The Clearing (Outside #2)

by Shalini Boland

  The room felt cramped and claustrophobic with all six of us standing inside. It was chilly and musty. A window sat high up on the wall, but it had no glass, just thick metal bars. A cold breeze blew into the room making a low whining noise.

  ‘Thank you for seeing us.’ Jessie looked embarrassed and so she should. She caught my eye and flushed. ‘I’m glad you’re both alright,’ she said.

  A thousand and one retorts hovered on my lips, but I didn’t speak.

  ‘Sit down,’ Roger said, motioning them back towards the bed.

  They glanced around awkwardly, but did as he asked.

  Fred now held his cap in his hands. He looked small and a bit pathetic.

  Roger called out into the corridor: ‘We need some chairs in here!’

  A few seconds later, the door opened again and a guard brought in a stack of four plastic seats. We tugged them free from each other and the four of us sat down, facing the worried-looking couple.

  ‘Make it quick.’ Luc said. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘If it's worth anything, we're genuinely sorry,’ Jessie said. ‘We hated doing what we did.’ She turned to Fred, whose eyes were resolutely downcast. Her eyes filled with tears.

  ‘You've tried the tears routine with us once before, so you can save it,’ Luc said.

  Fred reached over to take Jessie's hand.

  Just looking at them, brought back an avalanche of memories. We thought these two had been our guardian angels. They had showed Luc and me the warmth of their hospitality after we had been set upon by raiders, and at the time we were so grateful.

  ‘How could you!’ I said. ‘We trusted you. We wanted to help you and you sent us to that awful place to be brainwashed.’ I stumbled over the words, now so upset that I could barely speak. If I opened my mouth again I knew I’d cry, and they would be tears of anger. I glanced across at Pa who had a grim expression on his face, but he didn’t speak and I was grateful he was trusting this conversation to me and Luc.

  ‘You might not believe us, but we’re happy you escaped,’ Fred said. ‘I know we don't deserve a hearing, but will you let us tell you our story? And then you can decide whether or not to send us packing.’

  I glanced at Luc who looked unimpressed and tight-lipped, but he gestured with his hands for him to continue.

  Fred nodded and began his story.

  Chapter Five

  Liss

  *

  Liss tried to scream, but her mouth had been taped shut. What was happening? And where was FJ? She tried to see where the other man had taken her brother, but they had seemed to vanish into the undergrowth. Her heart thumped so violently, she thought it might beat its way right out of her chest.

  She was held tight by the man as he walked, her arms pinned to her side. But because she faced away from him, she couldn’t even see what he looked like. Maybe that was a good thing. She didn’t think she wanted to see his face. What if he was a monster?

  Why oh why had they come out here alone? She’d known it was dangerous, but she had stupidly let herself be talked into it. Were they going to die now? Were they going to be shot? Hot tears slipped out of her eyes and she tried to sniff them back. It was so hard to breathe with this thing over her mouth.

  That Mr Carter man had disappeared too. Maybe he’d gone with FJ. If only she didn’t have her mouth taped she would scream and scream and shout for her mum and dad to come. They would surely hear her from here. And then dad would come running out with his shotgun and rescue them. Liss tried to free one of her arms, but the wriggling only made her captor squeeze her even tighter. It was hopeless.

  The man grunted and set her down on the ground. He twisted her arms painfully behind her back and tied them up with something sharp that dug into her skin. She gave a soundless whimper. Her hair fell over her eyes, but through the mousy strands she saw that she was standing in front of a vehicle. It looked like an army truck.

  The man moved around in front of her. He was ordinary looking. Brown hair, not fat, not thin, not a monster. Just a man.

  ‘Sit down,’ he said softly.

  She stared at him.

  ‘On the ground. Sit down. I ain’t gonna hurt ya.’

  Liss manoeuvered herself onto the ground. It was tricky with her hands tied behind her back, and her backside landed with a thump on the grass verge.

  The man took some kind of plastic strip out of his trouser pocket and used it to tie her ankles together.

  Liss wanted to ask him if he was going to kill her.

