Let her scream all she liked. She deserved that clout, the little bitch, threatening him with that bastard.
George stood outside the boiler room flexing his fingers.
What the hell was he thinking? It was a fucking stupid idea, bringing her here. The vague plan he’d thought of when he watched Howarth’s missus leave her and the other kid outside the Crown – shutting her in one of the sheds on the allotment – went to pot the minute she started screaming.
He hit the wall with his fist. The pain stopped the rising panic but he needed a drink.
No he didn’t, it was bloody drink that had got him in this sodding mess. As soon as he’d done it he knew it was stupid. Too bloody late by then. Never thought anything through… It was only supposed to give the bastards a fright for a couple of hours. He walked back and forth, trying to decide what to do.
He couldn’t keep her here forever.
He took a deep breath and went back into the boiler room, leaving the door slightly open. There was a sour smell of urine. The kid had obviously pissed herself. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom before he spoke. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I can tell you don’t like this game. Me, I thought it would be fun but I don’t think you’re enjoying playing, are you?’
She shook her head.
‘Right. Well then, how about we get out of here and I buy you some chips, eh?’
She nodded slowly.
‘But you have to do something for me as well.’
She took in a quivering breath.
‘I mean it. Understand?’
She moved her head again. ‘Yes,’ she whispered.
‘Right. You have to promise you’ll keep your mouth shut. You won’t tell anybody where you’ve been.’ He stopped, waiting to see if she said anything. She didn’t.
Congratulating himself that he might be able to get out of this mess, he carried on, ‘I want you to pretend you got lost. You went exploring and you got lost. Okay?’
‘Yes.’
‘Promise?’
‘Yes.’ Linda drew her knees close to her chest and put her arms around them.
‘Right.’ He had to make sure she’d stick to what she said. He squatted down.
‘Because if you don’t, I’ll have to come and get you again. Understand?’ He shuffled nearer. ‘And don’t forget your mummy was cross with you for running off.’ He reached out to touch her cheek. ‘If you tell her you got lost, she won’t be mad anymore.’
She grabbed his fingers and bit him.
He yelled, yanking his hand away, falling backwards.
On her hands and knees she scrambled past him.
‘Bitch.’ He was breathing heavily.
She was at the door.
He flung himself across the floor, grabbed her ankle.
She yelled, kicked out at him.
Pain shot through his jaw. ‘Bitch.’
He twisted over onto his stomach, grasped her other ankle and tugged.
She fell.
He heard the crack of bone on the stone flags. And then silence. ‘Kid?’ He still had hold of her ankles. He gave one of them a shake. ‘Come on, kid.’ No answer. The girl was pretending. She had to be pretending. He couldn’t see enough in the shadows behind the door. Fear churned inside his guts. He crawled alongside her, feeling for her face, her mouth. She wasn’t breathing. ‘Oh God, no, please, no.’ He felt for the pulse in her neck, an almost forgotten automatic gesture from the first aid training he’d done in the Fire Brigade years ago, before he was kicked out. He couldn’t tell if there was any movement but when he took his hand away it was sticky. Blood, oh God, it was blood.
He had to get away. He should never have come back to Ashford. He ran blindly, bouncing off the walls, until he was stumbling down the steps into the fresh air.
He stopped once to look back towards the old hospital before plunging headfirst into the culvert.