Shadows of the Lost Child

by Ellie Stevenson

  ‘Jake!’ I hissed and my mate came running. ‘Who’s that Eisen’s talking to?’

  Jake peered out of the workshop doorway, but Eisen was standing in front of the lad and all I could see, now that he’d moved, was a scrap of ginger, the lad’s curly hair. I was sure it was Carson. I wondered if I dared get any closer?

  ‘Mr Eisen, sir,’ I called, sharply, regretting the words as soon as I’d said them. Jake swore, loudly and hurried back in. The little wimp, I thought and grinned. I stood my ground.

  Eisen turned around and gestured. The boy had vanished, he’d sent him away. Damn! I thought.

  ‘I wondered if that was Carson, sir?’

  ‘And what’s it to you, if it was, Islip?’

  ‘Nothing, sir, but Carson’s a mate. And I haven’t seen him for quite some time.’

  ‘Asking questions leads to trouble. Did nobody ever tell you that?’ I shook my head.

  ‘So what are you doing out here, Islip?’

  ‘Running an errand for Mr Pike. I’m going to see Percy Thomas, sir; you know, at the shop. To ask if he can help with the gala.’ This tripped off my tongue as easy as pie, but I wondered how I’d square it all later. I wasn’t supposed to know about the gala, it was still under wraps, as far as I knew. Ben had told me the other day. When Eisen spoke I thought he was psychic.

  ‘I’ve seen you talking to Ben Tencell, I suppose he told you about the gala.’ I said nothing.

  ‘I believe he lives not far from you, Islip?’ What was coming now? I wondered.

  ‘Not that far, sir,’ I said slowly, shifting my weight from foot to foot.

  ‘I’d like you to give him a message, lad. Seeing as you seem to like running errands.’ Eisen paused.

  ‘Tell him the vicar’s had a disturbance, some things overturned, but nothing’s gone missing. Tell him he doesn’t have to worry about it. Think you can do that?’

  ‘I reckon so, yes, I’m sure I can.’

  His hand came out and clipped my ear, which burned with surprise and the shame of the slap. ‘Less of your cheek in future, lad and step to it, now. And don’t forget the sir, next time.’

  ‘No, Mr Eisen, I won’t,’ I said. ‘Sir, I mean.’

  I was glad to escape from Eisen’s clutches and rather bewildered by what had gone on, so I wandered around the town for a bit, thinking hard about what had happened. I found myself in Narrowboat Lane. I nearly went into Percy’s shop, to ask if he would help with the gala, then I remembered I’d made that up. Just in time.

  I stood outside the shop, thinking, wondering what the disturbance in the church was about and more crucially, why Ben had to know. My mind felt feeble, I was weak with hunger. I needed to get some bread, or something.

  ‘How about a piece of chocolate?’ There was Alice, complete with her iPad, whatever that was.

  ‘That would be great, I’m starving, thanks.’ I took a huge chunk.

  ‘You remembered my name,’ she said, smiling and gave me more chocolate.

  ‘You’re speaking!’ I said, as I gobbled it down, I couldn’t think where she got chocolate like this. It was better than Chaucer’s any day. ‘I thought you told me you couldn’t talk.’

  ‘That was what you thought,’ Alice informed me. ‘I can talk when I want, but I don’t always want to.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad you are, it was slow using that.’ I pointed at the iPad.

  ‘I still might use it,’ she said, thoughtfully, looking as if she really was deciding.

  ‘Don’t, not today, please, Alice,’ I told her, quickly. The day had been tough but had just improved. I didn’t want to waste our time typing.

  ‘Why are you standing outside this shop?’

  ‘A mate of mine called Percy works here. We met when we were at school together.’

  ‘Is that at the school that’s really a house?’ I thought about that.

  ‘I know it looks like a house from outside, but it’s definitely a school,’ I said, firmly.

  ‘It’ll be a house again, in the future,’ Alice informed me, ‘after all the kids have gone. Or maybe not all, we’ll have to see.’ I didn’t know what she was talking about. She dragged me under the arch by the elbow, taking me down towards Scriveners Road and passing my school. What if one of the lads saw me?