  Once her ankles were secured, he stood and opened up the back of the truck. Then he bent back down and hoisted her up in his arms like a lamb for shearing.

  ‘You’re going to a good place,’ he said as he set her down in the back of the truck, swung her legs around and slammed the door shut.

  Now Liss sat in total darkness. She thought she might’ve caught a glimpse of some other children in the truck, but it had been so fleeting she couldn’t be sure.

  She realised she was shaking uncontrollably. Shaking and shivering and crying like a baby. She wondered if FJ was afraid. And if he was, was he keeping it hidden? Or was he crying and shaking too?

  Maybe he was here in the truck with her. It was dark, but she could make out some dim shapes. The sour smell of vomit and sweat made her feel suddenly nauseous. She drew her legs into her body. Her arms were aching badly. How long would she be left in here like this?

  A door slammed and the engine started up. A deep throaty rumble. Liss braced herself against the wall of the truck, splaying out her bound hands. As the vehicle began to move, she absorbed every jolt and judder from the road, but wasn’t able to steady herself. She was going to be bruised black and blue.

  Her fingers brushed against something soft. Someone’s leg or maybe an arm? Perhaps it was FJ. But with her mouth taped, she couldn’t ask.

  The journey was long and uncomfortable. She drifted in and out of terror, her mind circling around the same questions. Where were they going? Would she ever see mum and dad again? What about FJ? Was he in here with her or had they taken him somewhere else?

  Liss wished more than anything that she had stuck to her guns and not followed her brother through the tunnel. In fact, if she was wishing for stuff, she wished she had been a tell-tale and told her mum exactly what FJ was planning to do. Even if he had refused to speak to her for a month it would be better than this.

  Liss felt like she’d been sweltering inside the truck forever. She couldn’t breathe properly with this horrible tape over her mouth and she worried about how much it was going to hurt when they peeled it off – like a plaster only much, much worse.

  Suddenly the truck stopped with a lurch and Liss was flung sideways. Her head landed on something soft. The engine grumbled for a moment and then everything went quiet. Had they reached their destination? Wherever that was. Liss shuffled upright again and cowered away from the door.

  On the one hand, she was so tired and her arms ached so badly that she was dying to get out of here. Plus, the smell was terrible. But on the other hand, what if what lay out there was worse than being in here?

  And now that the engine had stopped Liss could tell there were definitely other people in here with her. She heard muffled coughs and sobs and felt the movement of people shifting about, probably trying to get comfy. Apart from that, it was quiet. She heard no sounds at all from outside.

  Her stomach gurgled with a mixture of nerves and hunger, but she knew that even if her favourite food had been placed in front of her right now, she wouldn’t be able to choke any of it down.

  After what seemed like an age, Liss heard a voice outside. It sounded like the man who had tied her up and bundled her into the truck. Seconds later, the door creaked open, letting in a violent flood of light.

  Squinting and blinking, she stared around the truck into the faces of other children, all bound and gagged with fear in their eyes. She desperately tried to see if FJ was among them, but from what she could tell, these other
s were all girls. Most of them were raggedy and scrawny. They looked like real outsiders with matted hair and dirty angry faces. But she did make out one with brushed hair and clean clothes.

  Suddenly another person was dumped next to her, a young girl who couldn’t have been more than four or five, fresh tears streaking down her chubby red face.

  Then the door slammed shut again and darkness descended. The engine started up and she felt the new girl lean into her, her little body shuddering and shaking like hers had done earlier. Liss wished she could comfort the girl, but she couldn’t talk and couldn’t even put her arm around her.

  She shuffled her bottom around and reached out her fingers. She felt the ridged metal truck floor and the edge of some carpet. Then her fingers came upon material – the girl’s t shirt. She scooched around a bit more until finally she found the girl’s bound hands. She took them in her own and gave them a small squeeze.

  Liss felt the girl’s body stiffen next to her, felt her fingers freeze and then retract. Liss felt for them again and rubbed her thumb along the back of the girl’s hand, trying to reassure her. But the girl really went crazy like she’d been given an electric shock and tried to shift away so Liss gave up and inched backwards.

