The Drowners (29 page)

She forced herself to crouch absolutely still, straining to hear the slightest sound from the direction of the road, but everything was silent out on the Levels. Slowly and painfully she uncoiled her stiff body and clambered out of her hiding place. Peering into the darkness, Alex crept through the misty landscape, edging her way towards the car. It might not be fit to drive but she did at least have a blanket in the back and it was a sight more comfortable than her bed amongst the tree roots and reeds. She stopped to listen every few yards but there was nothing. They’ve gone, she thought with relief. She was starting to shiver in earnest by the time she made out the roof of the car over the hedge. Fumbling in the pocket of her sodden jeans she pulled out her car key, then dropped it as her frozen fingers refused to grip properly. Cursing softly, Alex dropped to her knees and felt around her on the path. It has to be here somewhere, she thought, sliding her hands across the slick grass. Then there was a rustle from off to the right and she froze in place, heart pounding.

‘Well now, look what we got here then,’ came a mocking voice as strong hands grabbed her from behind and hauled her to her feet. Instinctively she lashed out, catching whoever was behind her a nasty crack on the shin. Following this up with an elbow to the gut, she felt his grip loosen for a moment and wriggled free, heading off towards the road at a speed that might have caused Simon to revise his opinion of her running ability. From the sound of grunting and puffing behind her, they were giving chase and she abandoned all caution, swinging her body over the stile and leaping as far as she could towards the road before landing hard and
stumbling
on the tarmac. Pushing herself upright once more she set off down the road, glancing behind as she approached the first bend. If she could just get out of sight she might lose them …

The force with which she cannoned into Max as he hurried round the corner knocked the breath out of them both but it was Max who recovered first.

‘What the bloody hell …’ he gasped as he grabbed her, swinging her round with a tight grip around her neck. Alex was too winded to struggle as the rest of Max’s little band stumbled round the bend and stopped, staring at their boss in surprise.

‘What’s you doin’ back?’ asked Jason.

‘Never mind that,’ Max growled. ‘What’s goin’ on here? And who is this?’ He pushed Alex towards them before hauling her off her feet and dragging her towards the cars in the lay-by. ‘Anyone want to answer me?’

‘Is my probation officer,’ muttered Nick who was shuffling along at the back. Max swung round to face him, keeping a firm grip on Alex.

‘Your probation officer? Well, what the hell’s she doin’ here? Paying a visit maybe, to make sure you’s behaving or summ’et?’

‘Don’t know why she’s out here,’ Nick mumbled. ‘She just drove up and seen us. Now I’s in real trouble on account of I’m in the hostel, see. ’Ent supposed to be out.’

Max reached Alex’s car and dumped her down next to it, glaring at the sorry bunch surrounding him. There was a moment when Alex thought she might be able to talk her way out of her predicament but a swift kick from Max laid her groaning on the ground. This is bad, she thought. This is really bad. Closing her eyes for a moment she tried to remember all her training, desperate to dredge up something, anything that might help, but all the work they’d done at college had been designed to help her avoid this sort of situation in the first place. From what she had seen of Max, from his actions and the tone of his voice, she had little hope of appealing to his better nature. This young man was dangerous, a little psychopath in the making.

‘Reckon we’ve no choice,’ said Max to his followers. ‘Can’t be having you sent back to prison, can we now?’ He chuckled, a humourless sound that made Alex want to shudder. ‘No, I say we put her to good use. Got all these accidents set up as drownings – well, let’s do it properly this time.’

There was a gasp from someone in the group but no-one protested as Max went on.

‘Is sick of all this anyway. We’m clearing off after this, boys. More profit to be made in Bristol any night of the week. Don’t know about you lot but I’m sick of all them yokels. Sick of Old Man Monarch and his stupid secrets an’ all. I say we leave her in the marsh, make it look like all the others and make sure Tom Monarch’s lot get done for it.’

‘How we gonna do that then?’ demanded someone – Jason, Alex thought.

‘Easy,’ said Max. I got a couple of notes from him – just rip off who they’s sent to and leave ’um scattered around. Mr Plod’ll maybe think he lured her out here. And look,’ Max fished in his pocket and pulled out the torch he’d been using out on the marsh, ‘he give us this. Now, it maybe has my prints on the outside so I’ll have to wipe it, but sure as eggs his prints is on the batteries, inside. So that’s getting left too.’

