What We Saw

Chapter Thirty-Two

The sky was a strange, dark shade of orange now. It felt like daytime but with the brightness turned down a little. The volume levels were higher than usual, though, as the breaking dawn gave way to a chorus of birdsong.

Flyers were pinned up on each gate in front of every caravan. Trees with Emily’s smiling, ice-cream-covered face stared out wherever you turned. ‘Missing Girl: Have you seen our daughter?’ I pictured Emily’s mum and dad marching around after realising she was gone, their eyes scanning every hedge and every crevice in case she was hiding in there. Had they seen this coming?

We stood outside Emily’s caravan. A light was on inside. It was 4:15 now. I figured that they were struggling to sleep. Donald unbuttoned the top few buttons of his coat and took his glasses off the edge of his nose, slipping them into his inside pocket. He dusted his chest, stood upright, and toyed with his hair. I could hear him breathing heavily through his nose as he fidgeted and prepared to knock. I squeezed Emily’s hand again and looked her in the eye. She let go of Adam’s hand and held her blanket up to her mouth, her eyes beaming and bloodshot.

‘It’ll be okay,’ I whispered. ‘I promise you, it’ll be okay.’

She kissed me on the lips. Her mouth was sticky and stale, but it took me back to those beautiful, perfect days outside the launderette. She pulled back and smiled, her big, brown eyes staring deep into mine.

Donald smiled at us. Adam folded his arms and rolled his eyes, tutting as he did.

Then, Donald knocked.

Three knocks. And another three, firm and sharp. I saw a shadow in the light and heard movement indoors. Donald hurried into his coat and threw something towards me. I barely caught it.

‘Almost forgot,’ he said. ‘Just in case.’

It was a phone with ‘Emergency Calls Only’ written across the screen. It was strange holding a phone again. Usually I only got to hold one when kids snuck them into school.

‘But it says—’

‘Exactly,’ Donald said, reading my mind. ‘Like I say, just in case.’

I understood him now. I slipped the phone into my pocket as the door of the caravan clicked and a figure appeared. It was Emily’s mum. She looked thin and her eyes were heavy with bags as purple as the night sky. She looked at Donald with a confused frown on her forehead. Then she spotted Emily. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and she let out a moan of relief.

‘Emily!’ she said, as she threw herself out of the doorway and towards her daughter. She wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair, peppering her face and head with kisses.

‘My beautiful daughter… my beautiful daughter.’

They both cried, together, as they held each other. Donald wiped his eyes.

‘I’m sorry, Mummy.’

‘No, you silly girl, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…’

This exchange continued for a few moments until another silhouette appeared at the door. His shoulders were wide and blocked the dim light from inside from escaping. He looked around to see what all the fuss was about. He watched as his daughter and his wife cried and clutched each other. He didn’t say a word, only watched.

Emily stopped crying when she lifted her head upwards and saw her dad stood there over her mother’s shoulder. I slipped my hands into my pocket and tapped against the mobile phone. I had to be ready, just in case. Emily’s mum must’ve felt her daughter go rigid in her arms, as she turned round and spotted her husband standing there. She seemed oblivious to our presence.

‘Jonathan, she’s back, Jonathan,’ she laughed, turning between her daughter and her husband. ‘Come on and give her a hug.’

Her dad let his mouth turn up at the corners somewhat, attempting a smile, and walked towards Emily. He moved slowly, like a remote control car running low on battery. His face was devoid of emotion. He rested his hand on Emily’s head, and she shifted her eyes towards the ground. Her lips quivered at either side.

Emily’s dad pulled his hand back and turned to face Donald. ‘You found her then?’

Donald took a deep breath, glancing over at me for a moment. Emily’s mum leapt up from her daughter’s side, finally acknowledging our presence, and she threw herself around Donald. Donald did not return the hug, standing firm and staring back at Emily’s dad.

‘I am so thankful,’ she said. ‘So very, very thankful,’ as she rested her head on his chest. Donald put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back, steadily. She grinned and let out a snotty splutter of relief and laughter.

‘I need to talk to you, Mr. Beadsley,’ Donald said, his eyes focused on Emily’s dad. He looked sincere, like people in school looked when they were getting ready to tell a prepared apology to another student.

Emily’s dad looked back at Donald and licked his front teeth with his tongue. ‘Call me Jonathan, please,’ he said. I put my arm on Adam’s shoulder. Emily’s mum frowned as she looked between the two of them.

Donald took in another deep breath. ‘I would rather speak to you on my own, actually.’ He broke the stare by flicking his eyes at the assembled crowd and then back to Emily’s dad. Emily’s dad was still for a moment before he turned around to look at us all.

‘Sue, you take Emily inside.’ He paused as he looked at Adam and me, paying particular attention to me. I stared back at him. All the anger and rage inside my stomach boiled through my eyes. I hoped he could feel it, but I had to leave Donald to do what he came to do.

‘Come on, Adam,’ I said. We walked out of the gate. I looked back and saw Emily’s eyes through the bedroom window, as I had done so many times in the past before. This time, she wasn’t making any attempt to hide.