  The truck soon stopped again and this time two more girls were put into the truck. As the door opened, Liss quickly stared around at the other prisoners. The small girl from before looked up at her with wide eyes and Liss tried to smile, but it was impossible with her mouth covered like this.

  As they were plunged back into blackness, Liss felt the girl shuffle towards her and she took a grain of comfort from the small body.

  The truck stopped several more times and each time another girl was dumped inside. Liss’s eyes soon grew heavy and despite her fear and worry about where they were headed, she eventually fell asleep.

  Liss awoke from a dreamless slumber. She tried to stretch out her limbs, but they seemed to be stuck.

  And then she remembered.

  In that brief second after waking, she had thought it had all been a dream, but as the terrible stench of fear and pee and vomit hit her nostrils, she knew it was all too real. She was here in the truck, kidnapped, taken from her family and heading who knew where.

  Her body cramped with stiffness and the darkness crowded in on her like a living breathing thing. If she could have opened her mouth, she would have screamed. She took a deep breath in through her nose realising that the truck was now still and the engine had stopped. Maybe the man was putting more girls in the truck.

  What would her parents be thinking by now? Were they cross or worried? Maybe they were looking for her. Perhaps FJ had managed to escape. . .

  The truck door opened. It was dark outside, but the fresh air felt good on her sweaty face. She heard voices. A man and a woman talking. No – two women. They were talking about numbers and about boys and girls but she couldn’t make proper sense of the words. The voices merged like mashed potato and butter all swirled around together. She realised that was a strange thought to have, but she felt very strange. Not so scared anymore, just tired and odd.

  A face loomed above her. It was a woman. She was quite young and Liss couldn’t work out if she was friendly or not. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t look mean either.

  The woman was saying stuff, but Liss didn’t think she was talking to her. No. She wasn’t. She was talking to a man next to her. They were arguing.

  ‘Was this tape really necessary?’ the woman said.

  ‘I’d like to see you try driving all day with a lorry-load of screaming kids,’ he replied.

  ‘Poor dear.’ The woman took the corner of Liss’s tape in her fingers and gently began to peel it off.

  The skin around Liss’s lips stung as the tape pulled away, but it didn’t hurt as much as she had thought it would.

  ‘What’s your name?’ the woman asked.

  Liss took in a gulp of air through her mouth. It was lovely to get rid of that horrid tape.

  ‘Liss. Melissa,’ she replied.

  ‘Hello, Melissa. My name is Sarah.’

  Liss stared up at the woman.

  ‘Let’s get you out of this nasty truck. I’m sure you could do with a wash and some food.’

  The woman climbed up into the vehicle and began peeling the tape off all the girls’ mouths. But it was strange, because even though everyone was now free to talk and cry and scream, not one of them said a word.

  Chapter Six

  Riley

  *

  I stared at the middle-aged couple in front of us. Even after all that had happened I still had trouble believing they had lied and sent us into a trap. They just didn’t look the type. Showed how much I knew.

  As he began talking, I wanted to tell Fred to shut up, get out and leave us alone. But of course I didn’t.

  ‘Now what we told you young 'uns weren't all a lie like you might of thought,’ Fred began. ‘We have got two children, same ages as you two and they are with Grey. But we didn't tell you everything. We've done some things we're ashamed of. We shouldn’t of done 'em and for that we're sorry.’

  As he said sorry, he looked into my eyes. I stared back for a split second before looking away. But now I was becoming a little intrigued.

  ‘Our kids went missing nine years ago,’ he said. ‘Vanished without a trace. Then, about a year ago, we found out that Grey might have been the one who took ‘em. So Jess and me, we went to Salisbury to see about getting 'em back. We had no plan like, we just wanted to see if it were really true and to beg for 'em back.

  ‘Well we never met the big man himself, but a man from there called Mr Sadler, he said our kids wasn't there. We insisted. We said we'd met someone who used to be there and they knew for definite that our Lissy and Freddie Junior was there. We said we wasn't going nowhere till we had our kids back.

