by Jennie Finch
There was a pause as the stall holder eyed him warily. ‘Don’t recall the bulls-eyes,’ he said finally.
‘First round, third and fifth shots, second time was second and ninth shots, third time was third, fourth and sixth shots, fourth round …’
‘All right, all right – I can’t remember all of that but just take your prize and get out of here. Go on, bugger off the lot of you.’
He handed Kevin the largest and ugliest stuffed animal Alex had ever seen and turned his back on the celebrating group as they moved on to the next booth.
‘That’s a bit of an eye-opener,’ said Alex, impressed in spite of herself.
‘Oh, that’s nothing,’ said Lauren. ‘Hey, Kevin, KEV!’ As he swung round towards them, she said, ‘What’s 97 times 13?’
Kevin blinked twice and said, ‘One thousand two hundred and sixty one. Why?’
‘No reason. Can you get me one of those coconuts?’
Kevin shook his head. ‘They’s glued on,’ he said. ‘I could maybe get you one of them boxes of sweets though.’ He gestured to a stall with very sorry looking bows and arrows and tiny straw targets. Lauren twinkled at him and held out a pound note.
‘You’s a love,’ she said.
Alex scrabbled in her bag for pencil and paper and hurriedly worked out the sum. ‘He’s right. Wow.’ She looked at Kevin with new respect.
‘Never wrong. Don’t know how he does it but ’tis a good trick. Now, watch here.’
They sauntered over to the booth where Kevin was examining the bows and selecting half a dozen arrows from a bored-looking girl dressed in a vaguely medieval costume.
‘Maid Marion,’ Lauren whispered in response to Alex’s unspoken question. Alex nodded and tried not to giggle. It was all rather ridiculous but despite that she was actually enjoying herself.
Derek pulled his cap down over his eyes and tucked a red and white scarf high around his neck to try and disguise the deep red scar on his face. He was a marked man in every sense of the word and his anger boiled and rolled inside him as he glared around at the crowds laughing and enjoying themselves. He didn’t notice the slight but perceptible movement away from him as he pushed deeper into the Fair. He’d lived so long with the smell of Frank Mallory it had permeated his clothes and clung to his hair, and passers-by turned their heads away and stepped back when he came close, but Derek’s attention was all focussed on one group. Ahead of him was Kevin, triumphant once more as he handed a huge box of chocolates to Lauren. The blonde, skinny probation officer was with them, but his eyes fixed on the figure behind her. Alex-bloody-probation, he mouthed silently. Got you.
After three goes Lauren refused to go on the Helter Skelter again.
‘Not so much a ride, more like bloody physiotherapy,’ she grumbled. ‘Climbing all them stairs and it’s just some big slide. Let’s go find something a bit more exciting can’t we?’
Sue agreed with her. ‘Come on Alex, they’ve got a Centrifuge Cage. I’ve always wanted to go on one.’
The Cage was one of the scariest things Alex had ever seen. A huge drum spinning ever-faster on a single pole, it glued the riders to the walls as it whirled round until suddenly the floor fell away leaving them stuck like flies on a fly paper. Crowds gathered round to yell encouragement at the brave (or foolhardy) souls who dared to enter through the narrow doorway and stood up against the sides, placed at regular intervals by the serious young men in charge of the machine. Alex watched in horrified fascination as the door was locked and the whole contraption began to turn, slowly at first and then gathering speed until it was whipping around, the people inside a blur. Just as the floor fell away a hand grasped her elbow and her startled exclamation was covered by the much louder shriek from the Cage as the riders found themselves suspended in mid-air.
‘I don’t know anyone who’s been brave enough to do that,’ said Alison pushing in next to her. She sniffed loudly and treated Alex to a watery smile before staring down into the ride again. Alex hated crowds because she really didn’t feel comfortable with close bodily contact, but even more she hated the feel of Alison, her bony elbows and damp skin wedged up against her.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she said, ‘it doesn’t look too bad’.
Alison blinked at her. ‘Go on then,’ she said, ‘why don’t you try it.’
