The Death of the Elver Man (26 page)

‘What the hell is he doing?’ whispered Alex. ‘He’ll never hit anything like that.’

There was a sharp crack and one of the ever-moving duck targets flipped backwards to the applause of the spectators. Kevin loaded the gun again and repeated his feat.

‘Two!’ said a voice in the crowd. Alex watched, fascinated, as Kevin proceeded to score ten hits from ten pellets. He laid the gun down and turned to receive the congratulations of his friends and she noticed money changing hands as bets were settled. Kevin spotted her, gave a huge grin and turned back to the stall owner who was rather less enthused by his success.

‘All right, that’s enough,’ he said. ‘So you scored another ten – well that’s sixty in all and worth ninety points.’

‘’Tis doubled for a full house with bulls-eyes,’ said Kevin, ‘so that’s 180 points.’

There was a pause as the stall holder eyed him warily. ‘Don’t recall the bulls-eyes,’ he said finally.

‘First round, third and fifth shots, second time was second and ninth shots, third time was third, fourth and sixth shots, fourth round …’

‘All right, all right – I can’t remember all of that but just
take your prize and get out of here. Go on, bugger off the lot of you.’

He handed Kevin the largest and ugliest stuffed animal Alex had ever seen and turned his back on the celebrating group as they moved on to the next booth.

‘That’s a bit of an eye-opener,’ said Alex, impressed in spite of herself.

‘Oh, that’s nothing,’ said Lauren. ‘Hey, Kevin, KEV!’ As he swung round towards them, she said, ‘What’s 97 times 13?’

Kevin blinked twice and said, ‘One thousand two hundred and sixty one. Why?’

‘No reason. Can you get me one of those coconuts?’

Kevin shook his head. ‘They’s glued on,’ he said. ‘I could maybe get you one of them boxes of sweets though.’ He
gestured
to a stall with very sorry looking bows and arrows and tiny straw targets. Lauren twinkled at him and held out a pound note.

‘You’s a love,’ she said.

Alex scrabbled in her bag for pencil and paper and
hurriedly
worked out the sum. ‘He’s right. Wow.’ She looked at Kevin with new respect.

‘Never wrong. Don’t know how he does it but ’tis a good trick. Now, watch here.’

They sauntered over to the booth where Kevin was
examining
the bows and selecting half a dozen arrows from a
bored-looking
girl dressed in a vaguely medieval costume.

‘Maid Marion,’ Lauren whispered in response to Alex’s unspoken question. Alex nodded and tried not to giggle. It was all rather ridiculous but despite that she was actually enjoying herself.

Derek pulled his cap down over his eyes and tucked a red and white scarf high around his neck to try and disguise the deep red scar on his face. He was a marked man in every sense of the word and his anger boiled and rolled inside him as he glared around at the crowds laughing and enjoying
themselves. He didn’t notice the slight but perceptible
movement
away from him as he pushed deeper into the Fair. He’d lived so long with the smell of Frank Mallory it had
permeated
his clothes and clung to his hair, and passers-by turned their heads away and stepped back when he came close, but Derek’s attention was all focussed on one group. Ahead of him was Kevin, triumphant once more as he handed a huge box of chocolates to Lauren. The blonde, skinny probation officer was with them, but his eyes fixed on the figure behind her. Alex-bloody-probation, he mouthed silently. Got you.

After three goes Lauren refused to go on the Helter Skelter again.

‘Not so much a ride, more like bloody physiotherapy,’ she grumbled. ‘Climbing all them stairs and it’s just some big slide. Let’s go find something a bit more exciting can’t we?’

Sue agreed with her. ‘Come on Alex, they’ve got a
Centrifuge
Cage. I’ve always wanted to go on one.’

The Cage was one of the scariest things Alex had ever seen. A huge drum spinning ever-faster on a single pole, it glued the riders to the walls as it whirled round until suddenly the floor fell away leaving them stuck like flies on a fly paper. Crowds gathered round to yell encouragement at the brave (or foolhardy) souls who dared to enter through the narrow doorway and stood up against the sides, placed at regular intervals by the serious young men in charge of the machine. Alex watched in horrified fascination as the door was locked and the whole contraption began to turn, slowly at first and then gathering speed until it was whipping around, the
people
inside a blur. Just as the floor fell away a hand grasped her elbow and her startled exclamation was covered by the much louder shriek from the Cage as the riders found
themselves
suspended in mid-air.

