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

by Colin Griffiths

  Fifteen minutes later, Tracy started her car’s engine which was where she had left it, at the station. She put it into gear, and made her way towards Ashbourne Estate.

  Chapter 44

  Fed, showered, and with a full belly, Jezz and Mickey sat in Jezz’s thirteenth storey flat. Jezz smoked a cigarette, blowing out long plumes of smoke. Mickey, feeling much better now, just wanted to go out, find the girls and make them pay for leaving him. He wanted Katy to know that she couldn’t do that to him. She was his girl, she belonged to him and that Wendy was going to get it big time. However, he didn’t want Jezz to know that.

  Sky News was on the Freeview box, reporting about the rave that had taken place and a possible missing girl, called Wendy Cross, how could people possibly party when a girl was missing? The breaking news banner flashed up that the missing girl was found. It cut to a Sky reporter who stated that, according to their sources, the missing girl had simply gone on holiday, without telling her friends or family. Next, it flashed back to Ashbourne Estate showing pictures of the after-effect of the rave, the streets strewn with rubbish. The camera zoomed in on a house with a hole in the roof. The reporter made some comment about further news and returned the camera to the studio, where a reporter told about freak isolated storms across Britain, which had caused significant damage to properties. The scene changed again. It was a reporter talking to a resident of Ashbourne.

  Jezz watched closely. If Wendy Cross was found on holiday, then how the hell had she been in his flat less than twenty four hours ago? He had left her in a broken down pizza hut with that leg breaker. It didn’t make sense to him. He still felt some responsibility towards the girls. He could have let them go. He knew he would never be really satisfied until he knew the girls were safe. For probably the first time in his life he had a conscience and what was even more remarkable, he was going to do something about it.

  ‘Come on. We’re off.’ he said, to Mickey

  Mickey quickly stood up. ‘Where are we off to?’

  Jezz gathered his keys and cigarettes and stuffed them into his pocket.

  ‘We are going to find Wendy Cross and that girl of yours.’ he said.

  Mickey looked confused.

  ‘But Wendy’s on holiday.’ he said.

  They walked the thirteen storeys down, not relying on a lift which seemed to spend more time out of order than running. As they walked, Jezz asked Mickey,

  ‘Did you ever go to school?’

  ‘Not much.’ Mickey said, ‘But I've broken in to a few.’

  They got into the car. It was raining, the sky looming a thick mass of grey cloud, a dismal day. They made their way over the Severn Bridge to Ashbourne. Jezz Dwayne was on a mission. Throughout his life he felt he had bullied and let people down. Today he was going to change his life. Today he was going to make a difference. He had no idea what his plan was, no idea what he would do when he got to Ashbourne. Something had touched him today. Something he couldn’t describe, but he certainly felt it. Even the mixed-up kid that was beside him, kind of inspired him. A street urchin, who had been taken advantage of all his life, and still, that kid wanted to find his girl. Jezz drove with a determination. He had to make this right and when he did, he would change his life and the lives of those all around him. Just like those at the rave who had felt an enormous sense of loyalty. Jezz Dwayne felt that too, this time he was going to do something about it. They reached the tolls. Now they were in Wales. He paid the toll.

  ‘This is it!’ he shouted, and drove the short distance to Ashbourne.

  This is what? Asked Mickey.

  Chapter 45

  Those in the Fenton house could see the Sky News cameras outside the house. They had knocked on the doors, but nobody answered. Daniel, Todd, Becky, Carol, James, Madison and Marie Rose were gathering their thoughts. They had eaten. Carol had rustled up bacon and eggs, and made a load of sandwiches to take with them. Bottles of water were jammed into a rucksack. They checked their phones were charged, the ones that weren’t would simply have to do. Daniel was absolutely sure he had convinced Goldstone that it was all a misunderstanding. He knew Goldstone was smart, but he just hoped the Chief Inspector had enough on his plate at the moment.

