Returning to the grave of the man he now knew as Harry, Jack set to digging a grave next to it. As the hole became bigger he could almost feel his fear rising at the memory of lying in the pitch black. Hearing the rustle of the creatures, feeling them scuttle over his body. The fear that he would never get out. Beating his fists on the immovable wooden door of his prison. Unable to move it and escape. The fear had been paralysing and he couldn’t think of a better way to punish someone. Yes, this would be the perfect home for Dan Beckett and the rest. They would suffer for their crimes before they eventually died.
His father stood watching him, a pleased expression on his face. It was so nice to make his father proud again. He understood that the beatings, the strictness, it had all been leading him to this moment. Without his father helping him to nurture his relationship with God, he would not have realised his life’s purpose. Elsie had been the catalyst, the trigger that would propel him on his destiny. A destiny he could only fulfil because of his father’s support.
His hands bled quicker this time. Only a few minutes digging had his hands slipping and sliding on the shovel handle. Every so often he would be forced to stop and wipe the blood on his trousers. His knees ached in protest and pain radiated up his back, reminding him of his age. But he ignored the pain, it felt good to push his body to the limits. It was a different type of pain to grief and he welcomed it.
‘Enough,’ instructed his father. It was pitch black and only the portable floodlight lit up the surrounding area. The trees around them whispered and crows cawed menacingly. When he was younger, the crows used to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He could never see them, only hear their creepy calls echoing around him. Making him feel like he was being watched by someone invisible. But now, he was so used to them, it was like being surrounded by old friends.
Jack heaved himself out of the hole, his shirt sticking to him, and he wiped sweat from his forehead. Looking down, he was pleased to see a man-sized hole, ready to swallow Dan Beckett.
‘Now, a lid for our prison.’
Jack followed his father back to one of the outbuildings that was used as a workshop. He found an old back door covered in cobwebs at the back of the shed. It was thick and heavy, just perfect for keeping Dan Beckett in his hole. He also found some barbed wire that his father had used to keep the foxes away from the chickens. With great difficulty, they dragged it over to the forest. Jack could barely breathe when he got there, his lungs on fire.
Jack headed home covered in cuts, bruises and mud. Lining the hole with barbed wire had been the ingenious idea of his father. Although he had just watched as Jack lined the grave with it, suffering many cuts and scratches in the process. His father slapped him on the back as they returned to the house. After Elsie died he thought he’d never be happy again, but here he was saving the world with a large smile on his face with his father marching with him into battle.
The hardest job of all came next. Jack had to go home. There were things he needed that were at their house. Slowly, he drove back to Winterford. His good mood from before fading. He pulled up on their driveway. Thankfully, Susan was in bed, all the lights in her house turned off. Jack looked at his old home. A semi-detached chocolate-box house. It had once been his pride and joy, but now it seemed dreary and miserable, like it too was grieving her loss.
Jack prepared himself for the smell of Elsie as he unlocked the front door. It was only his father’s hand on his back, bracing him, that stopped him collapsing this time.
‘Remember your mission. Remember what you are here for,’ whispered his father, seeing Jack’s step falter as they reached the kitchen.
Jack clamped down his emotions and strode to the internal door that led to the garage. Inside, he pulled down a large box covered with dust. It was a home security system that Elsie had purchased on Amazon after one of their neighbours had been burgled. It had several cameras that connected to a phone. Jack had been meaning to put it up for many years but, due to his aversion to technology, it had continued to slip his mind. But his father insisted that they needed to be smart. To keep an eye on the prisoner at all times.
Going back into the kitchen, Jack held his breath as he rummaged through the cupboards. This was strictly Elsie’s domain. He could almost hear her shooing him out of the kitchen. Tears lined his eyes as he pulled some bags of rice out of the cupboard and piled them on top of the CCTV box. He grabbed the laptop that was on the kitchen table. He held it like it was china. Elsie had been using it just before they left that day. She had been looking up holiday destinations. Pain pierced his heart and he felt like the lid of his grief was seconds from being ripped off.
Jack’s father was examining pictures on the walls. But Jack couldn’t look. He was only just holding himself together. A thought of going upstairs to get some more clothes crossed his mind, but his feet held him in place. He couldn’t do it. The thought of going into the bedroom was too much. It would break him. They left and Jack locked the door. Breathing hard and trying to remember his mission. To focus only on that and not the memories of Elsie that were diving at him like birds, trying to peck their way through his barriers.
Whilst Jack battled his rising tide of grief, his father alternated between sitting in silence, staring out the window, or turning to Jack and quoting the Bible at him. He knew his father was trying to help him, the only way he knew how. But he did wish he would just shut up. The Bible was his father’s answer to everything, but it was not the salve that Jack needed to heal his grief right now.
The further he got from the house, the better he began to feel. The mission was almost ready to begin. Tomorrow, he would finally be able to get justice for Elsie.
That evening, Jack made himself some tea whilst his father headed for a shower and then to bed. Humming to himself as he fried eggs, he was excited for the coming day. Nervous, but excited. He was ready for this. To do good in the world. To have a purpose. He thought back on his conversation with his father earlier that day, as they drove back from the shop after finding Dan’s business card.
‘This is great, Jack. Your life revolved around Elsie. Now, that’s not a bad thing,’ he added, raising a conciliatory hand as he saw Jack open his mouth to argue. ‘But you were meant for more than that. I brought you up to do God’s work. Now you are finally ready to live the life you were meant to have.’
‘But being around Elsie made me happy,’ he argued.
‘Yes, son, but there is more to life than happiness. What about everyone else’s happiness? The greed that has contaminated the human race is devouring their happiness. You are the only one that can fix that. Isn’t it worth sacrificing your happiness to save your fellow man? There is no more normal a cause.’
The words had hit hard. Had he been wasting his life with Elsie? Was he selfish for focusing only on them and no one else? Not thinking of the greater good?
He shook the thought from his mind. This was his path. Without this gut-wrenching loss, he wouldn’t have had the strength to do it before. But now, God had shown him the pain that gluttony and greed were causing in the world. By sacrificing Elsie, he had revealed to Jack his true destiny. Jack ate his ham, egg and chips and pictured the events of the next day. Dan Beckett had the Devil in him, and that Devil was in for a shock. Dan thought he was going to make some easy money but he would be getting a lot more than he bargained for.