The Fenton Saga: Never Say Goodbye / There Was No Body.

by Colin Griffiths

As she was about to wind up her story, Madison stopped, looked at Daniel.

  Their eyes met.

  ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘and every now and again I hear people’s thoughts.’ she smiled. Daniel took his eyes away.

  ‘Do you really?’ said Carol, quite astonished about this revelation.

  ‘Only occasionally, like just now.’ She looked at Daniel. They both smiled.

  ‘I don't get it.’ said Todd, ‘I grabbed my grandmother, because it was she who brought us into the world, James because he's my grandmothers cousin and he's a doctor, we all have gifts, we are all related.’

  He looked sullen, as he spoke almost apologetically, ‘Could I have got the wrong girl?’

  Carol stood, there was a tear in her eye. She understood, she understood everything. She beckoned Madison over. Madison moved to her. As the two hugged each other, with tears in their eyes, they both knew. Everyone just stared. The two parted, held hands, looked at the others. Looked at Todd and Daniel.

  ‘Meet your sister.’ Carol said.

  As the three siblings hugged, there wasn’t a dry eye.

  Now they understood.

  Bill Fenton had been that one-night stand, the result was this beautiful girl that stood among them. The evil father of three remarkable siring’s, three of the finest young persons you could meet. The hugging stopped. The eyes dried. Madison took Carol’s hand. ‘I'm sorry.’ she said.

  Carol kissed her cheek. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for,’ she said, ‘we are just pleased that you’re here.’ There were more hugs.

  ‘So you’re my grandmother.’ Madison said to Marie Rose.

  ‘Indeed I am and very proud to be so.’ More hugs. The crazy day just got a little crazier.

  ‘What happens now?’ Daniel asked and as he spoke, his phone rang. It was a message. He flipped open his iPhone, which showed a picture message.

  ‘It’s from him,’ he said.

  Chapter 41

  The cabin’s contents consisted of an old wheelchair, a wood burning stove that looked heavy and ancient, a table, a wooden bench and what appeared to be a bed comprising slats of wood, but no mattress. On the floor there was a cupboard, which at one time would have been attached to the wall. The cabin looked like an old hunting lodge, that hadn’t been used for years, possibly a gamekeeper’s place to stay. Whatever it was, there was nobody around. It was obvious that nobody had used this place in years. The door, also of logs, was off its hinges and was placed closed, leaning against the frame. Both girls noticed this and realised it would make an easy means of escape when they had the chance. But where would they run to? They had no idea where they were and no way would they be able to find their way back. Still, out there alone, would be better than being in here with the devil himself.

  The girls sat on the wooden bench, which seemed sturdy enough, even if it was rather hard and uncomfortable. Their legs ached and their bodies were covered with cuts and bruises which had been made by branches and falls. They felt as though they had been bitten all over. The rest was welcome. The venue was not as welcome. The unnerving actions of Bill were very unwelcome.

  He sat in the wheelchair and took out his iPhone, which he had fully charged on the car journey. He also had Wendy’s and Katy’s phones. Wendy’s was also an iPhone, while Katy’s was an old Nokia. The two girls looked battered and bruised.

  Dawn was breaking, but it was raining, leaking in at places in the cabin. For the moment they were out of the rain. The girls sat close together, as they had done since arriving at the cabin.

  They sat in fear, wondering what would happen next. Sitting there, still cuffed, they watched as Bill Fenton used his phone. He sent a picture message with the words written ‘This is war I do now’

  He closed his phone, and walked over to the girls. He uncuffed them, then sat back in the wheelchair, which creaked. It didn’t look as if it would hold his weight. The girls rubbed their wrists. It felt good to be free of those restraints. They could hear the rain outside. It was falling more heavily.

  ‘This used to belong to a man, who used it for hunting. He would stay up here for weeks, with his disabled son. They would both go hunting, his son in this wheelchair. He taught the boy to shoot. I knew him when I was a kid.’

  He shuffled in his wheelchair, wiped his lips with his hands, and then spat on the floor.

  ‘I became friends with his son and his dad used to bring me along. I loved the shooting, the killing.’

  He stopped talking, looking out through the glassless window. The rain was coming in quite heavily through the window, wetting the already damp ground of the hut even further.

