GEORGE
The next day things on the site seemed to move up another gear, although I didn’t feel quite so excited about it all. It had taken me ages to get to sleep, and it wasn’t hunger or the music or the drunken shouts that were disturbing me. I might have told Finn I was fine, but that was just pride.
I was worried about Becky and I was petrified Dex might come looking for me. What a total idiot I’d been. Once I was alone I couldn’t stop going over in my head how it felt when he grabbed me, sweaty and disgusting and overpowering. Even here I didn’t feel safe. There was no way to lock yourself inside a tent, making sure he couldn’t get in. I’d zipped myself tightly inside my sleeping bag, as though that would help. What if Dex came back? He wouldn’t come back, would he? He’d been a bit drunk, he was being stupid but now it was over …
It would have been so much better if Finn had been there with me, holding me close like he had under the bridge. I wished we hadn’t argued. I was grateful to him really, for rescuing me. But it drove me mad when he tried to tell me what to do. Wasn’t that why I’d planned my escape from Mum and Dad, to stop everyone telling me what to do? I pushed away the thought that if I had gone back to Dad’s Dex wouldn’t have been able to attack me.
In the morning, I felt a bit better. Light of day and all that. I didn’t see anything of Dex, thank God. I didn’t know if he was avoiding me or just busy. Either way, I kept an eye out for him so I could stay well clear. I needed to show Finn I could look after myself.
Even so, I was pleased when he came by to see if I was okay. Ridiculously pleased. At least I presumed that’s why he’d appeared. He looked me over for a long time and said, ‘Best keep your head down, okay?’ I didn’t know if he meant literally, so people wouldn’t look too closely, or figuratively. Both, probably.
‘Yes, fine.’
He took in a breath through his nose. ‘Look, why don’t you go and tell Beck. I’ll go over with you now, if you want.’ Well, maybe it wasn’t me he was worrying about.
‘I’ve told you I’m not saying anything to Becky. She’s got enough problems.’
‘It would help her to know.’
‘I said no, okay?’ I couldn’t bear to talk about what had happened. I felt sick even thinking about it, Dex being that close to me. He hadn’t actually done anything, but what if ...
He frowned, then shrugged. ‘Fine. Your choice. I just hope you don’t regret it.’
I ignored him and began applying make-up thick enough to hide a dozen bruises. By the time I’d done that he’d disappeared again.
Cami came to tell me all the stages were finished now and did I want to come and listen to the sound checks. He looked at me a bit strangely but didn’t comment on my appearance. I told him I’d maybe had too much beer, which seemed to amuse him. ‘Not so Miss Perfect now.’ We listened to sound checks until he got bored and he drifted off.
For the first time since I’d arrived in the Kielty Forest, the sun was shining strongly enough to be warm. It made a difference. Everyone seemed in a better mood. Gradually, I relaxed. I even got out my sketch pad and pastels and began to do some practice pictures of the tents set against the trees. As long as Dex left me alone I’d be fine. I told myself again he’d probably been a bit drunk. He was a bastard, but if I was careful not to be on my own with him, it would be fine. And I certainly wouldn’t mention I’d seen him on the bridge. That was the way to serious trouble. Finn was right in this at least: it wasn’t any of my business and I should keep my head down. I’d certainly far rather do that than confront Becky.
Unfortunately not everyone was so successful at staying out of trouble.
I don’t know what started it. It was early evening, with the sun still strong, lighting up the hills around with a pale golden light. People were opening cans of lager or bottles of wine. Then the shouting started.
It came from over by the campervans. People stopped what they were doing and turned to listen. Maybe I hadn’t calmed down as much as I’d thought. As soon as I heard it my heart was thumping and I felt a wave of sick fear, the pastels slipping from my fingers.
The shouts were indistinct, but the scream that followed was clear enough. And then Finn appeared out of one of the marquees and started hurtling over to the source of the sounds shouting, ‘No! Stop it! NO!’
So much for keeping your head down.
Most people followed him, some running, some walking, shrugging their shoulders as if to say ‘what now?’
