Thirty

In the dining hall there was pandemonium. The hostel’s walls trembled as the children from Badsworth Lodge went berserk. After Archer had heard Jay repeat his name out in the street, the child had dashed in mad panic to find Laura. The other children wanted to know what had scared him so badly. The trouble was, he was so petrified it came out in confused phrases.

‘Jay’s done it again . . . the witch . . . I fell down here . . . then I woke up . . . and I know really bad stuff’s happening! The doctor’s got so worried. Nobody’s coming!’

A youth grunted, ‘Archer, we don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.’

‘Yeah, spit it, or bottle it,’ Candice snapped.

Archer stared, unable to speak. At that moment Laura entered the dining hall. Seeing her jolted out a fact that preyed on his mind. ‘Laura’s getting married.’

‘What!’ All the children flinched at the shock news.

‘Archer, how do you know that Laura’s getting married?’

‘I met Victor. And Victor told Jay that he’s getting married to Laura. And another thing . . .’ The kids went crazy. They started yelling at each other, at Laura. One boy’s face went into spasm, the bottom lip extended so much his teeth were bared in a weird snarl. He punched out at a pair of teenagers who stood next to him. Candice ran to a wall where she beat her own head against the brickwork. While Laura raced to stop her, Lou tried to break up the fighting youths.

Archer cried, ‘And another thing. Jay’s saying my name. He’s saying Laura’s. He’s put his witch curse on us!’ He kept shouting. Only not a single person heard above the racket.

The big room echoed to the barrage of children howling – sorrow mated with rage. Even though no individual words were identifiable, the cacophony all stated the single terrible fact. If Laura marries she’ll leave. What will happen to us? Who will keep us safe?

The teenager who’d started the fight grabbed a knife from the cutlery box. Lou had to wrestle the boy to the ground, before prising his fingers from the handle.

Archer, meanwhile, shouted himself hoarse, trying to attract Laura’s attention. However, she’d wrapped her arms around Candice to stop the girl pounding her forehead into the brickwork. At last the self-harmer collapsed into Laura’s hug. There she wailed so loudly it shook the cups on the tables.

Archer tugged Laura’s arm. ‘Jay’s done it to you, Laura. He’s saying your name. He’s saying it over and over. You gotta stop him!’

Laura indicated she couldn’t hear. Then, with both arms around Candice, she walked away – left him, abandoned him. He stared at her. Laura getting married. Laura cursed. It’s happening already. She doesn’t want to listen to me.

A sharp point dug into his upper thigh. He reached into his pocket for the bracelet. He stared at it in his hand. Ghorlan~Victor. This bit of gold chain haunted him. Maybe it was the cause of all this trouble? So great was the din it was hard to think properly. Yet Archer knew this jewellery was important. The dead woman in the car had given it him. Now what seemed even more important was to get rid of it. If he could make Jay take it then maybe all these bad things would go away. Yes, that’s it, he decided. Give Jay the bracelet, the little witch. See how he likes having to carry it round. It had more than blood stuck to it: the gold had death glued to it, too.

Archer’s problems were too great for the boy to fathom. At that moment they all seemed to be attached to the bracelet. In his juvenile way of dealing with problems the easiest solution was to dump the bracelet on Jay. All panic and horror handed over with it. Of course, in a little while, he’d come to realize that this wouldn’t end his woes, instead it would lead him to a face-to-face meeting with death itself.