Maybe a shadow of regret passed over Shane’s face, like a small and fleeting cloud against the sun, but it was gone quickly. ‘You know what’s happened to me, because it’s happened to you too. Why are you fighting it, David? Why are you fighting us? Mother and Everett have done nothing but help us from day one. We’re strong, we’re healthy, our lives have been turned around. I’m just trying to stop you wrecking their shed and you’re acting like this is Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something!’
‘Everett and “Mother”,’ replied David, ‘are killing people. That’s why. It’s not exactly complicated.’
Shane laughed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
‘It’s true. I can prove it. Just let me get into that shed and I’ll show you.’
‘Can’t do that, I’m afraid. Mother’s orders. Go home, David. Have a good long think about what’s in the best interests of your family. There’s going to be a big get-together tomorrow up at the Farm. Genuinely, I hope to see you and Becky and Alice there. Otherwise…’ He shrugged. ‘Might be best if you stayed away for good.’
He gave a gentle shove and David let go of the rake handle, letting himself be pushed away.
‘Come on, Dennie,’ said David in disgust. ‘This is useless.’
They left, along with a Great Dane who was still rumbling with anger.
As they walked, Dennie asked him, ‘What did Shane mean by “Moccus’ blessing”, David? What aren’t you telling me about this?’
‘You’re going to think I’m crazy,’ he said.
She laughed. ‘I’m the last person to accuse anyone of that.’
He was looking at her with the kind of half-afraid, half-hopeful expression of a child who has been caught in the act of something shameful and doesn’t know whether or not to tell the truth.
‘I can’t help you if I don’t know what I’m dealing with,’ she said.
So they walked, and he told her.
5
THE BONE CARNYX
DAVID AND DENNIE RETREATED TO HER HOUSE TO mull over their options.
‘We need to go back there tonight and catch them in the act, then call the police,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t matter what else has happened – if they get a call to say there’s a kidnapped girl being attacked, they are going to turn up.’
David shook his head. ‘It’s still going to take them too long. Being so out of the way as this place is, and emergency resources being what they are, we’ll be lucky if they turn up inside ten minutes. We could all be dead by then.’
‘So we have to make sure that they’re in the area, close enough to come at a moment’s notice but not so close that the Farrow get spooked, and for a long enough time, because we don’t know when it’s all going to kick off. Maybe, I don’t know, if they get a phone call from someone saying that they saw a girl matching the description walking along the A38 nearby or something. They’d have to drive up and down and then check out the side roads – that could take them quite a while.’
‘And what if they ping the number that called them because they’ve already had one bogus call and realise that it’s not coming from a driver but from an allotment?’
‘Then don’t be at the allotment! Take your car, drive down the road to a lay-by and do it from there. Use my phone; I’m squeaky clean as far as the police are concerned. David, it doesn’t matter if they think it’s bogus; they can’t not investigate it. It’s not like the boy who cried wolf. They’re not going to sit there and say “no, we won’t bother with this one”. They might only send one car but they will send someone.’
‘The timing is going to be tricky. The Farrow might choose to do their thing any time from when the last person leaves. That’s a big window – four or five hours, possibly. The police might give up before we need them.’
‘Maybe we can narrow it down. We know that they’re obsessed by the phases of the moon, especially the waxing crescent phase. Have you still got that moon phase app thingy on your phone?’
‘Right here.’ David opened the app, and they peered at it.
‘All right. Tonight is when it emerges, and they’ll want to get rid of Lauren as quickly as possible so they’ll do it tonight, but their tusk moon will be very faint; says here only one per cent. That might be enough for them, but I’ll bet they’ll want to push it as long as they possibly can to maximise whatever it is they’re getting out of it. Sunrise will be four forty-six GMT on Monday morning, so factor in time to get tidied away before the sun rises and the joggers are up and about… I think they’ll do it around four. So, you need to make your roadside call at, say, three-ish, half-three. I mean, obviously I could be wrong so we’ll have to spend the night watching them just in case, but that’s what I think they’re going to do.’
David looked at her. ‘Wow. Have you ever thought of a career as a military strategist?’
‘They couldn’t afford me, dear. What worries me is actually getting anywhere close to them. They’ve got their cronies watching the place twenty-four-seven, I bet.’
‘You know what? I don’t think so. From the way Shane was talking, he obviously didn’t believe that Ardwyn and Everett are hurting people, so maybe the allotments won’t be so closely watched as today. Maybe it will only be the trusted few.’
Viggo laid his head across her knees and sighed. ‘The trusted few still outnumber us, though,’ she said, absentmindedly scratching him between the ears.
‘Yes, but we don’t have to actually fight anybody. We just have to get close enough to be absolutely sure of what’s going on and then make the second call. At most all we’ll need is a way of keeping them distracted for a few minutes.’
‘That should be easy