‘I don’t know anyone who’s been brave enough to do that,’ said Alison pushing in next to her. She sniffed loudly and treated Alex to a watery smile before staring down into the ride again. Alex hated crowds because she really didn’t feel comfortable with close bodily contact, but even more she
hated the feel of Alison, her bony elbows and damp skin wedged up against her.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she said, ‘it doesn’t look too bad’.

Alison blinked at her. ‘Go on then,’ she said, ‘why don’t you try it.’

‘All right – yes, I’ll pay,’ said Sue, and before Alex could protest she was hauled towards the ticket booth. Lauren
trotted
after them but more in hope than expectation. The man looked at her and shook his head.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I can’t let you on. I know it don’t seem fair but it’s more than my licence is worth.’ Lauren fixed him with a steely glare and then let out a huge sigh and turned away.

‘I’ll be watching,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘You tell me what it’s like soon as you gets off.’

It was hot inside the Cage and the huge drum creaked as they walked across the tilted floor and took their places against the bleached wood walls. To her surprise she saw Jonny walk in after them and stand to the right.

‘Always wanted to try it,’ he murmured, ‘and it will so impress my new friend.’ He looked up at a strikingly
handsome
young man who was leaning over the railings and
wriggling
his fingers in their direction. Suddenly, Lauren’s head popped up near him and Alex gave a feeble wave before the ride wranglers began to shift them all a few inches left or right to balance the cage. Her palms were sweating and she felt the blood singing in her ears as the door was closed and locked, leaving them waiting in anxious silence. As the drum began to turn she realized she was probably going to be sick and looked up at the faces turning before her eyes. A voice called out and she realized it was Kevin.

‘Look at the pole,’ he yelled. ‘Don’t look round, just at the pole.’

She fixed her eyes on the one still object in her now
swirling
universe and felt Jonny’s hand grab her.

‘I hear it’s just like having a heart attack,’ he said helpfully as a weight began to descend on her chest.

She risked one last glance at the crowd and her eyes met Lauren’s just as another face, a familiar but changed face, appeared over her shoulder. The fury in the eyes of Andrew Hinton burned into her memory, a snap-shot of a moment she would never forget as Lauren vanished from sight, the machine shifted on its axis and the floor fell away beneath her feet.

The first thing Lauren knew was that there was a strange smell, when suddenly a hand clamped itself across her mouth and she was lifted off her feet.

‘If you scream or try to struggle I’ll break your back. Keep still and I’ll not harm you. Understand?’ said a voice in her ear, as the smell intensified. She had a momentary glimpse of Alex’s face, white with shock and strain, before she was whisked round and hauled away through the crowds. She tried an experimental wriggle and the arm holding her round her waist tightened, squeezing the breath from her and
threatening
to crush her ribs.

‘I warned you,’ said the voice. ‘Try that again and it’ll be the last time you ever move your stubby little legs. You just as useful dead as alive so it don’t matter to me.’

Lauren went limp and waited, eyes open, hoping someone would notice her plight, but fairgoers swirled around them oblivious, all bent on a final evening’s pleasure. After a few minutes the crowd thinned out and they left the main field and entered the car park. She tensed, hoping to make a run for it when her abductor reached for his car keys, but he was ready for her. She was spun round and found herself dangling over his arm, her head bouncing up and down as he hurried to his vehicle. With one swift movement he opened the boot of a dark saloon car and pushed her inside, slamming the lid to leave her in darkness.

The smell was suddenly overpowering in the enclosed space and she gagged and felt around her hoping for something to hold on to or maybe wrap round her face to cut out the
terrible
odour. Her hands met metal warmed in the evening sun,
the rubber of a spare tyre and then something sticky and wet. She jerked her hand back as the car engine fired and realized somehow the source of the smell was now on her. An abrupt turn flung her across the boot and she reached out again, desperate for something to cling to as she was bumped away to some unknown destination.

The moment the Cage stopped Alex lurched for the door, dragging Jonny with her.

‘Oh come on,’ he said, ‘it wasn’t that bad. You didn’t even scream when the floor went.’