Nice, thought Alex. Cunning – and it just might work. She felt a twinge of pity for ‘Old Man Monarch’, whoever he might be. Sounds like an old river legend, she thought. A venerable fish or maybe a frog … Focus, she told herself fiercely. This is not the time for stupid flights of fancy. Max stood over her and stared at the slumped form.

‘So lads,’ he said, his voice turning sly and suggestive, ‘anyone fancy a bit of fun before we do her?’

Alex went cold with horror, then felt a rush of fury that made her head swim. She forced herself to lie still, waiting for one of them to get within range. As a man, Max’s followers stepped back and Alex was relieved to hear Nick Stevens’ voice.

‘That’s out of order, just wrong that is. ’Ent having nothing to do with that sort of thing.’ There were murmurs of agreement from the others but Max rounded on them angrily.

‘What, you’s not worried about wasting her then? Pretty sick set of values you lot has.’

‘’Ent so sure about that neither,’ muttered someone, and Alex could sense the fear in them now. Max was not about to let any reluctant witnesses leave the scene and they knew it.

‘Well, let’s just get rid of her and be off,’ said Max, and he leaned over to haul her apparently senseless body up.

Despite the desire to flinch away from him, Alex lay heavy and still, her full weight forcing him over towards her. As Max heaved her upright she brought her knee up as fast as she could, slamming it between his legs. Max went down as if he’d been slugged round the back of his head and Alex stepped backwards, looking down at him as he writhed in agony in the mud. She risked a quick glance around and froze in shock as she realized that not three but seven or eight men were now surrounding her. Nick stood a few yards away, his posture rigid, his eyes staring at her in terror and she realized he had something pressed up against his throat, a knife – the stranger behind him was holding a knife to his throat. Moving very slowly she stepped out of reach,
searching
frantically for a way out of the situation.

‘Do not be afraid,’ said a soft voice, and a tall, muscular figure with greying hair stepped forwards. ‘We don’t mean you harm,’ he continued. ‘We were about to intervene but it seems you’s more than capable of taking care of yourself.’

The unknown man grinned at her, flashing a gold tooth before gesturing to several henchmen to pick up the
still-writhing
Max. They dragged him away and dumped him unceremoniously beside the other car, leaving Alex in the centre of a group of men, all but one total strangers. She looked at Nick and realized he seemed close to fainting.

‘I don’t think these three were going to go through with anything,’ she said, addressing the man with the gold tooth. ‘Anyway, he’s one of mine and I’ll be in real trouble if he gets killed when he’s supposed to be in the hostel.’ There was an uncertain pause before the man threw back his head and laughed. The others raised a few chuckles but kept tight hold of Max’s gang, watching their leader for any indication of his wishes.

‘You have spirit,’ said the leader nodding with approval. ‘I like that in a woman.’

Now was not the time to protest at being patronized, Alex decided. Anyway, she owed this man and his collection of ruffians a huge debt. Providing they were going to let her go, of course. She wasn’t sure she trusted them and she didn’t like the glint in Gold-tooth’s eyes as he watched her, standing still but poised like a cat wondering whether to pounce.

‘What will you do, to teach him a lesson, if I release him?’ he asked.

Bloody good question, thought Alex. Take him back to court and have him sent down? He wouldn’t like it but he’d not learn much from it either.

‘I want to make sure he learns from this,’ she said, tilting her head defiantly and meeting his stare with a confidence she was far from feeling. ‘If I take him back to court I can get an extended residency order …’ She was losing them. A look of impatience flitted over the leader’s face at the jargon. She took a deep breath and began again. ‘I’m his probation officer and I can make it so he lives where I say, works where I say he can, comes to my centre and does anything I want him to. He will learn a proper trade and I’ll not let him go until he shows he’s fit to mix with decent people. His life will be mine until then.’ At least, that’s the theory, she added silently.

Gold-tooth nodded and a slow grin spread over his face. ‘That is quite a lesson,’ he said. ‘And also quite a task. What makes you think you can do this?’

‘I think it is harder to live under constant supervision for two years than do a short time inside,’ said Alex. ‘If lads like Nick break the law then they give me the right to stick my nose into their lives and tell them what to do until they learn how to behave.’ Or until the probation order ends, she added mentally.

Gold-tooth flicked his fingers and the man holding Nick let him go, stepping away as the young man slumped forwards, almost falling over.

