Authors: Faith Mortimer
Shaking his head, he managed to convey a look of regret and apology towards the two women. “Sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t get anything on my phone. Maybe there’s a line down somewhere…you know how it is here. It could be ten minutes or ten hours before it’s working again.”
Diana stood up. “Damn! Well thanks for trying anyway.” She paused as she had an idea. “If it’s no bother, I’ll just pop down the road and see whether I can get a signal on my mobile. There was no reading on it when we were down the hill, but there might be coverage further down your drive. Is it okay if Clare rests here for a minute?”
She thought Philip looked slightly put out at her request, but he agreed.
“I’ll be back as quick as I can, I’m sure my phone will work on the road. Okay, Clare? I promise I’ll be right back.”
Before either could reply, Diana had opened the door and closed it behind her. A cold blast of wind hit her as she walked away from the house. Between the house and outbuildings,
she had to pass near a structure that looked rather incongruous, and as she approached it, she saw the construction was that of a circular modern well. She thought it looked out of place next to the old stone buildings and vaguely wondered why it hadn’t been built in the traditional manner. Along the top of the wall was a piece of hinged wood which she assumed was a lid. It didn’t appear to be fixed in place, nor did it cover the opening completely, and Diana thought how dangerous it would be if children or animals were in the vicinity. She was about to continue towards the drive when she paused. There was something not quite right it. Although some of the snow had melted since that morning, the amount of residual snow lying on the lid and along the wall was small compared to that on other surfaces. Looking closer she saw that the snow around the base of the wall had been trampled down and was dirty. Mildly puzzled, Diana went to carry on towards the gate when something caught her eye. Lying under the wood and just within sight was a shiny silver coin.
Diana stopped and turning round, looked quickly back at the house. The door was as she had left it, and because of the drawn curtains, no one could see her from inside. Removing her gloves, she went to pick up the coin, only to discover that the lid was in the way. She gave the lid a gentle push, not appreciating that there was thick ice under it, and the momentum sent it careening to the ground. Peering down, she discovered that the coin was a two-pound piece, although the design was nothing she had seen before. Knowing that Roger had a small collection of English coins, she slipped it into her pocket, thinking that she would ask him about it the next time she saw him.
Having knocked the cover to the ground, she knew she ought to replace it over the hole. A completely open well was really dangerous, and she knew some of the drops were over forty feet. Diana leant over the wall of the well and looked down into the depths below. She could see black water rushing past, and as her gaze travelled back up the stone walls she found herself staring at a scarf. It reminded her of one that was once bright yellow and identical to Rupert Bear’s.
Only this scarf wasn’t quite so yellow. Horrified, she stared at the blood-soaked garment, which was caught and snagged on a piece of masonry.
Roger
! It was just like Roger’s scarf. But what was it doing in a well, and more to the point…why was it so bloody? And where was Roger?
Diana felt her skin crawl and the beginnings of trembling in her knees. Had something awful happened to him? In alarm, she backed away from the well, her mind in a whirl. What should she do?
If it was Roger’s, he must have come up here last night
, she thought and certainly before she and Clare had gone to his house. She remembered something Roger told her the previous evening before he left for home. He admitted something was troubling him, except he couldn’t remember what it was. He blamed his illness and the chemotherapy treatment for his forgetfulness. Roger had been out walking earlier that morning. What if he had seen something and not realised the significance of it. Supposing he saw Philip Bolton near William and Debbie’s house; he said he had seen him in his car.
In a daze, Diana lifted the lid and pushed it back in place. She stumbled across the garden and made her way towards the outbuilding; she knew the drive to the road was in that direction. She was on the point of rounding the building when she heard a faint whimper. She stopped and listened, hardly daring to breathe. Had she imagined it? Diana looked around her and saw that the side door of the garage wasn’t properly closed. Should she ignore the sound and run down to the road for help? Or perhaps, if she took a quick peek inside, she might discover where the sound had come from. It might just have been a stray cat or rats, but she had to find
out. What if it was one of the missing children? Their house wasn’t that far away, it could be seen from Bolton’s French windows.
