by Colin Garrow
I began sawing.
It was a little while later before I could feel any progress, and even then, I hadn't made much impression on the tough material. It seemed that I'd managed to cut through a couple of strips but they were obviously overlapped by several more strips. It would take hours to get free.
And that's when they came for us.
The first voice was that of the old man in the cottage.
'Time to go,' he rasped, and I heard him clump across the floor. Suzi let out a moan and I sensed he'd picked her up. A moment later, two strong hands grasped my waist and I felt myself tipped upwards and thrown over someone's shoulder.
Something hit my head as we were carried along. I heard the scraping of boots on wood, then we were outside, cold air finding its way to my face. I had the sense that it was dark, which might have meant we'd been asleep all day.
I heard a muffled yelp and a thump, then my captor lowered me onto a hard edge, like a bench. Someone pushed me onto my back, then rolled me over a few times. Suzi was moaning next to me and I shuffled towards the sounds so she would at least know I was there.
A gruff voice shouted, 'Cover 'em up,' and a heavy sheet landed on top of us. From the weight of it I reckoned it must be a tarpaulin, like the ones Jimmy Brick's dad used to tie stuff onto the back of his lorry.
There was a clank of metal on metal and a thud. Then again - a clank and a thud. There was something strangely familiar about the sound, but for a moment, I struggled to work out where I'd heard it before. Then an engine rattled into life - rumbling and sputtering as if it was old and past its best. And that's when I knew. On Saturday mornings, the rag and bone men came along our street, collecting rubbish and old furniture. They had a big old lorry and would throw stuff in the back, stacking things up where necessary, or pushing them to one side. And when they'd finished, they'd flip the tailgate back up, locking each side into place with a metal pin attached to a short chain.
The noise of the engine, however, was different, so I knew we weren't in the back of the rag and bone lorry. The vehicle jerked and moved forward, throwing us across the floor. As it picked up speed I could hear the driver changing through the gears. The truck had to be on a road, or more likely, a rough track, as we were lurching around from side to side, not chugging along smoothly like we'd be doing if it was a proper road.
Had there been a road near the old man's cottage? The only one I could think of was the farm track nearby, but if it was that one we'd have had to be carried from the cottage all the way up to the top, so they must have already taken us back to the other house. Or somewhere else entirely.
The rotten-vegetable smell from earlier had gone but it'd been replaced with a different one - the fumes from the engine crept over me, making me gag. If we were left here too long, we'd die. I had to do something.
I was lying on my back and still had the broken bracket in my hand, though my arm had slid round so it was almost behind me. Wriggling up onto my left side, I worked my hand back and forth until it was roughly in the same position as before. I could feel the piece of rough fabric I'd already cut. If I could cut through the other layers, it might be possible to get my hand free.
'Nnggh,' said a voice next to me. I felt a lurch in my stomach - though I didn't have a clue what she was trying to say, Suzi sounded distressed. I wished I could tell her my plan, but all I could do was keep working away with the bracket.
The lorry's engine whined and dropped down a gear. We must be going uphill. If we were still in the area around Skeleton Cove, the only hills were near the beach, where all of the roads curved up towards the town. Still sawing away at the tough fabric, I tried to imagine where we might be headed. If they were taking us into town, they must have a hideout, a warehouse maybe, somewhere they could lock us in. But that didn't make sense - if they wanted us out of action, they'd already achieved that by tying us up with these bandages. No, there must be another reason.
The piece of fabric I'd been working on gave way and my fingers poked though. At last! Pushing the bracket back into my pocket, I pulled at my bindings and immediately felt something give way. Seconds later my hand was free and able to grab at the bandages higher up. Scrabbling around for anything that might be loose, my fingers found a knot. Even though I'd never been in the scouts, I could tell this was a reef knot. Feeling my way around it, I pushed one of the free ends back through the loop and a moment later, the thing fell away.