  They had all changed, getting into whatever clothes that Carol and Todd had been able to rustle together. Daniel and Marie Rose, as well as the doctor staying in the clothes which they were already in, as nothing else seemed to fit. Becky borrowed something of Carol’s, while Madison wore a pair of Todd’s jeans, holding them up with a belt, but they felt comfortable. Carol had given her some trainers, she wore a sweatshirt and hoodie of Todd’s. Even in that get up, she still looked beautiful. Carol thought.

  There were seven seats in the SUV with plenty of boot room.

  As they were about to leave, Becky looked hesitant.

  ‘I don’t think I should go.’ she said. They all looked at her,

  ‘Why on earth not?’ asked Carol.

  A tear came to Becky’s eye, then the tears flowed as if all the pent up frustration had been released in one foul swoosh.

  ‘I’m not gifted.’ she said, amid the sobs ‘It’s all my fault.’ Then the tears really flowed

  Daniel hugged her as close as he could. He knew none of this was Becky’s fault, but he could understand that she felt like this.

  ‘You’re the most gifted person I know.’ he said.

  ‘I’ll be in the way.’ she sobbed. ‘I’ll keep you informed if anything’s happening here.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes. Just let me know when you find her. Tell her I love her.’

  Madison kissed the side of her cheek. ‘Be back soon sister in-law. I want to hear all about my big brother.’

  That cheered Becky up. She smiled.

  ‘So much to tell.’ she said.

  ‘And I want to hear all about my grandson.’ Marie Rose chipped in.

  ‘Come along,’ said the doctor, ‘we have to go.’

  They battled their way through the news reporters. As they got into the SUV, after loading up the boot, one reporter was particularly persistent and Daniel threatened him on camera. That did the trick, at that moment he didn’t care who had seen it. They had things to do. The doctor drove, with Daniel beside him. Todd and his newly found sister, Madison, behind, Carol and Marie Rose behind them. Three generations on a journey to find a missing girl. They pulled out of Ashbourne Estate, as reporters flashed their cameras. Why? Nobody really knew.

  If they had left two minutes later, they would have met up with Tracy Bates, and Jezz Dwayne along with Mickey Bolan, as their cars pulled into the street at the same time. Tracy, still in uniform, pulled up behind the other two. She tried to slip down in the seat so they wouldn't see her. She waited to see what they would do, watching as they both got out of the car, walked down the path of Daniel’s mother’s house and rang the doorbell. The reporters were gone for the moment, as they were still chasing the car holding the Fenton’s.

  Becky had dried her eyes and washed her face. The kettle was boiling as she stood in the kitchen, wondering if she had done the right thing. The doorbell rang. She assumed it was reporters and looked through the glass. What she saw appeared to be a large black man, with a smaller figure beside him. She ignored them. Then the bell rang constantly, as Jezz kept his finger on the buzzer. She still ignored it, but after a minute she opened the door. She saw a large black man and a smaller youth beside him.

  ‘What?’ she angrily said.

  Jezz, in a perfect gentleman's voice said, ‘I'm really sorry to bother you, but we’re concerned about Wendy Cross.’ ‘You’d better come in.’ she said.

  The two followed her into the living room and sat down. Just as they did so, the doorbell rang again. Becky could see the police uniform. Shit she thought. She opened the door.

  ‘Not fucking you.’ she said.

  Tracy Bates smiled. ‘Just don’t hit me.’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I've been sus
pended,’ Tracy said, ‘but don't tell those two who just came in.’

  ‘What do you want?’ Becky repeated.

  ‘I know Wendy isn’t on holiday. This isn’t official. I just want to help.’

  Becky showed her into the living room.

  ‘There’s no one

  here.’ she said, ‘They’ve gone to get Wendy.’

  ‘That’s what I was afraid of. I really do want to help.’ Tracy Bates walked into the living room.

