The man turned back to her and narrowed his gaze, running his tongue along his lower lip as if he was sizing her up. He ignored her question.
“Go and sit over there,” he ordered her, jabbing the knife towards the fabric sofa that ran along with one of the walls. “Now,” he added, for good measure.
Sienna obeyed, her knees wobbling with dread as she forced one foot in front of the other and collapsed onto the seat. Nervously her pupils flitted from the man to the child, a million thoughts racing through her mind at what felt like the speed of light.
“Don’t try anything funny,” he warned Sienna before taking a step back to glance out of the open door of the motor home, into the unforgiving blackness. “Fucking hurry up,” he shouted to somebody outside, the harshness of his voice making Sienna flinch.
Moments later, the sound of mud squelching filled the otherwise silent motor home, followed by the creak of the outer stairs. The man stepped aside to make way for two younger boys, both of whom appeared to be in their late teens. Hanging between them, supported by their broad shoulders, was a pitiful, unconscious figure, whose face was coated almost entirely in mud. Tufts of mattered hair stood up around its lifeless face whilst the lower body and feet lulled and dragged along the ground, leaving a vile trail of muck behind.
“Jared…” Sienna moaned in horror as the contours of his stained face ignited a flicker of recognition in her mind. Immediately she rose to her feet and went to him, suddenly unafraid of the knife and the strangers. “Oh my god…” she cried, snatching up his lolling face in her hands, “Jared…” she shook him, her vision blurring with tears.
“I said, sit the fuck down!” roared the man, roughly pushing her backwards so that she fell, banging the back of her head hard on the seat of the couch. “Zach! Lloyd! Get him on there,” he grumbled to the young men behind him, gesturing towards where Sienna had just been sitting.
“Camera is ready,” Flo announced, positioning the phone on the dining table in front of her so that it was focused on the sofa.
Zach and Lloyd, like a pair of obedient henchmen, heaved Jared across the floor and dumped him on the seat like a heavy sack of rubbish. His body was awkward, and the boys had to struggle to bend his form into shape so that he was sitting down. When they let go of him, his head sagged, too weak to sit upright, like an old, decrepit rag doll.
Sienna remained crouched on the ground, staring in horror around at her surroundings. Two more people filed into the RV and finally shut the door, severing the stream of icy air that poured into the space. One of them she recognised as Samantha, and the other was a woman in her mid-thirties who looked just like her. It was obvious that they were mother and daughter.
“Someone needs to wash his face at least,” the woman pointed out as she closed the door behind her, as casually as if she already owned the place. “And for fuck’s sake, get her up from the floor.”
Sienna realised she was referring to her when one of the teenage boys roughly grabbed her under the arms and hauled her to her feet. Pain seared in her armpits, the clammy grip of his fingers seeming to scorch her skin. Madly, she began to thrash, desperate to be free.
“GET OFF ME!” she wailed frantically as he shoved her down onto the seat beside her poor husband.
“Wash his face,” the boy ordered, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. He was enjoying it, it was obvious. “Take your shirt off; you can use that,” he added, his chuckle wretched and perverted.
Suddenly, the mother of the family was behind him, slapping the back of his head hard. “Lloyd, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” her features were contorted with anger, her eyes glittering.
“You said to get her to clean him up,” Lloyd mumbled weakly, rubbing the back of his head. He staggered backwards, winded from the strike, clearly not about to argue with the woman.
“With her shirt?” she barked furiously, “what are you, an animal?”
“Mum, calm down,” the other boy said, gently touching her arm. Her face instantly relaxed.
“Right, okay,” the woman took a deep breath, “you’re right, Zach. This isn’t the time for getting stressed. The sooner we get this sorted, the sooner we can turn in and get a decent night’s sleep.”
Wide-eyed, Sienna crossed her arms over her knees and tried to curl herself up as small as possible, as if she could somehow make herself disappear. Somehow, it felt as though she were the imposter. There she was, on edge, perched on the seat, watching this strange, dysfunctional family altercation unfold. More tears slid down her cheeks as she dared turn to her husband. She caught his eyelid flicker and sighed a breath of relief that he was not dead, even though he was so painfully, eerily still.
Chapter Fifteen
Summer, 1999
“And so you say this all happened shortly before 10 pm last night?”
The officer questioning her frowned as he glanced down at his notes. Under the table, Minnie felt her mother squeeze her hand, a gesture that would normally automatically fill her with a sense of comfort.
Not today.
Today, under the harsh glare of the interview room lights, Minnie was filled with an awful void that not even her mother’s unconditional love could fill. Perhaps, if her mother knew the truth, her reassurance would be more of a comfort. But the fact was that Julie Walter only knew half the story. She knew her daughter had been