‘All right – yes, I’ll pay,’ said Sue, and before Alex could protest she was hauled towards the ticket booth. Lauren trotted after them but more in hope than expectation. The man looked at her and shook his head.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I can’t let you on. I know it don’t seem fair but it’s more than my licence is worth.’ Lauren fixed him with a steely glare and then let out a huge sigh and turned away.
‘I’ll be watching,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘You tell me what it’s like soon as you gets off.’
It was hot inside the Cage and the huge drum creaked as they walked across the tilted floor and took their places against the bleached wood walls. To her surprise she saw Jonny walk in after them and stand to the right.
‘Always wanted to try it,’ he murmured, ‘and it will so impress my new friend.’ He looked up at a strikingly handsome young man who was leaning over the railings and wriggling his fingers in their direction. Suddenly, Lauren’s head popped up near him and Alex gave a feeble wave before the ride wranglers began to shift them all a few inches left or right to balance the cage. Her palms were sweating and she felt the blood singing in her ears as the door was closed and locked, leaving them waiting in anxious silence. As the drum began to turn she realized she was probably going to be sick and looked up at the faces turning before her eyes. A voice called out and she realized it was Kevin.
‘Look at the pole,’ he yelled. ‘Don’t look round, just at the pole.’
She fixed her eyes on the one still object in her now swirling universe and felt Jonny’s hand grab her.
‘I hear it’s just like having a heart attack,’ he said helpfully as a weight began to descend on her chest.
She risked one last glance at the crowd and her eyes met Lauren’s just as another face, a familiar but changed face, appeared over her shoulder. The fury in the eyes of Andrew Hinton burned into her memory, a snap-shot of a moment she would never forget as Lauren vanished from sight, the machine shifted on its axis and the floor fell away beneath her feet.
The first thing Lauren knew was that there was a strange smell, when suddenly a hand clamped itself across her mouth and she was lifted off her feet.
‘If you scream or try to struggle I’ll break your back. Keep still and I’ll not harm you. Understand?’ said a voice in her ear, as the smell intensified. She had a momentary glimpse of Alex’s face, white with shock and strain, before she was whisked round and hauled away through the crowds. She tried an experimental wriggle and the arm holding her round her waist tightened, squeezing the breath from her and threatening to crush her ribs.
‘I warned you,’ said the voice. ‘Try that again and it’ll be the last time you ever move your stubby little legs. You just as useful dead as alive so it don’t matter to me.’
Lauren went limp and waited, eyes open, hoping someone would notice her plight, but fairgoers swirled around them oblivious, all bent on a final evening’s pleasure. After a few minutes the crowd thinned out and they left the main field and entered the car park. She tensed, hoping to make a run for it when her abductor reached for his car keys, but he was ready for her. She was spun round and found herself dangling over his arm, her head bouncing up and down as he hurried to his vehicle. With one swift movement he opened the boot of a dark saloon car and pushed her inside, slamming the lid to leave her in darkness.
The smell was suddenly overpowering in the enclosed space and she gagged and felt around her hoping for something to hold on to or maybe wrap round her face to cut out the terrible odour. Her hands met metal warmed in the evening sun, the rubber of a spare tyre and then something sticky and wet. She jerked her hand back as the ca
r engine fired and realized somehow the source of the smell was now on her. An abrupt turn flung her across the boot and she reached out again, desperate for something to cling to as she was bumped away to some unknown destination.
The moment the Cage stopped Alex lurched for the door, dragging Jonny with her.
‘Oh come on,’ he said, ‘it wasn’t that bad. You didn’t even scream when the floor went.’
Staggering and trying to clear her head, she hauled him past the spectators and leaned on a clear section of the barrier.
‘It’s Lauren,’ she gasped. ‘I saw someone take her. Hinton – I saw Hinton take her just as the machine started.’
Jonny stared at her and shook his head. ‘No, she’s just over … over there …’ He looked around to where his sister had been watching. There was a scattering of chocolates on the ground and the box lay on its side, trampled in the crowd. ‘Who’s Hinton? What did you see?’
