Authors: Colin Griffiths
Peter thought maybe once they were over the bridge they may have to stop off at a travel lodge for the night, visibility was only a couple of yards as Peter crawled along in the torrential rain, Nathan and Lily were growing very restless in the back now, and even the ever cheerful Eileen was getting cheesed off, wishing they had gone back to Scarborough after all,
‘
Even Filey would have been better than this’
thought Eileen.
‘I don’t fucking believe it ‘said Peter as he stared at the sign placed on the side of the road which he had only seen at the last minute, he had stopped the car and put his head in his hands as if he had all the troubles in the world on his shoulders, all of a sudden wanting a cigarette more than ever, Eileen was beginning to get cheesed off with his dramatics and her patience was wearing thin, this was soon turning out to be a day she would rather forget,
‘Dad ‘Lily said chastising her father, she hated her father swearing, it just didn’t seem natural,
‘Road ahead closed, flooding’ the sign told them, Peter stopped the car and got out, immediately feeling his clothes wetting with the rain, he lit a cigarette and tried to keep it dry as he smoked it and looked around, this wasn’t really a road, it was a lane, and even though the night had drawn in he could see that all that surrounded him was fields and trees, and as he stared the wind seemed to pick up and it howled which made the woods more alive as the trees swayed and the wind howled, and Peter began to worry what his next move would be, should he turn around and try another direction, he knew they were so close to the M4 and the bridge that would lead them over the water and onto the M5, then he noticed a small sign on the side of the road, he walked over to it, it read Underwood next right’ he ditched his cigarette and sat in his car soaking wet looking at the map ‘can’t see Underwood on this map’ said Peter.
Eileen took it off him, she studied it ‘nope nor me’ she said, she rammed the map into the glove compartment, thinking of Scarborough and all it had to offer,
‘Just go there dad, I need a wee and I gotta get out of this car’ Lily told him, they all pretty much thought the same, Peter shrugged his shoulders, he guessed he had no choice, there didn’t seem enough room to do a three point turn, maybe if he headed right he could turn around and head back to that cheap hotel he had seen, that seemed a good idea, so he took the sign that read Underwood.
He put the car in gear and inched forward into the ever deepening water that seemed to be increasing as they drove along, he hurriedly took the right turn, they drove past a church and a graveyard and Peter just hoped his faithful Avensis would not fail him now because he really didn’t want to get out by that graveyard, it spooked him, and Nathan covered his eyes until they were past, Lily tried to look the other way but found her eyes drawn to the graveyard, Eileen was silently urging Peter on, they were driving up an incline now and the rain run down it like a river cascading through its rapids, and the hail pelted against the sign that said ‘Underwood’
But all they could see was trees.
A nervousness and fear came over Peter like never before, his instincts told him to turn around but the road was to narrow, he needed to get his family on dry land, somewhere safe until this rain stopped, he didn’t care where it was, anywhere would do, he wasn’t sure what had gone wrong or even how he put his family in this position, he tried to gather his thoughts, but the truth was he was nervous.
‘Have you gone the wrong way ‘asked Eileen? Her voice was anxious, she bit her bottom lip, she didn’t want to show her kids that she was scared, Peter could see it on her face, and his heart went out to her, he got them into this mess, it was up to him to get them out, he leaned over and grasped her hand trying to reassure her, their eyes met and Peter winked, it made Eileen feel just a little better, but still she trembled inside.
‘I don’t like it here dad’ said Nathan with a nervousness in his voice, and his father’s stomach dropped once more, the truth was Peter didn’t like it here either, he somehow felt that he had let his family down and that tore him up inside a little as his heart raced, he couldn’t see a thing behind him to reverse, there seemed nothing in front other than trees and something told him he should not have gone this way, and at that moment the sky seemed to explode with a sheet of lightening that lit up the trees that surrounded them, and in that split second of brightness the trees seemed to be beckoning them, Nathan shrieked while Lily screamed and then the skies were dark again, the howling of the wind through the trees only interrupted by a crack of thunder, to be replaced by the winds once more, then the rain poured bouncing off the trees as they swayed, hammering on the metal of the Avensis, thumping on the roof of the car, and soon the lane resembled a river, and panic started to set in, it was then that Peter realised what they had done and he cursed himself for it, his own stupidity, ‘
no wonder it’s not on the fucking map’
he thought, for it was only then he realised that Underwood must be Just a wood.
Lily and Nathan were huddled in the back with coats over them, not that it was cold as the night had been muggy but it had offered them some comfort, it had been a long time since they had done that, but the night called for it, fear can make you do strange things like cuddling up close to your little brother or big sister, it made them both seem safer against whatever gremlins were lurking in the woods, because during the night they both had thought there would be some gremlins or other kinds of monsters that would come and devour them whilst they slept, they had both fallen asleep not long after the rain and the winds stopped, finally giving in to exhaustion, the fear finally subsiding and everyone realising that they weren’t in fact going to be swept away and swallowed up by a river, no that was never going to happen, it was only the woods they had to worry about.
