Three Times Removed

by M K Jones

  She vaguely knew the woman, the mother of a girl in Alice’s class. “What’s happened? Have they been delayed?” she asked breathlessly, locking the car with a backwards jerk of the key.

  “No,” the woman replied, hesitatingly. “I think they were early. Something wrong with the teacher today, so the assistant took them. Beverley’s just gone back for her homework.”

  “Assistant? What assistant?”

  “Didn’t you know? Mr Rees’s mother had a fall at the weekend, so they got a supply teacher and a supply assistant in for a couple of days. But…” she broke off as Beverley came running back up the drive and stopped, panting, in front of them.

  “I can’t get in. The classroom door’s already locked.” The girl put her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath, and looked up at Maggie. “Alice left a few minutes ago, Mrs Gilbert, with Miss Probert. I think she was giving Alice a lift home, because you were going to be late.”

  As the words came out of the girl’s mouth, Maggie began to run. Rain lashed into her eyes, making her peer half-blind to keep to the path.

  “We were told to wait here!” the mother called out behind her.

  Half way down the drive she saw Jack, entering at the far gate. He stopped, stared at her and waved. She flung her arm up, but didn’t hesitate. At full pelt, Maggie rounded the corner. Jack followed her at a run.

  The front door to the school was locked. She slammed her fingers on the bell and intercom buttons. No-one responded, but a cleaner passed in the corridor that led from the assembly hall to the classrooms. Maggie banged on the glass, her heart hammering faster than her fists. The woman looked at her, a puzzled expression on her previously vacant face. Maggie wanted to scream at her, but knew that she had to keep herself looking as calm as possible so that she’d open the door. The cleaner watched her for a few agonising seconds. Then she walked to the door and opened it.

  “Yes?”

  “My daughter – Alice Gilbert – she left with Miss Probert. Where did they go?” She was shouting now and the cleaner was stepping back from her. “Where did they go?” she yelled again, aware of doors opening close by.

  The cleaner gripped her mop and shook her head. She had her back to the wall and Maggie was in her face.

  “Mrs Gilbert, what on earth are you shouting about?” The voice came from behind her, and she turned to see Mr Phillips, the small, bald-headed, headmaster standing at her shoulder. His voice was stern, but his face showed concern.

  “Alice! Miss Probert! Where did they go?”

  “They went home, Mrs Gilbert, as you requested. Although,” he paused, nervously, “I didn’t understand why you specifically asked for Miss Probert.”

  Maggie looked at him with a confused expression. “I didn’t ask anything. I didn’t call.”

  “Now just a minute,” he spoke firmly. “You rang us not twenty minutes ago to say you’d been delayed, and you asked that Miss Probert take Alice home. You said you’d already agreed it with both of them, and that it might happen because of your work.”

  Maggie’s expression of horror sent him a couple of paces back.

  “That wasn’t me! I didn’t call you!”

  “Mrs Gilbert, please, I know your voice!”

  Maggie’s tone changed to cold anger. “That wasn’t me and she isn’t who you think she is. Now, where did they go!”

  The headmaster’s voice reduced to a whisper. “She said she was taking Alice home.”

  Maggie stepped back, running a hand violently through her hair. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Where could she have taken her? Where?”

  Jack was standing with his back to the front door, staring at his mother. Maggie felt herself suddenly weak at the knees. Panic set in. She put her head in her hands and was about to scream, when Jack’s voice penetrated through the fog of fear. He took her elbow and shook it, and she looked at him.

  “Think, Mum. You know what’s she’s going to do. Just calm yourself down and think! Think!”

  Maggie looked around at the teachers who had gathered in the hallway, all staring at her, no-one speaking. It seemed like an age that she went from face to face. The supply teacher. The man who coached the football team whose name she could never remember. Mrs Frost who had taken them pond-dipping.

  Taking Alice home. It came to her.

  She shook herself free from Jack’s grasp. “I know where she is. Call Zelah, and stay here where it’s safe.” she shouted to Jack as she ran out the main door. “And you,” she said, pointing at the bewildered head teacher, “call the police! Tell them to look in The Pond. Alice didn’t go willingly. Probert isn’t who you think she is!”

