by Graham West
Jenny’s father lunged forward to grab the girl.
“No, Dad! No!”
But it was too late. Bailey swung the flaming branch, agile as a gymnast swinging a baton. The flames leapt from its tip like bolts of lightning, igniting the trees in an instant. Jenny watched in horror as the flames spread from branch to branch until they were surrounded by a wall of fire.
Kayla screamed. “Oh my god, let’s get out!”
“What about Darren?” Danni shrieked.
Rob stood, transfixed. “This isn’t right. It shouldn’t go up like this. The wood isn’t dry enough.”
“What the hell does that matter?” Josie yelled, grabbing his arm. “We need to find Darren before the whole place goes up!”
***
Darren would have wept if he’d had the strength. The girl had vanished as quickly as she’d appeared. A hallucination. There was no other explanation. Maybe he should try to move, even if it meant crawling out on his hands and knees, but as soon as he opened his eyes, everything began to spin. His only hope was that someone would find him before he passed out. Unconsciousness would be the portal to death.
He thought about Danni, trying to recall the first time he had held her beneath the bed sheets, felt her silky flesh beneath his fingers. It all seemed so long ago. The memory was fading fast, and as desperately as he’d tried to hang on, she was slipping away. He had to summon the strength from an untapped reserve deep within. Darren Pascoe inhaled, raised his head and let out a scream that ripped through the forest.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“It’s no use running in the opposite direction,” Josie yelled at them. “We’ll be trapped!”
Breathing hard, Jenny pulled out her phone and opened the compass application. “We need to head south, towards the park.”
“We need to get a signal and call the fire brigade,” Josie said. “Everyone just keep checking their phones.”
“What about Darren?” Danni asked. “We can’t leave him in here!”
Jenny could still see the flames in her mind; she could still see Amelia. Josie hadn’t bought into the idea that this was anything other than an ‘ordinary’ fire started by a screwed-up kid…until they reached the edge of the clearing and a voice cried, “Help me. Please help me.”
They turned to find Bailey standing mere feet from the flames, the baton of wood hanging, extinguished, by her side.
“Quick!” Josie urged, and Rob ran over and swept the girl up in his arms.
“Where am I?” Bailey whimpered. “Why am I here?”
“You set light to the forest,” Rob snarled, unable to help himself.
Bailey looked as though she had just woken from a deep sleep. “Why did I do that?” She looked over at the flames, which had engulfed several more trees.
Jenny was praying silently that Darren had found his way out. Maybe he had never been in the forest. Or maybe he’d met another girl, unable to deal with losing his. Luckily, that thought didn’t seem to have occurred to Danni, who kept calling his name every few seconds.
And that’s when they heard the scream.
“That’s Darren!” Josie yelled, lurching forward, but she lost her balance and landed face first in the undergrowth.
Danni spun around, looking in every direction. “Where did it come from?”
Rob helped Josie to her feet. “I think it was over there.” He pointed in the direction of the fire.
“Oh God,” Josie cried. “Please don’t tell me…”
Kayla burst into tears, stumbling forward. “Jesus! No,” she whimpered.
Danni held a hand over her forehead, trying to figure out which direction the sound had come from. “I think it’s over there.” She indicated an entirely different direction to Rob—away from the fire.
“Let’s hope so,” Josie said.
“Wait!” Rob shouted. He picked up Bailey and threw her across his shoulder. “That thing’s spreading fast.”
Danni yelled, “Where are you? Just let us know where you are! Darren!”
That was the signal for them each to call his name in turn as they stumbled through the shrubbery, ducking and dodging the branches that had become so interwoven overhead in places they were a tangled tapestry of wood.
Jenny saw something. It looked like a piece of fabric caught on a branch, but Josie had already spotted Darren sitting on the ground, slumped forward, with his head between his knees. “It’s him!” she cried frantically, pointing ahead.
