SpeedKing was in a ditch with a knife to his throat. He’d pulled out his own knife when he was grabbed and dragged backwards off the road, a gloved hand holding a doctored cloth over his mouth to make him groggy and keep him quiet, then dropped it as he was pushed into the ditch. He could see the blade glinting in the undergrowth, just out of reach, and he cursed his carelessness. He’d let his guard down, distracted by thoughts of the horror of Astrid’s death, and had been caught by surprise.
‘Keep your fucking mouth shut,’ said Slayer, ‘or I’ll rip your throat out, right here and now.’
SpeedKing reckoned, given half a chance, he could take the guy, get him on the deck and turn the tables. He just needed to stay alive long enough to get a chance. He was damned if he was going out without a fight.
Then the man put the cloth back to his face and he passed out.
***
In the kitchen, with everyone gathered around, JacktheRiffer related the story of everything he and SpeedKing had done: the climb over the gates, walking approximately a mile in each direction, not finding any signs or getting a phone signal; then SpeedKing’s disappearance while he, himself, climbed the gates to come back into the house. His hands were shaking and his voice was unsteady.
‘One minute he was there, and then he just …’
‘Did you hear anything?’ asked Mayfly.
JacktheRiffer shook his head. ‘Nothing unusual. He didn’t say anything. It’s like he was beamed up or something.’
‘I vote we put JacktheRiffer in the basement and lock him in,’ said Monkeyboy.
‘What?’ JacktheRiffer was incredulous.
‘Well, he’s been there twice today when someone has disappeared, and he never sees anything or hears anything, does he?’
‘That has nothing to do with me. I swear, I don’t know any more than you do about this. Besides, you saw the killer in the attic room when I was just down the stair, with Indigo.’
‘He could be your accomplice,’ said Monkeyboy. He addressed the others. ‘He says they walked a mile in each direction and that’s why he was gone so long, but he could have spent that time killing SpeedKing. SpeedKing could be up there right now, under that bike.’
‘Let’s go and have a look,’ said JacktheRiffer. ‘Maybe we can help him.’ He shuddered at the thought of going up there again, but would face it to try to save his friend.
‘Look at the state he’s in,’ said Indigo, reasonably. ‘And we all saw what he was like when he found that JunkieScum was gone, then how he reacted when we were in that room and saw what the killer had done to the others. It’s not him.’
‘You can’t say that for sure,’ said Monkeyboy, petulantly. ‘The fact is, you don’t know anything about him.’
‘Be fair, mate, we don’t know anything about anybody,’ said Indigo.
‘Can’t we tie him up, at least?’
‘No! Now, stop this! We need to stick together, to work as a team, if we’re all going to get out of here alive,’ said BlackWidow.
‘Are we going up to the attic again?’ said Mayfly.
Indigo ran his hands through his hair. ‘As far as we know, SpeedKing isn’t in the house. We don’t know where he is. We could search, like we did for the others, but I fear it would just be a waste of time.’ He sighed. ‘Let’s face it, we haven’t saved anybody, so far.’
‘What do we do, then?’ said Mayfly.
‘I think we should just get out of here and put as much distance between us and this fucking house as we possibly can,’ Indigo said. He looked at each of his companions in turn. ‘Agreed?’
‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to climb over those gates,’ said BlackWidow. ‘Maybe I should stay here. I can lock myself into my room while you’re gone.’
Indigo shook his head. ‘You saw the secret passage in JacktheRiffer’s room,’ he said. ‘There are hidden doors, trapdoors and God knows what else in this house. Nowhere’s safe.’
‘But if I can’t climb over the gates, I’m stuck here anyway.’
‘I can stay with BlackWidow,’ said Mayfly.
‘No,’ said Indigo emphatically. ‘There’s no way I’m leaving anybody behind if we haven’t at least tried to get them out.’
BlackWidow sighed and rubbed her eyes. ‘Okay, then, honey,’ she said. ‘Let’s all at least try. We’d better get wrapped up, if we’re going out there.’
They were soon wearing coats and gloves and ready to go. Indigo looked at the provisions BlackWidow had packed up; there was enough for an army.
