What We Saw (17 page)

I felt the responsibility thump against me. My head hurt as I tried to put together all the little clues we had. Carla’s disappearance. The ring. The body. The news about Donald’s loss. And the letter, wedged underneath the rock, left there as a reminder of the meteor that had flown through our window minutes earlier. Could it all be linked? It had to be linked.

The way Emily’s dad had stood there, so out of place, made my hands twitch. Something wasn’t right, and I wasn’t sure how much more I wanted to know about it right now. He seemed to be everywhere. I wanted to go back to solving little mysteries again. Me and my cousin had come here to escape and get away from all that shit back home. Now we’d messed with things too old for us, too far ‘beyond our understanding,’ as Granddad would say.

‘We have to stop this, right now,’ I said. It sounded really triumphant in my head, but my voice crackled when I spoke the words, making me sound a bit like Kermit the Frog.

Adam looked towards the ground. ‘Do we tell Gran? Or the police?’ he asked, after letting out a long, low sigh. He really didn’t want to hear the answer.

I took another deep breath, and cleared my throat. ‘We say nothing. To no one. Not to Gran or Granddad or the police. We don’t know anything. Just bits. It’s not good enough, Adam. We’ve failed, and we need to go back to doing normal things again. That note: it’s no joke, Adam. We’re finished.’

The last words visibly stung him. He flinched as I said them and scrunched his eyes. ‘We never fail,’ he said. ‘We’re a team.’

I sympathised with him. After everything that had happened over the last twelve months, he deserved something to sidetrack him. His chin trembled. It was disappointing how things had ended up, but we’d gone too far. We weren’t supposed to solve this.

‘Maybe we can come back to it one day when it’s all died down a bit, eh?’ I said to Adam as he walked towards the caravan door, head down and shoulders slumped. I didn’t believe a single one of those words I’d said, but I tried to smile. The way Adam shuffled his feet against the ground told me that he wasn’t too certain either.

I looked up towards where Emily’s dad had stood in his red shirt, the breeze battering his dark brown hair, but no one was there now. I still felt his gaze as he looked on at me, deep into my eyes, before turning and walking away.

Gran and Granddad were still mad. Their anger irritated me, not just because we hadn’t thrown the rock, but because we had to pretend we had. All of this disappointment and fake shame. I wondered whether I’d crack first or Adam. Gran had a blank look on her face. Granddad was burrowed in his paper, as per usual. Even Carla sat with her head slumped in her paws, twitching her eyes from me to Adam, sensing the tension in the room.

I needed to get out of the caravan. The shadow of that piece of paper and the bold black ink had scribed itself into my mind. Adam had shoved it in his bag, far under his bed, beneath his Junior Crossword books and a torn-out Page 3 he’d found flapping about in the breeze before he came to the caravan. That way, if Gran or Granddad did somehow find the bag, they’d be more shocked by the naked lady than a piece of paper with a bit of writing on. I imagine Granddad would probably fake a disapproving look at the girl before keeping it for himself. He wouldn’t tell Gran. If Gran found it, she’d probably end up having another heart attack, screaming ‘blasphemy!’ before collapsing to the ground like a big bean bag.

‘I’m off out,’ I said, cutting the silence of the room. Adam looked at me, knowingly. Granddad stared into his paper.

Gran glanced up at me. ‘Make sure you’re back before four.’ She had a half-smile etched across her crooked face. Carla lifted her head, surprised to hear someone talking.
Poor dog.
I bet she wished she’d stayed lost sometimes.

I set off to the launderette at around 3:15 pm. I didn’t want to make myself look desperate, especially after Emily’s no-show yesterday. I thought about the bruises on her back. I hoped she wasn’t ill.

As I walked up the hill at the end of our road and turned the corner, I noticed Kenny had started work on a new garden feature. It looked like a giant shoe, which I didn’t really understand, but it was pretty impressive. It was wasted talent though. If I could do that, I’d make a Pokémon or some sort of weird creature, not a shoe. He nodded at me from his window as I marched past, and I gave him the thumbs up, gesturing towards his shoe. He curved his mouth and nodded his head, miming ‘not bad’ through the glass.

