THE CLEARING (2 page)

Chapter Two

Riley

*

Luc and I still hadn’t spoken properly since our ‘trip’. There’d been no talk of how we felt. We’d teased and chatted, but it all felt superficial. We never seemed to have enough time together. No time to talk about anything meaningful. So today was a big deal. At least it was for me.

What if Luc had completely changed his mind about us? Maybe everything that had happened last month had been a heat-of-the-moment thing. The thought made me sick. I wanted to get to Coy Pond before he did. To make the most of the short hour before he had to go back to work. I looked at the speedo; Pa was cruising at 20mph. I sighed.

Half an hour later, I ran down the steps and onto the path which ran alongside the gushing stream. A couple of moorhens swam over so I reached into my drawstring bag and tore off a crust of bread, breaking it into crumbs and scattering them across the water. More ducks appeared and I left them to their soggy treasure hunt.

Luc hadn’t arrived yet so I hoisted myself up onto the warm stone wall, dumping the bag next to me. As I waited, I tilted my face up to the sun and closed my eyes. Unwelcome memories came back to me. Snapshots of the summer. The summer that would remain in sharp focus for the rest of my life. The summer when my little sister was murdered; when Luc and I had risked our lives to track down her killer; who turned out to be not the killer at all, but my real father.

‘Hey, Riley. Having a little nap?’

His voice made me jump and I snapped open my eyes to see him smiling in front of me. My stomach went into freefall and I put my hands on the wall to steady myself.

‘Hey, Luc. How’s it going?’

He picked up my bag and peered inside. ‘Wow, you actually brought some food. I’m impressed.’

I smiled. ‘Yeah. Well I could lie and said it was me, but Ma made it all.’ I slid off the wall, brushing the stone dust from the backs of my legs.

‘Thought it was too good to be true,’ he said. ‘Unlike your lazy highness, I actually made sandwiches and a flask this morning.’

‘Swot,’ I replied, and leant out of the way as he pretended to push me into the stream. ‘Hey!’

‘What!’ Luc said with a grin that made my pulse quicken.

‘You are such a . . . a . . .’ I couldn’t think of anything fitting enough.

‘a . . . a . . .’ he mocked. ‘I know, but that’s why you love me.’

My heart lifted irrationally at his words, but I’m sure he didn’t mean them like
that
. I didn’t know what to think about us anymore. It was all so complicated, but all so simple at the same time.

He hoicked my bag over his shoulder alongside his rucksack and tilted his head for me to follow him. ‘Shall we walk for a bit?’

‘Okay.’

‘How was this morning at Cutter’s?’ he asked.

‘Good,’ I said. ‘We got what we went for. I like it down there.’

I stopped walking as we had come to a part of the track which had cracked and flooded.

Luc pushed back the bushes at the edge of the path. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Grab my hand.’

His skin felt warm. He gripped me tight as I skirted the puddle and jumped across the last bit. I wished I could keep hold of his hand, but I let it go. My fingers tingled.

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘How bout you? Was work okay?’

‘What? Yeah. Nothing too exciting. Couple of thefts over at Southampton and an interview for a new guard.’

We walked in silence for a while, the ducks on the stream keeping up with our progress.

 ‘Riley . . .’

‘Hmm?’

‘We’re nearly at the wall. Shall we turn round?’

I glanced up to see the towering red brick wall ahead and, beyond it, the familiar mesh of the fence encircling us, keeping us safe. I briefly wondered if anyone was passing by outside, imagining what it was like in here. This part of the Perimeter was the most heavily fortified. Only a mile from here lay the Upper Gardens, one of the most dangerous parts of Bournemouth.

We turned and headed back in the opposite direction. With limited places to walk inside, we always found ourselves coming up against the fence. I thought back to our time outside the Perimeter where we could walk or drive for miles without boundaries. With nothing to hold us back but our fear of the unknown.

After walking for a few minutes in the opposite direction, I pointed to a spot by the stream. We spread the rug out under the low boughs of a weeping willow. This was my favourite tree. The one my sister and I always used to climb as it had such twisty branches, the low ones dipping their woody elbows into the stream. Skye used to swing upside down by her hands and feet from the larger branches, making monkey noises. She always ended up making me laugh till the tears streamed down my face.

I couldn’t believe she was gone. Sometimes the realisation hit me with such force it made me dizzy. I wished I could find her killer, I still wanted to avenge her death, but I had nothing to go on. No clues, no murder weapon, no motive. Nothing. Maybe I never would find out who did it.

 ‘This is great,’ Luc said, as we sat on the rug. ‘It’s so peaceful here.’ He stretched out his legs and gave a sigh.

