by Amy Cross
“It's been about four hours since they left us by the lake,” Lizzie said cautiously. “Beth should be back by now.”
“Maybe she went to another cabin,” Laura suggested. “I mean, it's possible...”
Lizzie turned to her.
“Fair point,” Laura continued. “She doesn't really seem the type to go off on her own, does she?”
Turning to look back out the window, Lizzie stared at the dark forest for a moment. The sun was slowly edging up the morning sky, but the forest still looked as foreboding as ever.
“What if she didn't make it back?” she said finally, turning to Laura. “What if something happened to her out there?”
Chapter Six
“We have to tell someone,” Lizzie whispered the next morning as she and Laura made their way across the breakfast area. The rest of the campers were sitting at open air benches, chatting excitedly as they tucked into the buffet. “She's not here!”
“You'll just get her in trouble,” Laura replied, leaning awkwardly on her crutches as she reached for a croissant. “Beth's probably hungover in someone else's cabin. It's a good thing. She's coming out of her shell.”
“You don't know that.”
“But it's the most likely thing,” Laura continued. “It's far, far more likely than anything else. I mean, what exactly could have happened to her out there in the woods. Do you think she was attacked by a pack of rabid squirrels?”
“She might have got lost.”
“In which case she'll find her way back and -” She stopped as one of the camp's staff-members passed nearby for a moment. “Face it,” she continued once the coast was clear, “Beth got drunk last night and now she's sleeping it off in a ditch. Kinda cool if you ask me. She'll emerge around lunchtime looking like hell, and the last thing she'll need at that point is to be interrogated over what she was doing last night. Let her learn from her mistake the hard way. Haven't you ever got totally wasted?” She took a bread roll and dropped it onto her plate. “She struck me as the do-gooder type. Last night was probably her first real taste of alcohol. You know what I say? Good for her. We're all living under a death sentence anyway, we might as well have fun while we can.”
Lizzie opened her mouth to reply, but at the last moment she held back. She knew Laura was probably right and that Beth was probably fine, but still... In the back of her mind, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, and that somewhere out there in the huge forest surrounding the camp, she might need help.
***
“I told you,” Kirsty said, with shadows under her eyes as she struggled through a hangover-tinged breakfast, “we just left her behind.” She took a bite from a croissant, before setting the pastry down on her plate. “I swear,” she added, with her mouth full, “I'm about to vomit.”
“Where exactly did you leave her?” Lizzie asked, keeping her voice down so that no-one would overheard them.
Kirsty held her hands up, as if to indicate that she had no idea. Clearly annoyed, she began to spit the pieces of croissant out into the palm of her hand.
“What is this crap?” Laura asked, snatching a tub of make-up from next to her. “Are you kidding me? That's not how you spell Maybelline!”
“Give that back!” Kirsty hissed, grabbing the tub.
“Where exactly did you leave her?” Lizzie continued. “Was it near the lake? Was it halfway, was it almost at the cabins?”
“It was... after a while, you know?” Kirsty muttered, sipping cautiously from a glass of orange juice. “She kept pace with us at first, but to be honest, she was kind of getting in the way and she knew it.”
“You mean you wanted to have some alone time with Todd?”
“Duh.”
“So you ditched Beth in the middle of a pitch-black forest?”
“We didn't ditch her. She just started lagging behind, and eventually we got tired of slowing down to wait for her so we told her we'd meet her at the cabin. She seemed fine with that, so off we went. We even told her we'd share some of Todd's stash with her when she arrived.”
“And how far from the cabins were you at that point?”
“I don't know, it took maybe... Thirty minutes more?”
“So at least a mile. That's a lot of forest for her to cover by herself.”
“What the hell?” Laura said with a grin, picking up another of Kirsty's make-up pots. “None of this stuff is genuine! It's all cheap Chinese knock-offs!”
“I do not use cheap Chinese knock-offs!” Kirsty hissed, grabbing the pots back. “Seriously, you obviously know nothing about quality make-up, cretin.”
“I know the real way to spell Maybelline, L'Oreal and Chanel. Those are decent make-up brands, but this stuff you've got here is just a cheap counterfeit!” She grabbed another pot and read the label for a moment. “Petrol! These counterfeit versions actually contain petrol! Jesus Christ, do you have any idea what kind of stuff you're using on your skin?”
“Can we focus on what's important?” Lizzie asked. “Beth's missing!”
“She's not an idiot,” Kirsty pointed out. “She's probably absolutely fine.”
“But she didn't show up at the cabins later? She didn't join you for a drink?”
“I already told you that.”
“And there weren't any other parties going on, were there?” Glancing around at the other tables, she looked for some hint that other people were hungover, but out of the rest of the campers, only Kirsty and Todd had the telltale faces of people who'd been up drinking. “She didn't get drunk,” Lizzie muttered, “so she's not sleeping off a hangover and she's not -”
Before she could finish, she heard a horrific groaning sound, and she turned just in time to see Kirsty leaning over the back of her bench and throwing up.