‘A probationer, released from somewhere – no-one seems to know anything about him and I’ve only seen him once but he gave me the creeps. He was just behind Lauren and I saw him grab her. Then she was gone. I couldn’t see where with the damn machine spinning.’
Jonny grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her none too gently, ‘Where did you meet him? Have you got an address? Think Alex!’
Alex pulled free and glared at him. ‘The only place I met him was out on the Levels in some grotty tumbledown ruin. I can’t believe he’s still there though …’ She paused. ‘He looked different. It was definitely him, but he looked thinner and there was a horrible mark all down one side of his face.’
Jonny was off, hauling Alex after him. ‘I don’t care if he was wearing full make-up and a tutu, I want to find my sister!’
In her haste to keep up with him Alex tripped and stumbled over a figure on the floor.
‘Hell, I’m sorry,’ she said, wrenching her arm free of Jonny’s grip. She bent over the hunched shape and recognized Simon Adams, the lorry boy. Simon lifted his head, his face contorted with fear.
‘What is it?’ asked Alex as gently as she could. ‘What’s the matter Simon.’
Simon shook his head and muttered something so softly she had to bend over to catch what he was saying.
‘Was him again. I seen him, seen him take her, so I trying to hide so’s he don’t hurt me again.’
‘Who was it?’ asked Alex, ‘You must tell me so I can rescue her. Who was it took Lauren?’
‘She is always nice. Don’t laugh like they others. He hurt us, that night. Crashed my lorry an’ all.’
Jonny hovered over them in a fever of impatience.
‘Bloody hell Alex, come on!’ he yelled, and Simon promptly rolled up into a ball and covered his ears.
‘Now look what you’ve done, you great oaf. He saw who took Lauren and if we asked him nicely he might have been able to tell us which direction they went.’ She gestured round at the mass of people on all sides. ‘Now we’re on our own.’
Simon lifted his head, giving Jonny an anxious glance as said, ‘Was Derek Johns. Big ol’ nasty Mr Johns, it was. I seen him with Newt around afore so I knows him, but I never speak to’m. Not wise, asking questions ‘bout they Johnses.’
‘Oh shit,’ said Jonny softly, then very gently asked, ‘Did you see where they went?’
Simon looked at him suspiciously for a moment and then gestured to the rear car park. ‘Was runnin’ that way,’ he murmured.
Alex looked around and saw Sue coming towards them looking worried.
‘Look after him,’ she said, pointing to Simon. ‘We can’t just leave him like this and I’ve got to go after Lauren. Jonny’s in no state to drive and I think I know where he’s taken her.’
She turned away and started pushing through the crowds as Sue shouted, ‘Who has taken someone? And who’s been taken where? What’s going on?’ but Alex was gone.
The trip was mercifully short but brutally rough, and Lauren was half unconscious by the time the boot was opened and fresh, cool air rushed in.
‘Right you,’ said her abductor, and she was lifted out by her collar, hanging at the end of his arm like a rat. She opened her eyes as they entered the cottage where her sense of smell, briefly restored by the open air, registered that awful stink again. Before she could stop herself she looked at her captor’s face and in that moment she knew he was going to kill her.
Derek Johns,’ she said, pouring all the disgust she could into his name.
‘What you doin’ back here then?’
He shook her sharply but in an oddly impersonal way, as if his mind was on something else.
‘Just you shut up so’s I don’t have to gag you,’ he said. ‘Reckon I’ll tie you up though. Don’t trust you not to do something stupid. I seen you with that gadjie at the Twister. Bold little thing aren’t yer.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ she insisted, as he leaned over and grabbed a coil of old rope. He picked her up and carried her into the kitchen where the smell was strong enough to render her speechless for a moment. Derek grinned as he saw her face go white.
‘You gets used to it,’ he said, dropping her on to one of the kitchen chairs, ‘and I’ve not had so many visitors to complain.’
He made a swift loop around her body and grabbed her hands, but her arms were too short to reach around the back of the chair.
