corners, and used fast food containers piled up beside the only armchair. Food was trodden into the carpet. Beer cans were crushed and thrown into one corner of the kitchen. He lived like an animal. Cole did not want to be here – he felt dirtied just breathing the same air – but he needed more from King. More than just, I told him it wasn’t like the Army said. In one way he was glad that King had spilled the beans at last, but he needed to know which beans and what flavour. It would do Cole no good at all storming blindly into the countryside in search of phantoms he had lost a decade ago.
“Cole . . .” King spat several times and a tooth tumbled from his mouth. “Fuck’s sake, Cole, you knocked my tooth out! I don’t see you for ten years, then you turn up and knock out my tooth? What’s the point of that, eh?” Shaking his head, he stared at the bloodied molar stuck on his thigh, and his whole body shivered.
Cole looked at the pathetic man strapped into the timber kitchen chair, and shame bled into his anger. “Sorry, Nath,” he said. “Really mate, I’m sorry. But more than being sorry, I need to know exactly what you said to the old guy about his son. Exactly. Everything. He’s left his house with his wife and I need to know why he’s suddenly gone. I can guess where he’s gone, that’s no problem, because it’s ten years ago this weekend. But Nath . . . I don’t want to go down there blind and deaf, mate. I need to know how much you told him. I need to know everything he knows. And I’ll hit you again if you continue to piss me around.”
King hung his head, blood dripping into his lap. Tears followed, and the big man sucked back a sob. “Cole, it just came out,” he said. “Steven Roberts was his son – remember Steve? – and the guy looked so sad, you know? So desperate for the truth. I thought it might help him to know. And I told him where to look.”
“The grave?” Cole went cold. We left her chained up, wanting her to suffer, wanting her to be alive down there forever . . . “I’ll meet you again,” she had said . . . “Holy shit, Nath.”
“I didn’t tell him anything about—”
Cole hit him again, and there was real anger behind this one. “You twat! Why the hell would you do something like that? Does he know? Does he know about her ?”
King shook his head, blood and saliva swaying from his chin. “Of course not,” he said, tired and sad and scared. “You think I’d have told him about them? I don’t even know all about them, or understand what I know. And I don’t want to think about them but I do, every night, I dream and scream and sometimes I think sharing the fear will reduce it, you know? But if you think I told him all that, you’re mad.” do
“I am mad,” Cole said. “Mad that they got away.”
“The ones that got away.” King shook his head. “They’re long, long gone, mate.”
Cole sat on the armchair and stared at King. He had been a good soldier ten years ago, and someone Cole could have trusted with his life. Now he was a fat shit, living like a pig, sitting in the chair and spilling his guts after a couple of punches. He stank. He had no respect for himself any more, and no sense of responsibility about the secrets he knew.
“Did you tell him his son isn’t buried there?”
King raised his head and stared at Cole, and Cole thought, Oh shit, he doesn’t know, he really doesn’t know.
“What are you on about?”
“They didn’t all die, Nath. Some of them were taken away.”
King stared over his shoulder at a past he had been trying to forget forever. “Poor bastards.”
“Now you realise why I want to know what you told him.” But the words suddenly felt hollow in Cole’s mouth, because really there was little point in going on. He knew as much as King could reveal – Tom Roberts had gone down to the Plain to look for the grave of his son – and the most important thing he had to do now was to follow Roberts, stop him,
“Cole . . .” King spat several times and a tooth tumbled from his mouth. “Fuck’s sake, Cole, you knocked my tooth out! I don’t see you for ten years, then you turn up and knock out my tooth? What’s the point of that, eh?” Shaking his head, he stared at the bloodied molar stuck on his thigh, and his whole body shivered.
Cole looked at the pathetic man strapped into the timber kitchen chair, and shame bled into his anger. “Sorry, Nath,” he said. “Really mate, I’m sorry. But more than being sorry, I need to know exactly what you said to the old guy about his son. Exactly. Everything. He’s left his house with his wife and I need to know why he’s suddenly gone. I can guess where he’s gone, that’s no problem, because it’s ten years ago this weekend. But Nath . . . I don’t want to go down there blind and deaf, mate. I need to know how much you told him. I need to know everything he knows. And I’ll hit you again if you continue to piss me around.”
King hung his head, blood dripping into his lap. Tears followed, and the big man sucked back a sob. “Cole, it just came out,” he said. “Steven Roberts was his son – remember Steve? – and the guy looked so sad, you know? So desperate for the truth. I thought it might help him to know. And I told him where to look.”
“The grave?” Cole went cold. We left her chained up, wanting her to suffer, wanting her to be alive down there forever . . . “I’ll meet you again,” she had said . . . “Holy shit, Nath.”
“I didn’t tell him anything about—”
Cole hit him again, and there was real anger behind this one. “You twat! Why the hell would you do something like that? Does he know? Does he know about her ?”
King shook his head, blood and saliva swaying from his chin. “Of course not,” he said, tired and sad and scared. “You think I’d have told him about them? I don’t even know all about them, or understand what I know. And I don’t want to think about them but I do, every night, I dream and scream and sometimes I think sharing the fear will reduce it, you know? But if you think I told him all that, you’re mad.” do
“I am mad,” Cole said. “Mad that they got away.”
“The ones that got away.” King shook his head. “They’re long, long gone, mate.”
Cole sat on the armchair and stared at King. He had been a good soldier ten years ago, and someone Cole could have trusted with his life. Now he was a fat shit, living like a pig, sitting in the chair and spilling his guts after a couple of punches. He stank. He had no respect for himself any more, and no sense of responsibility about the secrets he knew.
“Did you tell him his son isn’t buried there?”
King raised his head and stared at Cole, and Cole thought, Oh shit, he doesn’t know, he really doesn’t know.
“What are you on about?”
“They didn’t all die, Nath. Some of them were taken away.”
King stared over his shoulder at a past he had been trying to forget forever. “Poor bastards.”
“Now you realise why I want to know what you told him.” But the words suddenly felt hollow in Cole’s mouth, because really there was little point in going on. He knew as much as King could reveal – Tom Roberts had gone down to the Plain to look for the grave of his son – and the most important thing he had to do now was to follow Roberts, stop him,
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