The butterflies in my stomach were going insane. We were here, alone together but all we could talk about was the mundane. Half-formed sentences flew around my brain but I couldn’t utter the words I needed to tell him how I felt. To ask him if he still felt the same about me. I was too scared of the answer.

 ‘You okay?’ he asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes. His fringe had grown longer and it suited him. Made him seem more vulnerable.

I nodded. ‘Got anything to eat?’

‘Nah, sorry.’

I rolled my eyes and reached across to grab our bags which were stuffed with food.

We relaxed and began tucking into our lunch of fruit, cheese sandwiches and homemade cakes. We were lucky to have out-of-season fruit. Pa always made sure he got us the best of everything.

‘I can’t eat another thing,’ I said. ‘I shouldn’t have had that last cake.’

Luc held a strawberry in front of my mouth.

I shook my head.

He raised an eyebrow.

‘No,’ I groaned. ‘Too full up.’

‘Last chance,’ he said dancing the bright red berry in front of my face.

I shook my head again, so he dropped it back into the bag.

Our lunch break was nearly over and although it had been great spending time together, we still hadn’t spoken about anything meaningful. We had lost that closeness we had back when we were on the road. I sighed and shivered. The sun had slipped behind a thick bank of cloud. The blue sky was already dissolving.

‘You’re shivering,’ Luc said.

‘I’m okay.’

‘It’s the north wind,’ Luc said. ‘Coffee will warm you up. Come here.’ He patted the empty space next to him and I scooched around, my heart pounding as he rubbed his hand up and down my arm. ‘God, Riley, you’re freezing.’

I gave a nervous laugh. ‘Got that coffee?’

He took his hand away from my arm and pulled a metal flask out of his rucksack. I could have cursed myself for opening my big mouth.

‘Here.’ He handed me the metal lid of steaming liquid and I blew across the top of it. I looked up and caught his eye but I wasn’t brave enough to hold his gaze.

If only he would lean down and kiss me. Obliterate all my doubts.

‘I can’t stay,’ he said. ‘I have to get back in a minute. Work.’

‘Oh. Okay,’ I said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

The time had gone too quickly and now disappointment threatened to overwhelm me. But maybe it was a good thing we couldn’t spend longer together. Maybe it would have all been too awkward. I knew I should forget about Luc and me. I didn’t have the strength or the energy to have my heart broken on top of everything else.

‘Are you alright?’ he asked. ‘You seem a bit . . .’

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ I shook away the longing and flashed him a smile.

‘Riley . . .’ he said.

‘Hmm?’

‘I need to . . .’

‘What?’

‘Can I talk to you about something?’

My heart sped up. Was he about to tell me something good? Or something I didn’t want to hear. I searched his face to see if his expression held any clues.

‘Who’s that?’ he said staring past me.

Turning and squinting into the distance, I saw a figure coming towards us. A man. In uniform - a guard.

‘Looks like Liam,’ Luc said, getting to his feet. ‘Must be something to do with work.’

‘What were you going to say?’ I asked. ‘Before.’

‘Oh. Nothing. Doesn’t matter.’

I desperately wanted to know what he was going to talk to me about before Liam showed up, but it looked like I was going to have to wait.

‘He’s running,’ I said. ‘Maybe something’s happened.’ I began stuffing everything back into our bags as Luc went to meet him.

‘What’s up?’ I heard Luc say.

‘Hey, Luc.’ Liam slowed down and they walked towards me.

‘What is it?’ Luc asked again.

‘You’re needed back home,’ Liam said. ‘You too, Riley.’

‘Both of us?’ I replied, attempting to fold the picnic rug, but the corners kept slipping out of my clumsy fingers.

‘Yeah. You’ve got some visitors. Just don’t do anything stupid when you find out who it is.’

‘What? Why? Who is it?’ Luc said. ‘Why would we do anything stupid?’

‘You’ll see.’

‘You’re freaking me out, Liam,’ I said. ‘Who is it?’

‘You won’t like it,’ Liam replied, shaking his head.

‘Tell us, mate. Who is it?’ Luc’s voice was sharp.

‘Be cool, Luc. You’ll find out back at the house. Come on,’ he said, taking the rucksack from me. ‘Your folks are waiting. We’re gonna have to run.’

Chapter Three

Nine Years Earlier

*

It was a hot and dusty day and the two children weren’t anywhere near finishing their chores.

‘You're such a chicken.’ The boy made clucking noises and bent his elbows to imitate the plump birds which scratched around the yard.

‘Shut up! I am not. I’m just trying to get this done before mum comes back. She’ll kill us if we haven’t finished. Come on, FJ, help me. Please.’

He screwed up his face. ‘Urghh, it’s so boring. And hot. Do this with me and then I’ll help you finish really quick. I promise.’

