Michael Dibdin - Dark Specter

Once Andrea had reached the cover of the trees, David and I set off, crawling the whole way. The ground was hard and hostile, full of sharp shoots, jagged branches, bumpy roots and thorny plants, and we had to move on our hands and knees, keeping as low as possible. We were soon covered with cuts and abrasions, but David was a good sport about it. The sight of Andrea’s bloodstained clothing seemed to have impressed him more than anything I could have said.

Once we reached the cover of the trees, the ground became softer, a spongy mass of dead pine needles and velvety moss. We crawled another few yards, and then at last it was safe to stand up. After that, it was downhill through the trees until we found the path running along the coast. The sun had broken out from behind the clouds, flooding the scene with a soft, warm light. The water glinted and bristled, the outlined islands receded like flat cutouts in a theater set. The contrast between that tranquil beauty and what was unfolding just over the hill was almost more disturbing than anything else.

The sight of the ocean gave me an idea. I told David that I had to go and get something, and that he was to stay there with Andrea. He agreed with surprising ease. Andrea herself was harder to convince, but I was adamant. It was our best chance, I told her, and we couldn’t pass it up.

I left them there and set off back along the path. It took me about five minutes to reach the bay where the pier was, and as long again to reconnoiter the area. Once I was sure that it was safe to break cover, I made my way down to the trail. Then I saw the body stretched out on its back, arms outflung, a huge red stain on the shirt. It was Andy.

This was the first evidence of violent death I had seen, and it changed everything. I had somehow convinced myself that Sam’s talk was just that, the ramblings of a bar-room philosopher whose portentous pronouncements get more and more extreme as closing time approaches. But this was real.

I looked down to the pier, searching for the boat which had brought Mark and the others to the island. It was nowhere to be seen. Then I noticed that the whole pier was tilting to one side, and saw the taut mooring ropes leading down into the water. Once on the pier itself, the submerged launch was clearly visible. Either Andy had managed to sink it before he was killed, or Mark had deliberately scuppered it to prevent anyone escaping. Whichever, my plan was in shreds.

When I got back, Andrea was telling David a story. He was calm again, and even seemed mildly annoyed to have the story interrupted. I took Andrea aside and told her about the boat.

“But it’s OK,” I went on. “All we have to do is lie low somewhere until the police arrive.”

Andrea looked at me with surprise.

“The police?”

“Someone’s bound to hear all this shooting and call the cops.”

She shook her head.

“The islands around here are all uninhabited, except for Orcas, and hardly anyone lives on this side. Anyway, no one’s going to think twice about hearing shots. We used to have gun practice every morning until you got here. People figure this is some kind of survivalist group. They think we’re crazy, but Sam pays his taxes and the guns were all bought legally. No one’s going to come after him.”

She looked over her shoulder. David was busy stomping on a line of ants making their way across the path.

“But someone’s going to come after us,” she continued. “That’s what I meant when I said it made no difference.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just listen. The shooting’s almost stopped. Mark’s made his point. Pretty soon now he and Sam will start talking. They’ll work out some deal together.”

“But Andy’s dead!” I exclaimed. “I saw him lying back there by the pier.”

She nodded in a cool, detached way I found terrifying, a peephole into a psychological abyss.

“Andy was the cause of the whole thing,” she said. “Melissa told me the story last night, while I was trying to find out about David. She and one of the guys called Dale were an item for a while, so she was the first to hear. We were all told that Dale had killed himself. But Mark and Rick went to work on Andy the other evening and he confessed that he shot Dale. Sam made him lie to the others. That’s what Mark couldn’t stand, the idea that Sam was deceiving him. But now Andy’s dead, they’ll be able to patch things up.”

I shook my head.

“There’s still a corpse down there by the pier. They can’t talk their way out of that.”

“They’ll bury him in the woods somewhere. No one will ever know.”

“ I know!”

Andrea looked at me.

“They’ll just have to make that grave in the woods a little larger,” she said.

“What you guys talking about?” demanded David.

He had grown bored with destroying ants and drifted back toward us, resentful about being left out.

“Look, a boat’s bound to come by sooner or later,” I told Andrea. “Maybe even a plane. When it does, I’ll fire a few shots at it. That’ll get the cops out here fast enough.”

“It could be days before anybody comes by. This place is very remote.”

I smiled.

“That’s no problem. I know a place we can hide up for a week and no one’ll find us.”

She sighed. Then, getting up on tiptoes, she kissed my cheek.

“They don’t need to find us. The only water on the island is down by the hall.”

“I can sneak down there during the night and get some.”

“And get shot? They may be crazy, Philip, but they’re not stupid.”

“Where’s this place you’re going to show me?” demanded David peevishly.

“We’re going there right now,” I said, taking his hand.

I looked at Andrea.

“How’s your arm?”

“It hurts like hell. But I don’t care. I’m so glad to be here. I’m so glad you’re here.”

I wanted to kiss her, but David’s presence inhibited me.

“It’ll be all right,” I whispered in her ear. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

We walked on along the path, David and I hand in hand, Andrea following close behind. The weather had turned warm and summery, bathing the woods in a benign light that seemed full of the promise of things to come, of growth and change and new life.

Eventually we reached one of the side paths which I had explored the day before. It was overgrown and steep in places, and Andrea especially made slow and painful progress. About halfway up, erosion had caused a gully to open up, almost obliterating the path. Some trees had collapsed into this cleft, coming to rest at an angle over a boulder in a way that formed a natural shelter. Inside, we would be invisible from anyone on the path, but with a good view out over the strait which separated us from the distant islands to the south.

Before we climbed down, Andrea got us foraging for food. Lisa and her friends had apparently been into living off the land and food-for-free, and Andrea still had all the old skills. Before long we had a collection of berries, leaves and nuts which looked extremely unappetizing, but which gave us something to chew on. Then I climbed down to the uppermost tree, and helped the others to scramble down the chute of dry mud. The shelter was home to a family of sea gulls the size of ducks, who squawked and flapped their wings proprietorially as we invaded their domain, but once we got rid of them we were left in peace.

The trees had retained enough of their root system to keep their leaves alive, and it was very beautiful under the canopy of foliage, the light filtering down and the sun warming every surface. Andrea resumed the story she had been telling, but before long David fell asleep. Andrea and I stayed awake a while longer. I asked her about her life, her family, her background and beliefs. She answered haltingly at first, then with increasing confidence, like someone speaking a language she hadn’t used for a long time.