Alex Barclay - Darkhouse

Joe jerked awake on the sofa and glanced around the empty living room. He checked his watch. It was five to four. He ran to the kitchen, grabbed a banana, two Fuel It energy tablets and a shiny purple bottle of LV8. He peeled the banana against the steering wheel on his way into the village, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he heard a crunch. He decided instead to pop the Fuel It and sip his drink until he felt the familiar buzz kick in. When he got to the school, he parked outside the playground where a crowd had gathered. He saw Shaun standing alone by the wall. He jogged over.

‘You finally made it,’ said Shaun.

‘Sorry. I fell asleep on the couch.’

‘Then you probably forgot all about it.’

‘No I didn’t. Shaun, I apologise. But you’re going to have to stop beating me up about this shit.’ He rubbed his face. ‘Sorry. I’m too sore to talk right now.’

‘Sure you are,’ said Shaun.

Joe was about to say something, when someone gave two short claps and everything went quiet.

‘We’re all here today for Martha Lawson,’ said Frank. ‘And she’d like me to thank you for your support. You may have seen searches like this on the news. Everyone moves in a straight line across their assigned search area. These lines are also made up of members of the gardai, who will be numbered for easy identification. As most of you know, Katie is five feet six, slim, with shoulderlength dark hair. A photo is being passed around the group. She was last seen wearing a pair of wide denim jeans with the brand name Minx, a pair of pink running shoes, a pink hooded sweatshirt with the word cutie written across the front and a white T-shirt. She would possibly have been carrying a pale blue nylon wallet and a silver mobile. During the course of the search, if you think you see any of these items, don’t move. Notify the garda closest to you and they will call out their number, blow a whistle and shout “Find”. If you hear this, stop immediately, whether you yourself have found anything or not. Do not move again until you hear the word, “Forward”. Keep any chat to a minimum, but if you must speak, do it quietly. I don’t need to tell you not to leave anything of yourself behind during the search. So keep sweet wrappers, cigarette butts or any other litter in your pocket until you get to a bin. Thank you.’

Shaun went over to Frank, his eyes pleading. Frank shook his head and put a hand on Shaun’s shoulder.

‘I don’t think that would be a good idea,’ he said. ‘Maybe you should wait at home in case she rings. I bet you’ll be the first one she rings.’

‘I have my cell phone,’ said Shaun.

‘That’s not a huge amount of use to you, with the coverage once we head out of the village,’ said Frank.

‘Go home, son,’ said Joe, coming up beside him.

‘I don’t know what you’re all so worried about,’ said Shaun, his voice rising. ‘What do you think we’re going to find?’

‘Probably nothing at all,’ said Frank.

‘But it’s just best that you’re not around,’ said Joe. Shaun walked away. Frank turned around to talk to D.I. O’Connor.

Joe took the chance to search his pockets for painkillers. He had nothing. He considered his options. He couldn’t walk away in front of all these people. Then he felt someone squeeze his arm. He vaguely recognised one of the elderly women from outside the village. Joe waited for the question. He was more patient than he used to be. The intrusion had amazed him when they first moved.

‘How’s the young lad?’ asked the woman, nodding towards Shaun. Her face looked more accusing than concerned, but he suspected it had set that way years ago. The best he could do was nod through the pain, trying to let her know Shaun was doing OK. She still waited for him to speak.

‘Is there any word on the little girl at all?’ she asked.

He shook his head and murmured a ‘Mm-mm,’ his usual refuge at times like this.

The woman tutted in disgust. He had seen it all before.

‘I’ve said a prayer to St Jude,’ she said as she walked away. He frowned, irritated. He knew St Jude was the patron saint of lost causes.

He turned back to Frank who reached into his pocket and without looking, handed him some ibuprofen. Joe knocked them back with purple fizzy caffeine.

Frank turned and faced his group, which included Joe. ‘Right, we’re taking the central part of the village, from Seascapes, around by the shops, back down to the harbour and up again toward Shore’s Rock.’

About forty people moved into rows and walked slowly up to the holiday homes. In the bright afternoon, the densely packed trees cast black shadows across the drive. Joe was at the edge of the line and almost fell over a little boy crouched behind a sycamore. His eyes widened when he saw Joe.

‘I’m hiding,’ he said in a loud whisper. He put a finger up to his lips and pointed towards his parents who were packing up a station wagon in front of one of the houses.

‘Oh,’ said Joe. ‘But that might really scare your mom and dad. I’m sure they’d be real sad if they couldn’t find you.’ He looked through the trees and noticed a light on in the landing of the last house, the odd glow of a bulb in daylight. There was no car in the drive.

‘I don’t want to go home,’ said the boy sadly.

‘That’s a real pity,’ said Joe. ‘I’m gonna go over and say hi to your mom and dad. Do you wanna come?’

The boy shook his head furiously. Joe told the man next in line to him that he had to check something.

He walked up to the couple. ‘Don’t look now, but your little guy is in the trees right behind me. I’ve been sworn to secrecy.’

The parents looked at each other and rolled their eyes. ‘We’ll kill him.’

‘Have you been here all weekend?’ said Joe.

‘Yup,’ said the woman. ‘But it’s still not long enough for Owen.’

‘You didn’t happen to see anyone in that last house, did you?’ asked Joe, pointing.

‘No. You actually notice the cars coming in and out here. It’s so quiet,’ said the man.

‘Or you’d see the headlights,’ added his wife. ‘We’ve been in every night.’ She nodded towards their son.

‘OK. Just curious,’ said Joe. ‘Safe trip. Good luck getting him into the car.’

Joe rejoined the group for the walk through the village towards Shore’s Rock. Every now and then, the whistle would blow, everyone would stop and a guard would collect whatever had been found. Then the line would move along again in silence until they reached the gate to the lighthouse.

‘It’s getting dark,’ said Frank. ‘And the forest is dark enough as it is, so we’re going to have to postpone the rest of this. Thank you all for taking part.’

Richie’s group had returned earlier and he was at the station when Frank walked in.

‘Did you find anything?’ he asked.

‘Not a thing,’ said Frank. ‘Certainly nothing I think will amount to anything. What about yourself?’

‘No,’ said Richie. ‘Mind you, every scrap of rubbish that has been dropped anywhere along the way was pointed out to me. Sweet wrappers I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. Kitty Tynan spiked a used condom on a stick and waved it in my face. How far did you get?’

‘We stopped at the lighthouse.’

‘I can organise a posse to do the forest tomorrow or whenever.’

‘Check with O’Connor, but that sounds good to me.’

Frank shook his head. ‘Poor Katie will probably be back tonight, laughing at all this, mortified that the whole village was traipsing around looking for her.’

Shaun lay on the sofa in front of the TV, the remote control in his outstretched arm, speeding through the channels over and over.

‘Were you working this weekend?’ said Joe.