by Roz Watkins
‘Bex, I should have made this clear from the start. An abortion is absolutely not going to ruin your life, but I’m not going to make you have one if you don’t want one.’
Bex looked up, eyes blurry. ‘What then? I told Dad and Kirsty …’
‘It’s your decision. If you keep the baby, I suspect it will cause irreconcilable problems with your dad and your sister, but it’s up to you. Or I can help you get it adopted.’
‘Yes, I want to have it adopted.’
‘Okay, you can do that.’
‘And I’ll never tell Dad and Kirsty that I had the baby.’
Aunt Janet gave Bex a faint, reassuring smile. ‘I think that’s for the best.’
45
Meg – Present day
Friday
Anna came back and put more mugs of tea on the table. ‘Sorry, you probably don’t want tea. Displacement activity.’
I picked up a mug and took a sip.
‘We thought the Pale Child was a girl,’ Anna said. ‘People always spoke of a girl. And … also we thought it was a younger child …’ She shook her head rapidly. ‘But it wasn’t a girl, despite the long hair and the dress. It was a boy, and when we came back to the bonfire, Bex was passed out and this … thing was on top of her. Raping her.’
‘Oh my God,’ Jai said.
‘Lucas ran forward. I was just staring. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was frozen. But Lucas ran forward and … I think Kirsty told him to. It was always Kirsty in control. He ran forward and grabbed a rock from beside the campfire and he … he smashed it on the boy’s head. Hard.’
Anna paused and the room felt very quiet. I could hear Jai breathing beside me, and a pulse thudding in my ear.
Anna took a breath. ‘Right. Yes, he smashed the rock on the boy’s head, and then the rest of us sort of came alive and we all ran up to him and … the boy was lying there on his back now, and we could see his face, and he was only about thirteen or fourteen and he was wearing a dress and he was deathly pale and … Seriously, it was like a dream. We were all drunk and a bit stoned and it was all so … unreal. He wasn’t breathing, and Kirsty tried mouth-to-mouth and pushing on his chest, and I was crying and Lucas had collapsed on the floor and was saying, fuck, fuck, fuck, over and over, and Gary was standing staring, and … Well, the boy or whatever he was – he was dead. He was dead and there was nothing we could do to bring him back.’ Anna wiped a tear roughly from her cheek and carried on. ‘Like I said, it felt unreal. How could the Pale Child be a boy? How could he be dead? Kirsty said, “We can’t tell anyone about this.” Lucas was no use, he kept rocking backwards and forwards saying, fuck, and Daniel was no better, and Gary was looking to Kirsty for what to do, and Bex hadn’t even woken up, and it was raining harder by then, coming down in huge blobs, and cold too, I just … I just kept thinking I was going to wake up. That was why Daniel ended up driving the car – to get Bex home because she was freezing and soaking … and drunk-driving seemed trivial compared to what we’d done. Only it turned out it wasn’t. Because Lucas died that night too. Lucas killed the Pale Child and later Lucas died.’
Was this real? Anna had seemed so helpful and reliable before, so solid in her views. Now she was unravelling before our eyes. I didn’t know whether to believe this story or put it down to the stress of Anna’s last few days. Surely she and her friends couldn’t have seen the Pale Child, and killed the Pale Child. But it tied in with the terrible secret, the little grave on the map. And with the four of them bound together, doomed to remain in Gritton, watching each other, too scared to leave in case one of the others told.
Jai was holding his mug tightly. ‘What did you do next?’
‘Kirsty said we should bury him. She said nobody need ever know. Who would miss him? I mean, nobody acknowledged his existence. We were the sons and daughters of farmers and abattoir owners. We could do this. The ground in the woods was wet with all the rain. Kirsty went back to her dad’s house and got forks and shovels and we carried him between us into a dark bit of the wood that nobody ever goes in – the old burial grounds … and we dug a hole and put him in it.’
‘This was you, Kirsty, Daniel, Gary, and Lucas?’
She nodded. ‘Bex was still passed out.’
We were all silent. In my mind’s eye I could see the teenagers carrying this dead boy through the rain. The boy who looked like a girl. And burying him deep in the woods.
