‘We’re okay,’ she assured him.
‘Not long now, Kate.’ After the incline, Kate could see a steep drop to her right into more woodland, stone boulders covered in moss, the air filled with forest smells, creaking branches, birds and insects buzzing. It was like everything was in high definition as she tried to remember the way, tried to take in any detail that might prove helpful.
When they reached the edge, she put Charlie down, telling him to wait while she made her way to the ledge below. He whimpered, his eyes bloodshot. Cronly lifted him into her waiting arms, then followed them, jumping with the agility of a man half his age. The way down got steeper the farther they went. All the time William Cronly stayed close behind them. When they came to another clearing, the ground levelled off, and William stepped past her, walking on ahead for another twenty metres. He stopped suddenly, pulling back branches and all manner of natural camouflage, to reveal what could only be described as a cave.
Kate felt the panic rising in her, facing the prospect of going inside this hidden place, a place that if you didn’t know existed, you would never find. As soon as she stepped inside with Charlie, they would be trapped in a whole other way. A feeling of sickness swept over her again. How could she get them out of this?
Once inside the cave, he lit a hurricane lamp. The light revealed a small camp burner for cooking, comics, and books covered with clear plastic sitting on a flat-topped trunk to her left. All manner of tins and boxes were lined up on metal shelves in the corner. She saw an oval mirror with steel grips hanging on a silver chain, supported by a masonry nail hammered into a groove in the granite wall. She thought about pulling it down and wrapping the chain around his neck. It was a chance, but she hesitated a second too long and the chance was gone. She had to be ready. If she got any kind of an opportunity, she would have to take it.
As Kate’s eyes adjusted to the lamp light, other items gradually became clear. There was a basin on a stand. To the left of it, some soap and a towel, it too covered in clear plastic. Against one wall stood a toy soldier wearing a red uniform, half a metre tall, dressed like a sentry with a toy gun held high on his shoulder. Many of the tins on the shelves had stickers: Tea, Coffee, Marbles, Matches, Nails. The place smelled of paraffin and moss and damp, the ground a mix of clay and grit.
‘Sit down.’ He pointed to a grey stone boulder to the right of the cave opening, one big enough for both Kate and Charlie to sit on together. Kate sat down first. Charlie wanted to sit on her lap, but she placed him to her side so she would be ready to leap forward at the faintest glimmer of opportunity. She put her arms around him, rubbing her fingers through his hair, trying to keep him calm. Lowering her head, she whispered, ‘Shush, shush,’ over and over into his ear, until his body eased and his crying settled.
‘Is this your place, William?’ she asked, already knowing the answer.
‘Yes, it’s brilliant, isn’t’ it?’ His voice now more enthusiastic than before.
‘Yes.’ She kept looking around her. ‘How long have you had it?’
‘Since I was a boy. I found it one day purely by accident. I was on a treasure hunt.’
Suddenly it all made sense – the comics, the toys, the secret hideaway. He was stuck. Part of William Cronly had never moved on into adulthood. In his mind, he still craved being that small boy. What happened to Silvia had never left him. He was trapped, caught in a time before whatever guilt or loss had got mixed into the whole sorry mess that was his life.
‘I have a present for you, Kate.’ He took a small silver crucifix out of his inside pocket.
‘You shouldn’t have.’ She reached out, took it and opened the clasp, then fixed it around her neck, before pulling Charlie back in tight beside her.
‘Oh, but I had to, Kate. I have a confession to make, you see.’
She looked up at him. The height of his body above her felt oppressive. Again, he reached into his jacket pocket. He took out a length of red ribbon, the same colour and size as he had used to plait Caroline and Amelia’s hair. She said nothing as he placed it on the shelf behind him. Then he showed her a pearl earring – one she recognised as her own.
‘I’m a bit of a magpie, Kate. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘I don’t mind at all, William.’
He took a torch out of his backpack and switched it on, sending the light to the ceiling of the cave. She heard a flapping noise. He stuck the base of the torch into the part-mud, part-grit floor and sat down opposite her on another boulder.
‘Now we’re here, Kate, I have a question for you.’
She waited.
Ellie