  Alice laughed and let me go, once she saw how uneasy I was. ‘I want to ask you a favour, Tom. You know you told me about the tunnel, that goes from the Low to Curdizan Church?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, somewhat reluctantly. I really regretted mentioning the tunnel. I thought as she went to a different school and lived in Ebbenheart Green it wouldn’t matter. I thought she’d forget but I’d thought wrong.

  ‘I’d like you to take me along the tunnel, to show me exactly where it leads to.’

  ‘You know where it leads to, Alice,’ I said.

  ‘But I want to go along it myself. Because I’m a girl, I get left behind, I don’t get to do the fun things like you.’

  ‘It wasn’t much fun,’ I told her, sharply, thinking of climbing through the window and creeping around in the dark in the basement. Dragging the trunks along the tunnel, watching for rats, and God knows what else. ‘Trust me, Alice, it wasn’t much fun.’

  ‘I still want to do it,’ she said, stubbornly, her eyes narrowing, becoming focused. ‘You got to go, with two of your friends.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘But I can’t say who, I promised I wouldn’t.’

  ‘I bet one was Ben,’ said Alice, grinning. We’d stopped by the church and were sitting on the wall.

  ‘You what?’ I said, wondering how she knew it was him. I hadn’t told her, I knew I hadn’t.

  ‘You mentioned Ben the last time we met,’ she said, as if she’d guessed my thoughts. ‘You told me the tunnel went from the coach house and Ben’s the person who ran that place. Runs it, I mean.’ She paused, briefly. ‘That’s right, isn’t it? I bet Ben’s your friend. You even told me his pony was called Norah.’

  ‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘I remember saying you could meet Norah.’ But I hadn’t mentioned Ben by name. She must have been asking around or something. I stared at Alice, the girl was sharp.

  ‘So can I see this pony sometime, even if I can’t go down the tunnel?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so,’ I told her, abruptly, heading for the passage. I had to get back, Miranda would be waiting.

  ‘And the tunnel comes up in Curdizan Church? That’s right isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but you know I can’t take you.’

  ‘That’s too bad, but fine, if you say so. Go on then, Tom,’ she smiled at me, ‘I thought you were in a hurry to get off.’

  I stared at Alice, disbelieving. She seemed so mild and willing to agree, when moments before she’d been so insistent. I couldn’t understand it. But I didn’t have time to puzzle it out, I had to get to the Keepsake Arms. I raced down the alley, heading for the pub.

  I liked Alice because she was bright; I also liked her because she was different, those were the things that made her my friend. Sometimes, the things she said bothered me, but what worried me most was her steely smile.

  Chapter 60

  Now – Aleph

  I wasn’t having the best of days. I’d spent the morning in Leverhulme, seeing my supervisor, Terence Lyle. The man was someone I’d known before, in my previous life, by which I mean before the boy died.

  ‘You’re not coming to terms with things, Aleph.’

  ‘I thought we were talking about this new therapy.’

  ‘We’re here to talk about any issues which affect your work, and the accident does.’ Lyle looked sombre.

  ‘I really don’t want to talk about that. Is it obligatory?’

  ‘No, of course it’s not. But all the same, I think you should.’

  ‘But I don’t want to, at the moment. So about this new therapy…’

  Terence Lyle sighed. After that, it all went downhill.

  I emerged from the building feeling angry, and guilty, Lyle was
right, I should have moved on, or at least achieved some kind of acceptance. That thought made me pause. When I got home, I opened the shoe box. There were still four envelopes inside.

  Just open one, I said to myself, the second one. Alright, I thought. But only the one.

  It was easy to tell which was the second, they were all numbered, in the top right hand corner. I opened the envelope and pulled out the card. It was just like the first one, and like the first, the word MURDERER, was printed at the top. I had to sit down.

  It didn’t take long to read the rest. The word HE I’d seen before. But the second word told me even less.

  HE WAS… what?

  I hadn’t a clue. I put the card back inside the envelope, and threw it in the box along with the others. Read me, why don’t you, the other cards begged.

  Not a chance, I thought, as I slammed the lid on the shoebox, hard. The corner crumpled, damaging the box, but at least a box could be replaced, unlike a life. I felt like smashing the place to pieces. The telephone rang.

  ‘How did it go?’ said Cressida, softly. It took me a minute to understand.

  ‘You mean with Alice?’