  ‘This Sadler man, he kind of smiled in a horrible way and I wanted to kill him, but Jess held me back and she spoke nice to him. She begged and said we'd do anything to get our babies back. Sadler made us sweat outside those gates for days, but just as we was giving up hope he comes back and makes us a proposition.

  ‘He tells us they’re growing their city bigger and they need more hands. Not old hands like ours, but young energetic kids. Well I know that’s cos kids is easier to brainwash and I want to punch his smarmy face as he's telling us, but I hold my fists down tight and I keep listening. He said if we can send him a hundred kids, we can have our two back. Now Jess and I think he's joking or sommat. I mean, a hundred kids? What's he on?

  ‘He said it would be easy. There's loads of orphans out there living rough with no sorta life. Just trying to survive, we'd be doing those kids a favour. We said if it were that easy, why didn't they do it thereselves. He said that they were doing all they could, but it wasn't enough. They're looking to get thousands. They're trying to take over the country.

  ‘Well Jess and I didn't feel too comfortable about it. We asked if there was another way, or could we move in too and stay in the Close with our kids. But Sadler laughed and he flat out refused. So we asked if we could at least see our kids and couldn't believe it when Sadler agreed. He brought our babies out, separately, to see us the next day.

  ‘They was grown up, teenagers, but you could tell it were definitely them. They looked well, but they didn’t look at us and we weren't allowed to talk to 'em. Can you imagine being so close, but not allowed to put your arms around them and feel your little 'uns after all them years? It was like torture.’

  Jessie let out a sob and Fred took her hand.

  ‘We had no choice,’ he said. ‘We had to think about doing what the man asked.

  ‘We tried going to the army first and seeing if they’d help us, but they didn't wanna know. I tell you, that lot are as good as useless. We didn't have no one else to turn to, so we kidded ourselves that what we were doing weren't so bad. That the kids we sent would be better off there, looked after and fed proper, with kids their own ages; but we knew it
was wrong.

  ‘We went home and then we went out trying to find children who was in a bad way, who wouldn't have made it without Grey's help. But we both felt sick at what we was doing. I kept seeing my kids' faces in my mind and it kept me going. I'm ashamed and I feel like I ain't going to heaven for what I done.

  ‘When you two turned up at our place and came up with the idea of rescuing Lissy and FJ, we wanted to go through with it. But we'd nearly reached our target of a hundred kids and it was too much of a risk to let you try out your plan when we knew our two was almost free anyway. So we added you to the list of one hundred and we told Sadler about your plan.’

  My heart started racing as I discovered how they deceived us from the start. I felt like a gullible fool all over again. Luc’s fists were bunched. Pa’s chair scraped back a fraction, and I thought he was going to get up and start yelling. But no one said a word.

  Jessie also stayed quiet. She’d stopped crying and her face showed no emotion. She looked vacant, like she wasn’t even listening. Fred continued.

  ‘We kept telling ourselves that we was doing it for our kids. They was relying on us. We couldn't just leave 'em there. We're their parents. We're supposed to be there for them. Who else, if not us?’

  Luc cleared his throat.

  ‘Say for a moment that I believe you - and I’m not saying I do – that’s a horrible situation and I can kind of see why you did what you did.’

  ‘Well I can’t,’ Pa said. ‘There’s no excuse for it. None.’

  ‘You got kids?’ Fred asked Pa.

  ‘Riley is my daughter.’

  ‘Aah,’ Fred said. ‘Well in that case, I’m very sorry bout what happened. But wouldn’t you have done the same for your Riley? Wouldn’t you suffer eternal damnation if you could save your kids?’

  Pa didn’t reply.

  ‘So have you got your children back now?’ I asked.

  ‘Well that's just it,’ Fred replied. ‘We went back there after we got ‘em their kids. And we asked for ours back. Another man comes out, and tells us that we done so well, they want another hundred kids from us before they let Liss and Freddie Junior out. We couldn't believe it. We done all that, more or less sold our souls to the devil, for nothing.