I don’t know why I was one of the ones who were running. It’s not like I wanted to see a fight or anything. But Finn seemed to know who it was and I had a horrible feeling the van closest to the commotion was Dex’s. It couldn’t be Becky, could it? I ran faster.
It was with a sense of inevitability that I recognised the heavy build and shaven head of the one doing the punching. It was Dex. And he wasn’t just punching. He was using his knees and feet as well, landing whatever blow he could.
This was much worse than what he’d done to me. Jesus, he was going crazy.
‘You sneaking fucking bastard!’ he was shouting, and then a couple of other men managed to get a hold of him and pull him off. ‘You think you can steal from me?’ He aimed another kick. ‘You think I’m stupid?’
The figure on the floor was slight and dark-haired, but it wasn’t Becky. It was Cami.
And Finn was right in there beside them, shouting too. ‘Leave him alone! What are you doing? He’s half your size! You bastard!’
Dex looked ready to break free of the men holding him and have a go at Finn instead of Cami. And then Marcus appeared on the scene. Most of the crowd melted away and the men loosened their grip on Dex.
‘Your bastard brother,’ he said pugnaciously, thrusting out his enormous chin, but his eyes were narrowed, watching Marcus as though ready to run if he had to.
Cami was groaning on the ground. Finn was the only one who seemed interested enough to bend down to see how he was.
‘What’s he done?’ snapped Marcus.
‘Er …’ Dex rubbed a hand over his mouth. ‘We, er, argued, you know.’
‘I said what has he done?’
‘Nothing. It’s sorted now. It’s over. All good friends, hey, Cami mate?’
The two or three men who were still there stared at him in disbelief.
Finn was helping Cami to sit up. He seemed to make a habit of rescuing people. First me, now Cami.
Cami spat some blood and didn’t answer Dex.
Marcus said to Finn, ‘Is he all right?’
‘As far as I can see. It’s mostly bruises, but he’s lost at least one tooth. He’ll need to see a dentist.’
Cami groaned again and Marcus said, ‘That can wait.’ He looked at his brother in silence for a moment, then took a set of keys from his pocket and threw them to Finn. ‘Take him to my van.’
To my surprise, Finn did as instructed. I sort of wanted to go with them, but I also didn’t want to draw attention to myself by moving.
Marcus turned back to Dex. ‘What was he doing?’
‘Nothing. Nothing at all.’
‘I don’t want him involved in any of your shit. I warned you. Not my brother. I warned you.’ His tone was icy. He was as tall as Dex, but more slightly built. Nevertheless, I got the feeling he could hold his own in a fight. Not to mention the fact that the other men were sure to be on his side. There was a fat guy with a ponytail I’d seen around quite a bit, rarely far from Marcus and always happy to do his bidding.
Dex seemed to think the same. He wasn’t being pushy now. He wheedled, ‘It was just a little argument, got out of hand. Nothing serious.’
What did he think was serious? I touched my own swollen cheek, thought again of Cami’s bruised and bleeding face.
‘I’m not sure I want you on this site any more.’ Marcus’s tone continued cold, thoughtful. ‘I think you might just be a major fucking liability.’
‘You can’t turn me off now. Who’ll oversee your security? I’ve
got it sussed, Marcus, man, no one else will be able to pick it up now.’
Marcus scowled at him, pale eyes narrowed. I noticed that Dex’s shirt had come open and for the first time I saw what the big tattoo was. A girl’s bleeding body, with a snake coming out of her mouth, and a swastika stabbing her heart. Jesus, he was sick.
Marcus’s gaze shifted to the open door of Dex’s van. Becky was standing there. I hadn’t noticed her before. She looked ghostly white, and I don’t think it was just the make-up.
Marcus sighed and looked back at Dex. ‘Okay, you can stay. But this is your last chance. Get it? You mess up again and you’re out. And leave my brother alone.’ He spat at the ground at Dex’s feet and turned away.
