Page 67

Chapter 66

Anna

I wipe away the blood that keeps dripping down my forehead as I hurry in the direction of where Liv saw my brother. I don’t think my wound needs stitches, but it’s flashing hard and hot. And so is my shoulder, from fruitlessly charging the door to the utility room that he locked me inside. I must have been trapped for about twenty minutes before I remembered the toolbox in the cupboard under the sink. Fumbling around in the dark I opened it, hoping to find a screwdriver with the right-sized tip to take apart the lock. Instead, I found a hammer, and a few thwacks later, the handle clattered to the floor. Once free, I washed away the blood streaming down my face with a wet tea towel, and stuck three Band-Aids over my wound while dialling and redialling Margot. Each time my call went to voicemail.

I was still calling her as I dashed out of the house. And that was when I heard her ringtone, the distinctive, bouncy opening sounds of Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’. It was coming from inside the works van Drew had left on the drive. I opened the unlocked door and caught the glimmer of light coming from the central arm rest. The screensaver of a much younger Margot confirmed it definitely belonged to her. Hesitantly, I moved around to the back doors, holding my breath as I opened them.

The van was empty, save for a couple of wooden pallets, some dead leaves and an axe. I was closing the doors when I paused. Why would Drew have branches in the back of his van?

And then I realised what he’d meant when he told me Margot was safe, for at least another forty-five minutes. Because that was when the bonfire was going to be lit.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me through the village until I reached the playing fields. I didn’t have time to make small talk with Liv once she confirmed she’d seen Drew. And now, as I squeeze my way through the crowds, I can just about make out a solitary figure lurking at the back by the tennis courts, with a clear view of the bonfire, and his hand held up to his ear.

‘Where is she?’ I yell as I run towards him. ‘What have you done with Margot?’

He lowers his phone and presses it against his chest.

‘Why do you care?’ he asks, attempting to conceal his surprise at seeing me.

I point to his device. ‘Who are you talking to?’ He doesn’t answer.

I need that phone, but Drew is bigger and stronger than me so there’s nothing for it but to dip into my bag of tricks. I let my gaze shift over his shoulder and widen my eyes.

‘Over here!’ I yell. ‘Help!’

When he wrenches his head around to see who I’m talking to, I slap the bottom of his hand holding the phone and it pops up into the air. I snatch it and race past him with it jammed to my ear.

‘Who’s this?’ I ask, shouting above the airborne explosions.

‘Anna, is that you?’ comes the desperate reply.

I recognise Margot’s voice immediately. She’s crying.

‘Where are you?’

‘In the bonfire.’

‘What?’

‘I’m going to die,’ she sobs. ‘I’m sorry for what I did to you, but please help me.’

Margot knows. She knows who Drew and I are. And I know that, despite everything, I can’t allow her to die like this.

Without thinking, I run hell for leather towards the event’s organisers and the fire marshals in their yellow vests as Drew shouts after me. His voice is becoming distant, so I assume he’s no longer following me. My exposed cheeks feel the rising heat of the flames like those Drew and I were almost burned alive by. I clench my fists to stop the panic from consuming me.

‘Put it out!’ I gasp as I point to the bonfire. ‘Someone is in there.’

‘What?’ one of the men replies.

‘There’s someone trapped inside the bonfire,’ I yell. ‘You have to help them!’

Understandably he looks baffled. ‘You think someone is in the bonfire?’

Now I’m screaming like a madwoman. ‘Listen to me! You have to get them out.’

He glares at me as if I’m insane. But he knows he can’t take the risk of ignoring me. He grabs his two colleagues by the arms and they run towards a hose reel drum and hosepipe attached to the wall of the community centre. Then, in front of a bewildered crowd, they push people to one side and get as close as they can to the flames, and set about dousing them with a thick jet of water.

‘What’s happening?’ someone asks.

‘Margot’s in the bonfire!’ I reply, and I know how ridiculous it sounds as soon as I say it.

Once the blaze is out, one of the marshals continues firing water at the burnt pile to prevent it from reigniting. Word spreads quickly and dozens of people rush towards it. They become soaked by the freezing spray but that doesn’t dissuade them from pulling at the smouldering embers and tossing them to one side.

Please be alive, please be alive , I repeat until they reach the lower portion of the bonfire.

‘I’ve found her!’ a voice shouts just as the crowd parts for the arriving ambulance and paramedics that someone must have called. ‘She’s breathing,’ the voice continues, and I’m flooded with relief, grateful that despite his best efforts, my brother hasn’t killed her.

Time stands still for I don’t know how long, and I can’t see what the paramedics are doing until they lift a body on to a stretcher and carry it towards the waiting ambulance. Margot is barely recognisable. Soot has blackened her face and clothes and she’s coughing and spluttering as oxygen is pumped into a mask they’ve affixed to her face. As she passes me, she opens her eyes. They are stark and white and in contrast to the rest of her shadowy face. Her hand suddenly reaches out, grabs my coat and pulls me towards her with unexpected strength. She won’t let go and I’m forced to join her as she is wheeled across the grass and towards the open rear doors of the ambulance. Then she beckons me closer. Now she’s holding my hand and mutters something. Her voice is so hoarse.

‘I’m sorry, I can’t understand you,’ I say.

She pulls me closer still and pushes up her mask until her blackened lips brush my ear.

And when she speaks, I know that nothing in my life is ever going to be the same again.