The Crowmaster

I hesitated, trying to figure out the meaning behind her words, if there even was one.

Caddie looked just like she’d done four days ago. The smear of lipstick was still a red blur across her lips. Her face was still a rainbow of badly applied eyeshadow and blusher and whatever other names they give to make-up. Beneath it all her skin was still as pale as bone, and her lifeless stare still gave me the willies.

‘Who doesn’t—’

‘Oh, you remembered,’ she said. Her face broke into a wide smile.

Again I paused. ‘Remembered what?’

‘She won’t play any more,’ Caddie said, apparently fighting back tears. ‘We were having so much fun, but then she just wouldn’t play.’

Confusion had taken over from terror now. I had no idea what the girl was talking about, although there was something about her words that seemed familiar.

‘S’not fair,’ she muttered. ‘Every time I find a new friend to play with they get broken.’

Broken. A circuit connected in my brain and I realised why I felt like I’d heard this before. I had heard it before. Caddie was repeating everything she’d said to me in the school canteen – the first time I’d seen her here in the real world. I remembered Mrs Milton, my head teacher, lying on the floor. Sobbing and babbling. And broken.

I ran back over the meeting in my head. If I could remember what she said next then I could prove to myself I was right. What was it she’d said? What had I said? Something about Billy.

‘Not telling,’ she spoke.

Of course, that was it.

‘I told you, silly, I’m not telling,’ I blurted out, as quickly as I could. She started to speak before I was half finished.

‘I told you, silly,’ she giggled. ‘I’m not telling!’

It was as if I was looking at a recording. Every word, every inflection of her voice was exactly like it had been in the school. Any second now she’d ask me if I wanted—

‘Tea?’ she enquired.

And now I thought about it I realised it wasn’t just Caddie. When Mr Mumbles appeared on Christmas Day I’d first seen him in front of the living-room window. He’d stood there, hat pulled down, coat swishing in the breeze, beady eyes boring holes in mine.

He’d looked exactly the same when I saw him again tonight. The same stance in the same position in the same room. It was as if my encounters with both him and Caddie were being somehow replayed or re-enacted.

I detached myself from the corner of the room and cautiously moved towards the bed. Caddie’s eyes followed me, but she made no other movement. She was still talking – telling me I’d get a cake if I was extra good – but I was no longer really listening.

The bedsprings squeaked when I stepped up on top of the mattress. It was impossible to walk around the bed without having to go through Caddie and her doll, but I could go over it and reach the door without having to pass too close to them.

I thudded down on to the other side of the bed. The closed bedroom door was just a few steps away now. My eyes remained locked with Caddie’s as I backed towards it, my hand searching for the handle.

‘Raggy Maggie likes sugar, don’t you, Raggy Maggie?’ was all she said as I slipped out on to the upstairs landing.

The door to Ameena’s room was directly across from mine. It used to be where Nan slept when she lived with us, but – apart from Christmas Day – it had been empty ever since she’d gone into the old folks’ home a few years back.

The door wasn’t fully shut. I nudged it open and took a backwards step inside. My eyes were still on Caddie. I didn’t want to let her out of my sight for a second, in case she pulled a vanishing act like Mr Mumbles had.

I could hear Ameena’s breathing, soft and slow. She was asleep. Not for long.

‘Ameena,’ I hissed into the gloom. ‘Ameena, wake up.’

I heard her gasp quietly. The bed gave a sharp creak as she sat quickly upright. ‘What?’ she said, more loudly than I’d have liked. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Come here, quick.’

‘What is it?’

‘Just come and look!’ I hissed, giving her an imploring look. She muttered faintly beneath her breath as she threw off her covers and came to join me by the door.

She needn’t have bothered. The spot where Caddie had been standing was empty. I cursed myself for glancing away.

‘Gone,’ I said. ‘She’s gone.’

‘Who’s gone?’

‘Caddie.’

‘Yeah, four days ago,’ Ameena said.

I shook my head. ‘No, not four days ago. Now. A second ago.’

I marched across the landing and into my room. Empty. Ameena sauntered in behind me.

‘You were probably just dreaming.’

‘I’m telling you she was here,’ I said, pointing to the foot of my bed. ‘Standing right there.’

Ameena opened my wardrobe door and peeked inside. ‘Not in there,’ she said, closing it again with a click. ‘You sure you weren’t dreaming, kiddo?’

I flopped down into a sitting position on my bed. First Mr Mumbles and then Caddie. What was happening to me?

‘I saw her,’ I said, my voice coming out as a quiet croak. ‘I saw her as clearly as I’m seeing you.’

‘Maybe you just imagined—’

‘No,’ I snapped, ‘she was here.’

‘You didn’t let me finish. I’m not saying she wasn’t here, I’m saying maybe you imagined it.’

I looked up at her and blinked, even more confused than I had been. ‘How do you mean?’

‘Remember in the garage?’ she said. ‘When we fought Mr Mumbles. You told me you thought about a light coming on, and what happened?’

‘A light came on,’ I frowned, ‘but—’

‘And you thought how handy it would be to have a weapon, didn’t you? And then…’

‘I found the axe.’