The Silent Ones: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller(46)

No redemption. Another value that the young Juliet had picked up from somewhere.

Dana allowed a pause before speaking.

‘It was probably hard on everyone.’

Juliet nodded. ‘Mum took it worst. She couldn’t bear to look at me for months. Corey and I had exactly the same colour eyes, you see.’ She stared into the middle distance, remembering.

‘Can you tell me about your brother?’ Dana asked gently. ‘What happened?’

Juliet took a breath and looked at Dana again.

‘I’d like to leave it there for today, if that’s OK.’





Thirty-Two





2003





Juliet froze above the rocky ledge. She felt rooted to the spot, couldn’t scream, cry for help. All she could do was stare at the crumpled figure of her brother.

None of it seemed real. It felt as though she’d been drugged, like she was moving and thinking in slow motion. This couldn’t really be happening, could it?

‘Juliet?’

The familiar voice snapped her out of her trance-like state. She turned and saw Chloe waving at her in slow motion from the bottom of the grassy side of the hill, away from the rocks. She watched as her sister started to climb towards her. She felt dizzy, as if she’d been spinning around and around and had just stopped still in the middle of it.

She forced herself to peer back over the side of the hill. She’d have to get down there somehow. Corey might be OK, just dazed. It was possible, if he’d managed to avoid the rocks on the way down.

Last month, a St John Ambulance team had been into their school and demonstrated how to check if someone was breathing, how to position them correctly and administer the kiss of life. Juliet had dissolved into giggles when Beverley Jones had said she would try it out on the school heartthrob, Danny Boreham, at break. How she wished she’d paid more attention now.

She took two or three crab-like steps down the uneven slope.

‘Don’t do it!’ Chloe quipped a little breathlessly as she clambered up the final steep grassy brow and collapsed in a dramatic heap at the top. ‘Seriously, Jules, get back up here, that drop is lethal.’

Juliet, feeling out of kilter, dropped her hands to the floor and clambered back up on all fours.

‘I wanted to make sure you were OK,’ Chloe said. ‘We might just make the start of Grange Hill if we get off home now.’

Juliet was still trying to catch her breath, and couldn’t speak.

‘Why aren’t you saying anything? Where’s Corey?’ Chloe looked around, frowning. ‘You haven’t let him wander off on his own to make a den, have you?’

Juliet opened her mouth but still couldn’t summon words that would convey the horror that lay directly behind where she was standing. She lifted her hand towards Chloe.

‘What’s wrong? Why are you…’ Chloe suddenly seemed to register her grey complexion, the look of pure dread on her face. She rushed over to her. ‘Jules, what’s happened? Where’s Corey?’

Juliet pointed to the drop. ‘I must have fallen asleep,’ she whispered. ‘I… I can’t remember anything after getting up here.’

Chloe dashed to her side and peered down the steep drop.

‘Shit! Oh no.’ She sat down and swung herself over the edge. ‘Wait here.’

‘Chloe, no!’ Juliet cried. ‘There’s no sense in you injuring yourself too. We should just get help.’

‘You go and get someone. Hurry up. I’ll be fine.’

But she couldn’t do that. If Chloe ended up hurt too, Juliet would never forgive herself. No, she was better staying put and helping as much as she could.

She watched as Chloe expertly descended the hillside, clinging on to tough clumps of fescue grass and testing protruding rocks and clumps of earth before committing her weight to each step.

She’d always been sportier than Juliet, always had a natural affinity with movement, and her gymnastics kept her supple. If only Juliet had accepted her offer to come up here with them in the first place.

She could hear Chloe grunting and panting with the exertion of the treacherous descent. She felt so useless, so stupid. Her head was clearing now, and it was all becoming horribly real.

Chloe passed easily over the lethal jagged edges of the large slate-coloured rocks that jutted out at regular intervals. Finally she reached the grassy ledge underneath the rock where Corey had come to a natural stop.

‘Is he OK?’ Juliet called down, her voice shrill and desperate. ‘Is he breathing?’

Chloe looked up, her expression blank. Juliet swallowed down the bilious feeling that rose quickly from her chest.

‘Run to the nearest house, Jules,’ Chloe called urgently. ‘Ask them to call an ambulance, and then ring Dad and tell him what’s happened.’





Thirty-Three





The village





Out on the side street, Chloe started Ray’s car, opening the window a touch and checking in her mirror before steering the Toyota out onto the road.

Her armpits were damp and her heart was racing. She’d imagined every possible nightmare scenario over the last month, but soon the waiting would be over. A sort of acceptance of the inevitable had began to settle over her like a layer of thick, cloying dust.