‘Wakey, wakey, it’s holiday time’ Peter shouted after his third cigarette, feeling in a much better mood as he could see the shades of blue mixing with the orange in the sky, he was tired but raring to go, he thought he would have an hours sleep when they got there as Eileen and the kids explored the park, surely they wouldn’t begrudge him that, he clapped his hands in a dramatic gesture, he had a big grin on his face, they were going on holiday.
Eileen was just coming around but Peter calling them made her jump, the two kids in the back also jumped, Nathan thinking for one moment he had woken up in the caravan until he saw his surroundings, he shivered a bit but was glad he wasn’t devoured in the night by some demonic monster, Peter began to laugh.
‘Bloody hell dad’ Lily shouted ‘you frightened the shit out of me’ she realised she was cuddled up to Nathan and quickly freed herself from him, brushing him away as if he was an insect,
Eileen turned around and gave her a stare, meaning to cut out the language. Lily stretched her arms.
‘I gotta get out and stretch my legs, we got anything to drink ‘she asked,
‘Where are we’ asked Nathan as he peered through the windows, all he could see was trees, he sounded as if last night was a distant memory and both Eileen and Peter were glad of that.
‘Were in the woods’ said Peter accentuating the word ‘woods’ immediately wishing he hadn’t as he didn’t want to scare the kids more than they already were, ‘there’s drinks in the boot I’ll get them’ he opened his front car door, there was a spring in his step as if they had just survived the night from hell, and the truth was Peter thought that’s exactly what they have done, if the rain hadn’t stopped he dared to think what would have happened, the others got out wanting to stretch their legs after being cooped up for sixteen hours or more, all the events of the night before seemingly forgotten, well just for the moment.
‘My bums gone all numb’ commented Lily as she done a weird dance that made everyone laugh, flinging her hands in the air as if she was swatting flies, the air was fresh, the sun was trying to peep over the trees, the skies an orange and blue colour, it looked beautiful as they looked above them,
‘Going to be a nice day’ said Eileen as her sandals squelched in the mud.
They got a four pack of fruit shoot’s out of the boot along with a pack of cereal bars that Eileen was thankful she brought, both Lily and Nathan moaning at the meagre rations, they walked to the front of the car and leaned on its bonnet whilst eating and drinking, Lily screwing her face up at every bite, Nathan picking small bits off his cereal bar, Eileen thought of her and Peter’s camping trips when they were courting, they would often camp in the woods in a two man tent that would get soaked through even at the mention of the rain, but then it was their sanctuary and she smiled as the warm memories came over her.
‘I’ll have a fag, reverse out of this mess, then we can stop off somewhere and have a coffee’ said Peter, sounding more determined than he ever been, this lifted everyone and the holiday mood was once again with them and soon they would be in the caravan all laughing at this, Peter was thinking of Bodmin Jail.
‘And breakfast, I need bacon’ said Lily,
‘And breakfast’ laughed Peter,
‘With lots of brown sauce’ added Nathan licking his lips, Lily high fived him.
Eileen had got the map out of the compartment and studied it,
’ there’s a service station a couple miles away in Magor I think, we just need to get back on that road that led us up here, I would kill for a coffee’
‘I’ll reverse us down’ Peter said, ‘we’ve only come about a mile this way, shouldn’t be too difficult, at least I’ll be able to see where I’m bloody going this time’ he looked at the trees in front of him and the narrow track leading through ‘Under fucking wood’ he thought, you can stick your Underwood’
Lily went back into the boot to get a magazine when she found out she still had no signal on her phone, ‘how could people live without Facebook’ she thought, she would need something to occupy her in the car, even if it was to blank out the noises of Nathans silly game, daylight seemed to have got amongst them quickly and it did indeed look as if it was going to be a nice day as the sun shone through the trees, she could feel the heat of the sun as she found the magazine she wanted and turned to get into the car.
Lily was suddenly frozen to the spot, the fear she had felt the day before was back, only this time it wasn’t the weather she had feared, for the weather was real, and now she thought ‘this can’t be real’. Her heart missed several beats and her stomach dropped, she thought her mind was playing tricks, but something told her that wasn’t the case.
‘Dad’ she screamed when she saw what was behind them,’ look’ she said as she pointed, her whole body was shaking as she stood frozen to the ground, and then they all looked, and stood opened mouthed with fear etched on every ones faces, there was no horrible monster, no dead bodies, nothing horrific in anyway, which made it seem even more surreal, for the road that they travelled down in the wind and rain the night before wasn’t there anymore, in its place there was nothing but trees that appeared to go on for ever, no pathway, no dirt track, no lane that they travelled up on, just thick dense woodland.
‘That’s fucking impossible’ said Peter’ not really believing his eyes, looking around to see where the road had gone, as if he was expecting one just to appear from nowhere, there was nothing logical about this, his stomach tightened, the feeling of wanting to do something urging up inside of him, frustration and anger pent up, he needed someone to blame, or at least an answer.
‘What’s happening dad’ Lily shouted, in a voice that was full of panic and fear as her whole body shook, she was still frozen, still pointing to the trees to where there was once a road.
