The Lost Ones

by Ben Cheetham

  By the time Tom and Eddie reached the barricade, they were confronted by a confusion of flailing limbs and swearing voices. A woman pushed her filth-caked palms into Eddie’s face, yelling, ‘If you shit on the earth, the earth will shit on you.’

  ‘The dirty cow’s got shit on her hands,’ he choked. ‘Help me grab her.’

  Tom began clambering over the barricade.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Eddie shouted after him.

  Tom’s eyes were locked on Greenie. A hand grabbed his ankle. He wrenched himself free and jumped down to the ground. A couple of activists had chained themselves to the base of the lookout tree. One tracksuited heavy was in the process of cuffing them, while another applied bolt cutters to their chains. The heavies ran for cover as a man in the treehouse tipped a bucket of liquid on their heads. Tom blinked as it splashed his face. The sour tang of urine invaded his nostrils. He didn’t stop to wipe his eyes.

  The Geordies were upending, tearing down and smashing everything in their way. Shouts rang back and forth. Earth rapists! Fucking hippy! You’re hurting my arm! Give me any more shit and I’ll break it! Tom paid no attention to any of it, homing in on Greenie like a hawk after its prey.

  Greenie’s arms were outstretched as if he was calling to some great spirit in the sky. ‘None of you will escape cosmic justice,’ he cried.

  ‘Where’s my daughter?’ Tom demanded to know through clenched teeth.

  Greenie took one look at his enraged face and fled. Tom pursued him up the footpath towards the Five Women. He made a wild grab for Greenie, knocking him off balance. Greenie tumbled down a steep grassy bank above the quarry. Tom lurched to catch his hand and found himself falling towards the edge too. He ploughed his free hand into the turf, snagging a root. Every muscle quivering, he fought to hold onto Greenie. For a second both men stared at each other. Then Greenie’s mouth formed an ‘O’ of terror as he plummeted from view. There was a thud as he hit the ground ten metres below. Tom peered wide-eyed after him. Greenie was sprawled out on his back, one leg at an unnatural angle, eyes closed. With a sick feeling of horror, Tom saw that the activist’s blond hair was rapidly turning red.

  Eddie dropped to his knees at Greenie’s side and felt for a pulse. ‘Christ, I think he’s dead,’ he shouted to Tom.

  ‘Murderer!’ yelled an activist cuffed on the ground nearby.

  Dave looked over Eddie’s shoulder at the ashen-faced Greenie. ‘Fuck. This is really bad. Sorry, but we didn’t sign up for this.’ He made a retreat gesture. ‘Come on, lads, we’re out of here!’

  As the Geordies ran for the minibus, Eddie said, ‘We have to go too, Tom.’

  Tom didn’t hear him. The activist’s shout seemed to reverberate in his ears, each echo louder than the one before. Murderer, murderer, murderer . . . He knew he’d tried to save Greenie. But what if no one else did?

  Eddie yelled at him again. This time a word got through. Erin. It jerked him back to himself. He couldn’t stay here. He had to find Erin. He clambered back to the path and ran for the BMW. A torrent of furious voices pursued him. ‘Coward! Murderer! You’re gonna burn for this!’

  As Eddie slammed the car into reverse, Tom clutched his arm and pointed. ‘Look!’

  On the summit of Maglin Hill a white-robed figure was holding a staff aloft.

  ‘Do you see that?’ Tom asked as if doubting his eyes.

  ‘I see the bastard,’ growled Eddie.

  The last two lines of the poem the priestess had pressed into Tom’s hand came back to him like a parting shot. ‘We take the consequences of our actions,’ he murmured hollowly. ‘And so must you.’

  DAY 2

  11.24 A.M.

  On feet as soft as the paws of Mary’s cats, Jake padded up the stairs. He paused, stomach clenching, at the creak of a floorboard, then continued to his bedroom. The pillows were still in place. The trick had worked. He quickly pulled down the sheets and started to rearrange the pillows.

  ‘I thought I heard movement up here.’

