Deadly Games Read online

  The images flickered as the two children hid in a recess in the tunnel while a tube train roared by, and then continued to run on beside the lines. “I’ve got to find ’em.” Sid’s words rang in Jenny’s ears. “She’ll always be after them, beyond her own grave.” Who was she? Sid hadn’t replied when David had asked him. Obviously the children were running away from “her”, so who could she be? Mother? Stepmother? Aunt? Teacher? And what had the two children done? The questions battered at the twins’ minds as the images faded and the screen became blank.

  David and Jenny turned uncertainly to the huddled occupants of the Roxy, wondering if any of them would have a clue about Sid’s “mission”. Jenny plunged in first, knowing she would have to choose her words carefully.

  “Does anyone know anything else about Mr Lennox’s background? Are there any relatives?”

  There was a long silence, broken by a bark of laughter. “He’s been a dosser all his natural.”

  “That’s not true,” snapped the woman. “Not true at all. He told me he used to drive a tube train.”

  A chill swept over the twins amid the raucous laughter that followed and they hurried out of the auditorium, forgetting all about Sid’s trolley.

  That night Jenny tossed and turned, unable to sleep, her mind consumed with the mystery. The woman hunting the children down the tunnel, possibly “from beyond her own grave”; the boy and girl perpetually running; Sid as a tube-train driver. It all made a certain amount of sense but there was always a missing element. Had the woman chased the children into the path of Sid’s train? If so, why? Or was Sid a fantasy merchant, as most of the homeless people in the Roxy had implied, and had never driven a train in his life? Who was the woman? Who were the children? Who was Sid?

  The only factor Jenny didn’t question was the flickering images on the Roxy’s screen. The twins’ previous involvement with ghosts had made them aware that they possessed an alarming degree of extra-sensory perception. Then she realised something else – something that was very obvious. Surely, if she and David regularly returned to the Roxy, they would gradually see more and more of the story until all was finally revealed. Jenny wasn’t sure that she wanted everything revealed, wasn’t sure that she wanted to hear the end of the story or even enter the Roxy again. The reality of the rotting old cinema and its homeless occupants was as horribly disturbing as the ghosts of the dead children.

  But Jenny knew that they had no choice. Feeling sick at the thought, she knew she and David would have to return to the Roxy to discover the fate of the children and understand why they themselves had been contacted. For some reason they had seen the images and now they would never be able to shrug off the responsibility; it was an inescapable part of having the sight.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning was Saturday, and after a hurried breakfast Jenny and David decided to go to the hospital and see if they could talk to Sid again.

  “Will we always share the same dreams, the same thoughts?” asked David.

  “I hope so,” said Jenny firmly.

  “And have the sight?” He sounded anxious.

  Jenny almost admitted that she wished they could lose it, but instead she said slowly, “I think we’re stuck with it now.”

  “So we’ll be ghost hunters for the rest of our lives then?”

  “I don’t think we will be when we’re grown-up,” she replied.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just a hunch.”

  Sid had rallied. He was still attached to the drip, but he looked much better and seemed genuinely pleased to see them.

  “You went down the Roxy?” he asked eagerly.

  “Yes,” said Jenny and explained what they had seen.

  Sid nodded impatiently. “That’s where I got to. But it’s where I’ve been a long time. Those pictures – they stick.”

  “Stick?”

  “Don’t move on.” Sid was getting impatient. “Know what I mean?”

  “Do you think the pictures will unstick themselves for us?” asked Jenny.

  “You’re young,” Sid replied. “You’ve got more of a chance. I’ve got to find out what happened to those kids. It’s difficult for me – I haven’t got the sight strong enough. But I reckon you have.”

  “You think the sight is stronger in young people?” Jenny persisted. She had never met anyone before who understood their gift and wanted to find out as much as she could.

  “Yeah,” was the rather vague reply.

  “What do you know about the sight?” demanded David.