Inside the garage she found nothing much except Philip Bolton’s car, a floor littered with plastic and hessian sacks and a few gigantic pitharia. Despite her heart hammering from the shock of finding Roger’s scarf, she tiptoed over towards the car and squatted down to look underneath. The light was quite dim, so she couldn’t see anything except more old rubbish bags. She stood up and wandered round to the front of the car until she reached the other side where the huge clay pots stood. There was nothing between them, and she was about to leave when she noticed something caught in the passenger door. The draught from the open garage door caused the item to move, and it was the light reflecting from the shiny tinfoil material which caught her eye. Diana gasped.
The mask looked exactly the same as the one she had given Hannah a few days previously. But…but how? Diana’s brain raced as the possibilities flew through her mind. It was improbable for Philip Bolton to have had one. Why would he have done? But the ghastly conclusion was that Hannah must have either been in his car or she had been there…Diana knew she had to get out and fast. She needed to get to the road and telephone her suspicions to Adam. Fear made her shake, and she felt nauseous at what could have happened.
She began to edge round the car but was stopped. There it was again. A faint, but definitely tiny whimper. She could have sworn it came from the direction of the pitharia, but she had looked in the dark corners earlier and found nothing. The pots were huge with a rimmed opening halfway up the side. Her heart racing, Diana looked into the first pithari and found it empty. There must have been a leak in the roof, as she noticed water dripping onto the pithari.
Melting snow
, she thought. She moved to the next and cried out in surprise at what she saw. In the bottom, she could just make out a small figure, crouching down in about a foot of water. “Charlie?” she whispered. “Charlie, it’s Auntie Diana. Charlie, darling…come on, let’s get you out of there.”
He shook his head and shrank back against the rear of the pot. She caught a look of terror in his eyes. How frightened this child must have been since he and Hannah disappeared.
“It’s all right, sweetie, I’ve come to take you home. You know me…I came to your house last week.”
At the cajoling sound in her voice, he raised his head and gave another pathetic whimper. Diana stretched towards him and lifted the soaking wet and shivering child into her arms. His thin little body felt freezing and Diana quickly took off her coat and wrapped it round him. Gently, she hugged the boy to her. His shaking little body was very nearly moving her to tears. She had to keep calm and ask him about his sister. “Charlie, where’s Hannah? When did you last see her?”
In the gloom, Diana saw how Charlie’s eyes filled with tears and his lower lip quivered. “He took her. That fat man. I don’t like him,” he whispered.
“No, I don’t either. Where, Charlie? Where did he take her?”
“Don’t know. He said he had special plans for her. He
hit
me,” he swallowed hard, desperately trying not to cry.
Diana’s heart contracted as she stared at Charlie’s blood-encrusted lips. He could only mean Philip Bolton. But where was Hannah? Adam said they had found one of her shoes by the river. Had Bolton thrown her in? Diana suddenly remembered Clare was all alone in the house
with that monster. If Bolton had killed Hannah, her friend was in danger. Diana almost wept while she pondered what to do. Should she go back and get her friend out or first take Charlie to safety. She couldn’t remember ever being in such a dilemma as she was at that moment. Diana felt torn until she suddenly remembered Clare’s earlier words. ‘Just one thing, Diana. Whatever happens please remember on this occasion to use your head.’
At the time, Diana didn’t know what Clare meant…but it was obvious. She must have known something like this would happen…she had sensed it. With a resolve, Diana knew what she had to do, although she didn’t necessarily like it. She prayed Bolton wouldn’t suspect anything and that Clare would come to no harm before she returned. Surely, with two of them together, he wouldn’t dare do anything.
Hugging Charlie to her, she hushed him and said she was going to carry him outside. “You must be a very brave boy and keep quiet. We don’t want the nasty man finding us, do we?”
Charlie shook his head then asked in a small voice, “But what about my sister?”