  ‘Of course, with Alice, what else would I mean? Was she alright, she didn’t run away?’

  ‘Haven’t you asked her?’ I said, incredulous. That was last night.

  ‘She didn’t want to talk, not even on her iPad. It happens sometimes, when she’s upset. I leave her alone at times like that, or at least, I do now. I didn’t always.’

  How hard it must be, I thought, with insight, to admit all this to a relative stranger. And for her daughter to behave like this. My heart went out to her.

  ‘Alice was fine,’ I told Cressida. ‘But there are some things you need to know. Can you come round?’

  ‘I’ll be there by three.’ And so she was. We sat in the kitchen.

  The ghosts were more or less absent today, there was a slight chill, but that was all. Putting the freezer back had helped. I looked at the boot, which was still on the shelf, and wondered whether it mattered, and how?

  Cressida was stirring her coffee vigorously. God knows why, she drank it black, and without sugar.

  ‘Alice likes coffee,’ I said mildly. ‘That’s odd, for a child.’

  ‘Aleph,’ said Cressida, tapping the table, ‘sod the coffee and tell me… whatever.’

  ‘Sorry,’ I said, ‘I’ve had a rough day.’ And bound to get worse.

  ‘Alice believes Tom is dead. She didn’t expect me to find that out, by playing her recording back, in reverse.’

  ‘The one she did with Alison Clipper?’

  ‘Yes,’ I told her, ‘and there’s more. She likes Tom a lot, and he’s promised to show her a pony called Norah. As well as a tunnel, that leads from the Low to Curdizan Church.’

  ‘But Curdizan Church doesn’t exist.’

  ‘Not anymore, but it did back then, and although I told Alice to talk to you before going on trips with Tom, anywhere, I very much doubt, she’ll do as I said. You’ll have to have a chat with her.’

  ‘I think you’re forgetting one crucial thing. Alice talks to me when she feels like it, not when I want to, and by talking, I mean on her iPad. This would be a one-way chat, and I doubt she’d listen.’

  ‘You’re going to have to find a way, because Alice is determined to go down the tunnel, and as the church isn’t there anymore, she could end up – well – God knows where.’ Cressida was getting up from the table.

  ‘I’m sorry, Aleph, I’ve got to go.’

  ‘Cressida, wait, you’ve only just got here!’

  Cressida paused and I continued. ‘We need to pool our resources, you know, work together to help Alice. What do you say?’

  ‘I don’t think I can trust you, Aleph,’ Cressida told me, opening the door and stepping outside into the daylight. Her eyes, however, were as dark as ever. ‘She talked to you, didn’t she, without the iPad?’ I nodded, pensive.

  ‘When were you going to mention that?’

  ‘I’d have told you sometime, you just didn’t give me the chance, that’s all.’

  ‘You’re a terrible liar, Aleph Jones. I wish I’d never got involved in this or introduced my daughter to you. It’s true what she said, you’re nothing but trouble.’

  ‘Alice said that?’ I said, puzzled. Cressida frowned and shook her head.

  ‘No, not Alice, it doesn’t matter, forget I said it, it was a slip of the tongue. I must go now, Alice needs me, even if she doesn’t know it.’

  I watched her hurry down the steps to the street and around the corner to Scriveners Road, imagined her wandering about the courtyard, looking in vain for the tunnel’s entrance, for something which no longer existed. I sighed heavily and went inside.

  I knew all about that kind of search.

  Chapter 61

  Then – Miranda

  She’d barely got back from Curdizan High when Tom turned up, looking rather sheepish.

  ‘Get those glasses washed,’ she insisted, and the lad nodded quickly, got on with the job.

  Strange, she considered, that’s most unlike Tom. She wandered through to the parlour at the back, where her ma was having a music night. The racket was terrible, what a surprise. Some men were standing in front of a table, clapping and shouting and then she saw why. A woman was dancing on the table, her skirts lifted up and showing her ankles. Nobody took any notice of Miranda. She looked around wildly, spotting a couple of men who she knew, including Tom’s da, but God be praised, no sign of Ben.

  He’s far too busy thieving for that. She went upstairs to find her mother.

  ‘What’s going on in the parlour downstairs?’

  ‘It’s just the regular music night. To mark the start of the end of the week.’ Her ma was putting some clothes away.