Staring at him, Gold-tooth said, ‘You are fortunate you have someone who cares enough to argue for you. Remember
this and learn your lesson. Now go – get off the Levels and stay away.’

Nick needed no encouragement. Taking to the road, he raced out of sight, arms and legs pumping frantically as he tore through the night to the dubious welcome of the hostel in Highpoint.

‘So,’ the man continued, ‘we need to decide what to do with the rest of you.’

After a short but brutal argument, Dave drove off towards the Levels with Sue following in her own car. Despite his misgivings, her argument that with two vehicles they could cover twice the ground did make sense, though he had insisted she take a torch, some chocolate, a flask of hot tea and several blankets. He had also set out her area for the search.

‘Don’t go outside this part,’ he said, marking Sue’s copy of the ‘Edgar’ with a red pen. Sue considered this unnecessarily melodramatic but agreed, somewhat reluctantly, when he added, ‘I don’t want to be looking for you as well. If we meet up at this point here,’ he indicated the road running past Kings Sedgemoor, close to the peat works, ‘say every
forty-five
minutes, then no-one’s going to be searching for someone who has already been found.’

Slightly reassured by his show of confidence, Sue set off, heading for Godney, where Simon’s mother and two brothers lived with occasional additions from unspecified relatives. Although she had done the journey several times for home
visits, she discovered driving on the Levels at night was a whole different game from popping out during the day. Even in winter it was possible to orientate yourself by looking out over the landscape, but in the dark every road, every hedge and ditch looked the same. She found herself resorting to Alex’s method of route finding – reciting landmarks and turns to herself in an effort to keep on track.

‘Right on to gravelly bit, big hedge on my left,’ she sang softly as she bowled through the night. ‘Then left at the willows, watch out for the rocks.’ She swerved round the broken stones in the centre of the track and headed up the slow, low hill towards her destination. Suddenly there was a bright, white flash followed by an explosion behind her and off to the left. Sue slammed on her brakes and leapt from the car, peering out over the marsh and blinking to clear the faint spots from her vision. All was still and she was just about to dismiss the incident as kids playing with fireworks when the faintest sounds reached her. Tiny, plaintive voices were coming from the same direction as the explosion. Gritting her teeth as she wrestled with the heavy steering, Sue fought the car into a multiple-point turn and headed down towards the source of the noise. It was close to the meeting point and only a bit off her designated area, she thought. It wasn’t like she was going to get lost on the marsh.

Simon had also seen the flash and was heading towards it as fast as his tired legs could carry him. He didn’t like fireworks and the bang had caused him to stop in his tracks, frozen for a moment as he shivered in the cold air, but Alex was relying on him: he had promised to get help and Simon always tried to keep his word. Rounding a long, slow bend in the road he slowed when he saw several figures hurrying towards him. Slipping in amongst the stunted willows, Simon shuffled forwards, alert and ready to bolt past if necessary.

‘Who’s that then?’ came a voice ahead of him and he stepped out into the road with a sense of relief.

‘Mrs Mallory?’ he managed, though his breath was coming in short gasps. He was an accomplished runner but steady,
long distances were his great strength. In his anxiety over Alex he had upped his pace too high and had been fading fast.

‘Oh – ’tis you lad. Just in time too. Come on – ’ent no time to waste, else he’ll be gone. Come
on
!’ Ada grabbed Simon’s arm and began hauling him towards the path leading to the first hidden bridge. Simon flinched, pulling his hand away and scuttling out of reach.

‘No, you’s gotta come with I,’ he said. ‘She’s out there, and they’s looking for her and I promised.’ He was almost crying in his desperation.

Ada grabbed him again and held on more firmly this time.

‘I don’t know what you is on about, boy, but unless your friend is up to their neck in the marsh I reckon we got more of an emergency situation right here. Now come on!’

Swerving round the bend, Sue almost took them all out. Responding instinctively to their shocked, white faces she slammed on the brakes, swerving over to the other side of the road and just missing Lily by a few feet.

‘Simon!’ she shouted as she flung open the door and hurried across the road. Simon took one look at her and tried to bolt but Ada still had him firmly by the arm, determined he was not going anywhere.

‘Where the bloody hell have you been?’ Sue demanded, then paused as she took in the motley little group. ‘And just what is going on?’

Stepping into the silence, Ada gestured urgently.

‘There’s a man fallen in the marsh. He’s sinking – could even be gone if we’m going to stand around here gabbing. You got to help, both of you.’ Still gripping Simon’s arm she dragged him towards a narrow gap in the hedge.

