Page 29 of Echoes on the Wind (Borrowed Time #2)

Late that night, after Nellie had taken her evening tea and gone to bed, Gwyn and I got dressed in silence and made our way out of the house.

Earlier, when we returned from Mair’s, Gwyn had complained of feeling unwell. After a quick look over from Nellie, who could determine no cause, he took himself off to bed, hoping to provide himself cover and an alibi.

I spent the rest of the evening with Nellie, keeping her company while Gethin was out. My own alibi was strengthened when Joseph showed up to see Betty and found me at home.

Nellie had enforced a rule where he could only visit when someone else was there, and he and Betty had to remain in the sitting room at all times. I’m not sure what damage control she thought she was doing, given Betty’s condition was now nearly impossible to hide, but as far as we could tell, they abided by the rules, and his visit was another tick in my favour.

Around 10 pm, I made a show of being tired and headed up to bed. It was a long wait for the house to fall silent, but once we were sure that everyone was asleep, we finally made our move.

Gwyn eased the front door closed, twisting the latch as quietly as possible. We’d also left a window in the back of the house unlatched to allow us to sneak back in again without the noise of the key in the door. As far as I could tell, all bases had been covered.

We avoided the gate and climbed over the fence onto the pavement, then took a right towards the treeline at the end of the street. We needed the cover of the trees, and it was our best chance at getting down to the main road without being seen by anyone who might still be out.

The woods weren’t particularly dense, but it was dark enough that we could pass through them undetected, and despite all the recent rain, the ground remained solid enough to get us from top to bottom without incident.

As we neared the high street, Gwyn stopped in his tracks at the edge of the treeline and held his arm out for me to do the same. Two men walked out of the lane near the butcher’s and turned towards the mine, both quite obviously drunk, and hopefully had no clue that we were watching from the other side of the road.

“Do you think we can pull this off?” he whispered as he watched them walking away.

“I bloody hope so,” I replied. “For all of our sakes.”

Once they were far enough away, he took some slow steps forward, looking around repeatedly to make sure that nobody else was about. If people saw us on the road, they might not think twice about it, but if they spotted us dashing out of the woods, it would look far more suspicious .

“Alright, let’s go,” he whispered, pulling me by the arm.

Breaking out of the tree line, we legged it across the street and down the back lane behind the shops at the edge of town. It didn’t provide us with a lot of cover, but there were no gas lamps along the alley, so even if anyone could see us, they’d have no way of telling who we were.

From there, we ran behind the rows of terraces until we reached the lane behind Mair’s house. We crept in the shadows, counting the gates until we found hers, and with a final look around, we snuck into her yard and through the back door that had been left unlocked for us.

Mair and Zack were sitting on the settee when we arrived, in what might have been the cleanest and most organised room I’d ever stepped foot into. Every surface was gleaming, and nothing was out of place. No boxes lay around, and no tools were scattered over the furniture, but most importantly, there was no sign that there was ever a body lying in the centre of the floor.

“Where is he?” I asked, pointing down to the empty space.

“In the coal shed out the back,” Mair replied matter-of-factly.

“Are you out of your mind?” Gwyn shouted as he rushed through the kitchen to the backyard.

I took a seat in one of the armchairs and looked around at the spotless room. “You’ve been busy.”

“What was I supposed to do?” she replied. “We couldn’t exactly leave him lying there for Iris to play with, could we? We had to move him and we had to clean up.”

“And how do you know you weren’t seen?” Gwyn said as he came back inside.

“He was wrapped up,” Zack said. “You can’t see into the yard from the other houses. The door to the coal shed is right next to the back door. I opened one, then the other, and it boxed us in. Nobody could have seen, I’m certain.”

Gwyn shook his head, not entirely convinced, but there was little he could do now. “Right, we need to get this done.”

“Is everyone clear what to do?” Mair asked, getting nods from the three of us.

At the end of the street was the patch of open land that Lee had designated as a rugby pitch. About fifty metres further was a small forest, and beyond that, down a steep bank, lay the main railway tracks into town. That was where we were headed.

If things went to plan, we would leave the body there so it looked like someone had drunkenly wandered onto the tracks and had a terrible accident with an oncoming coal cart. We’d even doused the body in whiskey to make it more convincing. If we were lucky, then it would never even be found. It was far enough away from town that it shouldn’t be stumbled upon. If it was, however, then we just had to hope that it looked like a tragic accident and nobody would dig any deeper or connect it to us.

“Let’s go then,” I said, and we began to file through the kitchen and out of the back door.

I ran to the gate and leaned out to check there was nobody around, while Zack and Gwyn took Graham from the shed. It was still wrapped up in the pale yellow blanket, though you’d never have been able to tell that it was once that colour. Already stained with blood, it was now covered in coal dust as well, and appeared entirely black in the moonlight.

“Grab that end,” Gwyn whispered, so I propped the gate open with my foot and reached out to grab hold of the wrapped-up body that they were carrying towards me.