  ‘There’s a woman dancing on the table in there, and one of the men who’s watching is Scotty, Thomas’s da. He’s often in here, and always drunk, and I’m the one who has to deal with it. Me and Steve, if he’s around. You’re never here.’

  ‘I’m here, now,’ her mother insisted.

  ‘But you weren’t back then, you were off and away with your fancy man.’

  The hand came out and slapped her cheek.

  ‘Oh!’ said Miranda, and felt embarrassed, she was far too old to be slapped like that. She said as much.

  ‘So act your age, instead of like the child you once were. I loved your da, I’ve told you before, and I don’t have to tell you anything, girl, so bear that in mind. Matt was not my fancy man, I liked him yes, and maybe I loved him, but not in that way. You ought to show me some respect. I am your ma.’

  ‘I try,’ said Miranda, holding her cheek, ‘but it isn’t that easy, not with those shoes and no explanation, and all the rabble downstairs in the parlour. You don’t seem much like the mother I knew.’

  ‘Well, shame on you, if you’d blame your ma for trying to make us some sort of living, even if how I do it doesn’t suit you. Matt would have understood about the shoes, the man was a gem, he knew that living round here was hard. Besides, you don’t know the full story.’

  ‘So, tell me then, I’d like to know.’

  ‘I can’t, Miranda, it’s not mine to tell.’

  ‘Well, isn’t that just convenient, Ma? And what about the rabble downstairs? Do you want this place to look like a brothel?’

  ‘It’s just a bit of a laugh, that’s all. And as for Scotty, if he’s in here, that makes it better for Carol at home.’

  ‘But not for Thomas,’ Miranda said, ‘he’s always giving the lad a clip. Perhaps that’s why you have him around. You and him have got something in common, thumping your kids.’ She gave her mother a pointed look then hurried downstairs.

  It hadn’t improved in the time she’d been gone. The bar was full, almost heaving, and even more men had piled in the back, were singing along with the woman dancing. At least the takings will be high, tonight.

  She and Tom worked together in silence, along with Steve
, an older lad, who helped them out sometimes, when they were busy. By the end of the night all three were shattered and Miranda knew her evening wasn’t over. Now she had to go to see Ben.

  Her heart started thumping, but she kept her cool with thoughts of the treasure and criminal acts and yet more worry about the shoes. But all the same I’ll wear that dress, the red satin dream and make myself nice, then maybe then I’ll learn a little bit more. Forgetting, as she planned, that the dress was torn.

  She staggered upstairs, her feet aching sorely from a day at Chaucer’s, a visit to the crypt, then an evening in the pub, serving ale and never sitting down. But at least I haven’t been dancing, she thought. She opened the wardrobe. The dress wasn’t there. Miranda blinked.

  She didn’t have much in the way of clothes and she loved that dress with its rich, vibrant hue, even despite the tear in the hem, a dress that was torn could be easily mended. Thanks to her father’s practical ways.

  He’d bribed a local headmaster with drink and managed to get her some free schooling, being too poor to pay the fees. My girl’s a beautiful seamstress, he’d said. But not tonight.

  Miranda checked the rest of her things then went downstairs to look in the laundry, but try as she might she couldn’t find it. ‘Damn,’ she said and went back upstairs.

  To hell with her ma, the shoes and Ben. None of these problems were her doing. She’d worked like a slave and done her best, and if things went wrong, it wasn’t her fault. Hers or Thomas’s.

  She stripped off her things, pulled off her boots, climbed into bed and fell asleep.

  Chapter 62

  Now – Cressida

  When she arrived, she tried to look sorry. Cressida knew she’d failed by his look.

  ‘Come in,’ said Aleph, and held the door open.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said, and followed him slowly into the lounge.

  ‘I thought it would make a change from the kitchen.’

  ‘Fine by me.’ She sipped her wine. ‘This is good.’ She took a deep breath.

  ‘I was angry that Alice would talk to you, and yet not to me. She’s done this before, with her friends and teachers, even the guy who delivers the post, but with you it was worse, because you and she were virtual strangers. It didn’t seem right.’ She paused and sipped a little more wine. ‘I know she’s angry at me for something, but she won’t say what, she won’t even admit she’s angry at all.’ Aleph said nothing.