The Gone and the Forgotten by Clare Whitfield

Author:Clare Whitfield [Whitfield, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838932763
Publisher: Head of Zeus

17

They drove in silence. The steam rose from Archie in the same way it had radiated from her mother that day of the argument with Ruth. They ran into traffic in the village, the traffic being one Metro too slow for Archie’s liking. He was near growling when he overtook and Prue suggested he might struggle with the traffic in Croydon; he finally cracked a smile.

‘I’d probably have an extensive criminal record too for losing my shit and smashing people’s faces into their steering wheels,’ he said. They both laughed, then Prue wondered if it was a casual turn of phrase or an admission of a violent temper. The photograph of him kissing Evie flashed in front of her and she blinked to banish it. There was a comfortable silence now that the tension had been broken and Prue felt privileged to have his attention. This was the Archie who barely took notice of his own wife, who painted scores of girls in compromised positions, took photographs of intimate parts of them and plastered them all over his wall. The one who had loved Evie O’Hara and promised her things, enough for her to adore him, and call him her dandelion boy, and then she disappeared.

If someone murdered a person, was it inevitable they would be tempted to kill again or could they live a mundane and ordinary life? Prue found herself examining Archie’s hands. She had butterflies being so near him but wasn’t sure if it was excitement or fear. Perhaps both. She liked the thrill of being in potential danger. After years of being smothered and being the responsible one, being cavalier was an adventure.

They drove to a wide open patch of bumpy grass near an old unused watermill. Seabirds squawked overhead but there was a distinct absence of other human beings. Archie put the handbrake on and left the engine running.

‘Where are we?’ she asked.

He got out of the car into what seemed like a hurricane. His hair was blowing about as he bent down, attempting to hold his hair back and shouting above the wind.

‘Get out.’

‘What?’ They were in a wide-open big empty space with no one else around. Her stomach lurched and all the hairs on her arms stood to attention. Maybe it wasn’t such a novelty. Surely he wasn’t so angry she’d spoken to Charlie that he was going to do something. It couldn’t be that simple. Ruth would notice. Her mother would notice. People would miss her. Shit.

‘Jesus,’ he said, tapping on the window, ‘stop looking so scared.’

‘Why are we here?’

‘My dad taught me how to drive here. He made driving seem as disorienting as trench warfare and I’m going to recreate that magic for you.’

She exhaled and realised how ridiculous she had been to think he might hurt her; then that was immediately replaced by the fear of driving.

‘But I don’t know how.’

‘I’ll tell you what to do. Get out and sit in the driver’s seat.’

‘I might crash.’

‘But you might not,’ he winked.

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