  Jake jerked around guiltily at his mum’s voice. He was so shocked by how she looked – sunken cheeks, dark-ringed, lustreless eyes – that he almost forgot his dismay at being caught out. Everything about her – even her usually thick, wavy hair – was lifelessly flat. It was as if a vampire had been at her.

  ‘How are you feel—’ Amanda started to ask. She fell silent, looking at the pillows and the boots on Jake’s feet. She gave a little shake of her head. ‘You promised you wouldn’t go back to that house.’ Her voice was wearily disappointed rather than angry.

  ‘I haven’t been.’

  ‘So where have you been? Actually, you know what, don’t bother telling me. I’m too tired to listen to your lies right now.’

  Cathy came up behind Amanda. ‘Jake, you’re awake.’

  ‘He’s not been to sleep,’ said Amanda.

  ‘Poor darling. Mind you, it’s hardly surprising considering—’

  ‘No, Mum. He’s not been to sleep because he wasn’t in bed.’

  ‘What do you mean he wasn’t—’ Cathy broke off. Then her voice rose in realisation. ‘Oh.’ She sighed. ‘Jake, I know you’re frantic with worry. We all are. But you can’t keep doing—’

  ‘Save your breath, Mum,’ Amanda interrupted again. ‘He doesn’t care what we say. He’ll just do as he pleases regardless.’

  Jake’s eyes appealed to his grandma to come to his defence. She shook her head as if to say, Sorry, darling, not this time. His remorseful gaze returned to his mum. She looked at him sadly, then turned to walk away. Cathy gave him a faint sympathetic smile, before following her.

  Jake heaved a sigh. Self-pity turned to concern as he remembered the chick. He hurried to the airing cupboard. The baby rook was very much alive. At the touch of his fingertip, it opened its beak and squeaked hungrily. He squirted a few blobs of oat paste onto its tongue. Sated, the chick settled down among the shreds of newspaper. The tension faded from Jake’s face as he watched it sleep. He quietly closed the box and returned to his room.

  He pushed the dressing table against the door, then retrieved the diary from its hiding place and sank back against the pillows. He flipped through the yellowed pages to where he’d left off – ‘Thursday, 11 May’ – and began reading.

  Something amazing happened last night. I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking about what Hank said about going for a walk. I looked out of my window at the moon which was like a big bowl of milk and I saw something that made my heart beat really fast. Hank was in the garden. He looked at me and I looked back at him. We stayed like that for what felt like ages and then Hank waved for me to come outside. I shook my head but he kept waving so I put on some clothes and tiptoed downstairs. I was really scared that Mummy or Daddy would hear but they didn’t. Hank was waiting at the back door. I was amazed to see that the door was open. I asked Hank how he opened it and he said he had learned how to do it at boarding school. He said his dorm was locked at night so he had to pick the lock when he sneaked out for a walk. I asked if he could lock it again and he said yes. He said he had something to show me and that it wouldn’t take long. I put my shoes on and we ran across the garden holding hands. I had never been in the woods at night before and they looked different. I told Hank and he said that was why he liked the moon so much because it made it seem like you were in a new world. He said that when he was out on his own at night it felt like the whole world belonged to him. We walked along the river to a field and Hank pointed at something on the ground. I thought at first it was a sleeping sheep but then I saw that it wasn’t sleeping it was dead. There was something black on its wool. I asked what it was and Hank said it was blood.

  The entry was interrupted by a pencil drawing of a sheep with a halo and wings, before continuing,

  I asked Hank if he thought the sheep had been killed by a fox and he said no. He said it looked like someone had stabbed it and cut its throat. I said why would anyone do something so horrible? He said he was not sure if he should tel
l me. I said why not and he said because he didn’t want to scare me. I promised not to be scared and he said the sheep was killed by devil worshippers. I asked how he knew that and he told me about an article in the Gazette about a local farmer whose sheep keep being killed. The article said police are investigating but haven’t been able to find out who is killing them. The worst attack was on the 6th of June last year when 6 sheep were killed in one night. Hank said this proved it was devil worshippers because 6 sheep were killed on the 6th night of the 6th month which makes 666 which is the number of the Devil. I put my hand on the sheep and it was warm. Hank said it wasn’t killed long ago which meant the devil worshippers could be close by. He asked if I was scared and I said no which was true I was not scared. I said it would be fun to go looking for the devil worshippers and Hank said I was very brave but it was time for me to go home. We ran back through the woods to the house. Hank asked if I’d enjoyed our walk and I said yes I enjoyed it a lot and then he kissed me on the mouth. I was surprised and he asked me if I minded being kissed. I said not by him and then I said goodnight and went to my bedroom. I feel really strange. My head is dizzy and I still can’t sleep. I keep wondering if I feel like this because I am in love