I was grateful to feel his boots rather than his head, and I hunched them up tightly under my armpit to balance out his weight. As we shimmied into the lane, Mair grabbed the gate to stop it from slamming behind us, then we rounded the corner and began our journey to the tracks, leaving her behind to look after Iris.

Graham’s body was heavy and floppy, making it extremely difficult to carry, so the walk to the end of the lane was slower than any of us would have liked. When we were about halfway down, a noise up ahead startled me. I instinctively tossed the body aside, ready to bolt, causing Zack and Gwyn to lose their grip and drop him to the floor with a heavy thud.

We all froze, sure we were about to be busted, until a cat rounded the corner, took one look at us, and darted off into the field. For a second, it felt as though my soul had departed my body, and every hair stood on end as the risk of the situation really hit home.

“Keep your shit together, Tom,” Gwyn said, jabbing me in the back. “Get his feet.”

In tossing him aside, the body had rolled free of the blanket, and for the first time since he had his hands around my throat, I could just about make out his face in the moonlight. I didn’t really have any expectations of what he might look like, but I was taken aback by the fact that his eyes were still open, and another cold shiver ran through my body.

“Tom, get his legs,” Gwyn whispered as he threw the blanket over him again, and I reached down, hooking my hands underneath him to try and get a solid grip.

“One… Two… Three!”

We rose to a standing position and rushed to the end of the lane as quickly as we could. Once we reached the last house, I poked my head out to make sure nobody was in the street or on the field, but I could see nothing in the darkness. My only hope was that if anyone was out there, they wouldn’t see us either.

I gave the men the all-clear, and we manoeuvred our way down a slight slope to get onto the field. It was trickier than it looked, and we were all conscious of the fact that we no longer had any cover, so as best as we could with three hundred pounds of dead weight tucked under our arms, we tried to make a run for it.

We carried his body like a battering ram, moving as fast as the uneven field would allow. The darkness made the woods seem blurry in the distance, and the sound of wildlife pierced the night, adding extra creepiness to the situation. As we reached the treeline, it fell silent at our presence, leaving only the sounds of our laboured breaths.

“Put him down, put him down,” Zack panted as we slipped into the trees. “I need a minute.”

He propped himself against a trunk for support, breathing so heavily that it seemed to echo off the trees, and I leaned over, trying to keep myself steady as I got my breath back .

“We’re nearly there,” Gwyn whispered. “We just have to get to the other side of the woods.”

“He’s too heavy,” I complained, wiping sweat from my brow. “It’s doing my back in.”

“It’s not much further. We just have to be careful as we go. Don’t trip over anything, and try not to make too much noise.”

Zack pushed himself upright and leaned on my shoulder, still puffing. “Are we sure that nobody’s seen us?”

Gwyn looked around and shrugged. “I didn’t see anyone. Who would be out here in the dark, anyway? We can’t worry about it now. We need to go.”

The stretch through the woods was the most difficult part of all. The moonlight was hidden behind the canopy of the trees, making it even darker, and all three of us struggled to keep our footing amongst the rocks and roots of the forest floor, while branches whipped at our faces.

When the high-pitched scream of a fox split through the darkness, all three of us jumped and swore, nearly dropping the body again. My pulse was now ringing in my ears, and I was feeling increasingly paranoid about who, or what, was out there.

“I think this is it,” Gwyn said when the trees began to thin out.

I inched forward and looked over the edge of the tall slope we had reached. My eyes took a moment to adjust, but I could see a small glint of moonlight reflecting off the tracks at the bottom. “Yeah, this is it,” I said. “We’re here.”

We put the body down onto the grass, lining it up so that we could roll it down the hill, but as Gwyn put his foot on it, ready to push it down, I reached for his leg to stop him.

“Wait, not yet,” I whispered. “We need to check his pockets.”

“What? Why?” Zack asked. He sounded exhausted, and clearly just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

“Nobody in Bryncoed knows who he is. Let’s keep it that way. If he’s carrying anything that could identify him, it could lead back to us. Without any papers, he’s just another stranger who had a terrible accident.”

We rummaged through his pockets, and I found a small wad of notes, plus a few shillings in loose change, hidden in his jacket. “You should have this,” I said, holding it out to Zack.

He arched back like he didn’t even want to be near it. “No. I already killed the man. I’m not robbing him as well.”

“Zack!” I said in a forced whisper. “It’s your money. He’s been stealing from you for months.”

I could tell he was wrestling with his conscience as he stared at the cash, so I reached out and shoved it into his breast pocket before he had a chance to decline it again.

“Find anything?” I whispered, looking over to Gwyn.

“Some tobacco. A train stub. Nothing else,” he replied.

“There’s something in his back pocket,” Zack announced. “I can’t get to it. You’ll have to roll him. ”

We gripped the body and pushed it forward, careful not to roll it over the edge of the bank, while Zack slipped his hand into Graham’s back pocket.

“It’s a flask,” he said, pulling it free and holding it up to the moonlight for a better look. “It’s got his name inscribed on it.”