I reached the hill near the launderette. The trees blocked my view, but it didn’t look like anyone was there. 3:20 pm now. I climbed up the hill, hoping Emily would swing round the corner with her white teeth glowing before she opened her arms and pulled me in. I knew it probably wouldn’t happen. But I still didn’t know
why
. Maybe if she didn’t turn up this time, I’d go check on her. I thought of how her dad had stared at me, and I wasn’t so sure any more.

When I reached the discoloured brown wall at the back of the launderette, I heard a rustling to my right. The wind picked up, whistling its way through the branches. I saw someone walking their dog at the bottom of the hill and smelled the faint hint of washing as a wave of steam tumbled through the vent. I don’t know why I waited or what I waited for. What was the point? Adam said that sometimes women just needed ‘space.’ Like he had a load of experience. Still, I nodded and took his advice on board. It didn’t stop me from turning up at the launderette at the same time and the same spot as we’d held each other and confided in each other a few days before.

I looked to my left and realised how alone I was. How stupid, out here all by myself, especially after the note we’d received the night before. Donald could have captured Emily and found out our meeting spot. Next thing I knew, I could be choking on dirt, screaming as the mud and the worms and the roots cut their way into my skin. Maybe that’s why Emily’s dad had been waiting? Checking to see if Emily was playing with us? I wasn’t sure.

I don’t know how long I’d been contemplating, but when I turned to my right, I saw Emily’s dad standing with his hands on his hips, staring into my eyes. I jolted to my feet and, by instinct, I smiled and turned towards him, lifting a hand to say hello. Nothing came out of my lungs. A thousand questions ran through my head in a single second.
Why would he be here? How would he know that this is where I’d be? Why was he staring at me, as he had before? Could something be wrong with Emily?
My heart began to beat a little faster.

The next thing I knew, he pinned me up against the launderette wall.

‘I think it’s time me and you had a little chat, don’t you?’ he said, his breath like rotten vegetables. I tried to back up into the wall, tried to squeeze my way through it, but I knew it was no use. My feet dangled above the ground. Emily’s dad’s eyes bulged back at me wherever I tried to turn. I was trapped. This was it.

He tightened his hand around my arm, and I remembered the way he’d gripped Emily and how much it must have hurt her. My whole body itched and tickled and I couldn’t feel my feet anymore.

‘Okay, so you ain’t a talker,’ he said, his spit peppering my lips and chin. ‘I’ll do the talking then.’ He was whispering, but he had the angriest whisper I had ever heard. I whimpered, my arms going limp.

‘I hear you’ve been meeting my little girl out here?’ he said. I couldn’t speak. He tightened his grip round my arm. ‘I said, you’ve been meeting my girl, haven’t you?’

‘Yes, yes, we’re just friends and—’ I squirmed like a trapped animal with nowhere to run. My mind froze. The words didn’t really make sense as they splattered off my tongue.

‘Yeah, oh yeah. I bet you’re just friends, you and a little girl, yeah you’d like that wouldn’t you, friends?’ He panted and his eyes bolted around my face.

I said whatever came to my head. I wanted to disappear. ‘She’s only a bit younger… me and my cousin, we’re friends with her… please… I’m really sorry.’

‘But I thought you had nothing to be sorry about, kid?’ He dropped me, and I fell to my knees, my legs refusing to prop me up any longer. Emily’s dad shuffled around, plucking at the bottom of his jumper.

‘I bet you had her out here, lured her out here, and did all sorts to her. Made her feel special. Well that’s not your fucking job.’ He threw his face towards me, snapping out of his momentary calm. He was frenzied, like a wasp in a jar. One minute he wandered around, fidgeting with his jumper, the next he threw himself at me, pushing his fingers into my chest and his big face into mine. I curled myself into a ball and wrapped my hands around my legs. ‘I said it ain’t your fucking job, you fucking scrawny cunt,’ he spat, his foot almost brushing against my knees.

I felt the warm tears begin to sting my eyes. He pulled himself back again in a flash, like a tape measure, and shuffled his eyes around in every direction. He really looked like he was about to explode. I tried to move my feet, move my legs, scream for help, but nothing worked. I was trapped in my own body. He was silent for a few minutes, his eyes darting around me. He was desperate not to make eye contact with me. His knuckles were dark red and bruised.

He backed off and rubbed his hands against his face. He looked at me, wide-eyed. ‘Oh God…’ he said. ‘Oh God. Oh God.’