  “What do you mean – what do I know?” Immediately Sid was defensive. “You saying I don’t know what I’m on about?”

  “No,” Jenny intervened tactfully. “We were just wondering how long you’ve had it.”

  “Ever since …” Sid paused.

  “Ever since?” she probed.

  “Ever since I saw them kids.”

  “You mean on the screen of the Roxy?”

  “In real life.”

  There was a long silence.

  “Were you a tube-train driver?” Jenny asked gently.

  “How do you know?” he snapped.

  “A woman in the Roxy told us,” said David.

  “Nell? Nosy old –”

  “She was being helpful,” said Jenny. “She cares about you.”

  “Her?”

  “Yes, her. Did you knock the children down?” At last David was out with it and Jenny was grateful for her twin’s directness.

  Instead of firing up, however, Sid simply shook his head. “I never touched them.”

  “Then what happened?” said Jenny persuasively.

  “It’s true I used to be a driver. One evening we was told these two kids were in the tunnel. May and Leslie. Poor mites – nine and ten years old they were. Fair broke my heart. They were running away from a kids’ home, like. I met the superintendent, a Mrs Garland. Right misery she was – and she was always sucking peppermints. Must have been worried about bad breath. No wonder they was on the run.”

  “Were they found?” asked David.

  “That’s the funny thing – they was never found. They disappeared into thin air. The current was switched off and the tunnel searched, but there weren’t no sign of them kids – not anywhere. They had to start the trains again, but the old girl, Mrs Garland, was in a right state. Said she knew they were hiding there somewhere. I saw her rushing through the tunnel, searching for them. They had to stop the trains again. But it was no good – she’d vanished. No trace of her at all. There’s an old repair works two stations down – it was closed even in my day – and later that was searched too. But there was no sign of any of them. Weird. Then it started happening.” Sid went silent, his face paler now and his hands shaking slightly.

  “Don’t get yourself upset,” said David quietly, “or we’ll have to go.”

  “What started happening?” Jenny pressed him.

  “I started seeing ’em – when I was driving, like. I saw ’em running ahead of me. That’s all I saw. Dozens of times. Just ahead of me but never on the line. And I could see through ’em. Like they weren’t really there. In the end I couldn’t take it any longer so I left the job and went back home. I couldn’t get another.”

  “Why not?” asked Jenny.

  “Went to pieces, didn’t I? Had a breakdown. Kept seeing them kids in me mind. Didn’t have any of our own – we couldn’t. Maybe that’s why I kept seeing ’em. Anyway, the wife and I fell out so I left home and went on the road. But I didn’t see May and Les for a long time after that.” He spoke of them with affection and yearning and Jenny’s eyes filled with tears.

  “See?” prompted David. “You saw them again?”

  “A few months ago I got a skip at Hockley, but it weren’t no good so I moved into the closed-up tube station. That brought back a few memories. Then someone told me about the Roxy. It was warmer, more cosy, like. But I hadn’t been there more than a few nights when that old wreck of a scre
en started to flicker. At first it was no more than a shadow. Then I recognised ’em. It was one hell of a shock.”

  “Did you tell anybody?” asked Jenny.

  “Just Nell. As I say, she’s nosy but at least I can trust her. She told me I could have the sight.”

  “Does she have it?” asked David.

  “No, but her auntie had, or so she says.”

  “And then?” Jenny was worried that they were getting sidetracked. “You saw May and Leslie again, running down the side of the tunnel?”

  Sid’s eyes lit up. “Every night I saw them two and they went a bit further down the tunnel each time. Then they got stuck – that was a few weeks ago. They just don’t go any further, but they might with you. You’ve got to find them for me.” Sid looked intently at the twins. “In some way I don’t understand, them kids are relying on me.” He paused. “Maybe it’s because I’ve been searching for them for so long that they know I’m not hostile – not like that old misery Mrs Garland. I reckon they can feel that I love ’em. Who knows – ” His voice quavered. “Who knows, they might love me.”

