by Mark Edwards
Julia stood in the centre of this room, her mouth open, looking at the posters on the walls. Pages torn from magazines: Care Bears, a couple of Australian soap opera stars from the late eighties, a boy band. There was a calendar too, dated 2013.
Julia crossed to the little tray of toiletries.
‘I thought my tampons had been going missing,’ she said in a low voice, picking one up. ‘This is the brand I use.’
She spotted something else: a cooler, the kind you’d take on a picnic. She lifted the lid. It contained a packet of ham, butter, slices of bread, a few apples.
‘All the food that’s gone missing,’ she said. ‘This is where it ended up. But who—?’
She hugged herself, trembling from the shock of discovering that someone had been living under her house, sneaking in and helping herself to things. Lurking in the walls. Listening. Watching.
Had she been there, listening, when Julia and I were in bed together?
I was about to tell her my theory about who it was when we heard a thump. It came from a point ahead of us.
‘We should go back up to the house, call the police,’ I whispered. I had already checked my phone and, unsurprisingly, found I had no reception down here.
‘No,’ Julia said. ‘I have to see. I have to.’
‘Okay.’ I took a deep breath.
We went through the door at the other end of the room and entered a short passage. At the far end was the metal door that had blocked our entry earlier. Behind us, an alcove. But something else grabbed our attention. Another door set into the stone wall.
Julia approached the door tentatively and turned the handle. It was locked.
To keep us out, or keep someone in?
Heart thumping, I crouched and put my eye to the keyhole. A light was on inside the room. I found myself looking at another mattress on the floor. There was something on the pillow. I blinked several times before I realised what I was looking at.
I stood up so fast that all the blood rushed to my head and I had to grab the handle to stay upright.
Julia was staring at me. ‘What is it?’
But all I could do was stare at her, unable to tell her what I’d seen.
Chapter 45
LILY – 2015
Lily felt herself being lifted and slung over someone’s shoulder, the person who had grabbed her from behind and gagged her with some kind of cloth, the person whose face she couldn’t see. Her arms were pinned by her sides and she tried to bite at the gag, but it was no good. She panicked, unable to breathe properly, before snorting air through her nose. They were heading along the road, away from the river and towards the woods.
Megan hurried along behind. Megan, who had been waiting in the bushes.
Lily knew her parents would have reached the spot where she’d been standing by now, that they’d be panicking, looking for her. They’d see Big Cat in the water and think she’d fallen in. Oh, why did she do that? She was such an idiot.
They reached the woods. She tried to punch the back of the person carrying her but she was too weak, the punches bouncing off, like fleas attacking an elephant. She wanted to scream but the gag prevented her from making any sort of noise except a strangled moan. They kept heading into the woods, along the path until they reached a clearing. There was a scary-looking hut. Lily struggled and felt something drop from her pocket. It was Little Cat. She made a desperate noise, hoping Megan would see that she’d dropped him and pick him up. But Megan stepped over the cat, eyes fixed on the path ahead, and they carried on across the clearing into the next wood.
They headed further along the path. Lily fought back tears, but clung to hope. Megan was here. It had to be some sort of game. A prank. Though she didn’t understand why Megan wasn’t smiling or laughing. Lily had never seen her friend look so deadly serious.
They stopped by a large tree with a silvery trunk, and the person carrying her dropped her roughly onto the damp ground. Lily stared up at him.
It was Jake.
Megan’s big brother was panting with the exertion of carrying her all that way. He looked to Megan, as if waiting for instructions. Lily reminded herself that even though Jake was a lot older and bigger than his sister, inside he was younger. Megan always bossed him around. Lily had no doubt that Megan was in charge here.
With her arms free at last, Lily grabbed the gag and pulled it away from her mouth.
‘Don’t scream,’ Megan said, ‘or we’ll hurt you.’
This must be what it feels like to be in shock, Lily thought. This was her best friend. But the way Megan was looking at her now, it was as if she hated her.
No, it wasn’t hate in her eyes. It was fear. Fear and determination.
‘What are you doing?’ Lily asked.