  ‘Oh fuck!’ Mickey said

  ‘Done any kidnapping recently?’ asked Tracy Bates.

  Chapter 46

  Their battered bodies were huddled up on the floor of the cabin. Wendy now resembled Carrie from the film, as the blood had run down her face into her hair. She had managed to stop the bleeding by using her top to stem the blood. It seemed to have worked. She felt as though every part of her body hurt, at one point she had wished that he would just finish it. Her fear had been overcome by exhaustion. The desire to escape had been quelled by the pain that racked her body. The thought of Todd rescuing her had gone. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep, to make it all go away, perhaps she would never wake again. Katy was very much the same. One rock had caught her on the ankle, she was sure from the agony, that it was broken. It came totally out of the blue. She could smell the aroma of death, it was all around her, inside her, inside him. No warning had been given. One minute they were bathing, the next the stones were hitting them. Their bodies bruised and battered, they huddled to each other, trying to stop the tears, trying to be some comfort to each other, in this horror of a day.

  Bill was outside. They could hear him chopping wood with an axe. As he had taken it from his rucksack, both girls had looked on in horror, thinking that the axe was for them. Even through the desire of wanting to die, the adrenalin had kicked in when faced with it, but he had gone outside and they could hear the sound of the logs being chopped. Both girls knew that the axe could still be used for other purposes. They were not cuffed, but they knew now, that even if they got away, they wouldn't get far. Their bodies still hurt. They huddled closer.

  ‘He has to make a mistake.’ Katy said. ‘If he falls asleep, we could get the axe and kill him.’

  Wendy tried to smile. The thought of burying the axe in his head, at that moment, appealed to her.

  ‘Maybe. But I don’t think I could even lift it, never mind swing it.’

  Bill came into the cabin with some dry kindling and some logs. The girls remained huddled together, wondering what was next in store for them, wondering if this horrific day would ever end and when it did end, would they walk away from it alive. A whole host of scenarios went through their heads, some too horrific to think about. That was when Wendy thought of her father. She had no idea why. Perhaps there was a subliminal message in her thoughts. She could barely remember him, which made it worse.

  Bill chucked some kindle on the burner, and ignited it with his lighter. He had a cigarette in his mouth, giving the impression that it was just a normal day in his life. Within minutes the fire was going and Bill put some larger pieces on the burner

  ‘We’ll soon be dry.’ he said, as he turned to look at the girls. ‘God, he certainly made a mess of you two. You look like death warmed up. You’ll soon be nice and warm. I could make a cuppa. Do you want tea?’

  ‘Why did you do it?’ Wendy asked. Her lips were dry, in spite of her body and clothes being soaking wet. She tried to lick them. She had no moisture in her mouth. Katy buried her head in her hands, wishing Wendy hadn’t asked. Katy began to cry.

  ‘Because he can.’ she sobbed.

  Bill seemed surprised. He looked taken aback.

  ‘Do what?’ he asked.

  ‘Throw stones at us.’ said Wendy. ‘You nearly killed us.’

  He went back to tending to the burner which was now well alight. ‘That wasn’t me. That was my father’ he said. ‘He can be a right bastard at times.’

  ‘Your father?’ Wendy asked.

  Bill carried on building the fire as he spoke. The girls could feel the heat now from where they sat, but it was of little comfort.

  ‘Yes, he comes regular,’ he continued, ‘has done for years. I used to fight it because he would tell me to do bad things.’ He held up a stick from the fire, its end glowing.

  ‘This would be good for poking eyes out.’ he casually said.

  Both the girls shivered.

  ‘As I said I used to fight it. Now I don’t. I like the bad things now.’ He chucked the stick back on the fire.

  ‘Is he here now?’ asked Wendy.

  He stood up straight, eyes wide, no pupils, just white. That was all the girls could see, the whites of his eyes.

  ‘He wasn’t,’ he said, ‘but he is now.’

