The Boy in the Well

by Dan Clark

  “That way!” Barry shouts, and they follow him as he pushes, limping, past the two detectives. His battered trainers are soaked and his feet inside are drenched.

  The bunker comes into view further up and DS Hughes and DC Dixon rush past Barry, reaching the bunker first.

  “Mrs Hill?” Hughes shouts. Carolyn couldn’t be happier to see DS Hughes’ broad, masculine face. She almost forgets to tell them what way Mark Buckles is heading.

  “That way… over there,” she shouts and points into the trees. Hughes and Dixon give chase as Richard Williams and Barry arrive at the bunker.

  “CAROLYN!” Barry shouts, tears streaming down his huge face.

  “BARRY! H-How… How did you know I was here?” Carolyn asks, clutching Barry’s wide hand through the gap in the door.

  “It was just a hunch. I spoke to Sophie, the shop girl. I remembered you saying that she was here, camping. She gave me directions,” Barry replies, fighting back tears. “I’m so happy you’re ok. I thought something might have happened to you, something terrible.”

  “Mrs Hill, are you ok?” Williams asks, his face looking as though it could explode any second.

  “I’m okay, Inspector. Thank you,” Carolyn replies.

  “Your mother, Father Joseph, where are they?” Williams asks.

  Carolyn gives him a look and shakes her head. “My mother is dead. Father Joseph… He… he killed her.”

  Williams looks at her, puzzled, as though he’s misheard her. He opens his mouth to ask more, but Carolyn speaks first.

  “I’m okay, Inspector. Can I have your coat?” she asks, standing aside. Williams shines his torch through at Dylan’s face.

  “I don’t believe it,” Williams says, taking off his coat and handing it through the gap. Carolyn passes it behind for Dylan to slide on. It’s at least four sizes too big, but it’s warm and eases his shivering.

  ***

  Dixon and Hughes come out of the trees and find themselves at the cliff top. Mark Buckles is hunched over, close to the cliff edge, catching his breath. They shine their torches at his face, and he steps back further.

  “Mr Buckles, you are under arrest. Stay calm and slowly back away from the edge,” DS Hughes says. The height of the cliff top is finally registering to her as nausea sets in. She’s never been good with heights.

  “Mr Buckles… come to us,” Dixon says, but Mark Buckles shakes his head and steps back even further, closer to the edge. The rain has died off, but the wind is still furious, blowing his coat out behind him like a superhero’s cape.

  “Why… why the fuck should I?” Mark says, waving his arms out in front.

  “Mark… listen to us. We can talk when you’re away from the edge. Just come closer.”

  Mark shakes his head. “We’re not going to talk about anything,” he shouts. “That bitch doesn’t want me. She’s chosen HIM!”

  Dixon looks to Hughes and shrugs. They walk slowly towards him.

  Mark Buckles takes another step back. Soil starts to crumble away.

  “Okay… Okay,” DS Hughes says, holding her hands out in front and pointing the torch up to the night sky.

  “Mr Buckles, don’t step back any further. You’re getting pretty close to the edge,” DC Dixon says.

  Buckles waves a hand in the air. “S-she told me she wanted me. She told me she wanted for us to be a family,” he slurs. He looks back as fireworks burst in the sky, then turns back towards the detectives. “I would have been a great dad, you know.”

  DS Hughes has gone as close to the edge as she can manage. She already feels sickeningly dizzy. Dixon goes to speak and takes another step closer. If he can keep Mark talking and get close enough to grab his coat, he should be able to pull him back and force him to the ground.

  But it’s no good.

  Mark Buckles stands at the very edge of the cliff top and more soil breaks off under his shoes. He gives the two detectives a smile, then takes his last step backwards.

  He falls two hundred feet to his death as a firework display at Harrow Park sounds in the distance. The sky lights up purple, orange, red, yellow and blue, accompanied by a low cheer from the spectators on the ground.

  DS Hughes stays where she is standing, and Dixon lies on his front creeping closer to the edge. More soil breaks off and crumbles away. He sticks his head over the edge and DS Hughes holds onto his ankles. With the help of the moonlight and the firework display lighting up the sky, DC Dixon can see the mangled remains of Mark Buckles’ body lying on the jagged rocks below.

  Epilogue

  Four months later

  The morning sun is shining through the small window of the bakery’s kitchen, and Carolyn is fixing a fondant balloon to the side of a retirement cake.

  The shop had lost a lot of customers due to being closed for months. Carolyn had posted the reason on her social media pages and, with the story of the two missing boys hitting the papers, customers are slowly returning.

  In her statement about what had happened that day in the B&B, Carolyn had said nothing about her mother’s involvement in the death of Elwyn Roberts. She’d decided that Barry and the people of Llanbedr didn’t need to know about that. She doesn’t want them to remember her mother as a liar or an accomplice to a murder. Instead, they should think of her as the caring, loving woman she’d always been.

  She believes her mother had lied, and kept Father Joseph’s crime a secret, in order to protect him. She thinks that he had told Jeanette that the Lord had insisted they must keep the truth to themselves. This would allow Father Joseph to remain free and to continue with his work. Carolyn believes Jeanette thought she was doing the right thing.

  At least, that’s what she keeps telling herself. One day she might even come to believe it.