Grasping one of the now loose ends, I pulled at it, and the bandages around my stomach loosened a little more. Taking my time, I wriggled around, pulling and undoing my ties.
It felt like an absolute age, but could only have been a few minutes before my right arm was free. After that if was easy and I pulled the rest of the bandages away from my body and head.
As soon as I'd got rid of the ones around my face, I could see. Throwing the tarpaulin to one side, I sat up. Sure enough, we were in the back of a grotty-looking truck, Suzi lying beside me. My feet were still tied but leaning over, I unfastened three of the knots around her tummy and neck and in a flash, her arms were free, clawing at her bonds like a mad thing.
'Jeez,' she gasped, who are they?'
I followed her gaze. In my haste to set her free, I hadn't noticed there were two other 'mummies' in the lorry with us. They lay on the floor near the back of the truck by the tailgate. Both were much bigger than us and it was pretty obvious who they were.
I looked at Suzi. 'The ones in the house?'
She nodded slowly. 'At least they are dead...'
We hadn't had a chance to talk about what had happened before, but it seemed likely the two grown-ups had suffered the same fate as Harry McSpawn.
Suzi shuddered. 'Can we get out of here now, please?'
Above the tailgate, a length of tarpaulin hung down, shutting out the night sky. Fastened at one corner but not the other, it would be an easy matter to climb over the tailgate and jump off the lorry. Crawling to where the material flapped in the wind, I peered out.
'We're on the Bonefield Gardens estate,' I said. 'Looks like they're headed for the school.'
Suzi sat up quickly. 'Or the cemetery.' A hand went to her mouth and she pointed at the two bodies. 'They're going to bury us in Haggerty's Park.'
Fourteen
Thinking back, that moment of realisation would've been the perfect time to clamber over the tailgate and jump off the lorry.
But we didn't do that. Instead, we sat there staring at each other, trying to comprehend the horror of what was about to happen.
As if on cue, the lorry screeched to a halt.
'Quick, we have to –'
Suzi slapped a hand over my mouth and shook her head, urging me to keep quiet. Grabbing the tarpaulin, she dragged it towards us. In an instant, I understood her plan. We'd cover ourselves up as before so the bad guys wouldn't realise we were free. With any luck, they'd take the other two corpses first, giving us time to make our escape.
The cab doors banged shut and an unknown number of feet walked round to the back of the lorry. Two men were talking - did that mean there were only two? I hoped so. They were discussing how to do it.
'We'll 'ave ter use the barrow,' said one.
'Can't - I didn't bring it.'
'Aw, you stupid git, now we'll 'ave ter carry em one at a time, over the bleedin wall, right the way across the bleedin cemetery in the bleedin dark.'
The other man said he wasn't a stupid git and anyway the wheel on the barrow was squeaky and would've made too much noise.
They quarrelled for another minute or two, then there was a thud as the tailgate dropped open. I held my breath, praying they'd take the adults first. If either of the men pulled back the tarpaulin, we'd be in big trouble.
Luckily, they did exactly what Suzi guessed they'd do. There was a scraping sound as they hauled one of the mummies along the floor, then the men took turns to curse each other at the weight of it.
Lifting my head as much as I dared, I pulled the tarpaul
in aside and peered out, following the direction of the voices. It sounded like they'd walked back around towards the front of the lorry. Pushing the heavy sheet back, I nudged Suzi. 'Time to go.'
As quietly as possible, we lowered ourselves down over the edge and onto the ground. I crept to the side of the lorry and slid sideways just enough to watch the proceedings.
The men had balanced the first body on top of the wall and were endeavouring, with quite a bit of toing and froing, to manhandle it over the top. I waited until they'd both climbed over before signalling to Suzi that we should move.
'Wait,' she hissed. 'Shouldn't we see where they go, first?'
'Why?'
'So we can tell the police, of course.'
She was right. No-one would ever believe our story unless we could prove it. We'd have to see where they buried the bodies. Keeping a close eye on the villains' progress, I ran over to the wall. It was hard to see in the dark but it looked like the men had made it as far as the central path.