The girl looked at her older brother, weighing up whether he was to be believed or not. She usually went along with his plans and nine times out of ten they backfired getting them both into trouble; which is why she always began by disagreeing with him. But she knew no matter how much she argued, she would always back down in the end. She loved FJ and he
was
good fun. Even if mum was going to have their guts when she came back from the milking and found the yard still in a mess.

‘Okay,’ she agreed. ‘But you’ll have to work double hard afterwards to get this lot finished.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he replied. ‘Come on, before mum gets back.’

Liss followed her brother down the path. The air smelt sweet and fresh, even with the field’s underlying scent of damp cow. It was nice to do something fun and interesting for a change. Living on a farm was hard work. One job after another, day in, day out. Most days she didn’t mind, but when the sun shone and the air shimmered like it did today, it felt like she was missing out on something, like something magical should be happening. . .

Maybe it was.

They walked over to the small stand of trees in front of their fence. This area had been left to grow wild and the fence was bordered by dense undergrowth.  FJ grinned at her, bent down over the bushes and heaved up the large wooden board by its handle.  Liss felt a shiver of fear. If dad caught them they would be in so much trouble she didn’t even want to think about it.

FJ groped around inside the hole and pulled out a torch. He clicked on the beam and shone it right up close into Liss’s eyes.

‘Hey!’ she cried, closing her eyes against the sudden glare.

He laughed and turned away, pointing the beam down at the ground into the tunnel he had just uncovered. Then he disappeared down the hole.

‘Wait for me,’ Liss called to the top of FJ’s head.

Their parents had told them that under no circumstances were they to go into the tunnel without them. In fact, they weren’t even supposed to be over near this part of the farm. The whole property was surrounded by a high electric fence and a deep ditch. This secret tunnel was the only easy way in and out of the place. Their parents had cleverly constructed it to take them from one side of the fence to the other.  It had taken ages to build, but it was well done – their dad only had to stoop slightly, to avoid hitting his head.

Liss followed after her brother, carefully placing her feet one after the other on the narrow steps. As she left the daylight behind, she shivered inside the gloomy damp tunnel.

‘FJ, wait. It’s dark. I can’t see down here without the torch.’ Her voice sounded odd and muffled. Then Liss gave a shriek as FJ roared at her. He had the torch pointed up at his own face which was screwed into a scary monster impression.

‘Freddie Junior!’ She shoved him, but he kept his balance and doubled up, laughing.

‘Your face, Lissy! That was well funny.’

‘It’s not funny at all.’ She almost felt like crying. ‘I’m going back to the . . .’

‘No, no, no. I’m sorry, Liss. I’m really sorry.’ He put his arm around her and squeezed her into a bear hug. ‘I was only messing. Come on, hold my hand.’

She wanted to strop off back to the yard, but instead, she took his outstretched hand and let him lead her through the short narrow tunnel. The walls were lined and secure with built-in shelves, the contents of which couldn’t clearly be seen in the dim torchlight. But she knew there were cans of food and tools and stuff.

They climbed up the steps on the other side and FJ shoved open another wooden hatch. The children climbed out of the tunnel into a clump of dense undergrowth buried under a thick stand of trees. Parting the foliage, they took a few more steps and found themselves standing on the grass verge. It was nice to be back in the warm sunshine, but the unsettling difference was that this time they were
outside
the fence.

Freddie Junior walked a little way along the verge, next to the crumbly road. Liss bent down and touched the pitted tarmac. It felt warm. The chances of seeing a vehicle out here were almost non-existent and even if they did, it would probably be Army. But nevertheless, she felt quite breathless with fear in case someone should choose to come along now, while they were out here alone.

‘FJ, we’d better go back now,’ she called, trying not to be too loud.

But he didn’t reply. He seemed to have vanished.

‘FJ?’ She looked up and down the road again, trying to spot her brother, feeling her scalp prickle with worry. Where was he? She cast anxious glances over her shoulder, checking there was no one else around.

Suddenly she felt a hand come over her mouth from behind and another grip her arm. She thought she might faint with terror.

‘Sssshhh,’ a voice whispered in her ear.

She struggled and tried to squeal.

‘Liss, sshhhh. It’s only me.’ The hand let her go.

‘FJ?’ She spun around to see her brother, but he wasn’t smiling. ‘FJ, you scared me really badly. . .’

‘Shut up, Liss!’ he hissed. ‘There’s something over there, further up the road.’

She clamped her mouth shut and opened her eyes wide.

‘I think it’s an armoured vehicle.’

‘Army?’ she mouthed.

‘Don’t think so. Looks civilian. Heavy duty though.’