Adam stood with his ear pressed up to the hedge surrounding Emily’s caravan.

I shook my head. ‘Come on. This isn’t for us to hear.’

He tutted and began to say something before following.

We sat against the wall at the other side of the road before climbing into the hedge above it, out of sight. My heart had stopped pounding, probably exhausted from all the extra work it had done over the last few hours.

‘Do you think he’ll be okay?’ Adam asked.

Voices raised in Emily’s garden. Shouting now. And then a crack, more shouting. There was a cry for help and a woman’s scream. Adam tried to jump off the rock wall and out of the hedges, but I held him back by his shirt.

I dialled ‘999’ into the phone, pressed call, and listened to the dialling tone as closely as I could, trying to drown out the screams and shouts from Emily’s caravan garden. I covered my face with my hands.

‘You f*cking perv,’ Emily’s dad shouted. ‘You f*cking old perv.’

‘Please, I—’

My heart raced against my chest again as Adam began to breathe faster. I pulled my hands from in front of my face and saw Donald lying across the ground. He held his hands up to defend himself as Emily’s dad plummeted his foot into his stomach. Lights flickered on nearby, curtains twitching.

‘Hello, is anyone there, please?’

I noticed the voice coming from the phone. My throat felt dry as I tried to speak. ‘He—hello. Someone’s killed somebody. But it was a while ago. He’s—he’s beating somebody up. We’re at the caravan site—Hawthorne’s. Please, hurry.’ I tossed the phone to one side and covered my ears. I caught a glimpse of Donald’s eyes as he looked up from the ground, blood trickling down his chin. Emily’s mum screamed as Emily’s dad threw her back towards the caravan garden.

‘Stop this right now, you f*cking murderer!’

I looked to my side and noticed Adam pulling himself from the hedge. My whole body went weak. He’d blown our cover.

Emily’s dad held his foot in the air, ready to take another swing, but paused as Adam emerged from the hedge. He smirked and wiped the sweat from his mouth. ‘What, kid? Something you have to say?’

Adam’s bottom lip quivered. He fumbled and put his hands into his pockets, fixing his gaze at the ground. Emily’s dad walked over to him slowly, a look of disgust on his face. Donald reached for Emily’s dad’s leg, who kicked it away.

Emily’s dad squared up to Adam. ‘I said, is there something you have to say, kid?’

My whole body vibrated. There was nothing to lose now. ‘Don’t you dare lay a hand on him,’ I shouted, as I pulled myself from out of the hedge. My hands buzzed. A couple of neighbours gathered now, their faces in shock, but they looked blurry in the background. Emily’s mum continued to cry.

Emily’s dad laughed as he turned from Adam to me. ‘What’s this? The grand inquisition from a couple of pikey kids? Go on then, who have I killed?’

I took a deep breath.

‘Who have I killed?’ he shouted.

‘The girl. The missing girl. From the telly. Beth Swanson.’

I heard a chorus of ‘oh’s!’ in the background. Emily’s mum’s eyes widened.

Emily’s dad burst out laughing before taking another swing at Donald’s body with his foot. I winced as he smacked his ribs. Donald looked defenceless, completely broken, spluttering blood.

‘The only person I’m gonna kill is this lowlife for stealing my precious daughter away from me,’ he roared. He turned round to face his small audience. ‘Does anyone else want to accuse me of anything? Murder? Rape, perhaps? Go on, Marvin, how about you? Seen me kill anyone lately?’ Marvin backed down and shuffled his feet as Emily’s dad turned towards him. ‘In fact, I’ll tell you a little something,’ he said. ‘This sick f*cker on the floor here hasn’t only kidnapped my daughter, but he has a little murder secret of his own, don’t you?’

Donald looked too weak and helpless to care anymore.

‘Yeah, he killed his precious little girl a few years back. Put a few too many pills down her throat, didn’t we?’ he said, squeezing Donald’s cheeks.

Donald could only cough in response.

‘Jonathan, this isn’t the plac—’

‘F*ck off!’ Emily’s dad shouted at the balding neighbour.

I took another deep breath. ‘We know you framed Donald for killing Beth Swanson in the forest,’ I said.

Emily’s dad squared up to me again. His eyes looked similar to the way they had that day at the launderette. ‘I did, did I? And how do you know so much about her, eh?’ he smirked.

‘You framed Donald. You knew about what happened with his daughter. And you used it to get him to do your dirty work,’ Adam said, shuffling towards Emily’s dad.

I pulled Adam back.

Emily’s dad turned his head between the two of us and round at the crowd. ‘We’ve got our own little pair of detectives here, haven’t we?’ He held his hands in the air and circled us. I shivered as he walked behind me. ‘Round of applause for the little mystery hunters, please.’

Emily’s mum sobbed in the background.

‘What’s up with you, Sue?’ Emily’s dad asked. ‘Get inside. I’ll talk to you about this later.’ He pointed his finger towards the caravan.