  Seventy Three

  Maggie calculated that Eira had about a ten-minute start on her. It was enough time to drown Alice’s, but first she had to get an unwilling and feisty little girl to the water. She didn’t know how Eira Probert had done it, but she was certain that Alice hadn’t gone willingly. She must have been overpowered somehow. She was just a small, slight girl, but nevertheless, the hunter wouldn’t be able to hurry along a rough path carrying Alice’s weight. Which gave Maggie a chance. She knew the route. And she had not a moment’s doubt of where she would find them. Less than ten minutes after leaving the school, Maggie reached the car park that led to The Pond.

  Her shoes weren’t ideal and as she tripped and stumbled through the ruts and over the bigger stones Maggie cursed that she hadn’t had time to change into trainers. As she rounded the final bend thick clouds dropped down in a fog, cutting her off from the world below the mountain. Fine drizzle clouded her eyes. There was nothing now, except Maggie and the path and, at last, The Pond.

  The only sound in her ears was her own breathy wheezing and her pounding heart, as she stopped abruptly, seeing Eira Probert trying to force Alice’s head under the water.

  “Alice!” Maggie’s scream caused Eira to look up. It was just a second, but it was enough. With the pressure off her head Alice was able to push her head out of the water, and now she was struggling madly. But Eira was too strong and she’d turned her back on Maggie to resume her monstrous task. Maggie saw the panic in Alice’s eyes, as her daughter tried to reach out for her mother.

  There was a small rock in Maggie’s hand. She had no idea how it had got there, but with all of her might, she threw it at Eira. It landed in the water a foot or so next to her. The sound of it turned the hunter’s head for just a moment. Maggie had covered the distance between them and grabbed Alice’s arm.

  They tussled, and Maggie was able to pull her daughter a few feet from the water’s edge. Pulling at Alice, Maggie feared she was going to rip her daughter’s arm off. She could see Alice’s eyes rolling in her head. She swore and shouted Alice’s name and, for a moment, she seemed to respond, but Maggie realised that she was too weak. The hunter was incredibly strong, and they were both being pulled back towards the pond.

  Maggie screamed her daughter’s name long and slowly one more time. It was enough. Alice’s head sprang up. She looked at her mother, then at Eira. Taking aim, she landed a kick on Eira’s shin. The force of it took her by surprise and she loosened her grip just enough for Maggie to wrench Alice away. As she pulled her daughter behind her, Maggie hurled out her arm, catching Eira on the shoulder, sending her stumbling into the water, where she sat, neck-deep, staring back at them.

  The smell hit Maggie. She knew it, the foul, gangrenous, overpowering stench. The smell of rotten, decomposing flesh, that made her gag. She had smelled it for weeks without knowing what it was, until now.

  Maggie backed away, shielding Alice and pushing her back towards the path. “My phone’s in the car. Run and call the police! I’ll handle Eira,” she whispered to Alice. Alice looked startled, but for once did as she was told without questioning her mother.

  Eira Probert stood up. As she walked out of The Pond, Maggie could see that the water had made no impact, She was completely dry.It seemed to Maggie that the monster had grown. Her skin was the colour of putty, her eno
rmous hands reached out for Maggie’s face. Eira was smiling, but with a trace of uncertainty. It was the smile that finally made Maggie remember what Louisa had tried to tell her about Eira needing the fear. Then she was calm. She would not give up her child. She stood firm, raised herself up, and spoke.

  “I know everything about you, Eira Probert” she said, dodging the swiping hands. “I know how you drowned the children in Carmarthen. I know you drowned Esme Ellis. And I know now you tried to kill Alice. But you failed then, and you’ve failed now.”

  “I don’t think so, Maggie Gilbert.” Eira whispered softly, in a menacing child-like voice.

  “I am not afraid, Eira Probert. I know what you are and I do not fear you.”

  “I see you are going to get in my way. So I must take you first.”

  “Good. So, it’s you and me now.”