  Barry is sitting patiently on a stool in the corner. He’s reading a magazine while waiting for the cake to be finished so he can make the last delivery run of the day. His daughter, Amy, is sitting outside on reception, manning the phone orders and playing with Bella the cat. Carolyn adopted Bella after Mark Buckles’ death.

  Amy is happy with her new part-time job as receptionist, and with her new feline friend. Most importantly, she’s happy to have her father back in her life.

  Barry had decided two months ago to move to Leeds and leave Llanbedr behind, after getting his affairs in order. There wasn’t anything keeping him there. The idea to leave Llanbedr had been on his mind for some time, even before he ever met Carolyn and got involved with helping her dig up the truth. He scrapped his beloved van and sold off most of his work tools. He now has a two-bedroomed flat not far from the bakery, and Carolyn is happy to have him as a delivery driver. The last one had quit, not knowing if the bakery was ever going to reopen.

  Barry has recovered well from the attack, though he occasionally feels a little pang of pain in his lower back.

  Julio Alcala had confessed to everything, and had sworn he had no idea who had been supplying Patrick Sawhill with the material. The forensics had found he was telling the truth; that Mark Buckles never physically showed himself, and all the transactions were done online using an alias. Julio Alcala was sentenced to four years in prison for breaking the terms of his parole and for his role in helping Patrick Sawhill run child pornography sites. Other members of the sites were tracked down using their payment methods and have also been charged.

  Kelvin and Heather Roberts had read Carolyn’s statement of what Father Joseph had confessed to her: how he had drunkenly hit Elwyn with his car, had kept his body in the freezer for eight years, and recently buried him next to a large rock behind The Sunlight B&B. They too decided to move from Llanbedr and settle down somewhere else, after retrieving their son’s body and giving him a proper burial. They had thanked Carolyn for her persistent searching and finally uncovering the truth.

  Gwen Lloyd admitted that Mark Buckles had sent her numerous love letters over the years. She’d also admitted that their affair wasn’t just a one-night fling; it had had lasted for y
ears after Dylan was born. She’d confirmed that Mark Buckles would talk about them running away together to start a new life, and that he’d promised she’d understand why it was a good idea when they were far away from Llanbedr. But Gwen never knew he was holding their son captive, nor that was he capable of such an evil act.

  Gwen and Frank are working through things, for Dylan’s sake. Owen had cried and run over to hug his missing brother when he eventually returned home. The Lloyds are overwhelmed to have Dylan back. Dylan is doing well after undergoing numerous medical examinations. He is currently seeing a psychiatrist, though he seems to be recovering well from the trauma.

  The thought of Dylan keeping faith and staying hopeful during the time he was held captive by Mark Buckles has forced Carolyn to see her own problems in a new light. Of course, she’s still mourning, but the courage she saw in Dylan has encouraged her to stay strong.

  Carolyn gives the cake a final spin. It’s perfect.

  “All done, Barry. Now get up and do some work,” Carolyn says, stepping away from the cake to wash up.

  “About time,” Barry says, standing to box up the cake. “Amy, come on. The cake is finally finished.” Barry smirks, and Carolyn replies with a roll of her eyes.

  She heads to the back door and holds it open as Barry carries out the cake. Amy follows him to the van and waves goodbye to Carolyn before climbing in the front. Barry places the cake in the back.

  “So, twelve o’clock at Ashwood Forest?” Barry says.

  Carolyn nods. “Yes, twelve o’clock. Remember to use the entrance on Barn Hey Road. It’s always quiet.”

  Yesterday Barry had asked if Carolyn knew any nice walking spots he and Amy could take a stroll. He’s realised shedding a few pounds would do him good. Carolyn had immediately told him about Ashwood Forest, explaining how she, Simon and Ryan used to love it there. Barry suggested they take a picnic, and Carolyn enthusiastically agreed.

  As Barry’s new van pulls out of the car park, Carolyn heads for the changing room. She undresses from her buttercream-stained baker’s uniform, and slips on something more casual. Before leaving, she kisses the picture of Simon and Ryan that sits on the shelf next to the door, along with the papier-mâché spaceship that Ryan had made last year in school. Bella purrs as Carolyn coaxes her into the cat-carrier to drop off at home.

  After the deaths of Simon and Ryan, stumbling upon the corpse of Elwyn Roberts down the well, and witnessing the deaths of her mother and Father Joseph, not to mention being trapped in a steel bunker with Dylan Lloyd, Carolyn no longer welcomes death. She’s witnessed enough loss, heartache and misery to last her a lifetime.

  Carolyn wants to continue making customers happy with her dazzling cakes, and to love and care for Bella the cat. She wants to be the friend Barry needs in his life, and she wants to continue to think she is making Simon and Ryan proud.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading my debut, I hope you enjoyed it. I like writing thrillers and the idea of creating fictional characters who are, sometimes, crazy, cruel or psychotic is very enjoyable to me.

  The idea of the story started with a whole lot of different characters, settings and plot before I decided to change it into something else, and slowly the story took on a life of its own and became The Boy in the Well.

  I have always appreciated the quote: “Write the Story You Want to Read” and it’s exactly what I did with my own story. I like to dabble a lot with “what if” and see where it takes me.

  I love hearing from readers so if you would like to leave me a review, ask a question or stay updated on any future book releases, you can find me at:

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