Emily’s mum stood, slumping her shoulders and neck. She fumbled with something in her pocket. Emily’s dad watched her hand, and his elevated arm gradually began to drop. Sweat dripped from his forehead now.

‘You did it,’ she whimpered.

I felt my knees go weak. Emily’s mum’s eyes danced from me to Emily’s dad. She chewed her finger.

‘What did you say?’ Emily’s dad asked, his eyes flickering.

‘You killed the girl. Don’t bother lying now, Jonathan,’ she said, more defiant in her tone.

I looked at Adam. Emily’s dad scratched his head before laughing from his stomach. ‘You believe these two? You believe this little orphan dwarf? More fool you then, you cow.’

Adam went bright red. I held his arm. He couldn’t lose his cool, not now.

Emily’s mum turned back towards the caravan. She still fumbled about in her pocket.

‘You can’t just walk away now,’ I shouted. ‘Do something good for once and speak out.’

Emily’s dad turned towards me, and threw his finger in my face. ‘You can shut your little meddling mouth.’

‘No, I know you killed her because you kept her in our caravan,’ Emily’s mum shouted. Emily’s dad’s eyes focused on mine, before closing. He opened them again and smiled at me before turning to Emily’s mum. I saw Emily watching in the window. I wanted to go up to her and tell her things were going to be okay.

Emily’s mum spoke fast as her husband marched towards her. ‘You killed her because you’re a sicko and you kept her in the spare room and I hav—’

Emily’s dad clutched his wife’s throat and dragged her towards the caravan. The neighbours winced. Donald spluttered on the floor, as somebody sat by him and called an ambulance. I saw blue lights flickering in the distance.

‘You have what? What do you have?’ I screamed.

Emily’s mum struggled to get her words out from under the clench of Emily’s dad’s palm. ‘I have pictur—pictures,’ she shouted. Some pieces of paper fell to the ground from her pocket. Horrible, horrible images. I saw her legs and her eyes. Her mouth was gagged. He was with her. I wanted the ground beneath me to open up. People covered their mouths, and their eyes widened.

Emily’s dad looked like he was out of control, his face a deep shade of red. He shrugged a few people off as they tried to intervene. Most of the onlookers stood there, jaws dropping. I saw Emily in the bedroom window as her dad approached the caravan.

‘Okay,’ he shouted, turning round to face the wide-eyed crowd. ‘Okay, everyone, you got your little bit of entertainment. We’ll be out in five minutes.’ He looked towards me, nodded his head, and smiled. ‘You did well, kid. Very well.’

Something didn’t feel right. Emily’s dad pulled his wife inside the caravan and dragged the door shut. Everything seemed to be moving fast. People panicked and cried. I saw Emily at her bedroom window, cowering away as her dad entered her room. She shook her head and curled up into a ball. Her dad had something in his hand. It looked like a flame at the end of a bottle.

Emily broke free of her dad and disappeared from sight. A group of people ran to Emily’s caravan door and started banging on it, screaming for Jonathan to come out. I saw Emily appear in the bathroom, banging at the window. Emily’s dad pulled his head out from another of the windows. The blue lights were getting closer now.

‘This is what you’ve brought things to, kid,’ Emily’s dad called. ‘If I can’t carry on, neither can they. I’m so sorry.’ He slammed the window shut and smashed the bottle against the ground.

The next thing I saw was Emily’s dad’s face in flames.

The caravan changed colour. Flames swallowed it up. I could hear screams. Emily banged at the bathroom window, tears rolling down her cheeks. People in the crowd shrieked and cried.

I pulled Adam towards me and leaned into his ear. ‘If I don’t see you again, you’re an amazing cousin.’

He pulled his eyes from the burning scene and looked at me, barely processing what I’d said. I turned away from him and ran past the crowd towards the smoke of the caravan.

People screamed even more as I ran into the garden area. I went close to the window where Emily was as the heat scorched my face. I saw the tears dripping from Emily’s cheeks as she jumped around the bathroom, spluttering.

I held my hand against the window. It was boiling and stung like beestings, but I pointed upwards. Emily touched where my hand was, before dragging it back with the heat. My head started to spin.

‘Up,’ I said.

She looked back at me, and shook her head.

‘Up. Up there.’ Someone came and dragged me away as Emily looked up towards the skylight in the bathroom.

*

The next thing I knew, I was on the side of the road. People covered me in blankets and asked me questions that I didn’t understand. Men gathered around the caravan in fireman suits, spraying water at it. I saw some of them shaking their heads, dragging things from inside.

Donald was still on the ground. Someone put him into another car that looked like an ambulance.

And then I saw Emily.

Her eyes met mine as they wrapped her in a blanket. I tried to pull myself upwards, but someone else pushed me back down. ‘You need to rest.’

But I didn’t want to rest. I wanted Emily. I needed Emily.

They put her into the back of the black car and drove away. I saw her eyes meet mine as she disappeared. She reached her hand against the back window and mimed something, which I couldn’t make out.

I heard Adam’s voice. ‘Don’t worry, cuz. You saved her. She’ll be okay now.’

After that, everything went black.