by Kat Green
FROZEN PACT
Kat Green
Copyright © 2019 Kat Green
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9781095755419
DEDICATION
To my family and friends, your support has helped me through the most difficult times. It is because of you I continue this journey.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Nothing stays silent forever, not even the dead.
November 1956
The dog barked in the distance and continued on a constant loop; it barked louder. The owner trudged forward. The long walk in the cold had been longer than he had planned. He wanted to get home and warm up, but his dog had other ideas.
‘Jasper, you daft dog. Come here.’ The dog continued to bark, and Harry knew he would have to go and retrieve the dog himself.
‘Here boy.’ He whistled for the tenth time, but the dog would not be persuaded. His barks and whines started to worry Harry. Maybe the dog had hurt himself which made him quicken his pace. He emerged into a small clearing. The dog was pawing at something and whimpering, and the dark made it difficult to see. Harry walked forward calling his dog back to him, but the dog didn’t move. Instead he sat looking forlornly at the tree. As Harry got closer he blinked and focused. He gasped and grabbed the dog’s collar, pulling him back.
‘Jasper, get back, boy. Oh Christ, we have to get someone.’ He stumbled backwards, falling, unable to believe what he was seeing. The dog licked his owner’s face sensing his distress. Harry’s heart beat wildly as he processed the scene in front of him. He’d heard about the missing schoolgirl and everyone had hoped she’d be found safe. But that hope was gone. Harry was looking at her, tied to the tree, her head slumped to one side. The poor girl was gone and had been for some time. Animals had already eaten chunks out of her. The most horrifying sight was her empty eye sockets. Harry turned away and threw up.
Once he’d composed himself he ran to alert the local police. Jasper, his faithful friend, kept pace with him, never leaving his side. Harry burst into the police station a trembling mess and knew he would never be able to erase what he’d seen that day.
1
NOVEMBER 2018
The cup shook in her hand; the face in the mirror snarled at her and then smiled. Empty eye sockets with blood running down her cheeks. It had been years since her last encounter; she had hoped to never to see that face again but every few years she would come back to remind her. The years of living with this secret had weighed her down, always hiding this part of her from everyone, even those she trusted and loved the most. A pact made so long ago it had become a part of their very souls. Nothing would erase it; she’d die with this blackness around her heart. The worst part was the guilt and the shame of their actions. If she could go back and change it all she would.
The story about that day had been told around dinner tables and camp fires for over sixty years with it morphing into many versions. People didn’t take it too seriously until they braved the woods, until they experienced her unrepentant rage. How Edith had remained alive over the years was a mystery to her. It was their fault and she knew that one day it wouldn’t just be a face in the mirror. Even calling out and screaming her apologies didn’t bring her out; it was like she was waiting. Destruction seemed to be her aim, but it was her who should be punished for her part in that tragic day, not the innocent people. She walked to the lounge and switched on her TV, turning to the news channel. The reporter was standing in the pouring rain as she reported on the tragic deaths of four teenagers.
“This has become a mystery in the town. Some say it’s just a coincidence, but others are convinced it’s a curse. This brings the total to 48 unexplained deaths in these woods. Locals have called the deaths the work of a serial killer, known only as The Ice Wood Killer. Their identity is unknown.’’
Tears ran down her face. After she had cried for the loss of those precious children and their poor families, she picked up the phone. After two rings a familiar voice greeted her.
‘It’s never going to stop, is it?’ he asked, regret and sadness in his voice. Edith cried as she always did. But he let her. He had always been there for her, in secret of course. He said the things she needed to hear. But they all knew they could have changed things. Those who thought the town was cursed were closer to the truth than they thought. Every year something tragic happened in that wood, something nobody could ever explain. They could explain it quite easily, but they had promised to never speak of it again.
2
Amy Woods listened as her gran told her the same story she’d heard at least twice a week since she could remember. It was part of her weekly visits; her gran was seventy-five and forgot most things these days. Amy was older now and didn’t get annoyed like she used to. She understood that telling her stories was a comfort. Her gran had been a singer when she was younger, and had had a very interesting life. A life she had been proud of, and she still missed that life.
Her grandfather had died four years previously, leaving Edith Woods a widow. It had broken her heart, broken all their hearts. It had been harder on her dad who had been close to him. They were more like best friends, so when he’d collapsed one afternoon during their regular Sunday pint, mid-sentence, it had left her dad in shock for weeks. He had been dead before he hit the floor leaving her dad helpless.
Her gran had never been the same since. The couple had been devoted to each other, hardly ever apart in forty-eight years. Amy couldn’t imagine the pain that must have caused her. Her visits since then had been her gran’s lifeline.
Amy had now just turned twenty-three, studying to be a vet and her parents had been living in Portugal for the past year. They ran a hotel out there and business was booming. They checked in on Amy and her gran several times a week, knowing Amy had taken on a big responsibility in their absence. Edith had insisted they lived their dream never wanting to hold them back. But they still felt guilty even with her blessing.
‘Did I tell you about the time I sang with Diana Ross?’ Edith said, smiling proudly.
‘Yes, but tell me again.’