  For what seemed like an age, the only sounds were the pattering of rain on the water and a low hiss coming from Eira Probert’s mouth, which was opening wideMaggie breathed unhurriedly, not thinking, knowing somehow that the actions she would take would come instinctively. With slow steps, she walked forwards, looking directly into Eira’s eyes. When they were no more than an arm’s length apart, she stopped. The hiss ended. Eira opened her mouth and roared. Maggie saw inside was like a pool of blood. A red mist developed over the hunter’s eyes.

  “If this is meant to frighten me, you’re going to be disappointed. I know all about you. I know what you are. And I am not afraid of you,” said Maggie in as dispassionate a tone as she could manage, shaking her head and smiling.

  A great gust of wind hit the water and rattled the struts of the jetty, momentarily distracting Maggie.

  When she turned her eyes back, Eira had edged backwards. “Ha! Got you going!” Maggie felt a flare of excitement.

  “What do we do now, Miss Probert? You won’t have my Alice. You didn’t get Ruth’s Alice either, did you?”

  She saw a flash of red eyes, like an explosion.

  “I got what I wanted. They never saw her again. I always get what I want.” Maggie was surprised by her petulant, childish snivel.

  “No.” She said adamantly. “She got away from you; she hid, and she lived out a full life. A very happy life. She had children. And she met her mother again. You failed completely!”

  “I did not fail! I never fail!” The voice was intense, but her shoulders fell slightly.

  “You failed, Eira. I tracked her down, and her family. You may be strong, and a little bit scary, but you aren’t clever. You’ve made some simple mistakes.”

  Maggie walked towards Eira, one hand raised, shaking her forefinger back and fore, and tutting, backing Eira towards the water. An overpowering dose of stench shot across at Maggie, carried on trails of yellow phosphorescent-like string. Maggie simply held her nose. She knew now that she had rattled Eira. Her bluff had worked. She hadn’t known how Ruth and Alice’s story had ended, but she did now. She didn’t need to find any documents to confirm the story, Eira’s reaction was enough evidence.

  “God, you stink. But that’s the essence of what you are, Eira. Big mistake, to have your photograph taken. I can warn my family now. They’ll be able to see what you look like, forever.”

  “I will wait. I can wait. There are others.”

  “Yes, you found Esme Kerr, didn’t you?. You went to her school and then you saw her at the pub, and she and Alice do resemble each other. I’m betting you don’t quite know who she is, though, do you?”

  The hunter growled in puzzlement and thwarted anger. “She is related. She’ll make a good consolation prize.”

  “You won’t get anything there. You wanted to hurt Ruth and her family, but you got it wrong.”

  “I am never wrong.” A leer appeared on the thin lips, but the rapid movement of her red eyes told of mounting uncertainty.

  I’m winning, Maggie thought excitedly. She needs me to grovel and be terrified of her, she feeds on it. She needs the knowledge of success that comes with it. She can’t keep herself together when she know’s she’s failed!

  She pressed her advantage. The hunter’s feet were in the water by now, and she glanced down with a puzzled expression as she felt the cold, staring at something she didn’t seem to understand. Maggie followed the stare and her eyes widened in amazement as she saw that the feet were wet. Maggie had broken through!

  “I don’t know why you picked my family. I don’t know how to finally stop you. Yet. But I’ll find out. Somehow I’ll find out how to stop you ever coming back. I am not afraid of you, now or ever. I am stronger than you will ever be. And you will never understand why.” She pointed to the floor. “Look, Eira. Your feet are wet. You are starting to merge with this world. The end of you is starting.” She smiled triumphantly.

  She glared at Maggie. She twitched, raised a hand, then lowered it. Eira seemed bewildered. Then a look of horror came over the hunter’s face and she put one hand to her brow. A yellow teardrop rolled down Eira’s cheek. Maggie watched the slow rolling progress. It dropped onto the grass with a squishing sound, followed by another, then another. She wasn’t crying… Eira was disintergrating. Robert Pugh had seen a hint of it after Eira had failed to find Alice at Newport dock. In slow motion the woman’s face began to distort as it gradually collapsed in front of Maggie’s eyes. Maggie was transfixed, rooted to the spot, watching the dissolution until the smell and the running slime became so horrific that Maggie was forced to turn her head away, choking

  “If you think you’re escaping, think again, Eira. I will always be in your way!” She was shouting now.

