The way Buddy and Darlene stood completely still was making Frankie’s blood run cold. They had been exactly the same last night when she’d seen them in the woods, before Nikki had found her. They both held their arms straight down by their sides. She was sure they knew exactly what they were doing, that they understood this stillness made them scarier, more intimidating.
And then, as if they were communicating with their minds, like they had that mythical twin link, they both lifted their arms, and Frankie saw the rocks clutched in their fists, and she grabbed Ryan’s T-shirt and tugged at it. ‘Come on,’ she urged.
Finally, finally, as two rocks came arcing through the air towards them, Ryan turned and the two of them ran.
One of the rocks struck a tree beside Frankie and ricocheted off it, missing her by inches. The other landed somewhere nearby. She glanced over her shoulder. Buddy and Darlene were running too. They both had more rocks in their hands and Frankie experienced a spasm of fear in her gut. The ground was dry and rough and it was difficult to run without tripping. Another rock flew past her, so close it skimmed her ear, and she tried not to think about the damage it would have done if it had hit the back of her head. There was a sob somewhere deep inside her, trying to get out, but she needed all her breath. She increased her speed as another rock whizzed by, and then, beside her, Ryan cried out and went down, flat on his belly.
Frankie skidded to a halt as Ryan tried to scramble to his feet. ‘Did one hit you?’ she demanded and he shook his head. He must have tripped. But as Ryan got into a crouching position, another rock flew towards him, and as he twisted his body to dodge it he fell back on to the dirt.
Buddy and Darlene stopped ten metres from where Frankie stood, Ryan finally getting to his feet beside her.
Buddy pulled back his arm. He was clearly aiming at Ryan and, without thinking about what she was doing, acting on instinct, Frankie stepped between them.
‘Please,’ she said. ‘Stop.’
Buddy froze for a second, his arm still pulled back, then he took a couple of steps to the left so he had a clear shot at Ryan. Again, Frankie moved to cover her friend.
‘We’ll delete the photos,’ she said, her voice high and strange in her ears. ‘We won’t tell anyone we saw you. Whatever you’re doing, we don’t care.’
Ryan had his phone out again and held it up for the other teenagers to see. He seemed a lot more contrite now. Or maybe just scared.
‘Look,’ he said. ‘I’m deleting them. I’ll empty the trash too.’ His phone clicked as he did it. ‘They’re gone.’
He held the screen out so they could see, even though they would have needed incredible eyesight to make anything out from where they stood.
‘We’re going to go now,’ Ryan said. ‘Okay? I’m really sorry about what we said. What I wrote.’
They were both doing that weird standing-still thing again.
Ryan reached out and took Frankie’s hand. He nodded at her, a look that asked if she was okay. She nodded back, even though she was very far from okay, and as they turned to go she heard movement behind them, a scuffing sound, and Frankie’s heart was skittering like Swifty’s when she held him, so fast she feared she was using up a lifetime of heartbeats.
She dared to look back and saw both Buddy and Darlene had raised the rocks they held, and were bracing to throw them. And again like her pet rabbit, she froze, bracing herself. Beside her, Ryan did the same.
‘Hey!’ said a voice from further down the path. ‘Hey, what the hell?’
For a second, Buddy and Darlene didn’t react. She thought they were going to throw the rocks anyway. But then they had one of those weird moments of silent communication and, simultaneously, dropped the rocks and retreated up the path.
‘Are you guys okay?’
Frankie had no strength left. She fell to her knees. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so pleased to see her dad.
Chapter 28
I watched the two masked figures run away up the path. Should I pursue them? No, it was more important to make sure Frankie was okay. She had fallen on to the path, and I knelt beside her and pulled her into a hug.
‘Are you all right?’ I asked.
I felt her nod against my shoulder. Her heart was beating rapidly against my chest. Gradually, it slowed and returned to normal. Ryan sat on the ground close to us, arms wrapped around his knees, looking like someone who’d just got off an unexpectedly terrifying rollercoaster.
‘That was Buddy and Darlene? The masks they were wearing – were they the same ones you saw last night?’