Chapter Nineteen

Stand-Off

Everyone reacted in shock to Alex’s sudden move.

Ever since they’d been “judged” back at the town hall, it seemed that the Caffneys had beaten out of him any fight that he had left. But this sudden, violent lunge at Daddie-Paul momentarily paralysed everyone on the cliff-edge, captor and captive alike. The wheelchair tipped awkwardly, Alex fell over it, and the next moment Old Man Caffney had gone over the edge. That was when his daughters started to scream and the kids followed suit in blind panic, yelling and running in all directions.

And Henry Caffney let go of Juliet’s hair, forgetting that she was there. He stood rooted to the spot, like a statue. He seemed hypnotised by the slowly spinning wheel of the wheelchair as Alex clambered back to his feet. Daddie-Paul’s dwindling scream was drowned in the shouts of the running crowd. Juliet lunged past him and fought her way through the milling children to get to the platform. Something was happening there. Somehow, Jay’s hands were free and he was struggling with Don-Paul right on the edge.

And then Lisa lunged forward to seize Patrick Caffney’s hair from behind, yanking down with all her strength. His head snapped back, his face contorted in agony. Annie seized the shotgun with both hands and tried to wrest it from his grip. But even though Lisa managed to drag him to his knees, he still fought to hold on with one hand while he clutched at his scalp with the other lest Lisa rip it from his skull. Simon Caffney burst through the crowd of kids, running to reach them. From nowhere, Candy lunged out of the crowd and tried to claw at his face. She caught his sleeve as he ran and he dragged her down in his headlong flight. She clung on tight, tearing his shirt. Yelling, Simon turned and kicked her hard. Candy’s grip was broken as Simon seized her own hair, ready to smash her face to pulp with his fists.

Roaring like a bull, Alex leapt over the overturned wheelchair. Eyes wild, fuelled by hatred, he bore down on Simon, who heard and saw him coming. He pulled free from Candy and braced himself, swatting a little girl out of his way as she ran into him, screaming.

“They killed our Daddie!” screeched Luanne, hugging her pregnant torso as if even the baby inside were screaming in distress. “They killed our Daddieee!” She tottered towards Henry, looking for protection. Henry still couldn’t move; still couldn’t take his eyes from the overturned wheelchair and its slowly spinning wheel.

Annie wrenched the shotgun free and it discharged with a shocking roar.

Luanne’s face disintegrated in a bloody spray.

Now the children were running screaming from the cliff-edge, back the way they’d come.

Luanne tottered forward, three more steps towards Henry. Then her body crumpled to its knees. Still hugging her torso, she sprawled forward into the mud.

Henry sagged and went down on his own knees, now no longer staring at the wheelchair; all his attention centred on his sister’s body.

Alex halted in mid-charge, no more than ten feet from Simon, who was now also staring in horror at his dead sister.

Annie swung the shotgun round to cover everyone as Lisa pulled away from Patrick. He remained kneeling, hugging his head; like someone trying to keep their wig on in a heavy wind. Blood was seeping down from his scalp and between his fingers.

“Jay!”

Alex had reached Candy and was dragging her away from Simon when Juliet’s agonised cry came from the cliff-edge. He looked back to see that Don-Paul was running back from the platform, keeping well out of the way. There was a young boy there too, also running hard, taking a different route from Don-Paul and following the other members of the tribe as they disappeared into the ruins.

But there was no sign of Jay on the edge of the platform.

Juliet clambered desperately out, right to the edge.

“Oh Christ…” said Alex. “Jay’s gone.”

Annie kept the shotgun levelled as everyone headed for the platform.

The Caffneys seemed frozen, staring at Luanne’s still body.

Throughout, the other Caffney sister had stood on the cliff-edge, hands to her mouth. Now Tracey staggered towards Luanne’s body. Hands still to her face, she looked from the body to the others, who retreated to the wooden platform. Suddenly, she whirled away from her family and ran towards them.