  Instead of a full stop, the entry concluded with a heart drawn around a question mark.

  Jake thought about the sheep. Was it possible that Hank was right? No doubt, Lauren would say yes. And Elijah Ingham might well agree. But surely Rachel had suggested the most likely explanation – the sheep was simply killed by a fox. Another possibility occurred to Jake. What if Hank had killed it? But why would he do such a thing? Was he trying to impress Rachel in some twisted way? Or was he playing some kind of game?

  The next entry was dated ‘Tuesday, 16 May’. It began somewhat hysterically.

  Hank where are you? I have gone to our secret meeting place every day since our kiss but you are never there. Where are you? I need to see you and tell you about what happened at school today. Tina Dixon is not just a bully and a whore she is EVIL.

  The word was triple-ringed in red.

  When she heard that I was not going on the field trip to the 5 Women she said what’s wrong are your mum and dad scared of some stones? I stupidly told her what Daddy told me. I said you should be scared of that place because it’s used by a cult of whores who glorify Satan. I thought that might scare her but she just laughed and called me a retarded idiot and then her friends laughed too and they danced around me singing Rachel is an idiot Rachel is a retard Rachel is a moron. That was bad enough but something even worse happened later. I stayed behind while everyone else went to the 5 Women. It was lunchtime when the bus got back. Tina and her friends came over to me in the playground. I knew something had happened because Tina was smiling. She said my dad and some other people from church had been at the 5 Women. She said Daddy told Mr Harrison he should be ashamed of himself for polluting children’s minds with Pagan filth. And Mr Harrison said it was Daddy who should be ashamed for trying to stop children from learning about their heritage. And then Daddy got angry and shouted that Mr Harrison was no better than a Satanist. Mr Harrison asked Daddy and the other people to leave but they said it was their duty to stay and pray for the children. And then Tina put her hands together and said you know what I pray to God for? I pray that you and your family all drop dead so that I never have to look at your retarded faces again. I told her to take that back and she said make me. Then I got really angry and pushed her. She pushed me back and I fell over and hit my head really hard. Mrs Hedley saw and took us to Mr Turnbull for fighting. When I touched my head I found it was bleeding. Mr Turnbull gave us both detention and said that he would be phoning our parents. After we left his office Tina said that she is going to kill me and she gave me a piece of paper with this on it.

  The sentence ended with a drawing of a gravestone with ‘R.I.H. Rachel Ingham’ on it. ‘I think R.I.H. means Rot in Hell,’ continued the entry.

  But Tina is the one going to Hell not me. After detention Daddy came to pick me up. I told him what had happened and he said and unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. I started to cry and I yelled at him that this was all his fault and he said I was right because he had allowed me to neglect my Bible. When we got home he made me sit and read Luke but when he wasn’t looking I read Exodus instead. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot. And I prayed that Tina Dixon gets what she deserves but I did not pray to God like Tina did because God doesn’t listen.

  Jake flipped the page, thinking, If she didn’t pray to God, who did she pray to? The next entry was dated to the following day.

  Today started off really horribly but ended really nicely. I was sick before school for the first time in a few weeks and when I got to school Tina gave a throat cut sign. I hid at playtime so that Tina could not get me. At the end of school Tina and her gang were waiting at the gates. I stayed in the foyer for ages until they left. On the way home I went into a phone box and asked the operator for the number of Silverton boarding school. I thought I might be able to phone the school and speak to Hank and tell him what is going on. The operator said there was no number for a Silverton school. I felt really confused and angry. Why did Hank lie to me? I went to our secret place and Hank was there. I was happy to see him but I tried not to let him see that. I asked where he had been and he said he had to go back to school. I said there is no such place as Silverton boarding school. I asked why he had lied. He said because he was afraid that if he told me the truth I would not want to be his girlfriend. I asked what the truth is. He said the truth is that he is not sixteen he is nineteen.