***
“Let me get this straight,” Crystal said as she sat behind her desk in the main cabin. “On your very first night, five of you snuck out of your room and went to swim in the lake without permission. You'd barely been at the camp for twelve hours, and already you had to rush out and break the rules.”
“Yes, but -”
“Do you realize how dangerous that is?” Crystal continued. “Four young women and one young man, out alone in the dark forest, making their way to a dark lake? Did you all have your medication with you?”
“I don't know, I -”
“It's a three-mile walk to the lake, through difficult terrain. Even for healthy people, that would be a challenge, but the five of you aren't exactly in peak physical condition, are you? We have one case of bowel cancer, one -”
“I get it,” Lizzie said firmly, interrupting her, “we were dumb, we shouldn't have done it, but can we please focus on the fact that Beth didn't make it back?”
Sighing, Crystal leaned back in her seat.
“I'm sure she's fine,” Lizzie continued, “and Kirsty thinks she probably just had too much to drink, but -”
“Excuse me?” Crystal asked, leaning forward again. “Is there alcohol in this camp?”
“Uh...” Lizzie paused. “No.”
“This just gets better and better,” Crystal continued, opening the lid of her laptop. She clicked on the mouse a couple of times. “No internet connection. Great.” Closing the lid again, she took a deep breath. “Well, when life gives you lemons... First off, I'm going to announce an alcohol amnesty, after which anyone caught with even a drop is going to face sanctions. I set this camp up to help people and to improve the lives of sick teenagers, so believe me, I hate having to get tough, but a little discipline needs to be restored.”
“What about -”
“Second,” she continued firmly, with a tone of voice that indicated she didn't want to be interrupted again, “I would like you to tell your friend Beth, when she finally surfaces, that she is to come and see me immediately. I'm sure she's just out exploring the forest, but -”
“She's not really the -”
“I'm sure she's just out exploring the forest,” Crystal said a
gain, fixing Lizzie with a deathly stare, “and that she hasn't given due consideration to the fact that people might be worried about her.” She forced a smile. “That said, she needs to think more clearly about the fact that there are individuals at this camp who have a legal and moral responsibility to look after her. She can't just go wandering off whenever the mood strikes her.”
“But if -”
“There's nothing out there that can hurt anyone,” Crystal continued. “This is England, not the wilds of America or the Australian outback. There's nothing poisonous in the forest, nothing with sharp teeth, nothing that might want a taste of human flesh.”
“What if she's sick?” Lizzie asked. “She's got hairy leukemia, or whatever it's called. What if she collapsed? She might be out there right now, needing medical attention!”
“I'll ask our landsman to keep an eye out.” She checked her phone. “When he finally bothers to show up, at least. He'll head down to the lake and check the area thoroughly, but I'm quite sure that nothing so dramatic has happened. Miss Bondell's condition shouldn't cause her to pass out so easily.” She paused. “You know, we gave great thought to the idea of tagging all the campers this year with little electronic devices. We didn't do it because we figured people would be upset about privacy, but right now...” Running her hands through her hair, she let out another sigh. “Thank you, Miss Miller. Please tell your friends that between you, you've conspired to make the first full day of camp a real nightmare.”
“Sorry,” Lizzie muttered. “It wasn't even my -”
“And you're sanctioned,” Crystal added. “Do you know what that means?”
“Punishment?”
“It means that while everyone else gets to have fun this afternoon, you're going to be cleaning out the portable toilets.” She paused, eying Lizzie with suspicion. “Just you, Miss Miller. On your own.”
“Me? That's not fair!”
“Beth Bondell will join you when she shows up, but for now you two are the only ones who I can prove did anything wrong. I doubt Kirsty Cross, Todd Donarchie and Laura Marshall would confess if I dragged them in here, so...” She forced a smile. “Mr. Marlowe will help you find a mop and bucket after lunch. I hope you'll use the time to reflect upon your actions, and I'm quite certain that I won't need to discipline you again during your stay here at Camp Everbee.”
“No,” Lizzie muttered.
“Now get out of here,” Crystal continued. “I don't have time to be dealing with all this crap.”
Heading out the door, Lizzie stopped for a moment in the corridor.
“Great,” she said with a sigh. “This is what I get for trying to be social.”
Chapter Seven
“Oh joy,” Freeman muttered as he checked his phone and saw that his boss was trying to get in touch with him yet again. Stopping in a clearing, he debated not answering for a moment, before finally hitting the button to accept the call.
“Where the hell are you?” Crystal asked before he could say anything.
“I'm up on top glade,” he replied, “checking for -”
“I need you back here immediately. Another girl has gone missing.”
“Another...” He paused for a moment. “What exactly do you mean?”
“Do I have to spell it out for you? A girl who is supposed to be here, is not here. She and some of her new friends went out for a midnight swim in the lake last night, but while the others made it back tired and hungover, Miss Beth Bondell is nowhere to be found.”
Freeman turned and looked back the way he'd come.
“How long since she was last seen?”
“A few hours.”
“So there's no need to panic just yet.”