‘I don’t think we need all this,’ he said.
‘I know,’ said BlackWidow, ‘but fixing it was a way to kill time until the boys came back.’ She unpacked a couple of bags, then repacked them with water bottles and sandwiches, making sure the weight was fairly equally distributed.
‘That’s more like it,’ said Indigo. He took one bag and JacktheRiffer took the other.
They headed for the front door. Monkeyboy made sure there was distance between him and JacktheRiffer, and Indigo brought up the rear. When he paused to lock the front door, JacktheRiffer said, ‘I wouldn’t bother, mate. We don’t plan on being back, and he’s proved he can come and go as he pleases, anyway.’
‘Fair point,’ said Indigo, and he posted the key back through the letter box.
Chapter 32
The group had made their way to the perimeter wall and were standing looking up at the gates. ‘Mate, you’ve climbed these before,’ Indigo said to JacktheRiffer. ‘Want to show us how it’s done?’
JacktheRiffer still looked pretty shaky, but he nodded. ‘Yeah, okay, man. There’s footholds and places to grab on,’ he told them. He put down the bag he was carrying. ‘You’ve just got to be careful not to overstretch.’ He climbed up the gates, swung a leg over and once more stopped at the top. He sat astride the gates and looked back. This time, to his relief, everyone was still watching him. He swung his other leg over the top and let himself down into the road.
‘Monkeyboy, you go next,’ said Indigo.
Monkeyboy scaled the gates with relative ease, and was soon standing next to JacktheRiffer on the outside. He moved a couple of steps away from him, kept eyes on him at all times.
‘Fuck’s sake!’ JacktheRiffer muttered.
‘Now you, love,’ Indigo said to Mayfly, and she scrambled over to join them.
‘I haven’t done anything like that since I was a kid!’ she said, relieved to have successfully made the climb. BlackWidow was looking apprehensive. ‘Just take your time,’ said Mayfly. ‘It isn’t so bad.’
‘You hauled maybe a hundred thirty pounds over there, honey. I’m going to have to move a lot more than that.’
‘You go next,’ said Indigo. ‘I’ll help you climb up from this side, then JacktheRiffer and Monkeyboy can help you get down on the other. Okay?’
‘Okay, then. I guess I’ll try pretty much anything if it means getting away from here.’
BlackWidow took hold of the bars and looked up. The top looked an awfully long way off. Heights weren’t her favourite thing at the best of times, but she preferred them to falls. And, despite her earlier assertion that she should stay behind, she admitted to herself that she would risk a fall over the prospect of being left behind in that house, alone. She took a deep breath and began to climb. She took it slowly, was careful, tested that the structure would take her weight before relying on it to support her. Indigo was encouraging and JacktheRiffer suggested places for her to put her hands and feet. After what seemed like an age, she reached the top of the gate. That was the easy bit; now she had to climb over the top. Her heart in her mouth, she raised her left leg and, hanging on for grim death, swung it over the top of the gates, buoyed by the encouragement the others were shouting and her determination to get away from the house. Having tested her footing was secure, she swung her right leg over as well, then climbed carefully down the other side. Hands grasped her as soon as she was within reach, and she heaved a sigh of relief when her f
eet touched solid ground.
Mayfly hugged her. ‘Well done! You’re out now, we’re going to be safe.’
‘I hope so, honey. I sure wouldn’t like to go through that again.’ BlackWidow’s heart was hammering in her chest, her system flooded with adrenaline. She took deep breaths to steady herself.
Indigo passed the bags though the gates, then began his climb. When he was safely on the road outside, the group took a moment to look back at the house, then turned and started to walk away.
***
‘On your feet,’ said Slayer, when the group was well down the road and out of sight. ‘Out of the ditch.’
‘I can’t move with the knife to my throat,’ said SpeedKing. ‘You’ll have to give me some space.’
‘Okay, but don’t get any stupid ideas, you hear?’ The pressure of the knife eased, and SpeedKing scrambled out of the ditch, the killer close behind him. ‘Over the road, quickly, now.’