  Jake wrinkled his nose. Sixteen was bad enough, but nineteen . . . The dude wasn’t merely a creep, he needed locking up.

  Hank said he would understand if I told him to get lost. I thought about it then I said it didn’t bother me that he was nineteen but that I didn’t want him to lie to me any more. He promised that he wouldn’t.

  Jake raised a dubious eyebrow. Hank obviously didn’t know how to do anything but lie. Why couldn’t Rachel see that? Was it naivety? Or did she just not give a shit?

  Hank asked why I was so late coming home from school and I told him what had happened at the 5 Women. He said my dad was right the 5 Women is a dangerous place. I asked why it was dangerous and he said he wasn’t sure if he should say. He said I might laugh at him. I promised not to laugh and he told me how he went to the 5 Women once on one of his night walks and saw something really strange. He said that he was standing inside the stone circle when a figure appeared to him. I asked what he meant by appeared and he said it appeared out of nowhere like a ghost. He said it was a naked man. I asked what the man looked like and he said he looked perfect like a Hollywood movie star. He said the man didn’t say anything. They just looked at each other then Hank ran away. I asked who the man was and Hank said he was certain that the man was a demon. I asked why he thought that and he said because he felt a pure evil coming from him. He said that devil worshippers had summoned the demon and now it inhabits the 5 Women. He asked if I believed him and I said yes. I also said that I think Tina Dixon is a devil worshipper. I showed him the cut on my head and said Tina is going to kill me. I said that I prayed Tina got killed before she could kill me. Hank said I do not need to worry because he will protect me from her even if she is a devil worshipper. We held hands and kissed for ages then he walked me home. Tonight I will say my prayers again but not to God. I will say thank you for sending me Hank. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  Jake shook his head. He didn’t know what was nuttier – Hank’s story or Rachel’s unquestioning acceptance of it. He couldn’t help but smile crookedly as he thought about Lauren. She’d cream her knickers when she read this stuff. He could just imagine her at the Five Women trying to summon up the demon.

  The margins of the next page were cluttered with a jumble of suns, moons, stars, hearts, dogs
, cats, birds, smiling and sad faces. The entry was dated ‘Monday, 22 May’. It began in block capitals

  TINA DIXON IS DEAD! When I got to school her friends were all crying in the playground. Some of the teachers were crying too. I asked someone what was wrong and they said Tina was dead. My heart began to beat really fast and I had to run to the toilets because I thought I was going to be sick. There was a special assembly and Mr Turnbull told us that Tina had been found at the quarry on Maglin Hill on Sunday night. She had fallen from the top of it. He said that the whole school was in shock and that it was hard to know what to say about such a tragedy. A policeman came into class and spoke to us. He asked if anyone had seen Tina on Sunday. I said I had not which was true. Everyone kept talking about how they couldn’t believe it and how sad they were. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t feel sad at all. I felt happier than I had done since Micah died. Tina was right I will go to Hell. At playtime there was a rumour going round that Tina fell because she was drunk on vodka. After school I ran all the way to the meeting place and told Hank what had happened. He said he already knew and that gave me a strange feeling inside. Not a scared feeling but a feeling of butterflies in my stomach. I asked how do you know and he showed me the Gazette which had a photo of Tina on its cover underneath the headline ‘Local Girl Falls to Her Death at Beauty Spot’. The article said Tina had gone out with friends on Sunday lunchtime and not come home for her tea. Her parents had got worried and called the police. But it wasn’t the police who found Tina it was a man walking his dog. The police say that Tina’s death appears to have been a tragic accident. Hank asked if I was pleased Tina was dead and I said yes although I know I shouldn’t be. He said yes I should be because Tina was a real bitch. I asked if he thought she was dead because I prayed for it. Hank said he supposed it depended on who I prayed to.