‘We should go back,’ she whispered. ‘Tell mum and dad . . .’

‘Are you joking? They’d kill us for coming out here.’

‘Okay, we won’t tell them, but we’d better go back. It’s too dangerous to stay.’

‘I’m going to have a closer look,’ FJ said. ‘You stay here. Keep an eye out.’

‘What! Are you mad? No way.’

‘It doesn’t look like there’s anyone inside it,’ he said, a tinge of excitement creeping into his voice. ‘It could be abandoned. There might be some really useful stuff in there.’

‘Why would anyone abandon an AV?’

‘Maybe they ran out of fuel or got sick and died. Maybe they’re lying dead in there.’

‘That’s it, I’m going back.’ Liss turned back towards the tunnel.

FJ grabbed her arm. ‘Please, Liss. Just for a minute. I just want to see, that’s all. There’s no one in it. It’s not dangerous.’ He smiled at her, a pleading sweet smile.

‘How do you know there’s no one in it? No. I’m going back.’

His smile melted into disappointment. His shoulders sagged and he gave a cross frown of acceptance.

‘Oh okay then.’ She relented. ‘Just for a minute and then we’ll go back. Promise?’

‘Course.’ He grinned. ‘Come on then. You can keep watch while I check it out.’

They trod cautiously along the grass verge.

‘I can’t see any vehicle,’ she said.

‘That’s because it’s parked up behind the bushes. Here.’

Liss almost walked into it. The AV had been camouflaged with greenery, but she could now glimpse its black paintwork beneath the leaves.

‘Someone’s hidden it here,’ she said in surprise.

‘I know.’

FJ began pulling branches away from the huge vehicle. It was badly beaten up, the paintwork flaking with patches of rust.

‘Do you think it’s been here long?’

‘No.’

‘How do you know?’ Liss looked up. She realised she could see part of the yard from here. She had thought their house was supposed to be hidden from the road. ‘Do you think they were spying on us?’ she said.

‘Could be,’ FJ replied.

Something suddenly dawned on Liss.

‘You knew!’ she said.

‘What?’

‘That’s why you wanted to come out here today. You saw the AV from the yard.’

FJ smiled and Liss tried to punch him on the arm, but he caught her fist in his hand.

‘So?’ he said.

‘So you could’ve told me.’

‘You would’ve blabbed to mum.’

‘It’s dangerous out here, FJ.’

‘Oh stop being such a baby. We’ll check it out and then we’ll go back.’ He peered in through the window. ‘See, I told you. There’s no one even in here. Whoever was here is gone now.’ He tugged on the passenger door handle. ‘Locked. Maybe we can force it with something.’

Liss shivered. ‘Please can we go now. I don’t care if you think I’m a baby. I want to go. I’m really scared.’

‘Don’t be scared,’ came an amused voice from behind her. A man’s voice.

Liss froze, not daring to turn around. In all her seven years she didn’t think she’d ever been as terrified as she was right now.

FJ instantly looked up at the man with a challenge in his eyes. ‘Who are you?’ he said.

‘I was about to ask you the same thing,’ the man replied.

Liss had a feeling of spiralling doom. The man’s voice was not aggressive, but she didn’t like it nonetheless. It was posh and a bit mean sounding and she had the feeling he was making fun of them.

‘I asked first,’ FJ said to him without a trace of fear in his voice. ‘Who are you?’

The man laughed.

Liss was shocked at FJ’s insolence. He wouldn’t dare have talked to mum and dad like that. But she was glad FJ was brave because she felt like jelly. She backed up towards her brother and turned around to face the man. He was quite short and totally bald. But his clothes were smart and he didn’t look too scary.

‘Very well, my name is Mr Carter,’ the man said. ‘Your turn.’

‘I’m FJ. I mean Frederick.’

Liss looked at her brother. She would have burst out laughing if she wasn’t so scared. He never used his long name, it always sounded far too grand.

‘Hello, Frederick,’ said Mr Carter. Then he turned his gaze to Liss. ‘And who might you be?’

‘This is my sister, Melissa,’ FJ said. ‘What are you doing here? Outside our farm.’

‘
Your
farm? Well that’s a stroke of luck,’ Mr Carter said. ‘We were just coming to talk to you. Well, to warn you actually.’

‘Warn us?’

‘Yes. There are raiders on their way here. I’m afraid they want to take your farm away from you.’

‘No!’ Liss cried.

‘They can try,’ FJ said, ‘but they won’t be able to get in. Our fence is electrified.’

‘Alas, that will not stop them,’ Mr Carter said.

‘FJ.’ Liss tugged on her brother’s t shirt. ‘We’d better go back and warn mum and dad.’