‘That’s partly why we’re campaigning against the new development,’ Anna said. ‘None of us want that area of the woods dug up. He’s been there for the last nineteen years, and everything was fine until this summer when the reservoir dried up and the old village reappeared and the Pale Child came back, and everything started going wrong.’
‘Did you have any idea who he was?’
Anna shook her head. ‘No. I still don’t.’
So this was the secret. The reason Daniel’s clothes had been covered in mud. The secret that Gary had told Violet. Was Violet missing because she knew this secret? Was Gary dead because he told her?
‘Gary told Violet this secret and now they’re both gone,’ I said. ‘And Daniel’s missing. You have to tell us if you’ve got any idea where he is, or what’s going on.’
She took a long, slow breath. ‘Look, not wanting to speak out of turn, but Daniel is a bit unstable. I know he takes drugs for his pain, because Kirsty supplies him. Maybe they affected him. If he found out Gary told Violet, maybe he felt doubly betrayed – he liked Violet and I know he would have hated the idea of her being close to Gary. But Kirsty’s always been in charge. If anyone knows what’s going on and where Daniel is, it will be Kirsty.’
We climbed into the car and set off in the direction of Kirsty’s farm, Jai driving, Formula One style.
‘Christ,’ I said.
‘Indeed. So Violet could be the daughter of that boy. But who the hell was he?’
I called Fiona. ‘Any sign of Daniel?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘But ANPR picked up his van, heading out of Gritton to the north. We’re on it.’
‘Okay. Anna Finchley thinks Kirsty might know more about where he is, so we’re going there. But in the meantime, could you follow up another lead for me? Anna claims there are human remains in the woods. In the old burial ground, where it was marked on that map. The map’s not super-precise, so could you liaise with her to find the right spot and get it checked out?’
There was a moment’s silence and I wondered if we’d lost the signal. Then Fiona spoke. ‘Violet’s remains?’
‘No, no, sorry. Not Violet. Historic.’
‘Whose then?’
‘We’re not sure yet.’
I thanked Fiona and ended the call.
‘Let’s think about this,’ I said. ‘If Anna’s right, then the Pale Child that they saw in 1999 was real. A real boy. And now the Pale Child is back, and it’s another real child, related to Violet.’
‘Someone must know who these children are,’ Jai said. ‘Anna reckoned the boy who raped Bex was thirteen or fourteen. If that same boy was the “Pale Child” Charlie Twigg saw before his death in 1995, he’d only have been nine or ten back then. He must have lived locally, maybe in the village itself.’
‘If so, how come nobody knew who he was? A boy running round in a dress – there’d have been talk about it. And why did nobody report him missing after his death?’
‘Maybe his existence was a secret,’ Jai said. ‘A secret child. I know … it makes no sense.’
‘I think Kirsty Nightingale might know who he was,’ I said. ‘Based on Anna’s description of the way she reacted to his death.’
We took the road that went past the reservoir, heading for Kirsty’s farm.
‘God, this heat!’ Jai said. ‘It’s like the weather’s been taken over by a madman. What happened to nice, normal summer days?’
‘Maybe God’s pissed off with recent events in politics. It’ll be water turning to blood and plagues of frogs next.’
&nbs
p; ‘I think I’ve already got that going on in my basement.’
‘I need to see this basement. Though I expect it’ll be a big disappointment.’
‘I’m getting a sump pump. You’ll have to see it soon if you want to witness the full spectacle.’
‘Ooh, a sump pump! How would Suki feel about me delving around in your basement?’
I looked up and the bell-mouth spillway at the edge of Ladybower Reservoir caught my eye. It dragged my attention against my will, as if pulling me towards it. I caught sight of a flicker of white.
‘Yeah … About Suki … Hang on, what was that?’ Jai slowed the car.
‘I only saw a glimpse. What did you see?’
‘It looked like a girl. Dressed in white. Blonde hair. Running over the dam.’
‘Like the Pale Child, you mean?’
46
Jai pulled over to the side of the road, flicking on the hazard lights. I could see her now. In a long white dress. She was holding it up as she sprinted along the path at the southern edge of Ladybower Reservoir.