‘I got to go,’ wailed Simon. ‘I left her and they was looking for her. ’Ent safe – and I promised.’

Sue leaned forwards and took hold of his other arm.

‘Promised who? Who’s not safe? Come
on
Simon!’

‘You’m hurting,’ said Simon. ‘You’s pulling me in two. Let go or I ’ent going nowhere.’

Sue let go of him and gestured to Ada who reluctantly released the distressed young man. Simon groaned and rubbed at his wrists and elbows, turning his back on the others before speaking over his shoulder.

‘Is Alex, out there, up along she is. Was a couple of lads from Bristol an’ one from hostel and they was chasing but I hid her. So I got to get back with help and soon ’cos I reckon she ’ent safe there. Not for long.’

‘We can go after,’ said Ada. ‘You got to help – he’s
drowning
out there!’

Sue laid her hand gently on Simon’s shoulder and spoke to him softly.

‘We have to help Ada’s friend,’ she said. ‘Then we’ll go and get Alex, I promise. Come on – Ada, you lead the way.’

Ada was off across the fringes of the marsh, bounding from one tuft of reeds to another with a speed and grace that belied her years. Lily, who had been silent throughout this exchange, gave Sue a hard look and set off after Ada, her face grim as she hopped carefully across the worst of the mud.

Reluctantly, Simon followed with Sue bringing up the rear, her feet still encased in light sandals despite Dave’s good advice. The dank water oozed around her feet, trickling between her toes, and she fought the temptation to rip off the useless shoes and scrub her feet clean on the drier grass. Some ‘night in’ this was turning out to be, she thought, as with gritted teeth she ploughed after the others.

Out in the marsh, Tom still clung to the fragile mat of withies but he could feel his strength failing and it was getting harder to grip with every passing minute. It would be so much easier just to let go and slip beneath the surface but his will to live was strong and he tilted his head back, thinking of Ada. How would she feel, he thought, coming all this way round to find him gone. She’d had enough grief this past year without having to carry that as well. Despite appearances, Tom was at heart a kind man and he had always nursed an affection for Ada. He rather wished he had hung around when they were both young and free but he had followed the
kumpania
, still being the dutiful son, and by the time they had returned to the Levels Ada was walking out with Frank Mallory. He closed his eyes, remembering Ada as she had been all those years ago, but forced them open again as he felt himself drifting, in danger of falling asleep as the cold wormed its way through his body, slowing his heart and making each breath a little shorter than the last.

It would not be long now, he thought. There were lights dancing in front of his eyes and he was beginning to
hallucinate
, soft voices whispering his name out in the dark.

‘Tom? Tom! Don’t you go dying on me now! I ’ent been ploughing through all this muck just to see you give up.’

He wasn’t hallucinating and the lights were reflections from the torches held by Ada and her friend. Friends, he corrected himself as he saw the shadowy figures out of the corner of his eye. Oh, she was a real miracle worker. He smiled and felt the surrounding water slip up around his mouth. Too late, he realized, just a few minutes too late …

There was a flash of agony from his head and he felt his face rise an inch or two out of the water. Not daring to open his mouth to protest, he stifled a moan as Ada, leaning far out across the mud, held on to him by his hair. Behind her, Lily held her by the belt of her coat with Simon and Sue hovering on the little mound, unsure what they should do.

‘Gimme your belt,’ Ada puffed. ‘Come on Lily, we needs something for a rope here.’

Tom, his head pulled back by Ada’s fierce grip, wondered briefly if she was going to lasso him around the neck and try to pull him out that way. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t prefer that – quick strangulation would be preferable to scalping. Then he heard another voice in the distance, a man, and he had a horrible vision of Max returning to gloat over his plight.

‘Sue? Sue – I saw your car. What the hell are you doing out there?’ called Dave Brown, hovering on the solid ground and peering out over the mud.

‘Dave? Dave, stay where you are!’ yelled Sue, turning to Ada for help.

‘I don’t know the way – can you show him?’

‘And how do you suggest I do that then?’ puffed Ada from her prone position holding on to Tom. ‘Lily, gimme the belt – hurry up woman. Now go and get that lad. ‘Nother pair of strong arms is what we need.’

Lily slid down the side of the mound and began to retrace her steps across the little causeway towards Dave.