Staggering and trying to clear her head, she hauled him past the spectators and leaned on a clear section of the barrier.

‘It’s Lauren,’ she gasped. ‘I saw someone take her. Hinton – I saw Hinton take her just as the machine started.’

Jonny stared at her and shook his head. ‘No, she’s just over … over there …’ He looked around to where his sister had been watching. There was a scattering of chocolates on the ground and the box lay on its side, trampled in the crowd. ‘Who’s Hinton? What did you see?’

‘A probationer, released from somewhere – no-one seems to know anything about him and I’ve only seen him once but he gave me the creeps. He was just behind Lauren and I saw him grab her. Then she was gone. I couldn’t see where with the damn machine spinning.’

Jonny grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her none too gently, ‘Where did you meet him? Have you got an address? Think Alex!’

Alex pulled free and glared at him. ‘The only place I met him was out on the Levels in some grotty tumbledown ruin. I can’t believe he’s still there though …’ She paused. ‘He looked different. It was definitely him, but he looked thinner and there was a horrible mark all down one side of his face.’

Jonny was off, hauling Alex after him. ‘I don’t care if he was wearing full make-up and a tutu, I want to find my sister!’

In her haste to keep up with him Alex tripped and
stumbled
over a figure on the floor.

‘Hell, I’m sorry,’ she said, wrenching her arm free of
Jonny’s
grip. She bent over the hunched shape and recognized Simon Adams, the lorry boy. Simon lifted his head, his face contorted with fear.

‘What is it?’ asked Alex as gently as she could. ‘What’s the matter Simon.’

Simon shook his head and muttered something so softly she had to bend over to catch what he was saying.

‘Was him again. I seen him, seen him take her, so I trying to hide so’s he don’t hurt me again.’

‘Who was it?’ asked Alex, ‘You must tell me so I can rescue her. Who was it took Lauren?’

‘She is always nice. Don’t laugh like they others. He hurt us, that night. Crashed my lorry an’ all.’

Jonny hovered over them in a fever of impatience.

‘Bloody hell Alex, come on!’ he yelled, and Simon promptly rolled up into a ball and covered his ears.

‘Now look what you’ve done, you great oaf. He saw who took Lauren and if we asked him nicely he might have been able to tell us which direction they went.’ She gestured round at the mass of people on all sides. ‘Now we’re on our own.’

Simon lifted his head, giving Jonny an anxious glance as said, ‘Was Derek Johns. Big ol’ nasty Mr Johns, it was. I seen him with Newt around afore so I knows him, but I never speak to’m. Not wise, asking questions ‘bout they Johnses.’

‘Oh shit,’ said Jonny softly, then very gently asked, ‘Did you see where they went?’

Simon looked at him suspiciously for a moment and then gestured to the rear car park. ‘Was runnin’ that way,’ he murmured.

Alex looked around and saw Sue coming towards them looking worried.

‘Look after him,’ she said, pointing to Simon. ‘We can’t just leave him like this and I’ve got to go after Lauren. Jonny’s in no state to drive and I think I know where he’s taken her.’

She turned away and started pushing through the crowds
as Sue shouted, ‘Who has taken someone? And who’s been taken where? What’s going on?’ but Alex was gone.

The trip was mercifully short but brutally rough, and Lauren was half unconscious by the time the boot was opened and fresh, cool air rushed in.

‘Right you,’ said her abductor, and she was lifted out by her collar, hanging at the end of his arm like a rat. She opened her eyes as they entered the cottage where her sense of smell, briefly restored by the open air, registered that awful stink again. Before she could stop herself she looked at her captor’s face and in that moment she knew he was going to kill her.

Derek Johns,’ she said, pouring all the disgust she could into his name.

‘What you doin’ back here then?’

He shook her sharply but in an oddly impersonal way, as if his mind was on something else.

‘Just you shut up so’s I don’t have to gag you,’ he said. ‘Reckon I’ll tie you up though. Don’t trust you not to do something stupid. I seen you with that gadjie at the Twister. Bold little thing aren’t yer.’

‘Why are you doing this?’ she insisted, as he leaned over and grabbed a coil of old rope. He picked her up and carried her into the kitchen where the smell was strong enough to render her speechless for a moment. Derek grinned as he saw her face go white.