‘We’re saving ourselves.’
‘From the Widow,’ Jake said.
Lily gawped at him, then at Megan. ‘But the Widow isn’t real.’
Megan leaned forward, hands on her thighs. ‘It’s 2015 now. The year of the Widow. She’s going to come to town to take a child unless another child is sacrificed. And Grandad said she likes children whose parents aren’t together. Like ours. Like us.’
Lily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Megan, it’s not real! It’s a made-up story.’
‘No. She’s real. You saw her, remember? You told me she said my name. She’ll come for me, unless I do something about it.’
Lily felt like she’d swallowed a giant ice cube. ‘But I made that up.’
‘What?’
‘I lied! I was trying to scare you.’
Megan put her hands up. ‘No. I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that now to save your skin.’
‘Megan, please.’ Lily tried to get up from the wet grass but Jake put a strong hand on her shoulder, keeping her down.
Megan said, ‘Put the gag back on her.’
Jake grabbed her roughly and pulled the gag back into place, tightening it at the back and pulling it against the edges of her mouth. It hurt. She tried to grab at it but Jake held her arms, trapping them behind her. She thought she was going to wet herself. She wanted her mummy and daddy. Why had she left the riverbank? She should have stayed with them. Even if they didn’t love each other any more, they loved her. They would protect her. She tried to fight back tears but it was impossible. They rolled down her face and her nose filled with snot, making it even harder to breathe. She sniffed it back, her body shaking, barely able to see through her tears.
‘Stop snivelling,’ Megan said.
Megan was carrying a rucksack, which she opened. She pulled out a length of brown rope that she tossed to the ground. Then she fished out a pair of handcuffs.
‘I got these from my mum’s bedroom,’ she said, snapping them over Lily’s wrists behind her. ‘Jake, put her against the tree.’
They wrapped the rope several times around her and the tree trunk. Jake pulled it tight. She heard him grunt with effort.
‘Have you done the knots properly?’ Megan asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘Are you sure? She won’t escape?’
‘They taught us at school. Mr James said I’m really good at it. He gave me a star.’
The little silver handcuffs dug into Lily’s bum. She really felt like she was going to wet herself, but she fought to hold it, and to stay calm. There was no such thing as the Widow. Someone would find her and save her and then Megan and Jake would be in so much trouble. They’d probably go to prison and it would serve them right.
‘Maybe we should wait,’ Jake said. ‘Won’t the Widow come when it’s dark?’
Megan glared at him as if he were the stupidest person on earth. ‘Do you want to be here when she comes? She might take one of us instead. She might take all of us! I think she’ll come as soon as she smells Lily. It says in Folk Tales and Urban Myths that she can smell child meat from a mile away.’
Jake looked around nervously, probably imagining the Widow hiding in the trees, sniffing the air.
Megan stepped towards her. ‘I don’t think she’ll hurt you. You won’t feel much . . .’
‘Grandad said it’s agony, when she sucks your soul—’
‘Shut up, Jake.’ Megan touched Lily’s arm. ‘I’ll always remember you, Lily. I’m sorry it had to be you. But Grandad said in the old days the townsfolk would always sacrifice the newcomer. The outsider. It’s tradition.’
In that moment, Lily hated Megan. She burned with it. A line Lily had heard in a film played in her head. ‘You’re going to pay for this.’ If it wasn’t for the gag she would have spat the line into Megan’s face, but all she could do was glare – glare until Megan turned away.
And then she and Jake were heading back along the path, walking quickly. Megan looked back over her shoulder once before they vanished into the trees.
Lily couldn’t hold back any longer. She peed herself, and more tears came. She was cold and her wrists hurt and so did her mouth. And she was scared, so scared. She didn’t believe in the Widow – she really, really didn’t – but what about animals? Rats and foxes and bats. And snakes . . . None of the snakes in Wales were poisonous but she had an image of one slithering up her leg and . . .
She had to shake the image away.