The girl ran across the dam and through a metal gate at the end. She turned sharp right and started heading up the far side of the reservoir.
‘Uh oh,’ Jai said. ‘What’s she doing?’
I squinted into the distance. Trees rose up behind the water, darkening the area I was trying to see. The girl was climbing down a stone slope that led to the reservoir base. ‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ I said.
The girl reached the bottom of the slope and was now on the stone area that surrounded the spillway. This area would normally be covered by water, but the drought had left it dry.
‘That’s the same thing Charlie Twigg did,’ Jai said. ‘Daniel’s brother. He managed to climb up somehow.’
‘We’d better go after her,’ I said.
I jumped out of the car, and Jai did the same.
‘Go, Jai,’ I said. ‘You’re faster than me.’
Jai sprinted ahead and I ran across the dam, as fast as I could with my old ankle injury. To my left, the scorched grass sloped steeply down to the river far below. Even with the levels so low, the weight of water behind the dam seemed monstrous.
Panting and cursing my ankle, I arrived at the gate, pushed through it and turned right. Jai was shimmying awkwardly down the slope to get to the dry concrete area around the spillway.
Up close, the spillway was vast. About eighty feet across and twenty feet high. Designed to be hard to climb into when water levels were low. I could see the internal steps leading down to the immense hole within.
As I ran towards where Jai had gone down, I realised the girl was on the rim of the spillway. She must have climbed the pile of stones that was propped against the vertical wall. I stopped and watched her. She seemed familiar.
She took a step towards the gaping hole and turned, about to start climbing backwards into it. She was wearing a doll’s face mask, just like the one I’d found on the gritstone edge, but even so I was convinced I knew her.
My phone rang. Unknown number. I hesitated. She was poised on the rim of the spillway. I answered. A male voice. Panicky. ‘Meg Dalton?’
My breathing quickened. ‘Daniel? Daniel, is that you?’
‘It doesn’t matter about me any more, but you need to talk to Kirsty.’
‘Where are you, Daniel?’
‘I’m sorry …’ The signal was bad. I couldn’t make out his words.
‘Have you got Violet?’ I shouted. ‘Where is she?’
I lost the signal. ‘Fuck.’ I dialled the number he’d phoned on but there was no answer.
I looked back at the girl on the spillway. With a jolt I realised it was Frankie, Kirsty’s daughter, producer of impressive drawings, including of this place. She started shifting downwards, into the spillway.
‘Frankie!’ I shouted. ‘No!’
She was holding her phone in front of her, presumably videoing what she was doing. The steps were mossy. Slippery. And they got narrower as they descended. One hand was on the phone. If she slipped, she’d fall into the hole, just like Daniel Twigg’s little brother had.
Jai appeared at the base of the pile of stones. He looked up at me.
‘Go up,’ I shouted, while trying to call Daniel again. ‘But carefully.’
Jai scrambled up the stones and stood with his hands reaching up to the edge of the spillway. He twisted his head towards me and yelled, ‘The rim’s curved. I’m trying, but I can’t get any purchase.’
‘I think she knocked the top stone off the pile,’ I shouted.
I looked again at Frankie. She’d shifted lower in the spillway, still videoing. ‘Frankie, come on out!’ I shouted. ‘You’ve got your video.’
Jai was scrabbling with a stone, heaving it to the top of the pile, climbing again. He bounced up onto one leg and dragged himself onto the spillway rim. He said something to Frankie, but his words were carried away by the wind..
I stood frozen. What if she slipped now? Would it be our fault for going after her?
Frankie dropped her arm and looked at Jai. He shifted closer.
She hesitated and then shifted one foot upwards. A scraping on stone and she fell back a step. I felt a spike of adrenaline.
She righted herself and crawled up out of the hole. Jai took Frankie’s hand and led her away.
We walked back across the dam towards the car, Frankie beside us. She’d taken the mask off.
‘I need to phone the station,’ I said. ‘Daniel called me.’
Jai’s head whipped round. ‘Daniel? What did he say?’
