Ashley froze, knowing the truth would do her no good. Involving Lily Barnes wouldn’t help the situation. “I, um, caught it on a branch while we were running away. I didn’t even notice, so can’t say exactly when.”
PC Riaz nodded.
“I’ll get a plaster for you, sweetheart,” said Helen. “Just as soon as I’m done with Jude.”
Ashley waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it, Helen. It’s fi—”
The radio on the table squawked. Everybody flinched. PC Riaz snatched it up and thumbed a button on the side. “Okay, go.”
“We found the farmhouse,” said a voice on the other end, “but there’s nothing here. Nothing at all.”
PC Riaz frowned. His eyes fell upon Ashley as he replied into the radio. “Did you check every room?”
“Affirmative. The whole place is a ruin. There’s nothing here. Only thing we found were a few footsteps in the dust and a bracelet.
“A bracelet?”
“Yeah. A yellow rubber thing. It was lying right in the middle of the floor.”
“Any symbols on the floor?”
“Symbols? No, not that I’ve seen. The place is derelict. There’s nothing here.”
“Copy that. Spend ten more minutes on site, then return to base. I’ll catch up with you at the station, Steve.”
Ashley was already talking, fumbling for words, but not knowing what on earth to say. She had gone through several outcomes in her head, but none had ended this way. “Th-The sicko must have come back! He must have moved—”
PC Riaz put up a hand to silence her. “I don’t know what you two are playing at, but I had you pegged as good kids. Whether you got some kind of scare, or your imaginations got the better of you, this is unacceptable. I could arrest you right now for wasting police time.”
Jude moved away from his mum, an unsecured bandage flapping from his hand. “The woman was there! We’re not lying. I swear. Mum, I swear.”
Helen rubbed at his back and nodded. “I believe you, sweetheart.” She looked at PC Riaz. “Your men must have the wrong place. My son wouldn’t make this up.”
PC Riaz shook his head and sighed. He seemed as much confused as he did angry. “Unless there’s another abandoned farmhouse where your son lost his bracelet, I think we found the right place.” He looked between Ashley and Jude, scrutinising them. “Honestly, I don’t know what to make of this. I want to give you kids the benefit of the doubt because I can’t see why you would make up a story like this, but this doesn’t add up. Look, I’ll file your statements tonight and do some research about missing women matching your description, but I think the two of you need to have a good long talk and decide how you want to proceed. We found your bracelet, Jude, so there’s no doubt my colleagues found the right place. This doesn’t look good, does it?”
Jude averted his eyes and muttered, “No.”
“So where is this woman you’ve told me about? Where’s the blood? Or all of these occult symbols you both mentioned?” Ashley went to speak, but PC Riaz cut her off again with his palm. “Sleep on it tonight, okay? Perhaps we can have a different conversation tomorrow. I need the night to decide what to do about this.”
“Surely they’re not in any trouble?” said Helen.
“I can’t promise that, ma’am.”
“She was there!” said Jude, teary-eyed.
PC Riaz’s placid expression broke, and he put on a scowl. “Don’t dig yourself in any deeper, son. Get some dinner and go to bed. We’ll revisit things in the morning.”
Ashley grunted, and under her breath, she said, “This is bullshit.”
Helen shushed her. “Ashley.”
PC Riaz tilted his head as if he hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry, young lady?”
“I said, this is fucking bullshit. There was a woman chained up in that farmhouse. Jude and I aren’t lying. She was there. She was fucking there. Instead of doing something about it, you’re talking to us like a pair of naughty little kids.”
“I suggest you calm down, right now.”
Ashley jumped up from her chair and slapped the table. “She was fucking there, so why can’t you find her?”
Jude was shaking his head and staring into space. “We left her. We never should’ve left her.”
PC Riaz looked between them. Once again, he appeared as confused as he did angry.
“You need to find her,” Ashley yelled. “You need to tell your stupid mates to search that house properly and do their fucking jobs.”
PC Riaz downed the last of his coffee and slammed the ‘Del Boy’ mug on the coaster. He stood up from his chair and clicked his fingers at Ashley. “Okay, young lady. I was willing to put this down to some kind of mischief gone wrong, but my good faith has dried up. I’m taking you home to your parents. They should be made aware of your behaviour tonight.”
Helen moved towards the table. “Come on now, Officer, there’s no need for that. I’ll see that Ashley gets home safely.”
PC Riaz looked past her and focused on Ashley. “You can either go in handcuffs or by choice, but do not test my patience. I’ve none left. You’ve had half the station running around for you tonight, young lady, so either you calm down and come with me, or I’ll be calling your parents to come and collect you from the police station.”
Jude groaned. “Just go with him, Ashley. Just… go.”
Ashley was furious. It took everything she had to keep it all inside and not make things worse. She had known this would end with her somehow being in trouble. She had just known it. “Fine,” she said, shaking her head. “Take me home. With any luck, I’ll only get grounded for a year.”
Worse luck, and my dad will chain me up like that woman in the farmhouse.
She was there.
She was real.
We saw her.
Chapter Six
Ashley’s dad was furious, which was nothing new. He kept snatching at his jet-black hair and yanking it so that it tufted out at the sides and made