She waited. There was nothing else she could do. Mum and Dad would be looking for her. She guessed they’d search all along the river first. Oh God, if they thought she’d fallen in, maybe they wouldn’t look any further. But there were dog walkers, weren’t there? Someone would come by. Surely.
She said a silent prayer and dipped her head, closing her eyes. When she next opened them the sun was dipping behind the trees. She must have passed out for a while. Dusk was falling.
She would be stuck here, in the woods, at night. In the dark. And all the animals would come out.
She chewed at the gag, trying to dislodge it or tear it, but it was so tight. She rubbed the back of her head against the tree, hoping she might be able to wear down the knot, or loosen the gag. It was no good.
And then she heard a noise. She jerked her head up. Suddenly, she forgot that bears and wolves didn’t live in this country any more. She imagined them circling her, sniffing her out, gathering the courage to come closer.
The trees across the path rustled.
A face peeked out from among the branches.
Lily screamed against the gag as the figure emerged from the trees. She had long black hair and a white face and was wearing a long dress, the kind women wore in the olden days. She looked left and right then crossed the path.
The Red Widow. She was real. She was actually real.
Lily passed out.
When she came to, Lily was lying on a mattress on the floor.
The Widow was sitting by her feet.
Lily screamed and the Widow didn’t seem to mind. ‘These walls are soundproofed,’ she said. ‘My father built them so no one would hear me down here.’
Lily moved her hand to her mouth. She was no longer handcuffed – the Widow must have broken them open, perhaps using witch magic – and the gag was gone. Tentatively, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. The Widow had wrinkles on her face – laughter lines, Mum called them – but she was not as ancient as Lily had always imagined the witch to be. Her lips were not stained with children’s blood. Her teeth were yellow and kind of mouldy-looking but they weren’t pointed.
‘Are you going to eat me?’ Lily whispered.
That made the Widow laugh. It didn’t seem like an evil laugh, the cackle of a witch. It wasn’t like her mum’s laugh either. It was sharper. A crazy person’s laugh.
‘I thought the Widow was going to kill me too,’ the woman whispered. ‘A long, long time ago, when I was even younger than you.’
Lily gaped at her. ‘You’re not the Widow?’
That laugh again. ‘No.’
She got up and turned around, looking down at Lily.
‘My name is Carys. Carys Driscoll.’
Chapter 46
LILY – 2015–2017
Carys Driscoll. Lily was sure she’d heard that name before. It took a second, then she remembered: Carys was the little girl who had disappeared thirty-five years ago. That taxi driver had told them about her.
‘You’re not dead,’ Lily breathed. For the first time, she took the room in properly. ‘Where are we?’
‘This is my home,’ Carys said, spreading out her arms. ‘I’ve lived here since I was rescued. Just as I rescued you. If I’d left you there till night-time, the Widow would have come.’
That threw Lily. This woman believed in the witch too?
‘Daddy rescued me and kept me safe here. Safe from the Widow. Just as I’m going to do to you. You know, Lily, that once the Widow knows your name, you can never be safe from her? Not until you’re all grown-up, like me. Once you bleed, you’re safe. Safe from the Widow, anyway.’
She bared her rotten teeth and made a hissing noise.
The woman got up and crossed the room, fetching a bottle of juice. It was the same kind of juice they had at home.
‘Here,’ she said. ‘Drink up.’
‘I want my mum and dad.’
Carys smiled sadly. ‘Oh, Lily.’ She reached out a hand to stroke Lily’s hair, and Lily shrank back.
‘They’ll be worried sick. I need to let them know I’m okay.’
‘I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but they’re dead.’
Suddenly, Lily couldn’t breathe any more.
‘They both jumped into the river, trying to save you. I saw it happen.’
Lily sobbed. She couldn’t hold back. Carys watched her, smiling with sympathy. When Lily had finally stopped crying, she said, ‘But Mum can’t swim. Why would she do that?’
That seemed to surprise the woman, but she shrugged and said, ‘She was so desperate to save you. But it’s okay, little one. You’ll be safe here with me. I’ll never let the Widow get you. You can have your own room, your own things. There’s a rubbish tip near here, where I’ll be able to get you a mattress like this one.’ She patted the mattress Lily was lying on, and Lily realised this was Carys’s bed.