“Stop there!” snapped Annie, swinging the shotgun on her.

Tracey halted.

Fearfully, she looked over her shoulder towards her family; then back at Annie.

“Take me with you.” It was the first words she’d spoken since their arrival at the Caffney’s Hell on earth. Her voice was high-pitched and tremulous, a child’s voice in a young woman’s body. “Please don’t leave me here with them. Take me with you…”

“Help me!” shouted Juliet. She was balanced precariously on the edge of the platform, trying in vain to pull the rope up.

“Please!” screeched Tracey. “Don’t leave me with them!”

Lisa had reached the platform first. She rushed out to join Juliet. Annie kept swinging the shotgun from Tracey to the others, who were still apparently too shocked by what had happened to their father and sister to act yet.

The wooden platform juddered and cracked.

Juliet cried out and almost fell. Lisa grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back. There was a grinding sound from the Chasm.

“Oh Christ!” screamed Juliet. “It’s got him!”

The wooden supports groaned. Soil began to crumble and patter all around the frame of the platform at the cliff-edge.

“Lisa!” yelled Alex, starting out over the shivering boards. “Get her back here!”

“Jay!” yelled Juliet down into the darkness. “Jay!”

The rope stretched and vibrated. The platform began to bow downwards into the abyss.

“Juliet!” Lisa grabbed her hard, and began dragging her back towards the cliff-edge as Alex finally reached them. He grabbed her other arm, but now Juliet was fighting back, trying to reach the edge of the platform again. “We can’t do anything! It’s too late!”

“It can’t be too late! This can’t happen! Not now, not after everything we’ve been through!”

A wooden support beneath the platform shattered and split. The platform tilted to the right. Lisa and Alex were already holding a rail on the left. Juliet’s feet swung into empty space as they clung on to her, now dragging her back to the cliff-side as boards on the platform itself began to crack and splinter loose.

“JAY!”

“We can’t do anything!” yelled Alex. “Juliet, we can’t do anything for Jay now!”

They fell back on to the cliff-edge, stumbling together as the platform suddenly disintegrated. The rope did not snap this time. The demonic force on the other end dragged the winch from its moorings. In the process, the entire structure of the platform fell apart. The winch hurtled down into the darkness, followed by the tumbling, shattered wreckage of the platform itself. The supports that had anchored it to the cliff-side followed, huge chunks of earth cascading down into the depths. Everyone recoiled from the cliff-edge in case a section of it should also be dragged down into the Chasm. Alex and Lisa hung on tight to Juliet as she strained to return to the edge. She didn’t seem to care whether she went over with the wreckage of the platform or not.

The roaring descent of the platform dwindled to a shuddering echo as the last of the wreckage vanished into the darkness.

A gunshot sounded behind them.

Annie recoiled instinctively, looking at the shotgun. But it hadn’t gone off in her hands. Tracey was suddenly right beside her, long dark hair flying in panic as she looked back at her sister’s body.

The Caffney brothers had vanished in the darkness.

Another shot split the air, ricocheting wildly.

Annie swung the shotgun around, but could see no one.

“Everyone,” shouted Alex. “Run!”

And suddenly they were all racing along the cliff-side, away from where the platform had been dragged down into the Chasm and back towards the rough-hewn bridge leading across the abyss to the petrol plant.

“Where are they?” yelled Candy. “Where are they?”

“Please!” yelled Tracey, running with them. “Don’t let them kill me. Please God, don’t let them kill me!”

Another shot, and this time a furrow of earth erupted right next to Alex’s foot.

“The bridge!” yelled Alex. “It’s the only way to go!” Juliet looked back at the ragged cliff-edge where the platform had vanished.

“Jay…”

“Come on, Juliet!” yelled Lisa. “He’s gone, and there’s nothing we can do!”

“Oh God, Jay…”

“Come on!”

Another shot sang past their heads.

They ran.