“We can’t leave that around for someone to find,” Gwyn said. “Pass it here. Is there anything else?”

“A key. I don’t know what it’s for, though.”

“Take it,” I said. “Take everything. And don’t forget the blanket. We need to burn it.”

Zack wrapped everything up in the blood-soaked blanket, then pulled me up to my feet alongside him. His black hair and beard camouflaged him almost perfectly in the darkness, but his skin had gone so pale with worry that it was almost reflective in the moonlight.

“Let’s get this done,” he said nervously.

We lined up along the length of the body, each putting a foot on it, then with some slight force, it began to roll to the tracks below.

Except it didn’t get there.

About halfway down, it caught on something and came to a motionless stop on the banking.

“Fuck!” Gwyn whispered as loudly as he could without shouting. “One of us will have to go down.”

“And what if we fall onto the tracks?” I asked.

“Well, we can’t just leave him there. The next train that goes through, you’ll have every person in every carriage able to see him. We have to go down.”

“I’ll do it,” Zack spoke up, taking us both by surprise. “This is my mess, anyway. ”

“No, I’ll go,” Gwyn argued. “If anything happens to you, Mair will kill me.”

“And if anything happens to you, she’ll kill me,” I said. “It’ll have to be me.”

“Whoever it is needs to go quickly,” Zack whispered. “This is taking too long.”

I peered nervously towards the body, trying to psych myself up. All I had to do was get down to it and kick it loose, then we could go home and put as much time between us and this mess as possible.

“I can do this,” I whispered, stretching like I was about to do a sprint.

With a nod to the others, I crept sideways down the bank, holding my weight on my back foot to keep me steady. There were some branches I could hold onto, but nothing that would be strong enough to hold me if I fell, so I kept my movements slow and calculated.

“Careful,” Gwyn whispered, but his encouragement felt more like a distraction.

I could see no sign of what the body was stuck on, but the grass was up to my ankles, full of rocks and god knows what else. I didn’t have the time or inclination to investigate, I just hoped that a gentle nudge would be enough to get it moving again.

I leaned back into the slope of the bank and gave the body a kick. My foot connected with the crook of his back, but he didn’t move a single inch.

“Is there a stick or something you can use?” Zack whispered.

I looked around for something nearby that I could use as a wedge, but there was nothing suitable.

“I’ll try again,” I called up, determined to be more forceful this time .

I dug my foot into the muck as hard as I could and leaned back to build momentum. Bracing myself, I kicked down with all of my strength. As soon as my foot connected, the body shifted and began tumbling down the hill, but as soon as it moved, my balance gave out, and I crashed shoulder-first into the ground.

Without thinking, I yelled out, “Shit!” dragging the word out so that it was about eight syllables long, and both men above me dropped to the ground as though I’d alerted the enemy to our whereabouts.

I didn’t even have time to consider the pain in my shoulder as I began to slide to the tracks below.

“I’m falling,” I called out in a shouted whisper.

Gwyn sprung forward, edging down the bank, and tossed the blanket towards me. “Grab this.”

I reached out for it, trying to ignore the wetness coating my hand as my grip wrung blood from the wool.

“Can you get back up?”

“I’m trying,” I called back, panicking.

My feet slid through the grass, searching for something firm to rest on, and once I finally found my footing, Gwyn leaned back and began to pull. He took most of the work out of my climb, but as the slope began to even out, I clawed at the ground, holding on to clumps of grass as I scrambled the final few feet to the top.

I flipped over and sprawled flat on my back, exhausted and filthy, and Gwyn knelt down beside me and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “You didn’t get hurt?”

“Gents, I’m sorry, but we really need to move,” Zack said impatiently .

He tucked his hands under my armpits and pulled me to my feet, and we gave a final glance down at the body. It had come to a stop beside the tracks, face down, and partially obscured by some ferns. It would have to do.

“Let’s go,” Zack said, then he closed his eyes, made the sign of the cross over his chest, and dashed back into the trees.

We grabbed Graham’s belongings and followed closely behind. Without a body weighing us down, crossing the woods was considerably easier, and we were back at the edge of the field within a minute. This is where we’d all planned to split up, and I was going to meet Gwyn again at the top of the hill near home.

“Zack, you better get going,” Gwyn said, as we came to a stop in the shadows.

I handed Zack the blanket with Graham's belongings wrapped up inside. “Take this. Hide it. We’ll burn it tomorrow.”

He doffed his cap, then turned in the direction of home and sprinted across the field. He was out of sight almost instantly, which made me feel better about our chances of being seen.

“I love you,” I whispered, taking hold of Gwyn’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“For not telling you about what was going on with Mair. For getting you dragged into this. Trouble seems to follow me around.”

“You’re not joking,” he replied. “Maybe one day we’ll get a quiet, normal life.”

“So you don’t regret me coming back? ”

“Not even for a single second,” he said, shaking his head at me. “Don’t ever think that. Now come on. We have to go.”

He grabbed my collar and kissed my forehead, then we ran off into the darkness.