Secrets, Deals and Lies

Chapter 10 - "They've Found Him"

I walk home by myself again and as I look back I see a quick glance of Daniel and I think he saw me too. My heart skips a beat, in fear. He looked younger and less scary without the uniform on and he looked nicer without it too.

I bolted back to the house and saw Mrs Cornwall; tears streaming down her face, talking to Jack. His eyes were worried and troubled but his face was neutral, he saw me and said something to his Mum before giving her a kiss and hug then walking outside towards me, half pulling and half bringing me to the back of the fence.

‘What was all that about?’ I ask worriedly.

‘Don’t worry you wouldn’t understand,’ he says looking around us as if there were people behind the towering trees, ready to jump out at us by any time.

‘Jack? What is it?’ I ask starting to feel uneasy.

He looks at me with a mix of feelings inside him, there was so many he could barely think and I could easily see it in his face. His brow furrows and his fist clench, ‘They’ve found him,’ he finally mumbles out face losing colour in just one second before collapsing to his knees and weeping heavily.

‘Jack, what do you mean?’ I ask trying to keep my voice steady as a lump in my throat formed from the sight of Jack breaking down.

He never told me much about his life from the past, never mentioned anything about his father and he had a break down right in front of me, weeping and sobbing like a little kid crying their self to sleep.

‘They found him.’ He says, over and over again as if I completely knew what his talking about. ‘Who’s him?’ I ask over the top of his wails. ‘Jack, please, what are you talking about? Help me understand.’

When he finally settles down and stops crying, he sits up straight and hugs me rubbing my hair with his gentle cold hands and digging his face into my neck. As he did this I thought how much it truly hurt me to see him like this, tears pricked my eyes and did my best to blink them away. I had to be strong for him.

He holds me out so our eyes meet and I could feel tears start to prickle the sides of my eyes again so look up and blink them back.

‘My dad…’ he says slowly, ‘he went out at night about eight or so months ago. He was a bit drunk that night and said he was going to the other side of the island – going to confront them and tell ‘em to “go to hell” or something. I told him not to because everyone knows what happens when you go there. But he just wouldn’t listen to me and said I’d understand when I get older. I was the only one who knew where he was going but I never said anything the next day.’ He says holding my gaze sadly.

‘He never came home,’ Jack whispers. ‘Mum said the police found him in the woods on top of a tree. Shot dead for who knows how long.’  

I could feel my heart turn into rock sinking into the pit of my stomach and only then did I realise that the poor man that died was the blithering idiot – the first person I’ve ever met that wasn’t a man in black.

‘Jack. I am so sorry,’ I say tears now rolling down my face.

We sit there at the back of his house near the dark forest but this time it was Jack that was holding me and instead I was the one crying. I felt so bad and regretted I never tried to do anything.

Why didn’t I say something? Why didn’t I tell Daniel to leave him alone and let him go back to the other side? Why! I screamed at myself. I could have prevented it instead I said nothing and did nothing.

‘Jack, I am so sorry.’ I told him over and over. I knew he had no idea why I was saying sorry so much and crying his tears, but he said nothing and sat there holding me calmly for my comfort, possibly for his too, rubbing my back to soothe me in return.