‘Well what if we walk?’
‘And leave me with a killer?’ He pulls a fake sad face, but I see by his eyes he’s worried that’s exactly what we might do.
‘Of course not – we’d never leave you alone, you idiot. But maybe two of us could attempt to get out of here.’ I know as I say the words it’s impossible. It’s too cold and already dark. ‘We must do something,’ I say, knowing I’m getting worked up, fidgety, close to tears. ‘It’s really getting to me.’
‘It’s getting to us all, sis.’
‘Yes. Yes. Sorry.’ I look at my watch, continuing to pace. ‘Maybe I ought to check on the others. Do you think Maddie’s smoking the whole box?’
‘My guess is the three of them are huddled on the porch discussing our plan of attack.’
‘I suppose so.’ I stop pacing.
‘On the plus side to all of this …’
I turn. ‘There’s a plus side?’
Thomas raises his arms above his head and stretches. ‘Yep. For once I’m not the only one who feels bloody helpless.’
I smile, but I’m sorry. Sorry my brother, who was once so full of life, will never walk again. Sorry he feels so negative and helpless. Sorry he got in that bloody sports car two years ago when he’d been drinking.
I head back to the sofa, and perch down next to him. ‘Talk to me,’ I say.
‘About what?’ He picks up a hairband and ties his hair into a ponytail.
‘Talk to me about Maddie.’
‘What about her?’
‘Are you in love with her, Thomas? Because …’
He shakes his head. ‘God, no. I depend on her; she’s my friend, but no, I’m not in love with her.’ He lowers his head. ‘Truth is, and I’m only telling you this because we’re all going to die …’
‘That’s not funny, Thomas,’ I say, feeling a shudder run down my back.
‘Truth is …’ he repeats, ‘any chance of love went when I had my accident.’
‘You were in love? When you were in the US?’ A memory of hearing about his accident filters in – the call from Mum saying he may never walk again.
He nods. ‘It was pretty serious. Almost meet the parents time.’
‘Really?’ I feel a lump rise in my throat. My little brother in love, and it all slipped away from him. ‘So where is she now?’
‘Back in the US. She was a TV presenter, doing well.’ He smiles. ‘I follow her on Twitter with a fake name, in a non-stalker kind of way.’
‘Sounds pretty stalker-like to me.’ I half smile. ‘So you’re not in touch?’
He shakes his head, and looks down at his hands. ‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’
‘It was true love then?’
He shrugs. ‘I never told her about the accident.’
‘What? Why not?’
‘She would have stood by me, and it would have ruined her life, or worse, she may have taken off – deserted me. I couldn’t live with either scenario. I called her from the hospital, told her it was over, that I was heading back to the UK.’
I grab his hand and squeeze it. ‘Oh, Thomas, I’m so sorry.’
‘I didn’t deserve her, sis. I was drunk at that party, and I took a bloody car out on a racing track.’
‘But those idiot so-called friends encouraged you – handed you the keys to the car, let you into the racetrack.’
‘And I got behind the wheel and turned the key,’ he says. ‘I can only blame myself.’
I sigh deeply. ‘Still. You should call her.’
‘That’s what Maddie says.’
I ignore a pang of envy that he told Maddie before me.
‘Maybe I will if we get out of here. These kinds of things have a habit of making you evaluate your life.’
The front door slams open, and we look up.
It’s Dad. He’s carrying Maddie in his arms, and, leaving the door wide open, he limps across the room, his face distorted. He lays her on the floor by the fire. ‘She’s alive – just about. Concussed, I think.’
‘Jeez, what happened?’ Thomas cries, and makes an automatic attempt to rise, and I see the frustration in his face when he can’t.
‘All I know is there’s blood on her head,’ Dad says. ‘Finn said earlier branches are falling. It could be what’s happened, but with everything else … well, I just don’t know.’
‘You think someone attacked her?’ I drop to my knees, and put a cushion under Maddie’s head, blood from an open wound coating my fingers.
Dad shrugs. ‘I couldn’t find her when I went out there. I was worried she could have been taken, you know, like Elise, so I took off looking for her.’
‘You should have told us,’ I say. ‘You shouldn’t have gone off on your own.’
‘You’re an idiot, Dad.’ Thomas is angry – upset. ‘There’s a bloody killer out there. What the hell were you thinking?’
‘I wasn’t. All I could think was another young girl wasn’t where we thought she was.’ He pauses and takes a deep breath.
‘Is she going to be all right?’ Thomas says, and I feel his frustration that he can’t get close to her.
‘I don’t know. She’s in a bad way.’ Dad reaches for a blanket, and as he attempts to cover Maddie, he lets out a cry of agony, and grabs his calf. There’s a six-inch rip in his trousers, blood oozing from a deep gash.
‘Jesus! What the hell happened to you?’ I meet his glassy eyes. There’s no doubting his pain.
‘Caught it on a branch when I was searching for Maddie. I’ll be fine.’
But colour drains from his cheeks. ‘You don’t look fine, Dad.’
At that moment, Maddie’s clenched fist falls open, and a Monopoly top hat tumbles to the floor.
I pick up the tiny silver top hat and roll it around in the palm of my hand. It must be the piece Maddie picked up from Rosamund’s cottage.
‘Maddie, can you hear me?’ I whisper, close to her ear, hoping my darkest fear is wrong. That she hasn’t been attacked. She doesn’t stir. ‘Maddie, what happened?’
I see
