'You see, I had overheard Susan Trainer's plan to escape the night before,' he said. 'I'd just left Magda's room—she was so worried about her brother, who had taken to his bed all that day because of his illness. The pain in his head was so bad he could barely think, and daylight—any bright light—made his agony even worse, so much so that he could hardly see.'
Pyke changed position, resting his back against the railings once more so that he could face Eve and Loren.
'I sat on the stairway just beneath the hatchway into the dormitory and I listened to the whisperings, heard Susan scheme to escape Crickley Hall. She was aware that Augustus was demented with pain by now and that she and the other children were in danger. She intended to sneak out of the house with them the very next night. Susan knew the front-door key was kept on a hook in the kitchen and she would fetch it while the others were putting on their coats and shoes.'
Pyke gave a short snigger as he remembered his own cleverness.
'Oh, it was a fine escape plan. They would leave the house, closing the door behind them. Every child in turn had to promise to be silent when they left the dormitory; the smaller ones were made to promise twice.
'Once outside they would go down to the village, avoiding the vicarage because they were aware of Reverend Rossbridger's friendship with the Cribbens. They didn't trust him and Susan was sure they'd get no sympathy from him. In Hollow Bay they would find someone to take them in and as soon as their story was known, the police would be called and the Cribbens taken off to prison.'
The snigger was followed by a throaty chuckle, but the mood quickly passed.
'The children had forgotten I liked to spy on them. Yes, I gained valuable bits of information when I listened to them out of sight on the stairs, titbits that earned me rewards from the Cribbens. That particular night I crept back down to Magda's room and told her what I'd overheard. Augustus was too ill to be informed right then, but she revealed the children's plan to him the very next day. Unfortunately, she failed to realize just how ill he was. His mind had snapped, although it wasn't evident at that time.
'Augustus kept to his room that fateful day. But when night-time came…'
•
Lili, a silent witness, watched the orphans lift their coats from the rack, the bigger children reaching for those belonging to the younger ones and handing them down. She allowed her mind to follow Susan…
… who is tiptoeing towards the kitchen. The kitchen door is closed and the girl gently turns its handle, pausing for a moment as the door creaks. A bunch of keys is hanging from a hook just inside and the long front-door key is among them.
Afraid to open the door any wider, Susan reaches in and her trembling hand runs up the wall searching for the large keyring. The keys jingle as her fingers brush against them and she quickly stops the sound by pressing them against the wall. She feels the long one with the palm of her hand and, although frightened, she allows herself a small smile. Slowly she lifts it.
And that is when cold, hard fingers reach round her wrist to paralyse her for a moment
Susan cannot help but shriek. She pulls her arm back and so powerful is her fright that it is wrenched free from the grip round her wrist. The kitchen door is pulled wide open and there in the darkness stands the naked figure of Augustus Cribben. He is without clothes because he has been flagellating his own body for most of the evening. The fresh marks on his pale flesh are still livid.
All the children scream in terror. Dropping their shoes and their feet slapping against the stone floor, they disperse in all directions. Three of them scurry into the classroom and conceal themselves beneath the tables. One more shuts himself in the cupboard beneath the stairs, while another chooses a storage closet set in a wall to conceal herself in. Three others, one of whom is barely six years old, flee up the stairs and hide in the landing cupboard where brooms, brushes and an iron bucket are kept. They pull the door closed after them and crouch on the floor as far back as they can go, pressing into the black-painted wall behind them. They clutch each other tightly and shiver in the darkness. They wait.
Lili felt their horror and she stirred on the wet bed of grass and mud. She moaned in protest, but the vision continued. Like the children, she cannot escape.
The naked man holds a long thin stick whose end is split into wicked slivers that spread the pain when struck against flesh. This is his own personal cane, the one he keeps in his room for himself alone, the other cane, defiled by the sinners he had used it on, temporarily hidden by his sister because the school inspectors are soon to visit. His gnarled left hand grabs the girl's wrist again, for shock has frozen her to the spot, unable to run away. She now squirms and tries to pull away from him, kicking out at her captor, her stockinged feet having little effect. The keys fall from her grasp and skid across the floor.
Cribben handles Susan roughly and she is crying with terror and desperation. He lays into her with the cane, her thin cotton dress offering no protection at all, and she screams.
Two figures appear looking over the balcony down into the great hall. Magda Cribben and Maurice Stafford have left the bedroom where they have patiently waited for much of the night, ready to leap into action and help Augustus deal with the would-be absconders. Their eyes widen in alarm as they see the naked guardian drop the cane and grab Susan Trainer by the throat.
Her cries cease immediately as her throat is squeezed and her windpipe crushed. Her feet pummel the floor for a few seconds and her once-pretty eyes bulge as if pushed from behind. Her tongue protrudes from her yawning mouth, her face begins to turn a purplish red, her young body stiffens as she is lifted by her neck. Urine spatters the flagstones beneath her, while her hands feebly pull at the naked man's wrists. Finally, her hands fall away and she goes limp. Susan is dead.
'Augustus! No!' The anguished wail is from Magda, who leans over the balcony to beseech her brother. Maurice is too dismayed to move.
Cribben bends to pick up his punishment cane and he strikes it hard against his own body as he advances across the hall towards the cupboard beneath the stairs. There are long welts and red stripes all over his body, and old scars where self-inflicted wounds had run deep.
Cribben reaches the cupboard and yanks the door open. There is a screech from inside and he leans in to drag out six-year-old Wilfred Wilton, who tries to resist but is no match for his guardian's manic strength. Once again, the cane is dropped to the floor and Cribben's powerful hands reach round the boy's throat. Wilfred is murdered in silence.
Hand to her breast, Magda wails, 'Oh dear Lord, what can we do, what can we do?'
Her brother picks up the stick and strides towards the closet located in the hall's oak panelling. As he walks he continues to beat his own body.
Swish-thwack! is the sound it makes. Swish-thwack! almost a single emanation.
The wind outside blows rain against the tall window in a sudden fierce burst, but nothing distracts the man with the cane. He stops in front of the cupboard, opens its door, stretches inside to pull out seven-year-old Marigold Welch by the hair. Her screams are cut off as he strangles her, Cribben's rage making it no effort at all. He lets her lifeless body fall to the floor and slowly looks towards the classroom.