I looked around for somewhere to hide, was about to head for the space between two thick pines, but Frankie was still running towards the cabin.
‘What are you doing?’ I yelled.
She vanished into a cloud of smoke.
Buddy and Darlene emerged from the path, and Ryan and I turned to face them.
Buddy took off his mask and let it fall by his feet. He looked in awe at the burning cabin, then pointed the gun, a revolver, at me using both hands.
‘Killing us won’t help you,’ I called over the noise of the fire. ‘They’ll know you did this. Know you killed your dad.’
‘I don’t care,’ he replied.
Beside him, Darlene had also removed her mask, though she still held it. She had the knife gripped in her other fist. The same knife, I guessed, that had killed Greg and Carl.
‘I knew you were assholes the first time we met you,’ Ryan said.
Buddy pointed the gun at Ryan and said, ‘You’re the asshole.’
‘You’re a pair of freaks,’ said Ryan.
Buddy took a step closer, still gripping the revolver with both hands.
‘They’re not going to close down Hollow Falls,’ I said.
‘We don’t care about that either,’ said Darlene.
‘Then what’s the point of all this?’ I asked.
Darlene shrugged. ‘We were tired of being told what to do.’
‘We were bored,’ said Buddy.
Flames danced in his eyes, and his sister’s.
‘Where’s Frankie?’ Darlene said.
And Frankie replied, from behind me, ‘I’m here.’
I turned to look.
Frankie was standing in front of the cabin, a silhouette against the blaze. She had her legs apart, back straight. She held the bow that had been on the porch, where the flames hadn’t yet reached, the string pulled back with her right hand, an arrow pointed straight at Buddy.
I saw what I had to do.
I threw myself to the ground, yelling Buddy’s name as I fell. Instinctively, he followed my voice, kept the gun trained on me. Too late, he realised what was about to happen. He tried to shift his aim towards Frankie, but the revolver was too heavy and he was too slow.
Frankie let the arrow fly.
If she had missed, he would have shot her. For a long time afterwards, I replayed this scene in dreams, in nightmares where the arrow sailed over Buddy’s head. In these dreams, Buddy would grin, aim at her and squeeze the trigger. My daughter would fall, and then he would turn the gun on me.
But Frankie didn’t miss.
The arrow struck Buddy in the chest. He went down like a dropped brick. The gun fell with him. I snatched it up.
Darlene froze for a second, then ran. Before Frankie or I could take aim at her, she vanished into the trees.
I collapsed back on to the earth, all my strength gone. Before I blacked out I heard two things. The whup-whup of helicopter blades overhead, and Ryan saying of Buddy, ‘He’s dead.’
Chapter 49
Saturday
David and Connie came to see me when I was packing up the car.
‘How are the lungs?’ David asked.
‘Getting better,’ I replied. ‘The doctors said there shouldn’t be any lasting damage, but I shouldn’t try running a marathon any time soon.’
He grinned and slapped me on the back. Ever since I’d left the hospital – where they’d checked me over and kept me in overnight – and returned to Hollow Falls, the Butlers had acted like I was some kind of hero. I didn’t feel like a hero. If I hadn’t trusted Nikki, Frankie and Ryan probably wouldn’t have ended up in that basement. My daughter wouldn’t have had to kill someone. Nikki might still be alive too.
I was going to have a lot of shit to deal with over the coming months.
‘Have you seen Frankie?’ I asked, as I lifted the suitcase into the back of the rental.
‘She and Ryan are saying goodbye,’ Connie replied.
‘They’ve already arranged for Frankie to come stay with us next summer,’ David said. ‘And you’re welcome too. Any time, Tom. Our home is your home.’
‘We don’t live near any woods,’ Connie added.
I closed the boot of the car. ‘I guess you’re going to get a great podcast episode out of this.’
They both shifted uncomfortably. ‘We don’t want anyone to think we’re exploiting what happened to our son,’ said Connie.
‘But we think our listeners deserve to know the truth.’
‘The world needs to know the truth. Everett Miller was innocent. I think we owe it to him to spread the word.’