  ‘What happened to them?’ Wendy asked, feeling it was a question Bill wanted asking.

  Bill wiped his lips again, then licked them.

  ‘The old man died, the son not long after. I think he died of a broken heart. I don't think anyone’s been up here much since then.’

  He opened the rucksack, took out a bottle of water and two Mars bars. He gave them to the girls. They accepted readily, and gulped the water, then ate the chocolate. It felt good.

  ‘We can stay up here for weeks.’ he said. ‘There’s a fresh water stream. I can hunt. You don't always need a gun. We can set traps for rabbits. I have a pan; we have a stove. It will be an adventure. We will be free.’

  Both girls shivered.

  ‘We can have sex, regularly.’ His voice became excited, his words speeding up. ‘It’s a beautiful place. I’ll show you around soon. You’ll get to know the place, make yourselves at home.’

  The two girls just sat there, still shivering, wondering what was going on in the mind of this crazy man.

  Bill looked at the girls, ‘You need a bath.’ he said. ‘You both smell.’ He laughed. ‘Come on, I’ll take you to the baths.’

  The girls just sat there, their wrecked bodies too tired to move. A bath sounded good to Wendy, but she wanted a hot bath with loads of bubbles, and maybe Todd washing her back, telling her how beautiful she was. She thought about that, but it seemed a million miles away.

  ‘Why?’ she asked Bill, holding Katy’s hand, clasping it tightly, as if trying to protect her.

  ‘Why what?’

  ‘Why are you keeping us up here? What happens in a few, days, weeks? What’s it all about?’

  ‘It’s about payback time.’ An evil smile lit up his face. His lips pulled back over his teeth. His eyes seemed deeper now, darker, just black holes in his head.

  ‘I sense death.’ he said. ‘Death is what will happen.’ He laughed. ‘And it won't be mine. Now it’s fucking bath time.’ He gestured for the two girls to stand. They did, too frightened to do anything else. He nodded towards the door, which he had now removed. Katie and Wendy both moved out of the cabin.

  As they stood outside in the damp rain, Wendy said ‘You’re going to have to kill me, before I have sex with you.’ ‘That can be arranged.’ he said.

  Her whole body shivered. If the situation wasn’t so real, both Katy and Wendy would feel it was probably the most beautiful place they had ever seen, the waterfall cascading down the beautiful rock face, falling aggressively, then calmly spreading into the waters below. It was clear and beautiful, white as it hit the pool, then spreading into blues and greys as the fall merged with the pool, blissful and inviting. The perfect place to make love, letting all your inhibitions go. Maybe in another time, another world, another life, but not now. They didn’t want it happening now. The girls, having been forced to strip naked, now bathed in the pool. Both were swimmers. They swam gracefully, as they felt the surprisingly warm water soothe their bodies, their aches and pains. It felt good and refreshing. The pool seemed to be alive and comforting them, inviting them in, as though it was their saviour and some pool monster would rise from its depths, and take away that horrible man, who sat on the rocks with his iPhone taking pictures. But the monster never came. The water dragon, or whatever it was, remained asleep. The moment that could only be described as surreal, passed.


  The girls were ordered to dress, putting on the damp clothes over their clean, damp bodies. As they dressed, the insane Bill Fenton threw rocks at them. The first one hit Katy on the shoulder. As she screamed in pain, the second one made a glancing blow on Wendy’s head, causing blood to flow, which was rapidly diluted by the rain. Both girls screamed as the stones rained down on them. They huddled closely together, covering their heads, as their bodies were pelted and racked with pain.

  Bill Fenton laughed as he threw more rocks.

  ‘My father used to make me take hot showers, almost burning. Then he would turn it cold. I can’t do that, so I throw rocks instead. It’s kind of the same thing. Come on, let’s get back to the cabin. I’ve got loads of pictures of you naked. I’ll show you them so you can tell me which ones you like best.’

  The girls wiped the blood away, as much as they could and just cried.

  Chapter 42

  Daniel read the words ‘This is war I do now.’ He opened the picture message and looked away in disgust. His heart raced as he held his phone and turned it for everyone to see. It was a picture of a hand with a finger missing, blood pouring down, as if it had been freshly cut off.