Chapter Fifteen
GEORGE
The fight kind of put a dampener on the evening. There was no party atmosphere tonight. People cooked in smaller groups and then withdrew to their tents or vans. I wanted to know how Cami was but didn’t have the nerve to go and find out. I didn’t even know which van was Marcus’s.
I slipped off to text Mum and Dad. As if life wasn’t difficult enough without having to think up happy chatty messages for them, which were seriously depleting my phone battery. I was going to have to find somewhere to charge it. Then I went to lie in my tent and read Animal Farm so my claims of studying wouldn’t be totally untrue.
I started to feel shaky again, especially now it was going dark. I probably hadn’t been in any real danger last night, things had just got a bit out of hand. I’d need to be careful and everything would be fine. And yet, and yet … Dex was such a brute, unpredictable and dangerous. I wished Marcus had sent him away.
I read the not-very-interesting book and tried to ignore my hunger pangs. With everything that had been going on today, I’d forgotten to go up to the shop and my supplies were running low. I hadn’t seen any sign of Finn since the fight, so presumably he wasn’t planning to cook for us tonight, if he ever did. Life was horrible. I almost wished I was somewhere else.
‘George? Georgie, are you there?’
The last person I expected to turn up tonight was Becky.
‘George? It’s me. Can I come in?’
‘What? Yeah, of course.’ I didn’t even bother to hide my books. I hurried to unzip the opening and peered out.
‘Becky! Er, great …’
At first I thought she’d brought someone with her, then I realised she had an enormous rucksack leaning against her feet. Without another word, she crawled into the tent, dragging it behind her.
I pushed my lilo and sleeping bag further to one side and began to pick up all the stuff that seemed to have scattered itself around on the groundsheet.
‘Er, are you moving in?’ It looked like it. This was weird.
Becky grunted as, with one final effort, she pulled her load inside and zipped up the flaps again. She sat down with a sigh, pushing the dark, matted hair behind her shoulder and looking around.
‘Not much space, is there?’
‘Not a lot, no.’ I took hold of the wind-up lamp and began to turn the handle. Partly for something to do and partly because I realised it was getting kind of dark.
I watched Becky, waiting for her to say something. She looked pale, but not unfocused and not tearful.
She unrolled a sleeping mat and laid it next to my lilo, then put a tattered, multi-coloured sleeping bag on top of it. It gave off a strong scent of patchouli oil. I supposed it could have been worse. Then she pushed her rucksack down towards the space near the entrance and lay down on top of the sleeping bag. That seemed to be the extent of her unpacking.
‘Does Dex know you’re here?’ I asked nervously. The idea of him coming to fetch her back was terrifying.
‘Bloody right he does. And Marcus knows, so Dex won’t do anything. He’s scared of Marcus.’
That seemed to be true. I was scared of Marcus, too, but if he was on our side I supposed it was all right. I gave a shaky sigh of relief.
I stared at Becky for a while. Her beautiful face showed signs of bruising through the white make-up and the dark rings under her eyes that had nothing to do with mascara were still there. Seeing her close up like this, she looked thinner than ever.
‘So you’ve left him?’ I said cautiously. ‘Er, Dex?’
She flinched and stared away from me. ‘Looks like it.’ She didn’t sound sure.
Looking around for inspiration, I noticed my last bar of chocolate in the pouch on my side of the tent. ‘Seems like, er, a chocolate moment.’ I offered it to her, smiling encouragingly.
‘What? Oh, brilliant, yes.’ She took a row, and then handed the bar back so we could share.
I wondered what had happened to make her move out now. Should I tell her what Dex had done last night? Or did she already know? Or maybe this was because of the fight with Cami. I couldn’t think of the right way to put any of it into words.
She was here, with me. That was the main thing.
I gave her the last of the chocolate and she ate it with her eyes closed.
‘I’m going to sleep now,’ she said, and wriggled inside her sleeping bag, still fully clothed. She closed her eyes and that was that.
No chance for me to ask any questions tonight, then.
Having Becky in the tent didn’t leave an awful lot of space for me, but I finally managed to settle down. I thought it would be odd with another person there but actually it was okay. I kind of liked the sound of someone else’s breathing, and it certainly made it warmer. I expected to lie there for ages worrying about what it was that had made Becky leave Dex, but it didn’t take me very long to get to sleep myself.
