something had gone wrong after she had left, and she prayed that Carly and Denise were all right, that they were safe.
Niall gripped her hand firmly as they made their way to the front of the building, where his pickup was parked, and went into the wood opposite. It was not large, but it was densely packed with trees, and very dark. The path through the trees was cut so narrowly it was necessary to walk single file; Niall insisted Katie went ahead of him so that his eyes were on her at all times. He wasn’t prepared to take any chances.
Once they were moving along the path at a steady pace, Katie called out, ‘Carly! Denise? It’s me, Katie! Are you in here?’
Niall pitched his voice even louder. ‘Denise? Carly? Where are you?’
There was no response.
The two of them kept to the path, waving their flashlights from side to side, peering about in the dim light. Suddenly, Katie stopped and held up her hand. She said quietly, over her shoulder, ‘Did you hear that, Niall?’
‘What?’
‘A rustling sound just ahead of us.’
‘No, I didn’t. It was probably an animal. A deer.’
Katie’s breath caught in her throat, and she held herself absolutely still as she remembered the dark flash caught on the periphery of her vision earlier that day. Near the rhododendron bushes on the hillside when she was going home. I shouldn’t have left them alone in the barn, I should have made them leave with me. But they often stay late, that’s nothing new. As long as they were at the barn they had each other for company, instead of being at home alone.
Had there been someone lurking near the rhododendron bushes? She swallowed hard. Her mouth went dry and she wondered if the intruder had been there on the hill this afternoon. If that was so, she had passed very close to him. Or them. She shivered.
‘I can hear something now,’ Niall muttered, leaning closer, putting his hand on her shoulder.
To Katie, the disturbance, whatever it was, seemed much louder, clearer, and it sounded as though somebody was plunging through the undergrowth, charging forward, and in the process rustling leaves and breaking branches. If it was an animal it was a large one.
‘Who’s there?’ Niall shouted.
‘Carly, Denise, it’s me! And Niall,’ Katie yelled through hands cupped around her mouth.
No one responded but the noise instantly stopped.
There were no sounds at all, only silence.
The two of them did not move for a moment or two. They stood waiting, listening, straining their ears. Nothing moved, not a leaf stirred. The wood was wrapped in total stillness.
Katie took a deep breath – and a step forward.
Niall followed her, even more disturbed. But not wishing to alarm Katie further, he murmured reassuringly, ‘It was a deer, honey. Or a stag. Yes, a stag, that’s more like it, and that’s all it was, Katie. An animal.’ Though he spoke confidently, he wasn’t sure he believed his own words.
Katie certainly didn’t; she had other ideas altogether. Taking several more deep breaths, steadying herself, she stepped out purposefully.
Katie saw Carly first. She was waving her flashlight from side to side when the cold, white beam of light fell across Carly’s body. Her friend was in a small clearing to one side of the path, near a clump of bushes. She was stretched out on her back and lay very still.
‘It’s Carly,’ Katie called and ran forward, driven by anxiety, shining the light on her friend’s face. Instantly she recoiled in horror. Carly’s face was covered in so much blood her features were barely visible.
Katie screamed, called Niall’s name, and remained rooted to the spot, unable to move.
When Niall reached her she grabbed hold of him and shouted in a very loud, unnatural voice, ‘Carly’s covered in blood. Oh, God! Oh, God! She can’t be dead! Can she? Who’s done this terrible thing to her?’ Katie leaned against her brother and the uncontrollable shaking began. She could barely stand up, thought her legs would buckle, and she pushed her face against his shoulder, wanting to block out Carly’s bloody face.
Niall levelled his own flashlight on Carly, and he instantly looked away, as sickened and horrified as Katie.
After a moment, he said quietly, ‘I want to look at Carly more closely. Can you stand on your own, Katie? Let me take you over there, you can rest against the tree. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ Katie answered through her sobbing.
Niall had to move his sister almost bodily, but once he had her leaning against a tree he hurried across the clearing to Carly. The stench of blood assailed him, and he averted his face, gulped air, and somehow managed to hold onto his composure. At last he bent over her, and realized that the blood was coming from her head, oozing out from her hairline, running down over her forehead and cheeks. It suddenly occurred to him there was very little damage, if any, to her face. She had obviously been hit on the head a number of times. Her eyes were closed, but now he noticed a faint pulse in her neck, and she was breathing, if only shallowly. She was alive, he was almost positive of that. Niall fumbled for her wrist. A faint pulse confirmed that she wasn’t dead.
Straightening, Niall stepped back onto the path. Looking across at Katie, who was still clinging to the tree, he said, ‘Carly’s alive. I’m going to see if Denise is anywhere nearby.’
‘Thank God.’ Katie began to sob again, but this time it was with relief.
Within the space of several seconds Niall found Denise. She was about fifty feet away, and she too lay on her back on a patch of dry grass, off to one side of the path.
‘Denise,’ he murmured, kneeling down next to her, shining his flashlight on her face. He drew back at once, and his throat constricted, tears leaping into his eyes. A trembling took hold of him, and he knew even without taking her pulse that she was no longer alive. Those soft velvet brown eyes which he knew so well were wide and staring, and empty of life. Death was on her.
An involuntary sob bubbled in his throat, and he stood up swiftly, filled with sudden overwhelming grief. The tears ran down his cheeks unchecked and he wiped them away roughly with the back of his hand. When he looked at Denise again he saw for the first time that her skirt was pulled up to her waist and her tights were ripped. Niall snapped his eyes shut and pressed his hand to his mouth, filled with fury. Denise had been raped. Bastard. Son of a bitch, he muttered under his breath and he began to sob. Who had done this vile, unspeakable thing to her? Who had raped and killed her? Lovely, innocent Denise. Only seventeen. A whole life to live snuffed out. Just like that. Bastard.
Niall wanted to pull her skirt down, cover her with his jacket, give her a little respect and dignity in death. But he knew better than to do that. Trying to take control of his swimming senses, Niall walked back down the path on trembling legs, wondering how to break the news to Katie.
Quietly, holding his emotions in check, Niall said, ‘Denise…she’s gone, Katie, she’s been…killed.’ His face was contorted by pain and a terrible anger filled his voice.
A wracking sob broke free from Katie and
