Ruby’s still weeping as Annie Hardwick drags her indoors, and it’s easy to produce tears. She only has to remember her dad dying in the prison hospital alone, denied his dignity. Hardwick frogmarches her to a room with basic furniture. The table is built from old scaffold boards, with benches made from pallets, and a rusting stove in the corner. The floor is so muddy it can’t have been cleaned in weeks, and Hardwick’s appearance is neglected too. Her head is shaved, her black jumper full of holes, oil stains on jeans baggy with age, but Ruby can see she’s got a strong physique. Ropes of muscle run down her forearms, and her gaze is laser-sharp.
‘Tip your bag out on the table,’ she snaps.
Ruby follows her orders. She watches as the woman rummages through her belongings, still shaken at being caught. The ex-cop peers at her fake driver’s licence, and the sketchbook she uses for her alibi. Luckily her father’s knife is tucked inside her jacket.
‘You’re a long way from home, Chloe Moore. Or is that an alias?’ Hardwick says.
‘I told you. I need a safe place to sleep.’
‘Bullshit. I bet you’re not alone. Where are the others?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Why’s a girl from Brighton on Bodmin Moor?’
‘I grew up in care, now I need a new start.’
‘Don’t give me sob stories. Tell me who sent you, for fuck’s sake.’ Hardwick grabs her arm, her grip tight enough to burn. ‘Start talking or I’ll get the police.’
‘You’re hurting me.’ Ruby makes her voice sound even more broken. ‘I left without telling anyone. The hostel they put me in wasn’t safe, this bloke hung around at night. I was afraid he’d break down my door.’
Hardwick stares at her, but Ruby senses a glimmer of softness. ‘When’s the last time you ate?’
She squeezes out a few more tears. ‘This morning, at the station.’
‘Why didn’t you ask for help in town?’
‘I’m no beggar. I can take care of myself.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Let me go. If I’m in your way, I can sleep in the forest.’
Hardwick studies her again. ‘We’ll strike a deal. Stay one night in my barn and leave in the morning. There’s a youth hostel nearby; they’ll take you, till you find work.’
‘I was heading there when I got lost.’ Ruby glances round the kitchen again, noticing damp stains on the ceiling and tiles peeling from the wall. ‘This place will be amazing. I can see why you’re doing it up.’
‘It’s a long job, but it’s coming together.’
‘What should I call you?’
‘Nothing.’ The woman’s posture stiffens again. ‘You don’t need my name. We’re in the same boat, Chloe. It wasn’t safe for me back home either.’
Hardwick continues speaking, but even now Ruby can see she’s not fully convinced. She never turns her back or drops her defences, as she talks about the land she’s renting from a farmer who doesn’t ask questions. She keeps a few livestock, grows most of her food and generates her own electricity. The ex-cop is still describing her new lifestyle when she glances out of the window. Ruby seizes her chance, grabbing a cast-iron skillet from a shelf, her blow hitting Hardwick’s shoulder. The woman stumbles then rebounds. She boots Ruby in the guts, her second kick sending the skillet flying from her hand.
‘You little bitch. Who the fuck sent you?’
‘Craig Travis, of course.’
‘I knew it.’
Hardwick grips Ruby’s arms at her sides, until she squirms away. She manages to grab an empty wine bottle and smashes it against the woman’s temple, but even that doesn’t knock her out. Hardwick doesn’t fall until Ruby delivers a hard punch to her jaw. She stares down at her still body, feeling a moment of pity. The woman is tough like her, living by her own rules, but her dad’s wishes must be honoured. Hardwick is so deeply unconscious she doesn’t make a sound when Ruby carves his symbol into her forearm.
She drags Hardwick’s inert body out into the farmyard, but the ex-cop is finally coming round, hitting out blindly with her fists. Ruby pulls out her knife, but Hardwick knocks it away, the blade slicing through Ruby’s top. Pain makes her fight even harder. She aims a fierce kick at Hardwick’s face, silencing her at last. Then she pulls back the wooden cover over the old well and peers at the dark water below. Hardwick is still breathing in ragged gasps when Ruby heaves her body over the edge. A loud splash follows seconds later; then a furious howl, which she ignores. It only takes a moment to replace the cover, as drops of blood drip from her wound. It’s better to focus on details instead of the woman screaming out curses.
Ruby enters the barn to find Hardwick’s tools. She uses a hammer and a handful of nails to batten down the well’s wooden cover. Even if Hardwick manages to climb to the top, she’ll still be trapped, until exhaustion makes her drop back into the water below.
She goes back inside the farmhouse, then uses Hardwick’s computer to check the CCTV footage; it only takes a minute to wipe all records of the last few days, removing her image from the film. Next Ruby spends hours cleaning all evidence of her presence from the property. Hardwick must be dead by the time she’s finished. No more cries come from the well, but a noise startles her when she finally leaves. It sounds like someone’s approaching, with footsteps slow and heavy, but when she turns round, it’s just the horse she saw before. The creature’s calm gaze weighs on her as she backs away, delivering its judgement.
‘What are you staring at?’ Ruby snaps.
Suddenly she’s desperate to leave, her torch beam etching a line on the filthy ground as she breaks into a run. She only feels lighter once she’s sprinting back through the dark woodland. Kitto will soon be dead too, and every name will have been crossed from her father’s list.