we tell them?”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t tell them the place is haunted. That’s not going to go down well.”
“I know.” Blakely felt totally helpless. “This is supposed to be an adventure park, and some kid’s got themselves lost. Now we’ve got a ranger down. What the hell is going on?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Danni wasn’t hanging around any longer. “Something’s wrong,” she said, pushing back the chair. “If that bloke never turned up then where’s Darren?”
Jenny glanced at her father. “Maybe we should go and see if we can find him. He’s got to be somewhere.”
Josie nodded. “Yeah, best if we all go together.”
Rob pulled out his mobile. “I’ll let Blakely know. We’re not supposed to go past that fence, but under the circumstances…”
Jenny shrugged. “I’m not arsed if he likes it or not. I just want to find my brother.”
Kayla arrived as they were leaving. “Where are you lot off to?”
“To find Darren, but you don’t have to come.” Jenny bit out the words.
“Hey, you two!” Danni intervened.
Jenny blushed. Maybe she really did need to back off a bit. Okay, Kayla wasn’t making it easy, but wearing a skimpy bikini wasn’t a crime, and maybe she hadn’t intended to provoke her.
Danni was still checking her phone as they reached the perimeter fence that separated the untamed woodland from the rest of the park. Her expression changed when she saw Alex, sitting on a log seat by the NO ACCESS sign.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I’ve been searching for that girl,” he replied, looking flustered.
“You haven’t found her?”
Alex shook his head.
Jenny wasn’t surprised Danni and Alex’s relationship hadn’t lasted. She couldn’t imagine the two of them together.
“And you haven’t seen Darren at all?” Rob asked.
Alex winced at the name. “No. No one.”
“We’re going looking for him,” Danni said. “You can come with us if you want.”
Alex looked aghast. “You can’t go in there. You…you just can’t.”
Jenny noticed how pale he was. “Why?” she asked, even though she already felt the darkness drifting through the trees towards them.
“We don’t have a choice,” Josie said firmly.
“Mr. Blakely’s called an ambulance. You should wait.”
“An ambulance?” Danni gasped. “Why?”
Alex looked flummoxed. “Because… It’s one of the staff. He’s unconscious.”
“Oh God! What happened?” Josie asked.
“He banged his head.” Alex looked as if he wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear under the nearest rock.
Danni glared at him. “So why are you sitting here?”
“I had to get help. There’s something in there.”
“Something?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what it is!”
Danni spun around to face them all. “What’s he babbling on about?”
Jenny looked away. There wasn’t time to go into the history of Mosswood, and she had no desire to repeat what Cody Nelson had told her.
“Let’s just go,” Josie said, taking the lead. Danni followed reluctantly; she clearly wanted an answer.
They climbed the gate, each lending a hand to the other until they were safely over. Jenny noticed her father was especially uneasy. “It will be okay,” she assured him. “We’re all together this time.”
He looked unconvinced. “That boy was right,” he muttered under his breath. “There’s something weird in here. Did you see the look on his face?”
Danni eyed them all suspiciously. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Jenny didn’t reply. They were all too busy picking their way through the undergrowth, and she could sense a presence. This was it: the place Amelia had taken her in the dream.
Jenny went cold, recalling everything Cody had told her. They all stopped as the cottage came into view on the far side of the clearing. It was Jacob Root’s modest home, yet she’d found no reference to it in Amelia’s diaries. It was times like this Jenny wished she’d read every one, cover to cover.
“Don’t go there. Let’s just carry on.”
“Why?” Danni asked. “What if Darren’s in there?”
Kayla stared at the dilapidated building. “Why would he be? I mean, who’d want to go in there? It looks like it’s going to collapse.”
Danni shrugged. She wasn’t up for a confrontation. “I guess,” she mumbled as they all stepped into the clearing.
“The thing that I don’t get,” Josie whispered, “is why everything else is overgrown and this doesn’t have so much as a weed growing on it. Just dead leaves and bracken.”
“Yeah, it’s not like anyone looks after it,” Kayla said.
Jenny remembered the flames licking t
he trees as Amelia stood, her face clearly visible through the tongues of fire. Even scorched earth would eventually recover and the vegetation would return. But she knew nothing would ever grow here. It was barren for a reason.
Once they got beyond the clearing, the undergrowth became increasingly difficult to negotiate. The uneven ground was covered with tangled roots and thick shrubbery, while overhead, the canopy of leaves grew so dense that very little of the daylight filtered through.
“Why would you want to come and photograph this?” Danni asked. They all murmured in agreement.
“I think that guy was a fake,” Kayla said.
“So where the hell is Darren? If the bloke didn’t turn up, why didn’t he come straight back?” There was panic in Danni’s tone. She wanted an answer, and Jenny didn’t have one.
“Let’s just keep looking,” Josie suggested, trying to calm them down, but Jenny saw the fear in her eyes.
Kayla must’ve seen it too and asked, “What if he’s back at the lodge wondering where we are?”
“We can’t go back yet,” Danni said. “I’m not leaving this hell hole without him. What if he’s injured and can’t walk? We can’t leave him here all night.”
“Jesus, this place goes on forever,” Rob muttered. “How are we supposed to find anyone here?”
No one answered.
Every step took them deeper into the darkness. Jenny was bothered by a stale aroma she didn’t recognise: a pungent, deeply unpleasant scent that burned the back of her throat. It was almost distracting enough to miss the noise that came from behind them. They all turned; through the gloom they saw a girl standing with a flaming branch in her hand.
“What the…” Rob almost jumped backwards.
“You should not be here,” the girl said. She seemed to be in some kind of trance, and her voice sounded from somewhere else, as if it had travelled through the forest. “You should all leave, right now.”
“Everyone’s looking for you, Bailey,” Jenny said. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s them. They told me to come.”
“Why have you got that branch?” Rob asked.
“I have work to do,” Bailey replied. “They will protect me…but not you!”