They go into the dark, leaving the voices and the firelight behind.
Cal and Riley sit on the platform above the lake. The white moon ripples on the surface of the water. Above, the sky is velvet. There are night sounds of frogs, cicadas. Fireflies dance in the woods behind.
‘Does that happen often? People coming to the gate?’ Riley asks.
‘Sometimes. They want to see where he lived. Nowhere House.’
Cal salutes to the east and Riley does too. By the light of the moon, his missing finger makes his hand look claw-like.
‘How did that happen?’ Riley asks.
‘We tried to kill someone,’ Cal says. ‘Me and Danny. We got the same punishment.’
‘Is that why you ran away and came here?’
‘Nope,’ he said, throwing an acorn at the lake below.
From the far side of the lake, in the distance, Riley hears something that could be the squeaking wheeze of a dog toy.
‘It happened here,’ Cal says. ‘At Nowhere.’
‘Who did you try to kill?’ Riley asks. Her heart is beating fast. ‘Who took your finger?’
‘Noon,’ Cal says. ‘Before she became leader I tried to stab her with a knife. Danny and I didn’t realise, yet, that she could make things so much better here.’
‘How—’
‘She did it with a machete on a tree stump. Cauterised it after, then sewed it up.’
‘How do you live with her after she did that to you?’
‘Noon saved our lives,’ Cal says. ‘I’d be dead if it weren’t for her. I’m just glad she has such good aim.’ He hurls another acorn down into the dark lake.
Riley starts. Is something moving under the moonlit water?
‘Scared of heights,’ Cal says, ‘scared of the crocodile …’
Riley wants to say,I’ve killed two people, I’m not scared.She finds these moments of possibility exhausting. Every time she could tell Cal the truth she has to make the choice again not to. It wrenches all the strength from her. Instead Riley says, ‘Those are normal things to be scared of.’
‘You know you can’t ever leave, now,’ Cal says. His arm slips about her waist.
‘No?’
His hand is warm, it strokes gently. ‘No. Those are the rules. Nowhere has you.’
‘Ok,’ Riley murmurs into his mouth. He tastes of liquorice. She imagines Leaf Winham’s shadow looming over them, blacking out the stars and sky, a giant. She imagines his arms wrapped around the valley, holding them all in. She’s a murderer too, she belongs here.
Riley slips into the stall. Oliver is already asleep. She strokes his head gently.
‘I know what the demon is, Riley,’ Oliver whispers, half dreaming.
‘Oliver, there’s no demon here,’ she says. ‘We’re safe.’
‘Hallie told me. The demon is growing up.’
Cold runs up and down her. ‘Oliver, did you tell Hallie about what happened on the trail?’ Riley shakes him awake. ‘About the demon?’
He starts to cry. ‘Don’t be mean,’ Oliver says.