Eileen just stood staring with her mouth wide open, not quite taking in what she was seeing, she kept opening and closing her eyes again, each time expecting the road to re-appear, she rubbed her eyes thinking that would make the road come back, but it never did, still there was only trees,
‘Where’s the road gone’ asked Nathan, who was now shaking, he eyes reverting to Lily, then the woods and then to his father, and he said it in a manner that suggested that all roads disappear,
‘It was there yesterday’ said Lily, and they all just stood and stared at the road that never was,
’who’s fucking taken it’ she added, and she looked at her father for answers, her frozen stance broken and for some unknown reason known to him, the logic of that made Peter laugh, but it was a nervous laugh, no one chastised her for swearing, how could they?, after all, who had taken the road?
‘Roads don’t just flipping disappear’ Eileen added,
And of course she was right, roads don’t just disappear, they all just stood around by the car looking at the road that used to be and looking at the road in front of them, Peter was thinking that there must have been some mistake and he must have come up that road and that’s what he told his kids, trying to reassure them, he wasn’t sure it was working, because it certainly wasn’t working on him.
‘so why is my car facing the wrong way ‘ he asked himself ‘Eileen just looked at him, fear etched on her face, he could see Nathan and Lily looked scared to, we’ll go this way ‘ he said, pointing to the only direction he could go, he wanted to pretend he was in charge of the situation, but he wasn’t because he had no logical explanation where the road went, unless someone turned the car around when they slept, and that thought scared him more, he tried to shake it from his mind but he couldn’t, he remembered how scared they all were the night before when they were caught in the storm, but somehow with the sun beaming down on them and the birds singing, this appeared a lot worse, and that’s what scared him most.
‘What’s up there dad ‘lily said with a tremor in her voice, she didn’t want to go any further as she thought the trees would just follow them.
Peter didn’t answer because he didn’t know, he r
eally didn’t want to know but had no choice other than to find out, but he fathomed it was a place called Underwood and it felt like something was forcing them to go, because as far as choices go, he didn’t have any, and suddenly the trees didn’t seem friendly anymore as they seemed to be beckoning him along the road to the unknown and it didn’t feel like the starlings were singing anymore, it sounded like the swoosh of a vulture as it set about its catch.
They drove very slowly through the muddy lane, anxiety building up in everyone in the car, for no other reason than the taste and smell of fear that the human body installs upon itself when they themselves don’t know what it is their afraid of, it felt like they were driving into the middle of nowhere, and Peter thought that soon the road would run out and they would have nowhere to go, then they would have to get out and face the wrath of the woods, and that thought chilled him, the tension was unbearable for all of them, the mud squelching under the wheels and the trees either side stood still in the morning sunshine, but it still felt like the trees were watching them and there long branches were arms ready to pick them up and take them deep into the woods forever, Peter tried to convince himself that all this was ridiculous and they had just got lost and soon they would be on the way to Cornwall, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it, something inside him knew something was wrong, there was nothing natural about this place, in fact it all felt to unnatural, to Nathan the gremlins that he thought were in the woods had come back, and this time they were going to get their prey.
A few minutes later and the lane appeared to be widening and the tree’s thinning and an overwhelming sense of relief came over all of them as their worst nightmares seem to disappear, or at least part of them did, Eileen forced a smile, Peter opened the window and lit up a cigarette, he would suffer the wrath of his family, he needed the nicotine, but there were no protests as he wound down his window, they just wanted warm food and a hot drink and set themselves off to the caravan, even back home would be better than this, they would think of an logical explanation later if there was one, because at that particular moment logic didn’t exist.
At least now it looked as if they were safe, the roads now had grown pavements that looked as if they hadn’t been tended to for years as the kerb stones lay loose and potholes everywhere, but at least it looked like a sign of civilisation was coming, or even a derelict town, anything other than the stare of the woods, then they saw a sign it read.
Welcome to Underwood
One way in, no way out
Peter noticed what was written underneath and crossed out, it sent a shiver down his spine, he didn’t know why and he hated not knowing why.
Although there was no flooding around that part he drove slowly looking around all of the time as if they were waiting for something to jump out at them, a feeling that the nightmare was not completely over, the brief relief of being safe had now diminished because of the sign they had passed, Peter could not stop thinking about the words that were crossed out ‘no way out’, and what was worse was the bit that said ‘one way in’ he had a feeling they were about to stumble upon that ‘one way’ then they noticed a sign that said “Waltwood road” the letters fading, and on their right they saw the first buildings and Peter stopped the car to stare at the derelict buildings, they were huts but most of them had either been destroyed or vandalised, what roofs were still in place were made of corrugated sheeting, what walls were intact were made of concrete, they could see a tall building in the distance, what Peter guessed at some time was a water tower, in the distance but almost out of site were similar huts that appeared to be more intact, in the far distance was trees, nothing but trees, the terrain between the wrecked buildings that were closest were unkempt ,it looked like they had been stood there for decades, a glimpse into the past, it had something aged about them, they looked as if the stories they could tell would not be good ones, then a fox appeared from nowhere and it stood looking at them for a moment as if ready to pounce, or eyeing up its prey, before it run off into the huts, Lily and Nathan arched their necks to see where it run off to, the wild animal somehow making things feel more normal, until they were all interrupted by a loud bang on the bonnet, it made them all jump and look ahead as four hearts missed a beat.
