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‘Can you get a signal?’
Kate holds the phone to the gap. ‘No,’ she says. ‘Nothing.’ Ruth remembers that she hadn’t been able to get a signal at Grime’s Graves when she’d visited before. Leo had blamed ley lines.
Kate bangs on the trapdoor. ‘Help!’ She’s sobbing now.
‘Come down, Kate,’ says Ruth. ‘Don’t cry. Someone will rescue us. At the very worst, Jamie will be back tomorrow.’
Or will he, she thinks, if his wife has just given birth? Or was that another of Leo’s lies? She doesn’t voice either of these thoughts to Kate. Instead, she hugs her until she stops crying. Despite everything, she thinks how lovely it is to hold her almost-teenage daughter in her arms. It’s only when Kate’s sobs have turned to sniffs that Ruth hears another sound.
A groan coming from the very centre of the earth.
Zoe is gardening. This is now her daily routine. As soon as she gets in from work, she feeds Derek, then she takes off her scrubs (everyone at the practice wears them now), puts them in the washing machine, has a shower, dresses in old clothes and goes into the garden. There’s something so soothing about earth and air, about seedlings pushing up out of the ground, about mulch and compost, even about the bindweed that always insinuates its way across from Ruth’s garden. There’s now no barrier between the plots, to allow Zoe ease of access, and she crosses the lawn to water Ruth’s hanging baskets. Somehow these never do as well as the ones by Zoe’s own front door. ‘I’m death to plants,’ Ruth said apologetically. ‘Maybe it’s being an archaeologist. I can only dig things up, not grow them.’ Zoe watches the water drip down and wonders where Ruth is. She sent a message earlier, saying that she’d be home late and asking Zoe to feed Flint. Zoe has left food out but there’s been no sign of Ruth’s beloved cat. She’d like Flint to turn up now, meowing and looking hard-done-by. Ruth would never forgive Zoe if something happened to Flint on her watch.
The sound of a car makes Zoe turn, welcoming smile ready. But the car is an unfamiliar one, dark and boxy-looking. The figure who emerges isn’t entirely unknown, though. It’s the girl who’s been to the house twice before, asking for Ruth.
Zoe straightens up. She doesn’t know why but she moves to stand in front of Ruth’s door, barring the way.
‘Hi,’ says the girl. ‘Me again. I’m looking for Ruth.’
‘She’s not here,’ says Zoe.
‘Do you know where she is? It’s just, I keep missing her. . .’
‘She’s working late.’
‘At the university?’
‘No, something to do with the police case, I think.’ Zoe regrets these words as soon as they are out of her mouth. Something about the stranger’s demeanour, or maybe the ‘well-spoken’ voice, has lulled her into indiscretion.
‘Is Kate with her?’
How does this woman know Kate’s name? Zoe clamps her mouth shut, determined not to say any more.
‘When she comes back, can you give her my number? Can you tell her it’s an old friend?’ The woman hands over a post-it note. There’s no name on it, Zoe notices.
Zoe watches as the car drives away. She looks at her watch. Eight o’clock. She hadn’t realised it was so late. The sky is still bright, but it feels rather artificial, like stage lighting. Isn’t today the twenty-first, the longest day? The summer solstice. The date suddenly seems rather sinister. Images rush into Zoe’s mind: stone circles, the Wicker Man, a druid with his arms upraised, a locked room. She is aware of how isolated they are, the three little cottages in the middle of the Saltmarsh. When Flint jumps heavily from the roof and lands in the hollyhocks, Zoe can’t stop herself emitting a tiny scream of fear.
‘What was that?’ asks Kate. Her voice is trembling. She grabs hold of Ruth’s hand and, again, despite everything, Ruth enjoys the contact. It’s been so long since they’ve held hands.
‘Maybe it was something above ground,’ says Ruth. ‘A car. Someone coming to rescue us.’ If she says it enough times, it might come true.
But, seconds later, the sound comes again. The cry of a human in pain. Or an animal. Ruth remembers Jamie saying that a dog’s skeleton was found in one of the shafts. She thinks of the little pile of bones she saw at the foot of the ladder. Is this an animal that has somehow fallen into the mine? If so, they need to help it.
Ruth approaches the nearest opening and gets down on her hands and knees. She projects her phone torch into the void and sees a neatly hewn tunnel that takes several turns, propped up here and there with wooden stakes or antlers. The sound comes again, from deeper into the earth, echoing against the miles of rock.
‘I’m going to see what it is,’ she says. ‘You stay by the ladder.’
‘No,’ says Kate. ‘I’m coming with you.’
Ruth and Kate crawl into the tunnel. Ruth tries to keep one hand on her phone but she’s afraid of dropping it. Eventually she puts it in her mouth, biting down on the rubber case. This makes the light shaky and uneven. Soon she will have to turn it off in order to save the battery. They inch slowly forward, following the sound. Then Ruth turns into a wider space.
And sees a headless torso.
Chapter 31
The shepherd’s pie is excellent. Even George eats some, in between leaping up to check on Bruno or his Lego. Michelle was strict with Laura and Rebecca about their behaviour at the table, but she seems to have given up with George. Nelson doesn’t know how Ruth was with Katie in the early days but now the two of them chat like conference delegates. ‘What did you do today, Mum?’ ‘Well, I had a meeting about Iron Age relics. . .’
‘He’s excited to be home,’ says Michelle, apologetically. Nelson realises that he must be looking disapproving, something that often happens when he’s thinking deeply. It’s a few seconds before he thinks of the implications of ‘home’.