SpeedKing walked ahead of Slayer, towards the gates. He still felt groggy and his head was thumping. Still, he saw a chance and he took it. As the man unlocked the padlock, SpeedKing punched him, rattling his head off the wrought iron. He was readying himself for a fight when Slayer pulled out a gun. SpeedKing’s heart sank.
‘You’ll fucking pay for that,’ Slayer said. ‘Finish unlocking the gates.’
SpeedKing did as he was told, and the men passed through and back into the grounds.
‘Now, lock them again.’
Again, SpeedKing did as he was told, then they walked towards the house. ‘Get inside,’ Slayer said, as they reached the front door.
SpeedKing pushed it open and went in. He saw the key Indigo had posted through the letter box lying on the mat. He kicked it to one side then, as Slayer looked out to check there was no one around to see them, picked it up and pocketed it. He figured it might come in handy at some point.
‘Right, up the stairs,’ Slayer said as he shut the door. ‘Get a move on. Now!’
Chapter 33
The group headed along the single-track road, relieved to be out of the house and doing something that felt positive. Conversation was hushed and sporadic as they walked. JacktheRiffer estimated their pace meant that they were covering roughly three miles an hour. He checked his watch; it told him it was quarter to twelve already and they had only been walking for half an hour. It would be dark by five o’clock. He hoped to God they’d reached some sort of safety by then.
They kept on going, eating up the miles. The road snaked and twisted through the countryside, following the contours of the land, but no road signs popped into view and no one recognised anything they passed. The road stayed single track, and the landscape never changed. Rhododendrons and ferns. Hills. Heather. Forested area a little way ahead. Scotland. But SpeedKing was the one who had torn around the Highlands on his bike, the one most likely to recognise something that would orientate them, and the one with the mobile phone. JacktheRiffer suspected that wasn’t a coincidence he was no longer a part of the group.
***
SpeedKing was tied to a chair in the attic room. The motorbike lay on its side nearby. The killer turned his back to him, took out a satellite phone and made a call.
‘Glasgow? Problem. They’ve all fucked off down the road.’
‘Really? Listen, don’t worry, there’s nowhere they can go. Give it a couple of hours and if they haven’t come back, we’ll go out in the van and pick them up.’
‘I’ve got one of them here to keep me busy in the meantime. He’s looking pretty worried right now.’
‘So he should be. Be sure and let him know how pissed off you are that his mates buggered off.’
‘Depend on it. See you later.’ He ended the call. ‘Now for you,’ he said, turning to SpeedKing. ‘I’m going to enjoy this.’
Slayer picked up a hunting knife and lunged at SpeedKing. SpeedKing launched himself and the chair towards Slayer, and both of them crashed to the floor. Slayer was dazed, but conscious. SpeedKing tried to get some distance between them so he could kick the man, heavy boots being the best weapon he had. He got a couple of good kicks in before Slayer scooted away on his backside, then stood up.
‘You’ll fucking pay for that,’ he said. He was breathing heavily, angry that SpeedKing had got the better of him. He moved behind SpeedKing and dragged the chair upright, then drove the knife into SpeedKing’s side and worked the handle up and down, doing maximum internal damage with the blade. SpeedKing gasped as his mouth filled with hot blood, then he slumped forward in the chair. Slayer grabbed a handful of his hair and dragged his head back. Blood loss meant that SpeedKing was barely conscious as Slayer began cutting along his hairline, and unconscious by the time he finished. The pain as the man peeled his scalp back from his forehead brought him back round and he screamed; by the time it came free, he was dead.
***
As the group walked along the road, BlackWidow fell into step with JacktheRiffer. ‘So, how are you holding up, honey?’ she asked him.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘As well as any of us, I suppose,’ he said, ‘although it’s been a very rough day.’
‘For sure. You’ve lost two companions today.’
‘And I’m under suspicion for it.’
‘Not from me, honey. In fact, not from anyone if they think about it properly,’ she said, casting a glance at Monkeyboy, who was ahead of them. ‘It’s just that everyone is so afraid, it makes us less rational, you know?’
‘Yeah, I know. It’s still hard to bear, though.’
‘Tell me about your young lady. Who was she? What was her story, did she tell you?’
