Jessie is staring at me and Luc. ‘We need your help,’ she says. ‘We could try by ourselves, but we’d have more of a chance if you would tell us how we could get in there. We wouldn’t expect you to put yourselves in any danger, but if you could just help us to formulate a plan. Advise us how to go about it. You know about the place.’
‘We’ll do anything we can to help you,’ I say. ‘Of course we will.’
‘Hold on, Riley,’ Luc says. ‘Of course we would love to help you, but there’s nothing we can do.’
‘Luc…’ I start to reason with him.
‘No, Riley, he snaps. ‘This isn’t fixable. None of this is fixable. Not finding abducted children or bringing in escaped murderers and not bringing Skye back to life!’
I raise my eyes to look at Fred and Jessie, who return my look of shock. I’ve never seen Luc like this. I’ve seen him irritated and annoyed, and after Skye, I saw him sad beyond measure, but this anger is an entirely different Luc. He’s biting his lip and shaking with emotion. I can see he hadn’t meant to blurt out our business like that.
‘I don’t even wanna ask,’ says Fred.
‘This is all a mess,’ sighs Luc, his rage dissipating as quickly as it flared up. ‘The whole thing is just completely screwed up. Riley, we must be mad to be doing any of this.’
‘I’m sorry, Luc,’ I say.
‘Not your fault.’
We’ve got no choice but to tell them what Luc and I are doing. It would feel wrong not to say anything. We tell them a watered-down version of our story, starting with Skye’s murder, but leaving out the part about not having our parents’ permission. Jessie now looks even more stricken than before, if that’s possible.
‘What kind of world are we living in? Riley, I’m so sorry about your sister, you poor, poor girl. And there’s us, trying to rope you into our affairs, when you’ve obviously got so much on your plate.’
‘Sorry,’ Fred echoes. ‘Looks like we’re not the only ones suffering.’
We all sit quietly, lost in our own thoughts for what feels like a long time.
‘Okay,’ Luc breaks the silence. ‘I’m definitely going to regret this, but Riley’s right.’ He looks at me with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes and then turns his gaze back to the couple. ‘We should help you. You’ve both been so kind to us and we’re here now, on the road. There’s no going back for Riley and me.’
‘Luc,’ I smile at him. He looks at me but doesn’t return the smile this time.
‘Riley,’ he says with forced patience. ‘We’ll do this, but everyone will have to do exactly what I say. No questions, no hesitation or doubts. If we do this, it’s serious and we’ll do it my way.’
‘Luc, lad,’ says Fred. ‘Just give us some information and we’ll do the rest. We can’t ask you to put yourselves in danger for us. It’s not right, you’re kids yourselves.’
‘Fred, no offence, but you’ve got no chance of doing this without us. The very fact we’re kids is what’s going to make this plan work.’
‘I hope you’re not suggesting what I think you are.’ Fred is worried and so am I. I’m just starting to realise what Luc’s plan is going to involve.
It’s all very well, us telling them about Grey and our theories on all the missing children, but now we have to actually do something about it and that’s the scary part. We’ve never been to Salisbury before. We’ve only heard of Grey through Luc’s uncle. Of course we have to help them, but what are we going to do about Chambers and our own search for answers?
Our parents will now be frantic with worry and every day we delay our search, means more stress for our families. But it’s too late for us to think about that now. We’ve made our choice and have to follow it through. We’ve got a moral obligation to help these people and, besides, I like them and want more than anything for them to find their children.
Chapter Twenty Two
Luc and I are standing outside the walls of Salisbury Cathedral. We’re on foot and we’ve dressed to make ourselves look as young and vulnerable as possible in scruffy, stained t shirts and shorts. I’m wearing no makeup with my hair pulled back in a ponytail. This morning, Luc shaved his fine stubble with Fred’s cut throat razor until his skin was peachy soft. We’re unarmed and carry no bags or possessions.
We knocked and shouted several times with no response from the main gates and so we followed the high wall along for about three hundred yards. Now we’ve arrived at a small wooden door with thick metal studs. I’m hesitating, but Luc bangs on it twice with his fist. Almost instantly, a woman opens it.
She’s small and pretty with shoulder-length dark blonde hair. She doesn’t look anything like the dark-robed religious zealots I had imagined. In fact, the only religious-looking thing about her is the small gold cross hanging neatly around her neck, nestling below her collar bone just above her pastel blue shirt. I’m guessing she’s in her thirties and she has an open friendly face.
Luc and I had psyched ourselves up so much for this moment that I’m quite taken aback to be greeted with such courtesy and lack of security.
‘Come in,’ she says. ‘The road’s not a good place to be these days. Would you like a drink?’
We step through the small wooden door in the wall and glance around. There’s no security that I can see and we’re in a small beautiful courtyard, fragrant with flowers and herbs. She motions us towards a wrought iron patio set and we sit down.
‘Be back in a minute,’ she smiles. ‘Lemonade okay?’
We nod and watch as she goes through a little half-glazed door in the side of a red brick house that looks several hundred years old.
‘This is odd,’ I whisper to Luc.
‘Not really,’ he replies. ‘Think about it. If you want to recruit children or young adults, heavy security isn’t going to make them want to stay. Grey’s a smart man. He’ll try the carrot approach first. This first impression will look like paradise to most kids used to living rough on the outside. You can guarantee if we were anything other than two defenceless kids at the gate, we’d have got a very different welcome.’
The door creaks open and the woman comes back out carrying a tray with a jug of lemonade, three glasses and a plate of biscuits. A large ginger tom cat runs out of the door with her and scampers across to where we’re sitting. He purrs loudly and winds himself around our legs, his nose in the air, asking to be petted.
‘Don’t mind Tigger,’ says the woman. ‘Shoo him away if he bothers you. He just loves company.’ She sits down and pours out the cloudy lemonade.
‘No,’ I reply. ‘He’s lovely, really friendly.’ I reach down to stroke the cat.
‘Help yourselves to biscuits.’ She gestures to the plate and Luc and I take one each. They’re obviously really delicious, but nerves stifle the taste and my dry mouth makes it feel like crumbly cement on my tongue. I reach for my glass and swallow a mouthful of the sharp acidic drink.
‘It’s all homemade,’ says the woman. ‘I’m Rebecca.’
‘Luc.’
‘Riley.’ I cough. We decided earlier that we didn’t need to change our first names, as nobody would know who we are anyway.
‘We’re sorry to bother you,’ says Luc. ‘But we’ve got nowhere to go and we saw your gate and we’re so hungry and thirsty. It’s really kind of you.’
‘It’s no bother,’ Rebecca smiles. ‘Relax. Enjoy your drinks. You don’t have to rush off on account of me. I have work to do anyway. I’ll be in here if you need me.’ She points back to the door she’s just come through. ‘Please stay as long as you like.’ She swigs down the last of her lemonade and goes back into the house.