The Survivors(85)

Pendlebury tucked her computer tablet under her arm. ‘Now would be good.’

Mia didn’t look happy but she didn’t argue. Kieran passed her the pram and he and Pendlebury stepped around the barrier and made their way alone down the unmarked trail. When Pendlebury hit the sand at the bottom, she stopped, ignoring the birds that had risen into the air almost as one. She took in the gaping voids of the caves, then raised her face and squinted back up the steep cliff face to where they’d been. She took out the tablet again, frowning as she moved her index finger across the screen.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘Now, I want you to bear in mind that Bronte was a twenty-one-year-old girl with a digital camera. So I’m not kidding when I tell you she took a lot of photos. Having said that –’ Pendlebury held the screen so Kieran could see it. ‘Can you identify the locations of any of these images? Take your time.’

Kieran took the tablet and began to flick through Bronte’s photos slowly, unsure what he was about to see. Many of the pictures were cropped so close they were essentially anonymous. Grains of sand, a tight photo of seaweed plastered green and jewel-like against a dark surface. He flipped back and forth, feeling Pendlebury’s eyes on him.

‘Sorry, I’m try–’ Kieran started, then stopped, because all of a sudden he did recognise something.

A craggy surface with sand dusted across the face and crevasses carved deep by the water. A sharp line of contrast where daylight met permanent shade. The mouth of the North Cave, Kieran knew. There was no doubt, none at all, because in that tight-cropped photo, among the crevasses and the sand and the shade, his own name was carved into the rock.

Kieran looked at the casual scars of those letters that he had left years ago, captured now on a dead girl’s camera, and felt a dash of fear.

He was still staring at the picture when Pendlebury reached across and swiped the screen again. A similar shot appeared, but this time it was Ash’s name cutting through the corner of the frame. Another swipe and Ash’s name was visible again. A different carving this time, the angle making it harder to read. Kieran couldn’t tell where that one had been taken.

Pendlebury reached over and even before she swiped, Kieran could already half guess what was coming. Finn, then Finn again. The R–A–N tail end of another Kieran. Toby.

Kieran made himself look up and meet Pendlebury’s eye.

‘These are barely in shot,’ he said. And it was true. He looked down again, this time at the S–E–A of Sean. The image was very tight, with the letters out of focus and distorted by the shadows from a harsh flash. Kieran pointed to a piece of flowering lichen blossoming next to the S.

‘Bronte was clearly taking close-ups of the rock,’ he said. ‘These don’t mean anything.’

‘I didn’t say they meant anything.’ Pendlebury’s face was perfectly neutral. ‘I was asking if you knew where they were located.’

‘Some of them. I suppose.’

‘All right,’ she said. ‘Show me.’

Kieran led her across the sand to the mouth of the North Cave. It was cool and dark in the shadows, and it took a minute for Kieran’s eyes to adjust. He could see Pendlebury blinking as she gazed around.

‘Here.’ He pointed to the wall. ‘These ones you saw yesterday. And there are a few more over here.’

Pendlebury flipped open her tablet and scrutinised the screen, then the rock face. She took a few steps one way, then pulled out her own phone and took a photo. Then a few more steps, and another photo. Kieran watched as she repeated that several times, trying to recreate the angle. She stared at the tablet and shook her head.

‘I don’t think this one is right. The space between the lettering isn’t the same.’ She turned the tablet screen so Kieran could see. He could make out Ash’s name in the corner of the photo.

‘It might not be.’ Kieran shrugged. ‘There are a few around.’

‘Can we find them all? I’d really like to get these locations marked off.’

The cave stretched out before them, deep and meandering. ‘They could be anywhere. I wouldn’t even know where to start.’

‘There was no system to it?’

‘Not really. Originally we did it when we’d mapped a new route.’ Kieran found he didn’t have the energy to defend it. ‘But a lot of the time it was just because we were bored. Not Sean so much, he thought it was a shit thing to do. He did it once because I made him, but me and Ash would do it all the time. And Toby. And Finn, obviously.’

‘Anyone else? Mia?’

Kieran stopped. He felt cold in the shadows. ‘No. Why?’ He glanced up, although the lookout was completely invisible from where he stood. ‘She’s never been down here. Why are you even asking?’

‘What about Gabby Birch?’

‘No.’ Kieran stared at her, confused. ‘What does she have to do with anything? Or Mia?’

‘I’m just asking questions, Kieran. Trying to build a picture.’ Pendlebury paused. ‘How about Olivia?’

Kieran couldn’t tell if she knew, or if she was fishing. He couldn’t tell if it mattered. ‘Yeah, Olivia’s been here.’

Pendlebury was peering into the cave. The birds had settled and Kieran could hear the waves breaking on the shore.