‘He said we should talk to Kirsty and that he was sorry, but then he got cut off. I’ve got the number he called on. Go on ahead.’
I tried Daniel again. No answer. I called Fiona and gave her the number he’d called from, then ended the call and ran as fast as I could to catch up with Jai and Frankie.
Frankie was talking. I slowed and slipped in beside Jai.
‘I know what you’re thinking.’ Frankie projected her voice away from us, in the direction of the water.
Jai’s voice was soft. ‘What’s that?’
‘Why am I dressed like this?’
‘You can dress however you want,’ Jai said. ‘But I suppose we are wondering if people might mistake you for the Pale Child.’
She stopped and turned to face us. ‘I liked the dress when I found it in Grandpa’s attic, and he said I could have it and I thought I could pretend to be the Pale Child, so I went and videoed myself. But I didn’t mean for that girl to die. Or that man.’
I tried to speak casually. ‘What do you mean, Frankie?’
‘I went on the moor in this dress, to video myself. Just messing around, but I got a load of likes when I posted it.’
I wondered if that was what Violet had seen, and the video Hannah had found, from before Violet went missing. Frankie pretending to be the Pale Child. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘It’s okay, Frankie. You’re not in trouble.’
‘But I saw that girl. Violet. I know I scared her. And then I went in the woods and I saw the man who died with the pig on his head. I’m the Pale Child now. But I didn’t mean for him to die.’
‘Was your mum okay about you going into the woods at night?’
‘Yes.’
‘We’re going to see your mum now,’ I said. ‘Shall we give you a lift back?’
‘I don’t know whether I should go with strangers.’
‘We met though, didn’t we, in your kitchen? So we’re not strangers.’
I took her hand to cross the road, and unlocked the car. She lifted her skirts and shuffled into the back. Her white dress was stained at the front where she’d leaned on it as she shuffled into the hole. She could so easily have caught a foot in its folds and fallen.
Jai and I got into the car, and I pulled out and accelerated away from the reservoir towards Kirsty’s farm. Frankie sat quietly.
My phone rang. Fiona. ‘Meg!’ She sounded in a panic. ‘The wildfire has spread to Gritton!’
&
nbsp; ‘Oh no. Whereabouts?’
‘In the woods. It’s so dry at the moment … I’ve alerted everyone, but I thought I should let you know.’
‘Thanks, Fiona.’
I looked at the rocks beyond Gritton. Smoke was rising through the air, veiling them. The fire looked close.
‘Do your parents know where you are?’ Jai asked Frankie.
‘Mum doesn’t care.’ Frankie didn’t sound petulant – she just stated it as fact. ‘She doesn’t get bothered like other people’s mums do.’
‘What about your dad?’
‘I never had a dad.’
Frankie lifted an arm and pointed at the horizon. ‘Look at the smoke.’
It was now billowing above the trees in the base of the valley.
Frankie’s voice was calm. ‘It’s coming from our farm.’
47
The car skidded to a halt and Jai and I jumped out. The fire had spread from the woods across the scorched grasses to Kirsty’s barn. The one we’d been in a few nights previously, watching pigs devour flesh. It looked like some straw had been dumped outside the barn, which must have helped the fire spread.
A vast, searing heat came from the barn. And a sickening squealing.
Kirsty was standing staring at it.
Jai took Frankie’s hand and led her away from the barn towards the house. Tears were streaming down her face.
‘What’s happening?’ I shouted at Kirsty.
‘The fire brigade are on their way,’ Kirsty said. ‘It’s because of the straw. I shouldn’t have listened to those silly animal people. There’s nothing we can do. I have a pond they can take water from. We can’t do anything until they get here.’
‘But the pigs …’ I pictured them all in their cramped cages.
Screaming in pain. Burning.
‘The advice is not to try and get them out,’ Kirsty said.
I moved towards the barn, but Kirsty reached out and grabbed my arm. Her tight fingers pressed into my muscle. ‘We can’t open that door,’ she said. ‘The fire’s in the straw at the end of the barn by the door. If we open the door, it will give it oxygen and make it far worse. You need to stay away!’