“After what happened last time, I think panicking would be a very good idea, don't you?”
He paused again, his eyes scanning the horizon.
“This is perfect,” Crystal continued. “After all the effort I put in to keep the situation under control last time with that other girl, and after I managed to keep the reputation of Camp Everbee from being torn to shreds, now another dumb little bitch goes walkabout. Seriously, can't any of these people show a little gratitude for all the work I put in? They're like disobedient little puppies.” She sighed. “I'm sure the Bondell girl is just out there somewhere, mindlessly picking fucking bluebells or something, completely unaware of the trouble she's causing. That's the problem with kids today, they only think about themselves.” She let out a groan of frustration.
“What's her condition?” Freeman asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Her cancer,” he continued, with evident frustration in his voice. “What type of cancer does she have?”
“Oh,” Crystal replied airily, “I think it was... hairy cell chronic lymphcytic leukemia. I don't remember precisely which band she was in, but that's the general area. So not great, but not awful either.”
“She still shouldn't be out alone. She could suffer sudden weakness or shortness of breath. What was her last platelet count?”
“How should I know?”
“Don't you have all the campers' medical files?”
“Somewhere, but I don't see how that's relevant. None of these people are at death's door. I make sure not to accept anyone who's got less than six months to live. I don't like it when they get that yellow-skinned look, it's just unsettling.”
“I'll check the area between the camp and the lake,” he replied, barely able to hide his disgust at her attitude, “but you need to think about calling the -”
“We'll handle this internally.”
“But -”
“The same way we handled the Ally Andrews situation, if necessary.”
“That didn't work out so well.”
“It worked out just fine. Her family accepted that she had run off with that dreadful boy, and as far as they're concerned she had a lovely two week stay here at Everbee. Really, given the circumstances, things couldn't have worked out any better.”
“You know she didn't run off with that guy.”
“How do I know that? She wouldn't be the first young lady to get all starry-eyed over some man.”
Freeman paused for a moment. He wanted to tell her exactly what he thought, not only about her but about her whole rotten camp, but once again he forced himself to stay quiet.
“I hope you won't be causing trouble,” Crystal continued. “We did have a very long discussion about the matter a few weeks ago, and I was under the impression that we'd rather put it to bed.”
“One missing girl is one thing,” he replied cautiously, “but two -”
“Is still not a good enough reason to endanger the whole Camp Everbee project,” she said firmly. “We do so much good work here, let's not risk it all just because a couple of foolish young girls can't stick to the rules. Ally Andrews was an unfortunate situation that was swiftly and, in my humble view very effectively, dealt with. Off she went with that young man, and none of us here at Everbee saw her again.”
“I did see her again,” Freeman replied, interrupting her. “That night when I thought I saw someone and I chased them, I swear it must have been her.”
“Did you see her face?”
“No, but -”
“And you didn't catch up to her either, did you?”
“She just seemed to vanish into thin air when I got to the cabins. All the doors were locked, so I figured she must have kept going, but I keep thinking back to that night and -”
“Well don't,” she said firmly.
“It was her!”
“Which is impossible, when you think about it.” She paused. “Face it, Miss Andrews probably ran off with that awful boyfriend of hers, and Miss Bondell is most likely going to come wandering back to camp at any moment. Please, Freeman, don't let that bleeding heart of yours cause any more problems. Remember that I took a big risk when I hired you. With your background and history, there aren't many people who'd take you on.”
He turned and looked towa
rd the lake, which rippled in the distance, far beyond the trees.
“I'll spend the morning checking the area,” he said finally. “If she's out here, I'll find her.”
“I'm sure you will. You're the best landsman around.”
“Also, I found another dead animal yesterday, and my sister -”
“I don't need to hear about this,” she replied, interrupting him. “I'm sorry, Freeman, but I have to go. Pop by my office around lunchtime and we can see how things are looking. And please, don't bring up any more trouble right now. The last thing I need is you to keep nagging about dead squirrels again.”
“But -”
Before he could finish, he realized that she'd hung up on him.
“Idiot,” he sighed, slipping his phone into his pocket before turning and making his way down the gently sloping hill that ran east through the forest, with sunlight glinting off the surface of the distant lake.
***
“Okay, you,” Karen muttered as she finished pinning the dead squirrel down onto an examination table, “let's see what we're dealing with.”
Using the tip of a scalpel, she cut into a section of fur running around the squirrel's neck, before peeling back a flap of skin to expose the meat beneath. Once the meat had been excised, she took a magnifying glass and used it to examine the base of the skull at the point where it met the spine, only to see that a thin black tendril seemed to have reached up through the squirrel's body, winding around the spine until it poked up into the skull itself.
“Invasive,” she whispered, taking a small clamp and using it to gently dislodge the lower jaw. Tilting the dead creature's head back, she could see that the black tendril seemed to extend significantly into the brain cavity. She took a moment to peer at the squirrel's face, before looking back down at the main bulk of the tumor, which remained a large, shiny black mass in the abdominal cavity.