Eileen had eventually fallen asleep in the passenger seat and was soon preceded by her usual snoring, which in a strange way, though her snoring annoyed him, it now gave Peter comfort, she had made sure the children were asleep or at least dozing before she tried to sleep herself, she could see that the awful journey and the fact that they were stranded had taken it out of them quite a bit, Lily tried not to show it, but the fear was etched on Nathan’s face, Peter himself tossed and turned unable to get really comfortable, not really knowing how he had been daft enough to allow himself and his family get in that situation, but he was now thankful that his family were now safe as he imagined the car and its occupants being swept away by the rain, he was the only one awake at the moment after a restless night, and in a way he was glad of that, he knew his family would be asking questions, which at that moment he had no real answers, his own carelessness had confused him and he shivered at the thought of what the cost could have been, he could just see the break of dawn coming and knew in 30 minutes or so, it would be light enough to see and get the hell out of the woods, still not comprehending how they actually got stuck in the woods in the first place, he was really thankful the rain had stopped when it did, for at one time he thought they were in deep trouble.
Peter looked in the back seats, the kids were asleep and the noises coming from Eileen confirmed she was, and at that moment he felt the luckiest man in the world, with the best wife and kids anyone could wish for but there was still a knot in his stomach from what he had put them through, he would never forget his own fear, he was proud of his family for dealing with it the way they had, it was then he swore he would never put them in that position again, he wound down the window a little, feeling the warm but fresh air hit his face, it had a dampness in it and it smelt of the woods, he lit up a cigarette and inhaled and exhaled deeply ‘
what a night’
he thought’ as he did so, he took out his phone, tried to get the weather app on, but his phone was telling him he had no signal. ‘I
bet you don’t get much of anything out here’
he told himself, swearing he would never visit Wales again, thinking the fathers who claim the land can keep it, he threw his cigarette stub out the window just as a beam of sunshine tried to break through the trees that made him jump a little, now with the skies looking brighter than they had been for the last 24 hours, he licked his lips,’
just one more cigarette
’ he thought,
‘then I’ll wake them up.
He was feeling better, he just hoped they could put this behind them and enjoy their holiday, he would make it up to them, make it special somehow he vowed to himself.
‘Wakey, wakey, it’s holiday time’ Peter shouted after his third cigarette, feeling in a much better mood as he could see the shades of blue mixing with the orange in the sky, he was tired but raring to go, he thought he would have an hours sleep when they got there as Eileen and the kids explored the park, surely they wouldn’t begrudge him that, he clapped his hands in a dramatic gesture, he had a big grin on his face, they were going on holiday.
Eileen was just coming around but Peter calling them made her jump, the two kids in the back also jumped, Nathan thinking for one moment he had woken up in the caravan until he saw his surroundings, he shivered a bit but was glad he wasn’t devoured in the night by some demonic monster, Peter began to laugh.
‘Bloody hell dad’ Lily shouted ‘you frightened the shit out of me’ she realised she was cuddled up to Nathan and quickly freed herself from him, brushing him away as if he was an insect,
Eileen turned around and gave her a stare, meaning to cut out the language. Lily stretched her arms.
‘I gotta get out and stretch my legs, we got anything to drink ‘she asked,
‘Where are we’ asked Nathan as he peered through the windows, all he could see was trees, he sounded as if last night was a distant memory and both Eileen and Peter were glad of that.
‘Were in the woods’ said Peter accentuating the word ‘woods’ immediately wishing he hadn’t as he didn’t want to scare the kids more than they already were, ‘there’s drinks in the boot I’ll get them’ he opened his front car door, there was a spring in his step as if they had just survived the night from hell, and the truth was Peter thought that’s exactly what they have done, if the rain hadn’t stopped he dared to think what would have happened, the others got out wanting to stretch their legs after being cooped up for sixteen hours or more, all the events of the night before seemingly forgotten, well just for the moment.
‘My bums gone all numb’ commented Lily as she done a weird dance that made everyone laugh, flinging her hands in the air as if she was swatting flies, the air was fresh, the sun was trying to peep over the trees, the skies an orange and blue colour, it looked beautiful as they looked above them,
‘Going to be a nice day’ said Eileen as her sandals squelched in the mud.
They got a four pack of fruit shoot’s out of the boot along with a pack of cereal bars that Eileen was thankful she brought, both Lily and Nathan moaning at the meagre rations, they walked to the front of the car and leaned on its bonnet whilst eating and drinking, Lily screwing her face up at every bite, Nathan picking small bits off his cereal bar, Eileen thought of her and Peter’s camping trips when they were courting, they would often camp in the woods in a two man tent that would get soaked through even at the mention of the rain, but then it was their sanctuary and she smiled as the warm memories came over her.
‘I’ll have a fag, reverse out of this mess, then we can stop off somewhere and have a coffee’ said Peter, sounding more determined than he ever been, this lifted everyone and the holiday mood was once again with them and soon they would be in the caravan all laughing at this, Peter was thinking of Bodmin Jail.
‘And breakfast, I need bacon’ said Lily,
‘And breakfast’ laughed Peter,
‘With lots of brown sauce’ added Nathan licking his lips, Lily high fived him.