  To be loved by a pair of ghosts, thought David doubtfully. That would be strange.

  “What do you want us to do?” Jenny was anxious that he shouldn’t become too excited.

  “Keep watching.”

  “You mean, go to the Roxy every day?” Jenny swallowed. Nell was friendly – or seemed to be – but what about the others?

  “Maybe it won’t take long. Just see where they went – where my kids went.”

  “Your kids?” Jenny whispered in alarm.

  “That’s how I see ’em.” His eyes pleaded with her.

  “We’ve forgotten someone,” said David. “We’ve forgotten Mrs Garland. Do you think she murdered May and Leslie and then did a bunk?”

  “I’ve often wondered,” muttered Sid.

  “But why should she?” Jenny wondered. “Didn’t anyone discover what happened to her?”

  “She was evil.” Sid had obviously set Mrs Garland up as an enemy.

  “How do you know?” asked David.

  “I could see it in her eyes.”

  “Wow!” Jenny exclaimed as they left the hospital. It was drizzling and Hockley was veiled by a rain mist, “Did he give us a problem!”

  “I can’t face going into the Roxy every day. It might take years to see where those kids have gone,” said David miserably.

  “We’ve got to try,” Jenny replied, wishing she didn’t feel so afraid. “Sid needs us to help him. He’ll just give up and die unless he feels we’re getting to May and Leslie.”

  “Do you think they love him?” David asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Jenny impatiently. “But we’ve got to find out.”

  “But they’re dead,” muttered David. “They must be.”

  “I’m sure they are,” said Jenny. “If they’re not – well, they won’t be kids, will they? They’ll be as old as Mum and Dad. Maybe even older.”

  “Then what’s the point?” He sounded miserable and rebellious.

  “They’re unhappy.”

  “How do you know?”

  “They can’t rest, can they? And with that Garland woman after them – who wouldn’t be unhappy?”

  “She must be dead too,” said David bleakly. “Maybe they all died together …”

  “I wonder if she murdered them.” Jenny reintroduced the unpleasant thought. Then she felt a strong hand on her shoulder, gripping painfully, the fingers biting into her flesh. Jenny whipped round but there was no one there – only a faint smell of peppermint.

  “What’s up?” snapped David.

  Jenny was staring behind her, trembling, rubbing at her shoulder.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “It felt as if someone – something grabbed my shoulder. And I can smell peppermint.”

  “Must be one of those yobs at the bus stop chewing gum.”

  David stared belligerently ahead.

  “They’re too far away.” She shrugged. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Let’s get down to the Roxy.”

  “Now?”

  “There’s no point putting it off,” Jenny said impatiently.

  David sighed. “OK. We’ll have to say we’ve come to get the trolley again. Doesn’t seem much of an excuse,” he mumbled.

  “Maybe no one’ll be there in the daytime.” Jenny sounded doubtful.

  “We’re going to get to know them all pretty well in the end,” David pointed out gloomily. “So we might as well make a start.”

  They walked on towards the Roxy. Jenny was still feeling shocked and increasingly worried, wary of that grip returning again.

  “You don’t think Mrs Garland is after us, do you? Like from beyond the grave?” asked David suddenly and Jenny felt a sense of relief. She had known that he had only been covering up when he tried to blame the boys at the bus stop.

  “Why didn’t you say that right away?” she grumbled. “You know we can’t keep secrets from each other.”

  “I’m sorry.” David was genuinely penitent. “This whole business gives me the creeps, that’s all. There’s something really scary about it. I was just hoping to fend it off for a bit.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Jenny with feeling. “But I think we should try to get it over with as quickly as possible.”

  Chapter Four

  Jenny had been right. At just after midday, there was no one in the dim confines of the Roxy as she swept the interior with the torch beam. But even so, the twins could still feel a presence – or did the old cinema have a life of its own? The rain was now battering the leaking roof and there was a steady dripping almost like the ticking of a clock. The musty smell of disuse seemed more pervasive than ever, and out of the corner of his eye David saw something scamper through the refuse towards the stage.