‘A little bit of it, yes. She was like the rest of us, she had burdens to bear; life had been cruel to her.’ He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. ‘She tried to make the best of her situation, but things seemed to go wrong for her time and again. Every time she thought she’d got ahead, she got knocked back. She finally lost all hope; then she found The Last Weekend page online.’
‘Different roads here for all of us, and yet so much is the same.’
JacktheRiffer nodded, lost in his thoughts.
They pressed on for a while longer, then BlackWidow called for a break. ‘Come on, you guys, have a heart. Just ten minutes, okay?’
‘Okay,’ Indigo said. It was quarter past two. Three hours in and no sign of anything useful. Not a house, not a car, not a kid on a bike or a rider on horseback. Nothing. Also, the pace had been getting slower and slower as people tired and muscles not used to being worked so hard started to ache and seize up. ‘Ten minutes, then we press on.’
They had reached the forested area and found somewhere to sit down, amongst the trees. They kept the road in sight. Mayfly fetched Indigo a sandwich and a bottle of water. ‘It certainly is well removed from the rest of the world, The Last Weekend house,’ she said, as she handed them over.
Indigo drank from the bottle, then said, ‘We have to come across something soon. How long were we driving with the blindfolds on? Can you remember?’
Mayfly chewed thoughtfully on a ham sandwich. ‘Half an hour?’ She shook her head. ‘It was really difficult to tell, you know?’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Indigo said, scratching his head. He turned to JacktheRiffer, who had gravitated to his side. ‘Do you have any idea how long we were blindfolded?’
‘I’m not sure. I would guess half an hour, like Mayfly says, but it really is just a guess.’
‘Assume we’re right. We put the blindfolds on after we had left the motorway. We were on a regular road and there was some other traffic. It got steadily slower and quieter, then there was just us. Say we averaged thirty-five miles an hour, worst case scenario is it takes us seventeen miles to reach help.’
‘How far do you reckon we’ve walked?’ asked Mayfly.
‘Nine miles or so,’ said Indigo. JacktheRiffer nodded his agreement.
‘So, provided we can keep going, we should be safe in, say, three hours’ time?’
‘Maybe. But if it was forty-five minutes and the bus averaged forty miles an hour, we could only be a third of the way there. It’s all guesswork.’
‘There’s something else to take into consideration,’ said JacktheRiffer. ‘It’s going to be fully dark by five o’clock, and there are no streetlamps around here. That means, unless we want to be walking these roads in the pitch black, we need to either hit something in the next half hour or else turn back.’
‘We can’t turn back!’ exclaimed Mayfly. ‘Not when we’ve come so far.’
‘Well,’ said BlackWidow, ‘I don’t want to turn back, but I also don’t want us to be out here on our own in the dark.’
‘It’s already cold,’ said Indigo. ‘It’s freezing at night, this time of year. The killer isn’t the only danger we’ll face if we get caught out overnight.’
‘Surely it won’t come to that,’ said Mayfly. ‘We’ve got to find something soon, surely.’ She shivered as the wind whipped her hair into her eyes. It had been rising steadily all the while they had been walking. She looked at the sky; ominous dark clouds were blowing in, and the level of light had already reduced.
‘Why?’ asked Indigo. ‘Because we want to? Because we don’t want to go back? Wanting it doesn’t make it so.’
‘I don’t know how much longer I can keep walking,’ said BlackWidow. ‘We’re not equipped either for a really long hike or a night spent outside. Indigo’s right; we’ll freeze.’
‘I thought we’d have found something by now,’ said JacktheRiffer. ‘I must admit, I’m getting rattled.’ He looked around him. ‘Things have barely changed in all the time we’ve been walking. If we hadn’t been following a road and finally managed to reach the forest, I’d be concerned we were going round in circles.’
‘I vote we give it another half an hour, as JacktheRiffer suggests,’ said Indigo. ‘I don’t want to go back any more than anyone else does, but we have to be pragmatic about this.’
‘Come on, then,’ said Mayfly. ‘Let’s make the most of the time we’ve got. Half an hour, see where we are then.’
The Last Weekend Page 17