“Charlie, listen to me. There are lots of people not far away, who are my friends, and they are looking for you and Hannah. I need to telephone and let them know I’ve found you. They’ll come and help us. So first, I’m going to hide you somewhere safe, and then I’ll come back for Hannah, I promise. Okay?”
When he nodded, Diana felt her heart do a flip. He was only about five years old, hardly more than a baby himself. She thought about her own child. If Poppy had been abducted how would she have coped?
Chapter 32
Adam and the search teams were gradually converging towards the road. Apart from finding Hannah’s shoe, they had found no other signs of the missing children, and everyone’s spirits were flagging. Most of them thought the worst, even if they didn’t voice their opinions. After seven hours scouring the land, they didn’t know what else they could do, but they were loath to call it a day.
Randy and Wee Willy had reached the limit of their territory and had begun the ascent of the hill. They were within a mile from the drive at Philip Bolton’s house when Wee Willy’s mobile sprang into life.
“At last, we have a signal. It’s probably Adam calling. I shouldn’t wonder he’s going to call the search off,” he said, before holding the phone to his ear.
“Di! Yeah, yeah! Bloody hell! That’s bloody brilliant! What? Shit…yes, we’re the nearest. Okay, copy that. Yeah! Adam’s probably still out of range. I’ll keep trying him, and hopefully we’ll be with you in about ten minutes, okay? But listen to me. For God’s sake, do not go back into the house. Stay hidden until we arrive.”
When he replaced his phone in his pocket, he looked visibly shaken. “Fuck me, Randy! You’ll never believe this.”
“What? What’s happened? Is Diana all right?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s found the boy and he’s alive. I’ll tell you everything, but first we’ve got the run of our lives.”
*****
Diana settled Charlie on her hip, his legs around her waist, as she peeked out from behind the garage door. Bolton was nowhere in sight, and she hoped and prayed he was still inside his house. Taking a deep breath, Diana left the shelter of the building and sped across the snowy landscape towards the gate and the road beyond. As she ran, she expected to hear a shout and heavy footsteps behind. Terror for the boy and herself gave her extra speed and strength, and despite the snowdrifts, she reached the end of Bolton’s drive without mishap. With her breath coming in gasps, she unlatched the gate and squeezed through. The road was icy and slippery in places from the melting snow that had refrozen due to the drop in afternoon temperatures.
Please don’t let me fall
! The thought passed through her mind as she plunged on down the slope of the road.
Once they were a couple of hundred metres away from the house, Diana slowed down and looked round for somewhere safe and sheltered to hide herself and Charlie until Wee Willy and Randy arrived. She knew she should keep away from the fresh snow, as new tracks would lead Bolton to them if he decided to follow her. Apart from the usual sandstone walls and trees, there was nowhere which offered total concealment. Thinking of Bolton and his bulky figure, she guessed he wouldn’t be able to move very quickly, nor would he easily climb a tree. She decided that if she could hide Charlie up high, he should be safe for the time being. Wee Willy said they would be at least ten minutes, and Bolton might have become suspicious and gone looking for her.
There were one or two carobs around, and the evergreen trees provided abundant leaf cover as well as a good perch for a small boy. Diana explained to a frightened Charlie that part of the plan was for him to hide in the tree until Diana’s friends arrived.
“Will my daddy and mummy be with them?” he asked in a tremulous voice.
Diana smiled and gave him a little squeeze. “Yes. My friends will have told them where you are,” she said, hoping William and Debbie were aware of what was going on, since she hated the idea of lying to a child. “It won’t be for long. You can keep my coat round you, but you must remember to stay hidden until I come and get you.”
Diana couldn’t remember the last time she had climbed a tree and certainly never with a small child in tow. It wasn’t easy, as Charlie’s hands and bare feet were still so cold. He couldn’t grip, and Diana half pushed half dragged him into a forked branch where he wouldn’t fall. She explained that she would wait for her friends on the road, a little way off from the tree.