‘Ask him if he’s got anything useful in that car of his,’ Ada shouted after her, ‘like a rope or summat.’

Dave watched in astonishment as Lily appeared to walk on the water towards him, her feet hidden by the low layer of mist that clung to the landscape, coiling around the willows and snaking through the reeds.

‘Stop looking like that,’ she said, reaching the bank beside him. ‘Like a guppy, with yer mouth all flapping open. Now, you got anything useful in yer car? I’m assuming you is in a car, unless you’s another crazy runner like young Simon.’ She blinked up at him, eyes bright in the moonlight. Like a curious little bird, he thought.

‘Do you know Simon?’ he asked, still trying to understand what was going on.

‘Course,’ said Lily pushing past him. ‘Everyone knows Simon. Now – have you got a rope or summat useful or not? A man’s drownin’ out there. Hurry up, will you?’

Dave opened his mouth to ask another question but she seized his arm and shook him impatiently.

‘What part of “drowning out there” is you having trouble with? Stir yerself will you? Don’t know how long Ada can hold him up.’

Galvanized by her tone, Dave ran to his car which was pulled up on the road just behind Sue’s vehicle and flung open the boot, rummaging amongst the contents for his tow-rope.

‘How far away is he?’ he asked over his shoulder.

‘Too far to use the car so is up to us to get him out,’ snapped Lily. She nodded her approval as he returned,
tow-rope
, torch and a blanket in his arms.

‘Just you be careful and don’t go wandering off,’ she said stepping on to the hidden track. Dave followed her, stepping gingerly on to the mud and jerking his foot back as the walkway swayed a little under their combined weight.

‘Give us a bit of space, boy,’ Lily snapped. ‘You stay about three, four paces back and we’ll be fine.’

Out on the marsh Ada had succeeded in looping the belt around Tom’s shoulder where his arm was still supported by the make-shift mat. As Simon and Sue took the strain, she released Tom’s hair and together they hauled his head a bit higher. Tom spluttered and spat as his mouth came clear of the dank water.

‘Damn you woman,’ he said, ‘I reckon I’m nearly bald now!’

‘Just be grateful you ’ent,’ snapped Ada. ‘Don’t know what I’da hung on to otherwise.’

The arrival of Lily with Dave in tow was too much for the small mound on which they were all balanced. Simon felt his feet slip as he tried to stay on solid ground and he was only saved by Sue grabbing his shoulder and spinning him round to the track way. As they loosened their grip, Tom felt himself begin to sink again but Dave, alerted by his frantic shout, grabbed the belt and took the strain, lifting his head clear once more. Swiftly organizing the group into a line to take the strain, Dave began the difficult and muddy task of securing the tow rope around Tom’s upper body. Ideally he wanted to get it around his chest, under his arms but after several attempts and a face full of marsh mud he was beginning to wonder if that were possible.

‘We could tie it on to the belt,’ suggested Ada but Dave shook his head.

‘We’re going to dislocate his shoulder if we try to pull him out that way,’ he said.

‘Don’t care,’ came Tom’s voice from the marsh. ‘Just get us out will yer? Reckon that’s better than drowning.’

Dave hesitated, but a look at the group showed him they were tiring. It was late, it was getting much colder and the
moon was waning. If they were going to save Tom, he thought, it would have to be soon. He lined them up again and settled on the edge of the mound.

‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Don’t pull until I tell you, then slowly and as smoothly as you can. I’m going to try and get the rope around him but we need to raise him up a bit first, okay?’

The group nodded wearily, shifting their feet on the damp ground and flexing their shoulders. Dave called to Tom.

‘Can you turn round at all?’ he asked. If you can move that arm a bit I can use the mat to support me and get this around you.’

Tom groaned softly but began to twist his upper body, inching the withies towards the kneeling policeman. As the mat came within reach, Dave reached out and grabbed Tom’s arm, pulling as hard as he could.

‘Now!’ he called.

On the mound, Ada, Lily, Sue and Simon gripped the belt and pulled. They were crammed up close together, hands almost touching, and it was difficult to get a proper pull going, but slowly, inch by painful inch, Tom’s body moved closer to the mound and safety. The pain in his shoulder was awful. It felt as if his arm was about to be ripped off and Tom stifled a groan. Then he felt the mat dip as Dave slid forwards and reached under the water, struggling to get the rope around him. Tom moved his floating arm, ready to help but Dave hissed at him to stay still.