Eileen had got the map out of the compartment and studied it,
’ there’s a service station a couple miles away in Magor I think, we just need to get back on that road that led us up here, I would kill for a coffee’
‘I’ll reverse us down’ Peter said, ‘we’ve only come about a mile this way, shouldn’t be too difficult, at least I’ll be able to see where I’m bloody going this time’ he looked at the trees in front of him and the narrow track leading through ‘
Under fucking wood’
he thought,
you can stick your Underwood’
Lily went back into the boot to get a magazine when she found out she still had no signal on her phone, ‘
how could people live without Facebook’
she thought, she would need something to occupy her in the car, even if it was to blank out the noises of Nathans silly game, daylight seemed to have got amongst them quickly and it did indeed look as if it was going to be a nice day as the sun shone through the trees, she could feel the heat of the sun as she found the magazine she wanted and turned to get into the car.
Lily was suddenly frozen to the spot, the fear she had felt the day before was back, only this time it wasn’t the weather she had feared, for the weather was real, and now she thought ‘
this can’t be real’.
Her heart missed several beats and her stomach dropped, she thought her mind was playing tricks, but something told her that wasn’t the case.
‘Dad’ she screamed when she saw what was behind them,’ look’ she said as she pointed, her whole body was shaking as she stood frozen to the ground, and then they all looked, and stood opened mouthed with fear etched on every ones faces, there was no horrible monster, no dead bodies, nothing horrific in anyway, which made it seem even more surreal, for the road that they travelled down in the wind and rain the night before wasn’t there anymore, in its place there was nothing but trees that appeared to go on for ever, no pathway, no dirt track, no lane that they travelled up on, just thick dense woodland.
‘That’s fucking impossible’ said Peter’ not really believing his eyes, looking around to see where the road had gone, as if he was expecting one just to appear from nowhere, there was nothing logical about this, his stomach tightened, the feeling of wanting to do something urging up inside of him, frustration and anger pent up, he needed someone to blame, or at least an answer.
‘What’s happening dad’ Lily shouted, in a voice that was full of panic and fear as her whole body shook, she was still frozen, still pointing to the trees to where there was once a road.
Eileen just stood staring with her mouth wide open, not quite taking in what she was seeing, she kept opening and closing her eyes again, each time expecting the road to re-appear, she rubbed her eyes thinking that would make the road come back, but it never did, still there was only trees,
‘Where’s the road gone’ asked Nathan, who was now shaking, he eyes reverting to Lily, then the woods and then to his father, and he said it in a manner that suggested that all roads disappear,
‘It was there yesterday’ said Lily, and they all just stood and stared at the road that never was,
’who’s fucking taken it’ she added, and she looked at her father for answers, her frozen stance broken and for some unknown reason known to him, the logic of that made Peter laugh, but it was a nervous laugh, no one chastised her for swearing, how could they?, after all, who had taken the road?
‘Roads don’t just flipping disappear’ Eileen added,
And of course she was right, roads don’t just disappear, they all just stood around by the car looking at the road that used to be and looking at the road in front of them, Peter was thinking that there must have been some mistake and he must have come up that road and that’s what he told his kids, trying to reassure them, he wasn’t sure it was working, because it certainly wasn’t working on him.
‘
so why is my car facing the wrong way ‘
he asked himself ‘Eileen just looked at him, fear etched on her face, he could see Nathan and Lily looked scared to, we’ll go this way ‘ he said, pointing to the only direction he could go, he wanted to pretend he was in charge of the situation, but he wasn’t because he had no logical explanation where the road went, unless someone turned the car around when they slept, and that thought scared him more, he tried to shake it from his mind but he couldn’t, he remembered how scared they all were the night before when they were caught in the storm, but somehow with the sun beaming down on them and the birds singing, this appeared a lot worse, and that’s what scared him most.
‘What’s up there dad ‘lily said with a tremor in her voice, she didn’t want to go any further as she thought the trees would just follow them.
Peter didn’t answer
because he didn’t know, he really didn’t want to know but had no choice other than to find out, but he fathomed it was a place called Underwood and it felt like something was forcing them to go, because as far as choices go, he didn’t have any, and suddenly the trees didn’t seem friendly anymore as they seemed to be beckoning him along the road to the unknown and it didn’t feel like the starlings were singing anymore, it sounded like the swoosh of a vulture as it set about its catch.
They drove very slowly through the muddy lane, anxiety building up in everyone in the car, for no other reason than the taste and smell of fear that the human body installs upon itself when they themselves don’t know what it is their afraid of, it felt like they were driving into the middle of nowhere, and Peter thought that soon the road would run out and they would have nowhere to go, then they would have to get out and face the wrath of the woods, and that thought chilled him, the tension was unbearable for all of them, the mud squelching under the wheels and the trees either side stood still in the morning sunshine, but it still felt like the trees were watching them and there long branches were arms ready to pick them up and take them deep into the woods forever, Peter tried to convince himself that all this was ridiculous and they had just got lost and soon they would be on the way to Cornwall, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it, something inside him knew something was wrong, there was nothing natural about this place, in fact it all felt to unnatural, to Nathan the gremlins that he thought were in the woods had come back, and this time they were going to get their prey.