3
That night, the snow fell thick and fast, covering everything. More than predicted and still it came. Jacob walked down the road and thought about what Maggie had said about Lyme Park; the park wasn’t far from the old asylum and he hated it up there. What had just happened was another reason never to go. Jacob followed a set of prints from his next-door neighbour’s path and stepped off the kerb onto the fresh snow. There was something satisfying about being the first to tread on it.
He’d heard Maggie’s screams from the house. He didn’t need to look out to know what they were doing. They always made a slide at the top of the road – they’d done the same thing for years. Maggie skidded across the top of the road, arms flapping, before she fell in a heap on the ground. She started laughing as one of the Vincents came next, blond hair even blonder against the white snow.
They made a slide here every year when it snowed. The hill was perfect for it. The Vincents had brought water in an old Coke bottle yesterday and poured it down onto the compacted slide to make it faster. After a few goes, it was ready. Jacob could see the black stones in the tarmac at the bottom of the slide. Black shiny pebbles encased in ice.
Jacob felt a sense of foreboding that day – something unseen that was on the air. As Maggie walked back up the hill to have another go, Matty Vincent walked over to Jacob, open-mouthed as he chewed gum. His hair was newly washed and he looked immaculate, as always. He always managed to look tanned, unlike his pale-skinned twin brother. They were both blond, but Billy’s hair was flat and greasy whereas Matty’s shone. Matty was cleverer and better looking too. Matty Vincent was just fucking perfect.
‘Her Jayne didn’t come home last night.’ Matty nodded at Maggie.
‘How do you mean?’ asked Jacob.
‘Maggie’s cousin. Have you seen her?’
‘Why would I?’
‘Just asking. For Maggie,’ Matty said, with a glance over at her. He had the palest blue eyes that were flecked with emerald-green.
Jacob frowned. He didn’t like the idea of Matty Vincent doing anything ‘for Maggie’ and he didn’t like the Vincents knowing things about her that he didn’t. He’d seen the way he looked her over too, as though she was just like all the other girls he took out.
Matty seemed distracted. He usually had a story to tell, but today he was quiet. As the ice glinted, Jacob thought of him skidding into the road and cracking his head open on it. He’d rather see that than watch the pair of them fall in love, right in front of him.
‘It’s proper fast, come on, Jacob!’ Maggie shouted, before she went again.
‘Careful, Maggie,’ Matty said. She smiled back at him, as though she appreciated the comment. If Jacob had said it, he knew that she’d have dismissed it. She wasn’t dressed for the cold. She had leggings on and a jumper, no coat as though it was spring, not winter. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold and the running. She didn’t need fancy clothes to be beautiful. She was louder than ever, screaming at the top of her voice and skidding on the ice. There was something wild about her that day, something untamed and free. She was like a force of nature.
Jacob smiled and tried to look like he was enjoying it as she flew past him, hair over her face and arms flailing, before she landed on her backside on the pavement. Matty laughed and shook his head.
‘Like a baby giraffe!’ Matty shouted over to her.
‘Piss off.’
‘All legs and no balance.’ He smirked.
Maggie grinned back and stuck up two fingers. His smile did something to her and Jacob hated it. He didn’t get it. All Matty cared about was football and chatting up girls; he was dull, nothing special.
Maggie winced as she got up, but Matty was looking out over the lane. It wasn’t like him not to give her his full attention.
‘I think I just broke my arse,’ she said.
Jacob waited for Matty to say something crude back, but he didn’t. He was distracted. Usually he’d have been over to her, making sure she was alright; Jacob felt like he should do it instead, but didn’t know what to do.
‘Your turn.’ She nodded. There was a mad look on her face, as though she was ready to do anything.
‘You won’t do it, will you?’ she said, and looked Jacob up and down. She pursed her lips together, daring him. There was something both cruel and charming about the way she did it and he wondered if she knew how beautiful she was. He wished he could be the one to tell her. She wasn’t the sort of girl to tell things like that to, not unless you wanted a kick in the bollocks. He imagined her ending up with someone older than him, someone clever and interesting. He couldn’t help hoping though. Hope was always teasing him into thinking he stood a chance.
In the cold afternoon air, he watched her breath hang over the pavement as she panted. He stared at her lips and wondered if he’d ever pluck up the courage to ask for a kiss.
Her brow furrowed with annoyance.
‘You having a go or what?’
‘What?’ he replied.
‘You’re a boring bastard sometimes, Jacob Clarke,’ she said.
Matty’s brother, Billy, didn’t need any more encouragement than that. He sprinted past to the top of the ice and came down the hill, teeth bared, faster than Maggie. The sun had dropped and it was colder still. The feeling that he’d had earlier came back to Jacob. Something bad was going to happen. Billy was always going one better than everyone else, he was wild in a way that unnerved Jacob. He’d do anything. Nothing fazed him and Jacob always wondered if he’d go too far one day. All you had to do was dare him to do something and he would.
When the red Cortina turned the corner towards them, he heard Maggie inhale. The front of the car had a stripe of yellow tape on the bonnet and they all knew that it was Maggie’s mum. Jacob stared at Maggie’s face. Maggie knew first. Before the car reached them, she was stood by the kerb, frown wrinkling her brow, pulling on her brunette curls, her face white.
‘Shit.’
To see her standing by the side of the road like that made everyone stop what they were doing. Her mum was in the driver’s seat and they all knew it was serious. It was the way that Maggie was standing there, panting and still, just staring at the car until it got to them. Maggie’s mum leant over and flipped up the lock on the passenger door and Maggie got in without a word.
Matty walked over to the car.
‘Can I help with anything, Mrs Miller?’ he asked.
Maggie’s mum shook her head. ‘Thanks though, Matty,’ she said, before Maggie shut the door. Jacob had known her for years, but Matty acted like he had too. Jacob didn’t even say hello. He felt ashamed, because he couldn’t help but notice the way Maggie’s mum was almost as beautiful as she was. The way that her purple ribbed jumper was fitted tight and her lips were painted with a gloss that made them shine like ripe cherries.
As they drove off, Maggie turned to face the driver’s side, but her mum was focused on the road. When Maggie’s mum said something, Jacob couldn’t tell what it was, but he found out soon enough. Everyone would.
That was the day that Maggie’s cousin Jayne was found murdered. She was three years older than they were – nineteen and almost as beautiful as Maggie. She had the same wild hair and pale skin. The newspaper called her ‘promising’ and Jacob wondered what they meant. He decided that it meant she hadn’t done anything yet, but they didn’t want to say so. Maggie’s cousin was one of them. They didn’t know her well, but she’d been to the same primary school, she’d walked their streets, lived a similar life. One of their own had been taken.