‘Oh well, the dress is already ruined.’ She took another step. ‘The string leads into the ground through here. Come and have a look.’
‘Actually, can we just go? Forget the battery. I don’t like this.’
‘Is the story you told me true, about the girl who died?’
‘Probably not. I think Logan just made it up to scare us. Come on, let’s go. I’ll tell my mum about the phone first, she’ll make an excuse to my dad, maybe tell him I fell over. Let’s just go.’ Katie reached out and tried to grab Tilly’s arm.
‘Wait.’
Their gazes fell onto the heap of earth.
Tilly pulled the string. ‘Nothing.’
‘You know what, Logan knew we were walking, he knew we’d come this way as it is the most common shortcut through the woods from the estate to town. He did this. Him and his friends. He told me that stupid story and set this up, hoping that we’d find it. If we didn’t, he was probably going to make sure we did.’ She turned. ‘Ha, ha, ha. You can come out now, Logan. We know it’s just a trick or treat. Tilly is ready for her treat now.’
Tilly nudged her friend. ‘Stop it.’
After waiting in silence for a moment, no one responded. A bird flapped in the tree above and an owl hooted. Katie gripped Tilly’s hand.
‘He’s not there. If he isn’t there, then who did this? We have to call the police.’ Tilly’s phone fell from her trembling hands and once again the moon’s light had disappeared and the rain began to fall in icy sheets. She reached down and went to press the first nine.
‘Wait.’ Katie placed a hand over the phone, her face looking ghostly as the screen lit up her features, casting a stretch of light on the spidery branches behind her. The bell clanked against the tree and they flinched. ‘If we call the police, we’ll have to wait here for ages and we’ll miss the party. I’ve looked forward to this for weeks.’
Tilly’s fair hair began to stick to her forehead and cheeks. ‘What if someone is in there, buried alive, and they need us.’
Katie shrugged. ‘They’d be pulling the bell, obviously. Wait, there’s no clanger in the bell. We wouldn’t hear it ringing. Let’s just go.’
‘Wait.’ Tilly began to pull the string from what looked like a grave. The end slid through the earth. She shone her phone on it. ‘I don’t like the look of that.’ Tilly got onto her knees as rain began to plop in huge droplets and she scraped at the earth. ‘No way.’
‘Tilly, Tilly? Shush. There’s someone there.’ Katie hurried over to Tilly and cowered down beside her as the figure came towards them.
Chapter Five
Gina lay back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. It was either that or uncomfortably look at the three other women that were also sprawled out in the relaxation room, one wearing a thick grey mask that resembled something from a horror film. Whale sounds filled the room and Gina caught the scent of massage oil coming from her own shoulders. The hotel was lovely but the spa side of it seemed like a waste of time.
Her phone lit the darkened room up. ‘Jacob? Everything all right?’ She clasped it between her ears and pulled the cord tighter on the hotel bathrobe. It had to be important if DS Driscoll was calling her during holiday time.
‘Sorry to disturb you, guv. We’ve just had a call and I knew straight away that you’d want in on this. Me and Jennifer were just sitting down to dinner when it came in. Are you okay to talk?’ One of the other women rolled her eyes and another tutted.
‘Give me a second.’ She grabbed her unread book and left the room, squinting as the bright lights from the gymnasium almost blinded her. ‘Okay. Go for it.’
‘There’s been a report of something resembling a grave in the Cleevesford Woods. Two teenagers taking a shortcut to their school Halloween party happened upon a bell hanging in the bushes. They followed a piece of string leading from it and it led them to a heap of freshly dug up earth. Are you in?’
She pulled the towel turban from her hair and dropped it into the communal linen basket before hurrying to her room. ‘No, but I’ve had enough of this place. I was only sticking it out so as not to waste my money. I definitely won’t be booking another spa break.’
‘Where are you,