'Where are they taking it?' said Suzi, crouching beside me.
'Not sure. But if they're actually going to bury it, there has to be a grave.'
She nodded. 'And they don't have shovels so it must already be there.'
'Let's climb over,' I said. 'We can circle round from the top end, so they don't see us.'
And that's what we did. Staying in the shadow of the wall, we circled round until we were close enough to see what the men were doing. Crouching behind a clump of bushes, we watched as the body was lowered to the ground a few feet away from a mound of earth. They straightened up, rubbed their backs and had a bit of a moan about it being hard work, before picking up their load again.
'Can you still see them,' said Suzi, looking over my shoulder.
'No. We'll have to get closer.' I moved to the other side of the bushes and crept forward, with Suzi hanging onto my jacket. Now we were only a few feet away - too close for my liking, but so long as we didn't make any noise, they'd never know we were there.
As we watched, they picked up the mummified corpse and lowered it into the hole. There was a dull thud as they let it drop the last few feet. The taller of the two men took out a torch and placed it on the ground so it shone a beam across the open grave. Then, picking something up from the ground beside the hole, he threw a few shovelfuls of earth over the corpse.
'One down,' he muttered. Then dropping the shovel, he pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lit up. He took his time, leaning against the tree, blowing out a long plume of smoke. The other man stuck his hands in his pockets.
'What're they doing?' whispered Suzi in my ear.
'Having a rest, maybe? I dunno.'
The man with the cigarette walked around the grave, then turned and headed straight towards our hiding place. Tensing, I made ready to grab Suzi and run like blazes, but the man did a U-turn and plonked himself down on a tree stump.
'Should've been 'ere by now,' he grumbled.
I looked at Suzi. They were expecting someone else - but who? The people in the cellar had said they were waiting for someone else too, and look what happened to them! Peering at the darkened graveyard around us, my eyes searched the gloom for signs of anyone approaching. We'd seen no other vehicles, but that didn't mean anything - whoever they were expecting might easily arrive on foot.
And that's when I heard it.
Directly behind us a twig snapped. The man on the tree stump jumped up and peered over our heads into the darkness. Me and Suzi crouched down as far as we could without actually merging into the earth.
There was someone, or something, standing behind us. How far away was difficult to tell and I daren't chance taking a proper look - if I raised my head, the thing (whatever it was), would see me for sure. We had to sit tight and keep down.
Suzi mouthed, 'I want to go home,' her eyes fixed on the dark figure walking towards us.
'Over 'ere, Sir,' said one of the men, moving forward. His boots clomped through the grass within a few inches of our hiding place. Then he stopped and shuffled his feet. I turned my head slowly and saw the man's left leg. It was shaking - from fear or irritation, I couldn't tell.
'We got em,' said the shaky-legged man. 'Just threw the first one in.' He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. His words sounded odd - the gruff villain of earlier had gone and there was a strain in his voice, the same thing I'd noticed when we'd asked Mr Dangerfield about Devilgate Drive. Maybe this man was expecting some sort of punishment?
The dark figure hadn't moved. Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the shape.
The man next to me had stepped in front of us, so now I couldn't see the newcomer. But I heard him.
'Fetch. The. Others.'
The voice was low, but seemed to vibrate right through me, hammering at my ribcage as if it were a xylophone. Suzi gasped and clamped a hand over her own mouth. I looked up, but there was no sign anyone had noticed.
Shaky-Leg Man gave a little bow, like a servant, and ran off back towards the lorry, his partner hurrying after him.
As I watched, the thing in front of us dropped its head and stared straight at me, unseen eyes burning into my face.
'Y-o-u...' A claw-like hand swung upwards, elongated fingers curling into a fist, one solitary digit pointing directly at me.
'Y-o-u...' it said again, the word reverberating through my chest, making my bones ache.
Suzi jumped up. 'Leave us alone.'
