‘Yes!’ Oliver sits beside her and lies in her lap. ‘The one about how I was born!’
‘Yes. That’s a good one. Ok. Once upon a time, there was a woman who wanted a baby so much, it filled her every moment and thought. She wanted a little boy with green eyes …’
Oliver listens, eyes closing. Riley puts her arms around him, holding him steady at her side so that his sleep is deep and undisturbed. The east turns pink and pale blue. Riley waits until there’s good light, enough to walk easily by, then she wakes Oliver gently.
‘It’s time.’
‘Ok.’ He rubs his eyes and yawns.
‘This is the last thing.’ Riley takes the compass from her pocket and presses it into his hand. ‘Forget all of this. I mean it. Everything. Tell them you’ve lost your memory. Don’t ever think about this place, or me ever again. Forget Nowhere, forget the name Riley and especially the name Oliver. Become new. You can have a wonderful life and be happy. I know it.’
‘Riley,’ Oliver whispers, ‘what are you doing?’
‘I had my chance,’ she says. ‘It’s done now. Too many people have died. I’m going back and you’re going on without me.’
They were still just within hearing when it began, so Riley caught the sound as she and Oliver walked through the woods towards Nowhere House – the screams from the stables. She knows they’re all dead.
She accepts it, now, that death follows her. Not her own it seems but that of others. Riley spreads death wherever she goes but she won’t let it touch her brother.
She shows Oliver the compass. ‘You follow this. When it points here, you go this way, ok? Follow this part, to the left of the arrow. You’ll get to the main trail. Find a grownup. A good one. There are good ones. You’ll be able to tell.’
‘No.’ Oliver’s face twists. ‘I won’t go! You’re not allowed to leave me alone!’
‘It’s the only thing I can do.’ She holds him one last time as he beats at her with his fists.
‘You come!’ he screams. ‘You and me together, like always …’
‘I’m a murderer, Oliver. Do you know what that means?’
He nods, swallowing. ‘Yes. The lion man. Cousin. And—’ his voice catches, wet. ‘All of them in the stables.’ He claws at her, grasping fistfuls of her hair, hanks of her clothing. ‘I don’t care, Riley,’ he whispers.
Riley strokes his head. ‘But someone has to look after them.’
‘Who?’ he asks. ‘There’s no one left.’
‘The children. They don’t have anyone else.’
‘They DIED,’ Oliver shouts. ‘Ineed you!’ The hurt in his small face is so strong that Riley staggers.
‘I’m no good in the real world,’ Riley says. ‘I’m hardly a person anymore. I can make a difference here.’
‘You’ve gone weird, Riley. Please, no. Please.’
‘Oliver Olive.’ She reaches gently to the nape of his neck and unfastens his bone necklace. She ties it around her own throat. It hangs so heavy that she can hardly breathe. ‘You need a real life. It’s over, you and me.’
‘It’s supposed to be just you and me,’ he whispers. ‘Like you always say. Just you and me.’
‘Time to go.’ If he doesn’t, right now, she might change her mind.
‘I don’t love you anymore, Riley,’ Oliver says. ‘I don’t love you at all.’ He waits for her to take it all back.
She shakes her head. Tears spill hot down her cheeks.
‘I hate you,’ Oliver says quietly. ‘For real.’
‘I know.’ Riley turns him about and gives him a gentle push to the north-west.
Oliver stumbles then rights himself. He walks away, back hard, head hanging low. Riley watches until he’s out of sight, his slight figure lost among the trees. She can almost hear it, the sound of her heart cracking in two. She turns and goes back down into the earth, into the dark.