‘Dammit,’ he muttered, and glared at her as if she were being deliberately uncooperative. He started to make smaller loops with the end of the rope, all the while glancing towards the door.
‘Expecting visitors after all?’ she asked.
Derek stopped fiddling with the rope and glared at her. ‘I said you shut up,’ he said. ‘You’s here to be all you is fit to be. Understand, little live-bait?’
Lauren went cold with fear, unable to offer any resistance as he pulled her hands into the loops in front of her body, but before he could tighten the slip knots there was the sound of a car in the distance, travelling at reckless speed down the track to the cottage. Derek spun round and stepped towards the window and Lauren seized her chance, flexing her arms and sliding out from under the rope binding her to the chair. In a second she reached the back door and grabbed at the handle. As he turned and saw her, she flung it open, slammed it shut behind her and grabbed a rusty hammer off the workbench in the porch. Lauren was small but she was deceptively strong, especially across her arms and shoulders, and with two blows the door handle and latch were in pieces. Derek tried to turn it from the inside but the spindle spun uselessly in the broken door and he kicked out in frustration.
‘Big mistake you little rat,’ he roared through the door. ‘You’ll ask me to kill you after I’ve caught up with yer.’
Lauren didn’t wait. She turned and fled as fast as she could, her feet pounding on the path leading to the canal, but she wasn’t built for running and she knew he’d catch her in seconds if she remained in sight. She stopped at the end of the garden and looked around, desperate for cover or some kind of hiding place. The old towpath ran off into the distance in both directions and between her and the long, safe grass of the deserted water meadows lay the ominous width of Kings Sedgemoor Drain. Her lungs already burning with the unaccustomed exercise, she set off, grimly forcing herself towards the footbridge and some chance of escape, but a shout behind her told her it was already too late. As her feet pounded away on the path she looked around frantically and spotted the reed basket Derek had been using to transport the meat for the pike lying in the mud on the bank. Gritting her teeth she swerved towards it and after a brief struggle pulled it free. There was no time to hesitate, as Derek Johns thundered down on her and gritting her teeth she dropped it into the canal, slid in after it and pushed off. The basket lurched, span round and almost delivered her back into his grasp as he flung himself flat on the bank and clawed at her, but then the current caught her and she began to slide away towards the middle of the water.
Derek plunged into the canal in pursuit. An indifferent swimme
r, he was driven by adrenaline and blinded by hatred and it was only when he felt his feet sink with the weight of his boots he paused to reconsider. Swearing and spluttering he hauled himself back on to the canal side and unlaced his footwear, discarding his jacket and the concealing scarf in a heap on the tow path. It had only taken a few seconds but Lauren was already half way to the bridge, the basket twirling merrily in the current as it bobbed along. At the last moment Derek unclipped his precious knife and laid it on his clothes before plunging into the thick, grey water. No point in ruining a good blade, he thought, and he was going to need it again soon. Then he struck out after her as fast as he could.
Lauren’s car with its specially adapted hand controls and high seat had been the nearest vehicle when they got to the car park. Alex’s was back in town and Jonny had cadged a lift with his sister in anticipation of a pleasant evening in the beer tent. Sue was still back in the main field, and as Jonny gave a potted biography of the man who had kidnapped his sister they both realized they had no time to mess about looking for something better.
‘Guardian of the spare key,’ he said, fishing in his pocket. ‘You drive. I’ve had a beer or three and Lauren’ll kill me if anything happens to her car.’
Alex took control of the car as best she could and sped off in the direction of the cottage where she had met the man she knew as ‘Andrew Hinton’.
As they lurched across the Levels towards the cottage, she struggled to keep the car between the ruts in the track.
Woah! Watch where you’re going,’ shouted Jonny.’
‘I challenge you to drive this bloody thing any better,’ she said through gritted teeth.
Finally, they skidded to a halt and, as the dust settled, she grabbed Jonny’s arm. ‘Be careful,’ she said. ‘If it is him and he is here, then he’s very dangerous and I don’t think he’ll hesitate to kill us – or Lauren. Let’s go round the back and see if we can spot him.’