My thoughts clouded. I wanted to ask him what was wrong,
why
he was so upset. He hit his face, smacked it three times, and looked at me wide-eyed. His mouth twitched, as if he was trying to say something, but he couldn’t. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, in a soft whisper. His eyes peered at me. ‘Just stay away, from all of us, alright?’

My feet began to move again, and I jumped up, my head cracking against the window ledge at the back of the launderette.

Emily’s dad started clambering away, walking backwards but staring at me. He looked scared. I wondered if he’d killed me and I’d turned into a ghost and if that was why he looked so shocked. ‘Just stay away from my girl, okay?’ he said, before disappearing behind the trees in front of me.

I was glued to the wall. I wondered whether it was even real. Nothing made sense.

A bird landed in front of me, catching my eye and snapping me out of my trance. I don’t know how long I’d been stood there. I wandered round the front of the launderette, where a younger couple was carrying a load of washing in bags. They looked at me with concern and whispered to each other. I could tell that I was shaking. My eyes stung. I didn’t want them to ask me if I was okay, because I wasn’t sure how well I’d be able to lie. In fact, I didn’t really know how I felt. My stomach hurt and my arms hurt, but not from where Emily’s dad had held me. They felt heavy and useless.

What the hell had we gotten ourselves into?

Chapter Twenty-Two

I decided not to tell anyone about the incident with Emily’s dad yet. I’d told Adam the mystery was over. Why even bring it up? We were in too deep as it was. Maybe Emily’s dad had thrown the rock after all.
I’ll shut your mouths for you
. It seemed like something he would say. We had to keep away from Emily and Donald. Just for another few days.

Adam knew something was wrong when I got back. He must have assumed it was Emily’s no show that had got me down again. I’d taken a bit longer outside to calm myself down and clean myself up.

‘You need to get over that bitch,’ he said, arms folded and head nodding, as he chewed the end of his blue coloured pencil.

‘Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be seeing her anymore,’ I said. I took a red pencil and began scribbling out a picture I’d drawn of me and her earlier. My hands were still shaking, so I couldn’t do much other than scribble. I thought about the way her dad had pinned me up, his grip around my arms like a vice, tightening with every flinch and struggle. And his grief, his sadness. Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t even begin to piece it all together. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.

Later that evening, Granddad confronted me about what had happened. I hadn’t spoken much. I worried I would stammer and burst into tears or run off in embarrassment if I opened my mouth. I needed to keep this to myself.

‘You haven’t spoken all evening, lad,’ he said, chewing on the end of a green bean.

‘Dean,’ Gran said, making sure to swallow her food before opening her mouth.

‘What?’

‘Don’t speak with your mouth full. It’s rude and disgusting. And you can stop grinning, Adam.’

Granddad rolled his eyes and sarcastically mimicked her when she looked down at her plate. She spilled some juice down her chin and onto her light green cardigan.

‘Oh for goodness sakes, today is not my day,’ Gran said, before leaping out of her chair and waddling as best as she could into the kitchen to rinse the stain away. Carla followed her on a mission to scavenge leftover food. We all smiled in silence. Adam looked at me and smiled, probably pleased to see the grin on my face. I’d told everyone that I was tired, but I think it was easier to fool Adam because he thought I was just down about the incident with the rock and the note. The end of our mystery.

Granddad brushed past me as he rose from the table and patted my shoulder. He leaned down to my ear. ‘We’ve all got problems, lad. If you want to chat, you know where me and your gran are.’ He patted my shoulder again and headed into the kitchen. Carla followed, and he scooped the leftover carrots and peas into her bowl. She demolished them in seconds.

After our meal, Adam and I decided that we would go for a walk around the caravan site. We decided we should attempt to start a new adventure or solve a new mystery.

‘It won’t be the same,’ Adam said, his shoulders slumped. ‘I just can’t believe we’re missing that one clue. It feels like there’s something we’re not getting.’

I gulped, trying not to remember the way Emily’s dad had clutched my throat. ‘Come on now, Adam. We’ve been through this a thousand times.’

Adam frowned towards me as I tried to smile. ‘You would tell me if you’d seen something else, wouldn’t you?’

I fluttered my eyelashes. ‘No,’ I said, with a deep breath. ‘But I haven’t seen anything anyway.’