‘You’ll like it down here with me,’ Carys said. She reached out a long finger and stroked Lily’s face. Her fingers were rough, the nails long and sharp. She scratched Lily’s cheek. ‘And you know, I’ve been so lonely since my daddy and mummy died. Now here we are, two orphans together.’
She smiled. ‘You know, I’ve been watching you for a while, wishing I could talk to you.’
Lily flashed back to that time she was looking for Chesney, when she saw someone standing at the edge of the woods. Carys. It must have been.
‘I think we’re going to be the best of friends,’ Carys said.
She left the room then, and Lily lay down on the bed and cried. It was all her own fault. If she hadn’t thrown Big Cat into the river . . .
Then she remembered what Megan and Jake had done, and hatred and anger and fear mixed together until her sobs finally faded.
Now, a long time later, those first days with Carys were as hazy as a dream. Lily knew she had cried a lot. She had begged Carys to let her go. If her mum and dad were dead, she needed to go to the funeral. But Carys said it wasn’t safe, that Lily couldn’t show herself to the Widow. Lily continued to beg. She scratched at the door of her new room – so tiny compared to her big bedroom at home, and the mattress Carys brought her stank like a blocked toilet – and screamed, praying someone would hear her. But they never did.
One day, when Lily hadn’t been living there long, Carys ran in, slamming the door behind her.
‘The Widow! She heard you. She’s looking for you in the woods. You have to be quiet or she’s going to come and then she’ll kill you and eat you!’ She shouted the final two words, her face an inch from Lily’s.
Terrified, Lily fell silent.
‘She’s the only one who can hear,’ Carys said. ‘Her hearing is like a bat’s.
’
Lily didn’t scream or yell any more.
Carys brought her food. Strangely, she knew what kind of stuff Lily liked. She brought all her favourite chocolate bars, snacks and sandwiches. Sometimes she brought cooked meat. When she told Lily it was rabbit, Lily refused to eat it at first. She couldn’t eat a bunny! But eventually, hunger got the better of her. Now it was her favourite thing. When she smelled it through the door it made her drool like a dog.
The worst was having to go to the toilet in a pot. It was gross. But Carys took it away every day and brought the pot back clean, along with a bowl of water for Lily to wash in. She had soap too, and shampoo, though the water was always cold. Her new home was cold, just a little warmth seeping in from the ceiling, which was weird, but Carys gave her blankets to huddle under. Carys brought her books too. Often they were damp and yellowed and Lily suspected they’d come from the tip.
She also brought her toys. A cuddly tiger and a camel, which Lily cuddled at night, their bad smell eventually fading. And one day, like a miracle, Carys brought her a surprise.
Little Cat.
‘I found him the same day I found you,’ Carys said. ‘I’ve been keeping him here, safe. And because you’ve been such a good girl, I’m going to let you keep him.’
Lily clutched the toy. He smelled damp and there was dirt on his fur. Her tears helped wash it away.
Carys put her face close to Lily’s, laying one hand on the cat. ‘But if you’re bad, I’ll take him away and you’ll never see him again. Understand?’
‘I understand.’
Every day, Carys would let Lily out of her little room into the main part of the underground chamber to exercise for an hour. Together, they jogged on the spot, did star jumps, sometimes threw a ball back and forth. Carys always seemed really happy during this hour, grinning at Lily and squealing with excitement. It made Lily wonder if Carys was like Jake, a kid on the inside. She acted like a child in an adult’s body. A child who’d never grown up.
Lily didn’t hate Jake. She only hated Megan. Jake had only done what his sister told him to do. When Lily first met Megan and Jake, she was surprised by how compliant he was, his sweet nature making him want to obey his sister, who took full advantage. Megan had needed Jake’s physical strength to carry out her plan. Oh, how Lily wished she’d stepped in all those times she’d seen Megan bossing her brother around. She should have told Megan to leave him alone. Now it was too late. Too late to stop Megan.