Danni was acting on instinct. She staggered forward and crashed to her knees as she reached him. “He’s hit his head on something.” She cupped Darren’s face in her hands, her lips just inches from his. “Please, please…open your eyes! Please!” She turned, looking up at them. “Somebody help me. Oh God! I think he’s dying!”
Jenny fought back tears as Kayla hurried forward. “Open his eyes. Are his pupils dilated?”
“How the fuck do I tell?” Danni retorted. “What difference does that make, anyway?”
“He might just be unconscious,” Josie offered, bending down and taking his wrist between her thumb and forefinger. “He’s got a pulse,” she added, trying to catch her breath. “He’s alive. Let’s go.”
Jenny looked at her father. Bailey was still over his shoulder. “We’ll have to carry him. We can’t leave him here.”
The sound of snapping wood grew louder and the smoke drifted towards them.
“It’s spreading too fast. We need to get out of here now.” Josie was close to tears. “That kid can walk. You need to help us with Darren.”
Rob let the girl slide down through his arms. Her eyes were closed. “Hey, kiddo.” He shook her gently. “Wake up. You’ll have to help us out, here.”
Bailey’s eyelids flickered and opened. She stared back at him with a look of puzzlement. “What? Where am I? Where’s my mum?”
“That’s where we’re taking you now, but you’re gonna have to walk a bit, okay?”’
Bailey nodded, looking for all the world like a white porcelain doll.
“At least she can stand up,” Danni hissed, having already lost patience with the kid. Suddenly Darren lifted his head with a groan like an old creaking door.
“Darren!” Danni cried. “It’s me. We’ve got to get out of here!”
“What?” He tried in vain to open his eyes.
“Please, babe, we’re all gonna help you, but you need to stand up.”
Darren let out another groan, as if the very thought of any movement filled him with dread. “I-I can’t,” he whispered. “I’m too…I’m too dizzy.”
Jenny looked anxiously at her father. “We can do it between us,” she said. “You get one side and I’ll get the other.”
Danni spun around. “I want to help as well. He’s my boyfriend!”
Darren might have been slim but he wasn’t light. It took four of them to lift him. “I’m gonna puke,” he hissed, retching loudly. He vomited down the front of Rob’s shirt.
“Ewwww!” Bailey cried, emerging from her trance. “That’s gross!”
“Come on, try to walk,” Rob goaded without looking down or breathing in.
Darren’s first steps were slow as he tried to focus on the mesh of roots beneath his feet. He winced, his left leg buckling.
“You’re gonna be okay, we’ve got you,” Danni said softly.
For the first time, Darren managed a smile, which was wiped from his face by a loud explosion behind them.
“Holy shit!” Josie shouted. “What was that?”
It seemed as if the whole forest was suddenly alight. They watched in horror as the flames raced from trunk to trunk, branch to branch.
“It’s spreading faster than we can run,” Jenny cried.
“And I can’t even walk,” Rob protested, staggering forward under Darren’s weight.
“We’re all gonna die here.” Kayla sobbed. “We’re gonna burn to death!”
“Don’t be stupid!” Josie snapped. “Just let’s keep moving as
fast as we can.”
“That’s not a plan,” Danni protested, looking at Jenny. “You said we had to head south—”
“We are heading south,” Jenny confirmed.
Rob breathed hard. The ground made it difficult enough to move without supporting a grown man as well. “You sure we’re going the right way?”
“Please! Please don’t say that,” Kayla cried. “If we’re lost, we’re done for!”
Josie struggled to hold back tears. “Tell you what, why don’t we all shut the fuck up and just concentrate on staying alive?”
Another branch fell nearby, igniting the undergrowth. Thick smoke billowed above the trees, plunging the woodland into semi-darkness; flames flickered up ahead as several more branches crashed to the ground.
“Go left,” Rob instructed, fighting for every breath.
Jenny turned to her father. “But the park is that way!”
“You wanna walk through that fire?” Kayla asked sarcastically.
