What We Saw

Chapter Ten

The following day, I came close to telling Granddad everything.

Gran was round next door chatting with Mrs. Jeeves, who had discovered some new species of butterfly, or something silly like that. Adam was in his room, playing on his Game Boy.

‘Granddad,’ I said.

His head was buried in the latest Stephen King book. He had read them all, making sure to buy the latest one at Waterstones every summer.

‘Granddad,’ I repeated, a little louder.

‘Yes, yes?’ he said, sticking his head up like a meerkat.

I took a deep breath and tried to stop my voice from cracking. ‘If you saw something really bad… like, really bad, but something you didn’t know how to deal with, what would you do?’

Granddad kept his eyes focused on his book and cleared his throat. ‘I’m not quite sure I know what you mean, Liam.’

‘It—it doesn’t really matter. Just, if you saw something, something secret… but something important, would you tell anyone?’

Granddad put his book down and leaned towards me. ‘Liam, we can’t stick our noses in everybody else’s business. But if there is something you’ve seen, or heard, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?’

Granddad raised his eyebrows as he looked at me. I tried not to look back at him directly. What was he talking about? He hadn’t heard Adam and I talking about what we’d seen, had he?

‘Is this about Adam?’ he said.

‘What? No, I… well.’ I felt the tension rush out of my body. My head felt much lighter. I could lie.

‘He’s okay isn’t he? You would tell me or your gran if you saw him… doing anything, wouldn’t you? Just it’s really, really difficult for him right now. It’s difficult for all of us. We’re staying as strong as we can for Adam, Liam. It’s really hard.’ Granddad lifted his hand to his chin and rubbed at it. His eyes looked red and watery.

‘Granddad, I… I mean, you’re okay aren’t you?’

He reached back for his book. A shaky smile flickered across his face. ‘I’m alright, I’m alright,’ he said, before returning to the world of his book. I could see from the speed at which his eyes scanned the lines that he wasn’t really reading.

I pictured Gran and Granddad cuddling each other after another day of having to face everybody. It must be hard for them, too.

Gran walked back into the van at that point and looked at both of us. She had a sort of understanding look on her face, the way her eyes met both of ours. She smiled halfheartedly and turned towards the kitchen. ‘Who fancies a trip to the beach today?’ she asked, her back to us all.

Had she been crying too? I never thought about her crying before. Now I couldn’t seem to help it.

*

We headed off to Emily’s place shortly after. Granddad and Gran waited by the steps as we ran up towards Emily’s caravan. I looked up towards where Donald’s van was and shuddered. The mouth of the woods was in front of us too, staring back. It felt like it wanted to pull us in.

‘Come on, let’s get this done with,’ I said.

Adam stopped and waited by the hedge near Emily’s caravan.

‘What you doing?’ I asked.

He looked at the floor. ‘I think I’d better wait here.’

‘What are you on about?’

I remembered their words the other day as Adam lifted his head and looked up at me reluctantly.

‘Oh come on, Adam. She won’t mind. We’ve had a lot going on. She won’t remember all that.’

Adam looked up at me again and nodded. ‘If you say so.’

I walked towards the door, Adam still lingering behind. As I knocked, the door opened and Emily answered.

‘Hiya,’ she said, grinning. She sounded out of breath with excitement.

‘Hey, Emily…’ I turned to Adam. ‘First off, he’s sorry— we’re sorry. About yesterday.’

She looked towards me with a blank expression and wide eyes. ‘Oh, that doesn’t matter. Just glad to see you.’ She smiled at me. Her eyes felt warm when they met mine. I grew more edgy as we held our stare.

‘So erm, you wanna come to the beach?’ Adam asked.

‘What’s that, Adam? Speak up!’

I bit my tongue and tried to stop myself from laughing. Adam went a bright shade of pink.

‘Um, you wanna come to the beach with us now?’

Emily nodded. ‘Oh, yeah, sure. I’ll ask my parents.’

She disappeared inside and we waited at the door. There was some heated conversation. Her dad interrogated her, and her mum told her to make sure she was back in an hour.

‘They seriously need to chill out,’ Adam said.

‘Don’t let her hear you say that again,’ I replied. ‘Not after the fuss she kicked up last time.’

Emily came back to her door a few minutes later, slipped into her wellies, and skipped up the road towards my gran and granddad.

The beach trip was okay but wasn’t the same without Carla.

‘So, the person who can throw the stone the furthest is the biggest loser,’ Emily said, standing on top of a large grassy area. Gran and Granddad brought the portable chairs down with them, where they’d prepared a picnic for us. The salt of the sea air tickled my nostrils.

Adam sniggered. ‘Don’t you mean whoever throws it the nearest is the biggest loser?’

‘No, I mean whoever throws the furthest. That way, you’re bound to be the biggest loser.’

Adam reached down and scooped sand all over Emily. She laughed and ran away with Adam in pursuit. I smiled and turned back to Gran and Granddad, then bit into a cheese sandwich. Dairylea, my favourite.

‘So, how’s things, kiddo?’ Granddad asked. I felt a little stumped by his question.

‘What with?’ I replied.

‘You know. Carla going. How you two taking everything?’

I thought of the way the body lay beside its hidden grave. Would things have been less complicated if it had been Carla’s body we’d found? There’d be nothing to hide. We could confront Donald. Not like with a girl, a dead girl.

‘Liam?’ Granddad asked. I realised I’d been daydreaming and had ignored his question.

‘We’re managing,’ I said. ‘Just hope she comes back, y’know? Things will be better then.’

Granddad looked on and nodded. Gran smiled as the breeze hit her face.

‘Have a bit of faith, son,’ Gran said. ‘She’ll come back.’

I gulped. Even if she did come back, her return would never replace what we saw.

*

That evening, my granddad’s mobile phone, which Gran hated him using, buzzed into life on top of the television. Nobody had his number except family members and salespeople, so the tension grew in my stomach as soon as it rang. Maybe it was Donald? No, stupid thought. We sat round the table, and Gran glanced at me and Adam as Granddad continued to power through his biscuits.

‘Dean,’ Gran said, nudging him.

He looked up like a disoriented puppy, glancing round at us all.

Gran nudged him again and pointed over towards the telly. ‘Your phone.’

Granddad stared at her for a moment before opening his mouth in realisation. He leapt up from his chair and bombed towards the other side of the room, brushing the crumbs off his jumper. He picked up his phone and stared at the screen for a moment before flicking his eyes up in my direction.

The phone continued to ring. Gran gritted her jaw.

Granddad pressed the button. ‘Hello? Yes, yes—don’t ring here at this time. I’m not interested in your… in your double-glazing. Goodbye.’

Gran shook her head as Adam’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

‘Just a salesperson,’ Granddad said, looking at me in particular.

I nodded. ‘Just a salesperson?’

He stared back at me and smiled before tucking into his next biscuit.

I knew he was lying because I’d heard my dad’s voice on the other end of the line. I swallowed the lump in my throat with another biscuit and didn’t talk much for the rest of the evening.