A man dressed in denim jeans, a jumper and a fluorescent yellow waistcoat tapped the driver’s side window so hard Peter thought it may crack, Peter wound down the window, he noticed the man hadn’t shaven for a while, he had full lips and a plump face, but it was the eyes that Peter noticed the most, deep and bloodshot, he was a large scruffy man and his demeanour offered no comfort,
‘Can’t park here’ he grunted as he held his head through the window, eyeing up all the occupants as if surveying his catch, it made them all feel a little uncomfortable and Peter felt like pushing his head back out of the window, but thought better of it, he was going to play it cool, he had to play it cool, ‘don’t act in the heat of the moment, play it cool’
‘Were not parking’ said Peter as politely as he could muster given the circumstances ‘were just looking for a place to eat, then we want to get back on the M4, maybe you could help us with that? Peter smiled hoping he himself looked the friendly type, even though the guy he was talking to looked dishevelled, he wished he hadn’t mentioned food, just directions to the M4 would have done.
The man pulled his head from the window and opened the driver side door, Peter didn’t like that and kept his hand on the inside handle preventing him from opening it fully, there was a brief tug of war between the two and the man didn’t force the issue, Peter was fighting desperately to keep his calm, his instinct was to go and challenge the man, threaten him, or even strike him if he thought it necessary, Eileen noticed this and prayed he wouldn’t do anything stupid, she was nervous and just wanted to get out as much as the rest of them.
‘Can’t drive down here’ the man told them as if it should have been obvious, his eyes staring at the road ahead and then back to Peter, they all stared at the road ahead which seemed more than suitable for a car to travel down.
‘Then where can we get some food’ asked Peter’ he really just wanted to drive on and risk a ticket but thought better of it,
‘Down there’ he said pointing straight ahead,
‘But you said we can’t drive down there’ he put the car in gear, ready to move forward,
‘Gotta take the bus’
‘When’s the bus come’
‘Park up over there’ he said, pointing to a parking area beside some waste ground ‘bus will be here soon’ he grunted,
‘Hope there all as nice as him’ Lily said as Peter parked up, she just wanted food, the man in the fluorescent jacket had disappeared so the four of them got out of the car and stood by the side of the road, less than a minute later a mini bus with the number 64 on it pulled up and parked beside them.
‘Get in then if you want some food’ said the man in the fluorescent waistcoat, Lily thought if it wasn’t so weird it would be funny, Eileen and Nathan just wanted to sit somewhere comfortable, Peter was unsure about any of this, ‘these Welsh are sure strange folk’ he thought. Then he wondered if it was just the man’s way of getting fares, and he laughed to himself at the audacity of it, he thought about tipping the man and just drive down, but he decided he would play along, ‘I thought it was supposed to be the scots that were tight’ he told himself.
They drove past some houses, concrete 1960’s build, it reminded Peter of some of the council house estates home in Sheffield, but without the trees, and within less than a minute they were pulling into a car park with a sign that said Underwood Social, no sooner they were sat down in the mini bus it was time to get out, and no one could understand why he didn’t just tell them where to go and they would have walked, Peter thought it would have been easier for everyone if he had just drove the short distance, the club had a car park but there wasn’t a car in it, it had dawned on Peter as he looked around that there was no cars in sight, he didn’t think too much o
f it, he just wanted to get out of there.
‘What do I owe you’ asked Peter as he put his hands in his pocket to pay, thinking that really he was just a con man,
‘Nowt’ said the man’ as he shuffled them off the bus,
Peter pulled his hand back out of his pockets, still holding the change, now totally confused at the whole situation, ‘oh, right, thank you, I didn’t get your name’
‘Didn’t give it’ said the man and got back into the minibus and drove away. Peter shook his head in disbelief.
They looked at the building that stood before them, three story’s high and not a window in the front, it looked a real blot on the landscape, on the wall was attached a basketball hoop under a sign that said “No Ball Games” a sign pointed to the entrance, so that’s where they went.
The entrance was at the back which they all thought was a bit strange, they tried the doors, they were locked firm, Peter lit up a cigarette, he was running low and his others were in the car, they peered through the window and was surprised to see how nice and clean the place looked even if it was dated like some seventies diner, and that somewhat cheered them all up a bit, ok the driver was an oddball, but didn’t every town have one, Peter looked at his watch, it was just before 7am.
‘suppose it’s a bit early’ whilst he was hungry he really wanted to just get out of underwood, the place spooked him, and he really couldn’t understand why he could not just drive down here, if he knew where the road was then he would have just left, Eileen felt uncomfortable whilst Lily and Nathan was sat on the outside bench, both moaning that they could not get an internet or phone signal.
Underwood Page 3