The thing growled like something feral. It shook its head, and the hood that had concealed its face dropped back, revealing two red eyes.
I swallowed hard. It was the Skull Man. And since there were no superheroes on hand to save us, there was only one thing to do.
But Suzi hadn't finished her rant. 'Why don't you go and scare someone your own size?'
Carefully, I took hold of her shoulders and stepped in front of her. If we were about to get eaten or exterminated by this beast, at least I could die knowing I'd tried to protect my best friend. Keeping the creature in sight, I sidestepped the tree and walked slowly backwards, pushing Suzi towards the open grave. If I could somehow trip the creature up and push it into the hole, we might have a chance. Either that, or we'd end up right where they'd wanted us in the first place - dead and buried.
What happened next is a blur - the thing in front of us moved, or appeared to move and was instantly twice the size it had been. Had it leaped closer or simply grown in size? If there'd been time to think about it, I'd have done the sensible thing and shone my torch in its eyes, before running like blazes back down the path.
But I didn't have my torch. Instead, dragging Suzi along with me, I ran straight past the grave and into the trees. A shout from our left told me the two men had realised what was happening and were running towards us. We had to hide, and quickly. Pushing through a clump of bushes, I heard Suzi yelp. Spinning round, I grabbed the branch that'd caught her sleeve and yanked it free. Breaking through onto a stretch of open ground, we ran hell for leather. We had to reach the trees.
A fleeting thought occurred to me as I caught sight of a handful of random letters. The last time we were here, we hadn't explored the area around the rusty sign. If we had, we'd have seen the hole.
As the earth fell away beneath us, I heard Suzi scream.
Fifteen
I landed with a thud, the wind knocked out of me. A second later, Suzi crashed down on top of me.
For a few long moments, we could do nothing but gasp for breath. As we lay there panting, I stared upwards, searching for signs of our pursuers. There was nothing to see but a pale circle of night sky far above. Though I was grateful there were no hideous creatures or villains clambering down after us, it was a little disconcerting to learn they'd apparently lost interest. Closer to hand, a light source cast a muted glow bright enough to see what we had landed on.
'Straw,' I muttered, grasping a handful. A tang of something earthy wafted across my face. I sniffed.
'Smells like a farmyard,' said Suzi scrambling to her feet. '
Except without the farm.'
Standing, I brushed myself down and took in our surroundings. We appeared to be in a huge fireplace - the type I'd seen in medieval castles. The fireplace opened up into a room that might have been a kitchen at some point in time. The walls were bare, the stonework dusty and worn, like it'd been there for hundreds of years. Though the light was dim, I could see a half-open door at the other side of the room.
Loose bundles of straw covered the ground where we'd landed. It was perhaps two feet deep and had clearly been there for a while. There were signs of leftover food too, and a general smell of mustiness about the place.
Looking across to where the light was coming from, I could see an old wooden door standing partially open, allowing a narrow shaft of light to fall across the ground. A scratching noise above us prompted me to peer upwards towards the hole we'd fallen through, but it was no longer there, as if someone had rolled a boulder over it, ensuring we could never return.
Getting up, I crossed to the door and looked out. A wide stone-flagged passageway disappeared into the distance. On one side stood a metal brazier stuffed with burning wood and rags, the flickering orangey glow illuminating the immediate area.
'Come on,' I murmured, taking Suzi's hand.
Stepping through the door, we paused. Apart from the little we could see from the glow of the fire, it was hard to make out anything, but I guessed there had to be other rooms leading off the passage.
Moving towards the fire, I noticed a faded nameplate on the wall above, telling us we were in Devilgate Passage.
'This is crazy,' said Suzi. I felt her shudder as she gazed up at the sign. 'What does it mean?'
Turning to look again at the fire, I sensed movement somewhere up ahead. Nudging Suzi, I nodded towards where I thought the figure had been. 'Someone's there.'
'Don't suppose it occurred to you to pick up that bloke's torch?'