FINN
When I first came to the Festival I’d decided to have nothing to do with Dex. I hated him, but I couldn’t alter anything, so why get involved?
But seeing what he’d done to George last night, to Cami this afternoon, somehow I’d changed my mind. I was not going to let the bastard get away with everything.
‘You should report him to the police,’ I said to Marcus when he came to check up on Cami. ‘That was serious assault.’
‘No wa-ay,’ said Cami indistinctly.
‘Leave it,’ said Marcus to me. And to Cami, ‘You watch yourself, you little shit. You stay clear of him from now on, you hear?’
Cami gave a vague movement that could have been a nod or a shrug.
Marcus watched him through narrowed eyes and then shrugged. ‘Something good’s come out of this, at least. Beck’s left him. Moved in with that sister of hers.’
Well! That was good news. The best I’d heard in a long time.
And the next day, while Dex was distracted because Beck had finally had the balls to leave him, I decided to go and have a look for his hiding place. I’d no plan what I would do if I found it, but I’d had enough of Dex Barker’s bullying, his dealing and his beating people up. Something had to change.
I told Cami I was going to the shop, and headed over the bridge and turned left, just in case someone was keeping an eye on me. Then I cut back to the path that headed straight up the hill and walked slowly along it, keeping an eye out for any sign of disturbance. The vegetation was pretty interesting up there, the pines were older and fairly spaced out so there was a well-developed understorey, but I would come back to that later.
I reached the upper track. This also led towards the village if you turned left, and if you went right, it hooked back round the valley. Should I go further up or stay on the track? On a hunch, because Dex was never away that long on his sorties, I turned left towards the village. I walked a couple of hundred yards along, and then turned back to retrace my steps. There had been something ... A possibility, something out of place ...
And then I saw it and I knew. A slight indentation of last year's needles where they filled a shallow ditch, a twig bent out of place. I'd been keeping an eye – and an ear – out for anyone else around, but I checked again, twice, and then carefully climbed up the narrow half-path. There were some bigger brambles to m
y left, looking wrong here where most of the undergrowth was low. I moved around the back of them to have a closer look. It must be here somewhere.
I almost missed it, it was so well camouflaged by the brambles and bracken. I walked past it twice before I realised what it was. A low building, very old, possibly pre-dating the planting of the forest, half underground. The part above ground was completely hidden by the brambles. I looked in closer and saw an old wooden door, firmly closed by a brand new padlock. There was something here worth hiding.
I scuffed over any footprints I might have made and moved quickly back to the track. I headed for the village. I'd seen all I needed to see.
I’d detour via the village shop, stock up on food for Cami, and then I’d work out what to do next.
Chapter Sixteen
GEORGE
It was like Becky was ill, or at least recovering from an illness. She spent most of the next day in the tent, leaving it only to use the toilet. I tried to ask her some questions but it was useless. In an odd kind of way I could understand why Mum got mad when I wouldn’t talk to her. It was hard being the responsible one when no-one would explain what was going on.
Becky slept on and off. She didn’t seem to be taking drugs or anything so I decided to leave her to it.
As long as Dex didn’t come after her.
But he, too, seemed to be keeping a low profile. I saw him in the distance with a walkie talkie but he didn’t ask me for any help and I didn’t offer. I didn’t think I owed him anything. He seemed to have one or two people assisting, but not nearly as many as a few days ago. Maybe other people were avoiding him too.
By lunchtime I was bored and hungry. Becky wasn’t exactly scintillating company, and I wanted to know what was happening in the wider world, like what was Finn doing, and how Cami was.
I’d gone to Finn’s tent twice but it was empty. I was pretty impressed that he was the one who had broken up the fight between Dex and Cami. Before he interfered, nobody had seemed to be doing much. He might be bossy and secretive, but he certainly had guts. I also kind of felt he’d know what to do for Becky.
Music and Lies (George and Finn Book 1) Page 8