She listened as the story was told again, a spark in Edith’s eyes as she spoke. Amy had no doubt the stories were true. Sometimes when her gran was quiet, it seemed as if there was a part of her life she was hiding, a part that she never spoke about. Amy heard her cry sometimes in her room, but if she tried to ask her about it, her gran would simply say, ‘Life, my darling, just life and how fragile it can be.’
Maybe it was just the sadness of losing her husband, growing old and watching all her friends pass away knowing her own time grew ever closer. It was why Amy made sure she spent time with her. She hated the thought of her sitting alone, so they’d drink tea, watch TV or play Scrabble. Edith would never move out of the house and any talk of a care home resulted in hysterical crying. It wasn’t discussed any more. She’d told Amy on many occasions, ‘I’ll take my last breath here. Nobody else, nobody else. Me, I’ll never leave, and nobody can make me.’
It was too upsetting to bring up the subject. Seeing the distress it caused her was enough to drop it. It was banned and wouldn’t be mentioned again.
‘Now, be a darling and get the Scrabble. Let’s have a game before you go.’
Amy smiled and did as she was told. She pulled out the ancient board game from the cupboard under the stairs. The cupboard was crammed full of all kinds of old junk. The Scrabble game was the only item ever retrieved from there. The mess drove Amy mad and she planned to tidy it up. She’d do it when her gran was at her bingo afternoon the next day. That way she wouldn’t tell her not to. She hated Amy doing things like that, didn’t think it was right. Her cleaner came every Monday, but as nothing in the cupboard was in the way she didn’t see the point in ma
king anyone waste their time. ‘Oh, it’s been that way for thirty years, it’s fine.’
Once tea had brewed accompanied by a box of biscuits, the game got underway. An hour passed before Edith clapped at her win.
‘Well done, Gran,’ Amy said getting up and clearing away the game. ‘I have to go now. I’m meeting someone.’
Edith smiled. ‘Oh, is it a man?’
Amy blushed, unable to hide it. ‘Maybe.’
‘How wonderful. It’s about time you got a boyfriend.’
Amy knew her gran would get over excited and start planning a wedding. ‘Its early days don’t buy a new frock just yet.’ She kissed her gran on the cheek and left before she was interrogated further.
Her car was parked at the side of the house under an ancient tree. Standing by it was an elderly gentleman.
‘Can I help you?’ Amy asked politely.
The man seemed nervous or confused, she wasn’t sure. He muttered something under his breath. It sounded like he said he’d got the wrong house. ‘Sorry,’ he said, his voice trembling.
‘No problem. I can give you directions,’ Amy said, but he’d already scurried off. He turned once he’d crossed the street and took another look at the house. If Amy wasn’t mistaken, she thought he was crying.
‘How weird,’ she whispered to herself as she got into her car. As she pulled away, she noticed her gran in the window, not looking at her but watching the strange man walk away, a worried look on her face.
3
Lee laughed, as Amy told him about the strange encounter with the man outside her gran’s house.
‘I doubt it’s anything to worry about. Maybe he was just lost,’ he assured her shrugging his shoulders. But she’d felt uneasy since leaving her gran’s house. He tapped her glass which she’d barely touched. ‘Something wrong with the wine?’
‘No, sorry, I’m over thinking it. My mum always said I had an overactive mind.’ She picked up her glass and took a sip, then another until it was empty. She tapped the glass and waved it at Lee. ‘Now it’s broken,’ she mocked. Her date grinned and went to the bar.
Amy checked her phone, and texted her friend with an update. The rest of the evening went smoothly, ending with a bag of chips before stumbling into a taxi.
Lee stood awkwardly as she opened her front door or rather her parent’s front door. It seemed silly to rent somewhere new once her parents had moved, it was logical to stay and keep the family home. It also meant cheaper rent which was a bonus. She hated this bit. Both of them stood there trying to decide if a kiss was welcome. After all it was their third date. Amy was dragging it out, but now it was boring. He clearly wanted to kiss her but was hesitant. Amy stepped forward, as his eyes stared intently into hers. Piercing green eyes, light brown hair, and her heart pounded at his rugged good looks. Their lips connected, and she could taste the brandy. They locked in a passionate kiss, his hands gripping her tightly. A long, breathtaking kiss, and she was disappointed when he pulled away.
‘I’d better go.’ He winked, a cheeky grin on his face. ‘I might not go home.’
Amy giggled and composed herself. ‘Call me tomorrow?’
He saluted ‘Yes, ma lady.’ He kissed her forehead, and she shut the door behind her and headed to bed.
*****
The following afternoon Amy stood in disbelief, she couldn’t believe the junk stored under her gran’s stairs. Boxes, old clothes, shoes and old board games. It had been an hour since she’d begun pulling things out. It was as if there were no end to it. She bagged up the rubbish and rearranged all that she would keep and put back neatly at the end. She dreaded her gran coming back; she’d be upset about her doing it. She didn’t like her stuff being messed with, but the cupboard was becoming a death trap.
Amy looked proudly at the tidy cupboard. You could even step inside and hang up coats on the hangers that had been blocked with junk for years.