  ‘This is war I do now.’ Daniel said, quoting the text.

  ‘What!’ Madison said. They all stared at her. ‘This is what I do now’ as in w,a, t,’ she spelled out the letters, ‘he misspelt it.

  It’s an iPhone. It wouldn't pick up war as being misspelt.’

  ‘Whose hand is it?’ asked Marie Rose.

  ‘It’s not Wendy’s,’ said Todd, ‘It looks like a man’s.’

  Todd stood up, he was shaking, angry. It is useless just sitting here, he thought.

  Daniel put an arm round Todd’s shoulder ‘We’re going to get through this. I'm going to text him back, see if Wendy is safe.’

  ‘Becky.’ Carol reminded him.

  Daniel texted ‘I need to speak to Becky, or you get nothing.’ They waited a while, and a text came back. Again it was a picture message of two naked girls, swimming in a pool. It looked as though it could have been taken on a holiday. The text read.

  ‘Then speak to her she's probably with you now. As u can see, Wendy’s having a great time.’

  ‘He knows it’s Wendy.’ he said, as he showed them the text.

  Tears came to Todd’s eyes. The others held theirs back. Madison grabbed the phone from Daniel and fiddled a bit with it, pressing buttons. They all watched, hearing the phone beep as she pressed the digits.

  ‘His first mistake.’ she said as she handed the phone back to Daniel. The phone now showed a map. It was of Wentwood Forest.

  ‘That’s where the photo was taken.’

  She asked Todd if he had an iPhone. He said he did. She asked if Wendy had one. He nodded, handing his phone to her. She fiddled with the buttons.

  ‘I don't know where Wendy is,’ she said, ‘but I can definitely tell you that her phone is in Wentwood forest.’

  ‘You’re brilliant. I think I'm going to like having you as a sister.’ said Daniel.

  ‘I know. And you will.’ she replied. They all laughed. ‘Okay then, who’s coming to that forest?’ asked Madison. They all stood.

  Chapter 43

  Simon Goldstone sat at the desk in his office, looking at the nameplate which sat on his desk: Simon Goldstone Chief Inspector Gwent Constabulary. The same wording that was emblazoned on his office door. He just sat staring at it, wondering how long it would be before that name changed. He had two unsolved murders, two armed robbery cases and a kidnap, just in the last couple of weeks. It had been a very strange twenty four hours.

  He didn’t feel overworked, but things needed to be done. So why had he chosen to go to a rave, and smoke pot, and drink with people that it was his duty to arrest? However hard he tried he could not think of an explanation. His Boss was on his way over and he would need answers. He looked at the pile of papers on his desk, the yellow stickers on his computer. He had been a good cop, he thought, maybe one moment, one lapse would not totally ruin his career. Besides, who had seen him smoking? Who had seen him drinking? Only the lads he was with, as he walked across the fields. Why would they say anything? They were breaking the law.

  His mobile rang. It was a text from Daniel Fenton. ‘Just what I need.’ he muttered. He opened the message. There was a picture of two girls swimming, apparently naked. For a moment he thought Daniel had sent it to the wrong person. Why would he be sending lewd pictures to my phone? He read the accompanying text which said:

  ‘As you can see, Wendy has decided to take a break with her friend.’

  He studied the picture. He had seen pictures of Wendy Cross, this certainly could be her. He texted back,

  ‘Okay I’ll try to get to see you later.’ He pressed send. That will do for now, he thought. He could now cool the search down, just park it.

  There were lots of other things he could get on with, but Daniel would have a lot of explaining to do.

  Goldstone couldn’t get that evening from his mind. It felt like it was something out of a movie, and everyone was in a trance, walking to meet their fate. He knew it had something to do with the Fenton’s, probably the younger son. But what could he arrest them for? Mass hypnotism? He had a feeling that this wasn’t going to go away. He just hoped he would still be in charge to see it through. Before his boss came to see him, he had one thing he needed to do. Something he wasn’t looking forward to, the person that he had nurtured, took under his wing. A fine officer whom he knew would go very far. The best Sergeant he had ever had. He wasn’t looking forward to the meeting.

  There was a knock on his office door. He knew who it was as he told her to come in. He felt a sickness in his stomach.