Jenny wondered if her father had been right. Maybe they hadn’t been heading in the right direction and they were lost. Tears streamed down her face. Was her life really going to end here? She knew what it was like to lose a mother; how would Jake tell Isaac who, right now, would be playing happily, unaware his little world was about to fall apart?
Follow me, my child.
The voice was in her head, but it made Jenny look up. There, amidst the flames, stood Amelia, her white nightdress almost translucent in the gloom. Amelia pointed left; they were going the right way.
“Follow me,” Jenny said, repeating Amelia’s words before pushing to the front. “We’re going to be okay!”
“How—” Rob tripped on a root and grabbed the nearest branch to steady himself. “How do you know?”
Jenny saw the confusion on her family’s faces, but she couldn’t tell them. It was something within her, a cord that existed between her heart and that of her great-great-great-grandmother. A cord that stretched across the generations. There had not been a day when Jenny had not thought about Amelia.
“Trust me,” she said, searching once more for Amelia and spotting a luminous orb, now hovering between the trees. Amelia had transformed into an energy—a light they could follow.
“Why am I here?” Bailey whimpered, hanging on to Josie’s arm. “Did you bring me here? I want my mum.”
“You’ll see your mum soon,” Josie promised, unable to disguise the frustration she felt.
Jenny’s legs became stronger and her steps lighter, as if the ground before her had surrendered to a greater power. Ahead of them, the orb grew larger and brighter. Now they could all see it.
“What is that?” Kayla gasped.
Jenny waved them onwards. “Keep quiet and just follow.”
“Follow that light?” Josie asked, pulling the sobbing teenager behind her.
A shadow crossed their path like a cold wind. They all saw it; they all felt its presence. There was another, just above them, dark and without form. It hovered and seemed to dive, hitting a tree alongside them. The bark exploded into flames.
“What the hell is that?” Josie and Kayla shrieked in unison. Bailey fell to the ground as the heat hit them like a blast from a furnace.
Jenny didn’t reply. There were several more up ahead, hovering like clouds of black mist amid the branches. They were angry spirits; there was no doubt in her mind. One hung over the orb for a moment and then descended, enveloping it, swallowing the light in its darkness. “No!” Jenny screamed. “Leave us alone!”
The orb flashed suddenly, dispersing the spirit with a blinding flash.
“Bloody hell!” Rob muttered. “What happened there?”
“This is freaking me out!” Kayla cried. “I want to get out. Just get me out!”
The light stopped as they moved forward. The trees continued to ignite, and thick, grey smoke drifted up into the darkening sky. Another shadow crossed above them, setting light to the twisted mass of branches. The orb flickered and darted to the right, between a small cluster of trees. Whispers like the gentle sound of a summer breeze passed through the leaves above their heads, and as they moved on, the whispers became louder. They were the voices Jenny had heard in her dreams.
Josie stifled a scream, pulling a sobbing Bailey closer to her side. Kayla and Rob’s eyes were filled with terror.
“We’re gonna be okay,” Jenny reassured them as calmly as she could. “Just keep going.”
The orb floated high above, its light flooding their path as they wound their way through the undergrowth. Heat scorched their backs, the flames fanned by shadows that darted and dived around them like swallows defending their young.
All the while, Jenny kept her eyes fixed on the light, struggling to block out the sinister cries of the forest. Amelia would lead them to safety, and in her mind, Jenny was already giving thanks to God. She would see Jake again; she would get to hold her little boy.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Alex stood alongside his boss, staring up at the smoke above the treetops. Blakely looked like a broken man; words literally failed him. Liam was still in there with Bailey and the family that had gone looking for her. Alex’s heart thumped. The fire brigade was on the way. Blakely reckoned they should be able to keep the fire contained, but the lodges had been evacuated immediately, and the guests were left standing in the grounds, gazing up at the unscheduled bonfire.
The restaurant and bar were empty, the pool was closed, and the staff all stood in their whites, wondering how the hell it had started. But it was the speed with which the flames had taken hold that troubled them most. Mosswood was burning with the ferocity of an Australian bush fire.