There was one last box to decide on. Amy hadn’t noticed the odd-looking box before. It had been under an old blanket. If she hadn’t had been so focused on doing a good job it might have been missed. Inside she found some old newspaper cuttings, all dating back at least fifty years. Articles about missing or dead teenagers mainly. She frowned as she tried to understand why her gran had kept these. Did she know some of the people who’d died? It was possible, but she’d never mentioned anything to her. All the victims had been found in the woods, not far from her gran’s house.
The different stories that were told over the years about those woods varied depending on who you spoke to. But one detail was constant and that was that the ghost of Nancy Jenkins, a girl who was found dead over sixty years ago, walked the woods. If you encountered her, she would stalk you. The strange deaths fueled the stories and some older folks would not go into those woods. Her gran had never mentioned anything, she’d just disregarded the myths, said it was nonsense. But a lot of people loved the idea of it being true.
Once she was finished, Amy locked up and headed home taking the newspaper cuttings with her. She was intrigued by it all and didn’t have time to read it there. She left to get ready for a girl’s night in with her best friend.
*****
‘Where’s the Chinese? I’m wasting away,’ Ella complained. Amy’s oldest friend lounged on the love seat, vodka and lemonade in one hand, a cigarette in the other.
Amy poured another glass of wine then sat down. ‘I only ordered fifteen minutes ago. Patience, my dear.’
Ella threw her head back in frustration. ‘My stomach thinks my throat’s been cut.’
Amy was saved from more moaning when her phone rang. It was her gran.
‘Amy,’ Edith barked down the phone. ‘What did you do?’ The panic in her voice worried Amy.
‘Gran calm down. I just tidied up a bit.’
There was silence for a few seconds. ‘Did you take my newspapers?’
‘Yes, I wanted to read them. Why do you have them?’
‘Don’t go to that wood, ever!’
Amy was stunned by the panic in her gran’s voice. ‘Why not?’
‘Promise me!’ Edith screamed down the phone.
Amy was confused but promised she wouldn’t. Ella sat up. She’d caught enough to know there was something up. ‘Explain?’
Amy sat down and explained about the cleaning mission and what she had found. ‘Let me see,’ Ella said.
Amy pulled the clippings from the box and spread them out. They began to read through them. Every strange death had a story about a girl called Nancy. It came up repeatedly but varied in each mention.
Amy found her laptop and began to search online for anything related. The search revealed a shocking array of rumors. It seemed that the main details referring to Nancy were that she was a fifteen-year-old girl who went missing one night, and her body was found in the woods, tied to a tree. The truth about what happened was never proven, and the killer was never found. The place where the girl was found was so secluded it was three weeks before she was found. She had frozen to death. Animals had fed on her and the man who found her suffered nightmares for the rest of his life. Nobody was punished for her murder as no evidence was ever found. Her parents died never seeing justice for their beloved daughter.
‘That’s bloody horrific, that poor girl. What kind of sick person does that?’ Ella said, shivering at the thought.
The myth had been ignored as ridiculous ghost stories. If you believed the claims, then Nancy roamed the woods searching for her murderer, and if you went to the tree where she died and touched it, she would stalk you until you died. Amy searched for any deaths from sixty years ago matching Nancy’s and after a short search she found it.
‘’The body of Nancy Jenkins was found yesterday afternoon, three weeks after she disappeared.”
Amy and Ella sat back once they had finished reading the article. ‘Did your gran go to the tree?’ Ella asked.
Amy shrugged. ‘I guess it’s possible.’
They researched a bit more t
ill the face of Nancy Jenkins was imprinted on their minds. A sweet-looking girl, innocent face and curly hair hanging down past her shoulders. Her smile made her look kind, the girl-next-door type.
‘It must have been an awful way to die,’ Amy said feeling heartbroken for the girl. Their girls’ night had taken a turn for the worse, and they didn’t feel like a party now. Their food arrived, and they ate while discussing how this was connected to her gran. After much deliberation they decided that the girl would have been the same age, and from their research had attended the same school.
‘It must have been a shock to everyone. Maybe my gran knew her and doesn’t like to talk about it.’
Ella chewed on a prawn cracker looking thoughtful. ‘Yeah, I guess,’ she said and shrugged. ‘Poor girl. Your gran must have been in those woods. Maybe she saw something that scared her.’
Amy hoped not. Ghosts were not real – at least that’s what she told herself. She shook and pushed away the thought.
4
‘Who is Nancy?’ Lee asked Amy as he sat down at the table. She’d left all her findings out and forgotten to move them. It had been several days since finding the newspaper cuttings and she’d put them to the back of her mind while she focused on her studies. She had avoided speaking to her gran, not really sure she wanted to hear her answer.
Lee was flicking though the paperwork and sipping his beer. ‘Are you going dark, Amy?’ he joked.
‘No.’ She sat down and explained how it all started.
‘That’s freaky.’
Amy didn’t disagree with him. She picked up her wine and took a large mouthful. ‘Yep, and these deaths are pretty odd. I mean, there are a lot over the years.’ Something was bugging her, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it.