  The voice in his head was there again. It seemed that the source of all evil was in his brain, burning to his soul, controlling his mind. If there was such a thing as the devil, then this is what it would be like. Do it, the voice said, Do it. Both girls just stared, as he undressed and stood, naked, looking at them.

  ‘Sex time!’ he said, and he grabbed Katy by the arm, almost ripping it from its socket. She screamed at the pain in her arm and the pains that racked through her body.

  ‘No. No.’ she screamed as he dragged her.

  Instinctively, through adrenalin which overrode all the pain, Wendy jumped at Bill, jumped on his back, pulling his hair, and throwing feeble punches at wherever they would land. They were hurting her hands more than hurting Bill. He let go of Katy’s hand and landed a boot in her face as he did so. Her head rocked with the force, the fight all gone out of her. As she drifted into semi- consciousness, she could hear the noises of Wendy as she punched and screamed at the man whose back she clung to. In one swift and easy movement, Wendy was removed from Bill’s back as he put both hands over his shoulders and lifted Wendy over his head and threw her through the air and up against the cabin wall where she slid down and landed on the floor on her back, where she moved no more.

  The enraged Bill grabbed Katy by the arm and through the daze that she was in, she wished that she was dead now, that he would kill her, take away all this pain, take her away from this life that she hated. She could feel the pain. She could feel the hurt as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She would wake up and her mammy would be there, the mammy who never really loved her, would cuddle her and tell her it would be okay. But her mammy never came. She could feel the monster mauling at her now. Strangely she felt the warmth of the fire and as Bill Fenton took from her, what she wasn’t prepared to give, she thought of her mammy and why she wasn’t there to save her.

  Chapter 47

  The SUV pulled out of Ashbourne Estate with its six occupants and their supplies, if the circumstances had been different, you could swear that it was a family holiday just about to start. Carol thought about this and hoped that maybe that would happen. She would get to know her new family and her family would get to know each other. She sighed, wondering what was ahead. She wondered whether her life was ever going to be the same again, although she knew that it never would be. The fear of what lay ahead was daunting. Doubt buried itself in her mind. Something was telling her this wasn’t the right thing to do. Something was going to go terribly wrong. She thought of all the people to whom she had never said goodbye, her mum and dad, she could phone them, but what would she say. She had taught her boys never to say goodbye, but always to say see you later. Goodbye was too final. It sounded as though you were never going to see that person again. She didn’t want to say goodbye to her mum and dad. She hoped she would return, but something was nagging deep inside her and, no matter how positive she thought, that feeling would not go away.

  ‘So, you can read minds then?’ said Todd.

  Madison gave him an annoying look. She had always guessed that having a brother would be annoying and it seemed that she wasn’t wrong.

  ‘No I can't,’ she said, ‘I told you.’

  Todd shut his eyes tightly
. ‘Right. Tell me what I'm thinking now.’

  She nudged him with his elbow.

  ‘Ouch!’ Todd cried.

  ‘I can't read minds!’ she said. ‘God. How could I get such a thick brother?’

  Daniel and Carol laughed. Marie Rose and James smirked, both enjoying the conversation coming from their new found family.

  Todd rubbed his ribs.

  ‘That’s what you said.’ ‘Todd, give over.’ said Carol.

  Madison looked out the car window. The estate had been left behind, they were out in the country, and she could see mountains in the distance. She thought that they looked beautiful even through the rain.

  ‘Four times!’ she said. ‘I told you. Just now was the fifth time. I don't choose to do it, Todd.’

  ‘Did you read Daniel’s mind?’ he asked.

  She looked at him, smiled secretly, enjoying the conversation with her brother who, twenty four hours ago, she didn’t know existed.

  She tutted,

  ‘I heard what he thought. That’s the difference.’

  ‘What was he thinking, then?’

  Daniel spoke.

  ‘Todd, shut up, will you.’

  ‘I'm only asking what he was thinking.’ Todd insisted.