Thirty-Two

Mayor Wilkes didn’t envisage any obstacles of note. He’d told this odd little child, with the old face surrounded by blond curls, that Jay headed in the direction of the woods. Of course, Wilkes hadn’t a clue where the Jay creature had vanished. He didn’t care. All that mattered was to lure Archer out of sight of nosey villagers, then he could simply force him to hand over the bracelet. Simple. Then get himself out of this awful weather. The mayor glanced back. The village had almost vanished in the murk. If the boy complained to anyone about Wilkes, he’d merely say he saw the boy find the bracelet on the ground. Seeing as the boy pocketed a possibly valuable item, Wilkes had done the socially responsible thing and confiscated it in order to hand it over to the police on the mainland. And if anyone was damn well persistent enough to enquire about the whereabouts of this piece of jewellery, Wilkes would airily dismiss the question with, ‘Oh, it turned out to be a plastic novelty. Utterly worthless. I just dropped it in a bin.’ Would anyone accept a child’s allegation seriously, especially a strange little child with behavioural problems? Wilkes had absolute confidence that he, an elected mayor and successful businessman, would be believed. The boy would be dumped back wherever he came from.

The pair of them followed a path along the spine of the island. Ahead, the castle tower emerged from shifting rags of mist. Behind them, the village had vanished. Trees creaked as gales wrenched at their limbs.

Here will do just nicely. ‘Stop right there.’

The boy turned that old face toward him. God, such a creepy, old man’s face. Wilkes opened his mouth to speak again. Just then, he noticed a shape emerge from the fog. The figure hurried toward them. Inwardly, he groaned. This would be tricky.

‘Hello, Mrs Knowles,’ he said in a friendly way as he searched for some excuse why he should be out in the fields with one of the Lodge children. For this was no other than Victor Brodman’s sister. Damn the family. They must have been put on earth to try my patience. ‘Terrible weather,’ he purred. ‘I saw this child by himself. It—’

‘Can’t stop,’ she sounded oddly drowsy. ‘I’m . . . I’ve . . . the doctor . . . Nnn . . . I’ve forgotten his name. It’s my husband, Graham. I’m worried. He’s so confused. Now he can’t even remember my name.’ She swayed. ‘Don’t feel so bright myself. Uh . . . Can’t stop.’ She lurched away.

‘So another one will soon bite the dust. Deary me. Now, Archer . . .’

But it was Archer who turned the tables. ‘I don’t need Jay,’ he announced loudly. ‘You’re my friend. I trust you.’

‘Naturally.’ Wilkes got ready to turn out the boy’s pockets.

‘So I’ve decided to show you something that’s secret . . . top secret.’

This surprised Wilkes enough to make him pause.

‘I found something this week. It’s been hidden. Jay took me there. I hate Jay, so he can go stink.’

‘What did you find, exactly?’

‘You won’t believe your eyes.’ The kid’s face shone. ‘Promise not to be scared. It doesn’t look nice. In fact, it’s really horrible. But when you see it you’ll know what to do to make everything all right.’

‘Just what have you found, Archer?’

‘Come on, I’ll show you.’ With that the boy dashed along the path to the woods. Wilkes followed. His instinct for self-preservation told him to find out what the boy had found. Wilkes knew there were secrets on the island. If they were his secrets he wanted them to stay that way.