  “A rat?” whispered Jenny fearfully.

  “Let’s stand by Sid’s trolley – that always seems to spark off the action.”

  But this time it didn’t and the twins stood there, listening to the dripping and the occasional stirrings and scurryings of the rodent population of the Roxy.

  “Nothing’s going to happen,” said Jenny in despair.

  “Use your willpower,” David suggested tentatively.

  “How?”

  “Say it’s going to happen. Say it’s going to happen in your mind and I’ll do the same. We’ve got to concentrate.”

  Both the twins tried to think as hard and as positively as they could, but the screen remained discouragingly blank. The wind and rain rattled and pounded the roof; there was such a creaking and groaning that the old cinema sounded like a ship under sail in a heavy storm.

  At last the screen reluctantly flickered into life with patchy and scrambled images that at first made no sense at all. Slowly, very slowly, they became sharper but this time there was no sign of May and Leslie. Instead a tall, dark shadow hurried along, lit occasionally by the passing of a tube train. Mrs Garland was handsome, with deep-set eyes, a large nose and a strong, purposeful chin. Her lips were thin and her hair, long and sleek, was caught up in a bun at the back of her neck.

  “Focus your mind,” said David. “Focus it harder.”

  Jenny concentrated, using as much force as she could, and the spectral figure of Mrs Garland paused in her stride and came to a halt. She turned to face them.

  “We’ve reached her,” Jenny stuttered.

  “How could we have done? She’s dead, she’s a ghost! It’s all over.”

  “She’s listening. Hearing the future.” Were they right to have concentrated their wills? she wondered. Where was it going to get them?

  Slowly Mrs Garland’s face began to fill the screen and they could see her bewilderment.

  “We’ve done it now,” muttered David.

  Jenny realised they had employed all the wrong tactics, for David’s idea had unwittingly speeded up the process which should have been allowed to play at its own pace. And what was the point of them se
eing it all? she wondered again. There was no way they could change the past. They couldn’t protect May and Leslie from Mrs Garland. Then an even more unpleasant thought occurred to Jenny.

  “Do you think she can come after us?” whispered David, sharing her thoughts as usual.

  As if on cue, the image of Mrs Garland’s face grew so large that it filled the screen.

  “She looks pretty fierce,” whispered David.

  Mrs Garland’s lips opened but no words came out.

  Then both the twins could feel her speaking in their minds.

  Who are you?

  Friends, they silently replied.

  What do you want?

  To help. Only to help, thought Jenny and David feverishly, desperate to communicate.

  Mrs Garland opened her mouth again, but with a snap, like an elastic band breaking, she abruptly disappeared. Her presence was still there, though, and the twins could feel her suspicion. They could also detect the faint smell of peppermint in the auditorium.

  “Let’s go,” said Jenny.

  “Wait –”

  Something was happening on the screen. Dim shadows again played on its surface and then formed into the two running figures of May and Leslie. But this time there was light at the end of the tunnel.

  “Where are they heading?” muttered Jenny.

  “The old repair works?” David’s voice was hopeful. “Maybe they did hide out there.”

  The patch of light grew larger and for a brief second the twins caught a glimpse of a wilderness of rusting metal and overgrown foliage. Then the screen went blank – and stayed that way.

  “You come to get that trolley again?” asked Nell, her voice penetrating the gloom and giving them a terrible shock.

  “I think we’ll have to leave it here,” said David. “I don’t see the hospital being exactly keen on it.”

  “So you won’t have any more excuses for coming back then.” Nell’s voice had a slight edge to it now. “I saw you both staring at the screen. What’s so special about it?”

  “Nothing,” said Jenny and David in chorus, wishing they didn’t sound so guilty. They didn’t want to confide in Nell. Sid might not like it.