  In the background, she could hear Alice shouting too, pulling at her arm.

  Summoning a huge effort against the stench and the miasma, she raised her voice again. “You won’t be able to come back near my family. I’ll make sure of that!” Now she was yelling at the top of her voice, arms flung out, fingers pointing. “You will never hunt another member of my family! I am greater than you are, and I have beaten you!”

  The yellow slime ran faster to the grass, with putrid, nauseating squishes and thumps.

  Maggie and Alice were becoming enveloped in a yellow fog and Maggie fell to her knees, clasping her daughter close to her. As she hit the ground, with her hands to her nose and mouth, she heard the sound of a gargled snarl that faded away. Then silence.

  The clouds had gone and the rain had stopped. The sky was clearing. At the edge of The Pond there was a flat yellow stain. Maggie and Alice stood and walked slowly towards it. As they approached, the stain sank into the grass, and was gone.

  Maggie lowered herself down slowly, staring into the water. She pulled Alice down into her lap and they sat for what seemed like a long time, wordlessly, hearts thumping, bodies trembling.

  “Mum! Let go of my arm!” The voice seemed to be a long way away. Maggie was staring into the distance, and had to shake her head to bring herself back.

  “What?”

  Alice was trying to pull away. “You’re hurting me. Please let go of my arm.”

  Maggie was gripping Alice’s forearm so tightly that her fingers had bruised her. She pulled her hand away, as if it had been struck by lightening.

  Her daughter was looking at her strangely, and Maggie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

  Alice shook her gently. “I’m OK, Mum. She’s gone. Let’s get out of here.”

  Maggie watched as Alice pulled herself to her feet, then took Maggie gently by the elbow and helped her to stand. She managed to raise herself, but her legs couldn’t take her weight and she began to wobble, reaching out for something to steady herself and save herself from falling. Alice moved in and put her arms around her mother, holding her determinedly.

  “It’s OK, really, Mum. We’re fine. Let’s go now. We’ll walk slowly. You’ve got to get strong. You’re going to have to drive home.”

  Maggie nodded. She began to move her legs, tripping, holding onto Alice for balance. Nothing more was said until they reached the car
.

  “Did you call the police?” Maggie remembered that she’d told her daughter to run.

  “I didn’t come down here. It was too scary in the fog, so I hid. I saw what you did to Miss Probert, Mum. You were amazing. Are you going to be OK?”

  “I’ll be alright now. Just a few minutes, then I’ll drive us back.”

  * * *

  As they pulled up at the school, they could see the group Maggie had left standing outside the school entrance. She parked the car and walked slowly past them, into the entrance hall.

  “Mrs Gilbert! What the hell is going on?” The headmaster stared belligerently at Maggie. “Where’s Miss Probert?”

  “She’s gone. Don’t let her back again, Mr Phillips. She’s not who she says she is.” She began to laugh shakily, hysterically, then slumped down onto the nearest small chair, as her legs gave way. Alice sat on the floor beside her.

  “Mum! Mum!” Jack was screaming from the doorway. “Are you OK? Where’ve you been?”

  Maggie drew a long deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. “Yes, I’m fine. I’ll explain later.”

  “The police are here, in my office.” Mr Phillips had recovered his authority. He turned to the cleaner. “Open the door and windows. Let that dreadful smell out.”

  The cleaner crossed to the door in front of Maggie, glancing at her with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

  Maggie shrugged. “Sorry, I think we may have brought some of that back with us.”

  Jack walked up to his mother and hugged her.

  “Zelah’s on her way,” he whispered. “She rang my mobile just as I got into the school. I told her and she screamed.” He paused. “I think… I think she thought you and Alice were going to die.”

  “There was never any chance of that. Really,” Maggie said firmly. “Never any chance. As soon as I got Alice out of her grasp and into mine, she knew that she’d lost, this time.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I don’t understand anything,” Said Alice. It was no more than a whisper, but it pierced Maggie’s heart like a needle.