Some people thrived on drama, regardless of the death toll, but Alex was different. His heart raced if he so much as saw a flashing blue light. Death terrified him.
The sound of engines drew sighs of relief from the crowd; Blakely rushed to meet them as they drove onto the park. Within minutes, they were negotiating the narrow woodland tracks.
Alex watched the engines moving slowly, some of their crew walking alongside, guiding them between the trees. Several branches caught on the hydraulics and snapped, leaving a trail of giant wood splinters in their wake. They were there to keep the fire from spreading to the lodges; it would be impossible to venture any further to put the blaze out.
Blakely followed but reappeared five minutes later, his face pale and drawn. “They said it’s too dangerous. They won’t even let me go up to the perimeter, so God knows how anyone on the other side is going to get out.” There were tears in his eyes. “We’re going to have to close the park. There’s no way we can keep the place open, even if everyone gets out alive. They’ll be investigating how the fire started, and the media will just love it. We won’t be able to give those fucking lodges away.”
Alex didn’t care about the park. Not right then. Danni was somewhere in those woods, dead or alive. If only she hadn’t walked away. If only she’d stopped a while longer and had another drink. He looked up at the darkening sky. Was her spirit floating up above the flames at that very moment? Had those believers in the afterlife got it right? Was she looking down at him, wishing she’d given him another chance?
He checked his watch: 21:00. Blakely was on his phone, trying to find the guests someplace to sleep. There were no spare rooms in the hotel, and The Lakeside, which was just ten minutes away, only had four singles unoccupied. “We’re gonna need a shitload of sleeping bags,” he said. “We’ll have to move the tables and put people up in the restaurant—that’s unless some of them decide to go home.”
Alex said nothing. He wouldn’t be needing his bed tonight. All he wanted was a bottle of anything that would numb the pain.
This was something only ever seen on TV. When it happened on their own doorstep—when they could feel the heat and see the sparks flying heavenwards, the roar of the fire and sounds of splintering wood—it was human nature for people to take out their phones and hope they’d catch some f
ootage to post on social media.
Alex suppressed the rage that swelled inside him, the sudden urge to snatch away the phones and smash them into a million pieces. Didn’t they care people might die in there? This wasn’t a firework display, it was a disaster! He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and walked back towards the staff quarters, trying not to think of how Danni might have met her demise. Maybe the smoke would choke her, or perhaps she’d pass out before the flames took hold. Either way, he was convinced he’d never see her again.
Chapter Thirty-Five
By ten o’clock the following morning, the fire was under control, and the guests were able to recover their belongings from the lodges. Several families had been put up in bed-and-breakfast accommodation around Tabwell, while most had been supplied with blankets and sleeping bags and had used the restaurant as a makeshift dormitory.
Blakely popped another two pills and swilled them down with the dregs from a can of warm cola. The fire had drawn the locals, along with the press. It hadn’t taken long for the news to travel; six people may have lost their lives and the reporters were after names. They wanted to speak to the distraught mother of the thirteen-year-old girl and the young father with the kid who may never see his mother again.
It wasn’t that they didn’t care. The young woman asking most of the questions had probably never covered anything bigger than the local fête. She was a rookie at The Tabwell Herald and had been thrown in at the deep end. Blakely saw the tears in her eyes. Maybe she had a kid of her own and realised the chances of getting out of there alive were pretty slim.
Of course, Blakely’s father was on the first available flight from Portugal. For once, he’d accepted this hadn’t been his son’s fault, but he’d want to know why there were six people in a restricted area. A fire was one thing; six bodies was quite another.
It was only a matter of time before the real mud-slinging started. The media would be looking for someone to blame, and when the big guns arrived, they would be asking the loaded questions that the public had become so accustomed to hearing on the news. The three receptionists were earning their money, dealing with requests for compensation as the guests checked out early. The park had ground to a standstill; the pool was empty, and there were no more than a couple of families in the restaurant, grabbing a late breakfast before heading home.