  ‘Sit down Tracy.’ he said.

  She did, shuffled her feet and put her hands in her lap. She had a feeling she knew what was coming. The Fenton’s had probably ruined her.

  ‘You look tired.’ he said. He sounded as though he meant it.

  She replied, ‘I’ve had no sleep yet, nor have you, sir, I guess.’

  Simon nodded. He typed some things on his computer, a picture came up. He turned the screen to Tracy. She was expecting it. There she was in full uniform, with the Fenton’s, at the biggest rave ever known in the United Kingdom’s history, drinking a bottle of Stella. He showed her a few more pictures, all similar. She shuffled uneasily in her chair. She didn’t know what to say. He had been there, she thought, he knew what it was like. Why should she take the blame? Be the scapegoat? She had butterflies in her stomach. At that moment she wanted to tell him to stuff his job, her career, her pension all gone.

  Finally, all she could think of saying was, ‘It’s not fair.’

  Goldstone turned the pictures back, feeling sympathy for the Sergeant, for whom he had a lot of respect.

  ‘You’re a good copper,’ he said, ‘but it’s all over the news, YouTube, everywhere. My phone hasn't stopped ringing.’

  Again she shuffled.

  ‘Sir, with all due respect, you were stoned out of your mind.’ She didn’t regret saying it, the Inspector had certainly been stoned.

  It was Goldstone’s turn to look uncomfortable. He shuffled in his seat, let out a huge sigh and massaged his temples as if he had a migraine. He looked really uncomfortable, Tracy felt better for that.

  ‘I was and I can't explain It.’ he paused ‘but up to now, no pictures have emerged. I've no doubt they will. I know what happened, Tracy, I just don't know why.’ He looked pensive.

  He fiddled with a pencil. Tracy knew what was coming.

  ‘I have to suspend you, pending an investigation. You know that, don't you?’

  Tracy did. ‘I’ll do everything I can to help you.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘One bit of good news.’ he said, showing her the picture and text which Daniel had sent. ‘It seems like she just went on holiday.’

  ‘Looks cold there,’ she said, ‘but good news.’

  To be honest, t
hat was the last thing on her mind. She had no interest, whilst at least not at that moment.

  ‘Hand in your card, Tracy, and get yourself off home, have a rest, and I’ll do my upmost for you, if I still have a job.’

  Tracy stood.

  ‘You’re too good a copper to lose, Tracy.’ His words, whilst comforting didn’t really register.

  She walked towards the door. Before leaving, she looked back at her boss sitting at his desk. He seemed to have aged in the past twenty four hours.

  ‘Sir, what the hell happened?’

  He leaned back in his chair. ‘I have no fucking idea!’ he said. Then his phone rang.

  As she walked out of the station, after handing her card in she thought about the picture she had just seen. ‘That was no fucking holiday.’ she said out loud. The station was based in the centre of Newport, just at the top of Pill. She walked towards the transporter bridge which was used to ferry cars across the river. She needed coffee. Her modest flat on Cardiff Road could wait. She sat at her usual table, in her usual cafe, having paid for a coffee and a bacon sandwich. The bacon tasted good, the coffee was warming her body. She realised how hungry she was. She ate the sandwich, drank the coffee and ordered another to take out. She could see the bridge now, and wondered why the Americans had tried to buy it. It looked old, and as if it was about to fall into the river. You could pay to cross the river without a car. In the summer, people would just sit on the bridge, and travel the three minute journey across the bridge, then back again, as they ate their lunch. She sat, listening to the creaking noises, as it slowly moved across the river, just one car on it. She wondered if it fell to the river, would she die. The banks of the river were of mud, dirty. The river was dirty. She thought about the picture that Simon had shown her. Her copper instincts had told her that it wasn’t a holiday picture. The brief glimpse of it, didn’t seem to be of a holiday resort or an idyllic spot somewhere, and it looked to be freezing cold. Why would Daniel just send a picture? Why wouldn’t he have got Wendy to phone Goldstone to tell him she was okay? Something didn’t fit. And what about that party. Did she really see someone fly through the roof? She thought. She had forgotten about that. It was as though everyone had been in a trance at the rave. This is too fucking weird, she said to herself.