The Red Judge (15 page)

‘This can't go on,' I said. ‘
We
can't go on. You've got to head back home. Go back to Pawl. I know that you can find him. I never should have brought you. You're
better off without me. Off with you – go, go,
go
!'

I waved my arms like windmills, trying to shoo Harri and Mari away. But instead of seizing their chances, they stood in front of me refusing to budge. I tried again, shouting in a loud, rough voice that I'd had enough of them and trying to push them away. But they continued to look up at me.

In the end, there was no choice but for us to carry on. We sheltered for a while behind a hedge, then started off again. The journey was no easier – the snow still fell, the cold was still cold and the wind still blew mercilessly. But everything felt different. If the whole world turned its back on me, I knew I'd still have Harri and Mari. At least I wouldn't be alone.

It was a good feeling. But feelings don't fill stomachs and, all too soon, mine was rumbling miserably. The previous night's burgers felt as if they'd happened years ago. We passed a riverside pub called The Hope & Anchor, and I remember thinking that there was precious little hope on our journey any more, and absolutely nothing to anchor us.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of hungriness and confusion. Daylight seeped away – not that there had ever been much of it, anyway. We passed beneath an old stone bridge, and started down a valley in the shadow of yet another ruined castle. The riverbank closed in on either side of us. Trees hung over the frozen water, and I noticed berries hanging from them. Bright red berries standing out against a tangle of dark branches – and I don't know what got into me, but suddenly I found myself picking them.

If not the worst mistake of my whole life, it wasn't far off. I did it out of desperation, I suppose, because I
had no food and it was cold and dark. And, once I'd started eating, I couldn't stop. I stuffed them all down – hard little berries and softer ones, bitter ones and a few that were mercifully tasteless. Some I chewed and some I swallowed whole.

It was madness, of course. I mean, they didn't even satisfy my hunger. But I kept on stuffing them down, telling myself that of course they weren't poisonous, and the countryside was full of food for free if only people had the guts to eat the stuff. Finally, when I could take no more, I washed the last berries down with a handful of snow. And who can say which did most harm in the end? Perhaps the softer ones were as poisonous as the hard ones.

Certainly it didn't take me long to find out. By now the journey had drawn us into a deep gorge with densely wooded cliffs on either side. The river looped around these cliffs, turning first one way and then the other, and I began to get queasy feelings, as if I was on a fairground ride.

At first I blamed the dogs for pulling the sled roughly, making it swing from side to side. The alternative – that the berries were to blame – was too terrible to contemplate. But then my stomach started churning in a truly alarming fashion, and I knew that I was in serious trouble. Sweat broke out all over me and the churning turned into waves of violent stomach cramps. Nausea washed over me, and I knew it was all down to the berries.

‘
No
,' I said. ‘I'm imagining it. I've got to pull myself together. There's nothing wrong with me.'

But the words were scarcely out before I found myself hanging over the side of the sled, watching the
contents of my stomach shooting out all over the ice. I had never been so sick in my life. Harri and Mari stopped and looked at me, plainly unsure what to do. My stomach cramps got worse and I crawled off across the ice to relieve myself. This was a cruel and lengthy business, best left undescribed, if not forgotten. After it was over, I lay where I was and wanted to die. The world was going round in circles, and wouldn't stop. I was shaking with the cold, and with fear as well. I'd had stomach upsets before, but never anything like this!

Somehow, I struggled back to the sled and we started off again. It was a nightmare journey, which seemed to have no end. The gorge closed in on either side with huge, forbidding cliffs hanging over me. I clung to the sides of the sled and wondered how long I could possibly survive.

A village came into view, snow-bound and silent. I saw lights on a cliff top, a pub with a car park, a riverside hotel and a row of ferries trapped in the ice. Then, all too quickly, the village was gone again, replaced by a dark stretch of river where there wasn't a hint of light. Trees lined empty ridges, pointing skywards in rows like quivers full of arrows. Mist clung to the trees, and it felt like a place of ghosts. A place of slaughter, terrible and silent. I couldn't get away from it quickly enough.

Perhaps Harri and Mari felt the same, because they suddenly started running. I don't know where they got their energy from, but they tore down the gorge as if the hounds of hell were after them. I swung from side to side of the sled, unable to control them. Could anything be worse than this? I thought.

My stomach lurched again, and I broke out in another sweat. Something was wrong with me – and it wasn't just the berries. Breathing in, I felt a ring of iron tighten round my chest and, breathing out, I dissolved into coughs. Not only that, but my throat and ears had started burning and my limbs throbbed. My body felt as weak and helpless as a newborn baby's. Sweat began to pour off me, and it was obvious that I had caught a fever.

The sled passed underneath a wooden footbridge and made its way round another great loop in the river. The black cliffs fell behind me and new ones loomed ahead, covered in trees with huge white rocks sticking out of them like a row of skulls. I moved towards them, feeling like a mariner in uncharted waters. My whole body was aching fit to burst.

Suddenly the moon came out from behind a cloud. It lit the gorge, chasing away the darkness. The river shone as if made of silver, and the white rocks shone as if somebody had switched on a light. I counted them as I passed underneath. Numbered each of them, and they came to seven.

And, when I saw the girls beneath them, skating on the ice, there were seven of them too.

The skaters shone like silver in the moonlight, dancing in circles and all holding hands. At first they looked like elves caught up in magic rituals but, as the sled moved towards them, I saw coats, jackets, bags and boots thrown all over the riverbank as if they weren't fairy folk after all, but a modern sisterhood complete with all its fashion accessories.

I also saw a big camp fire and the remains of a fryup which spilled out of silver-foil packages and billy-cans. Sausages. Bacon. Fried bread. Baked beans. Even baked potatoes. Harri and Mari headed towards them but, as soon as I was close enough to catch a whiff, my stomach heaved and I was sick.

This stopped the girls in their tracks. They turned and stared at us and one of them, taller and older-looking than the rest, broke ranks and skated over. She was dressed in white, her hair bobbed behind her in a golden ponytail and everything about her shone. She could have been a silver screen goddess caught by paparazzi cameras instead of just some girl lit by the full moon.

‘Are you all right?' she said. ‘What are you doing out here on the ice? Don't you have anyone to look after you?'

I stared at her weakly, unable to speak. The girl took my hand, then felt my forehead. ‘You're burning up,' she said. ‘You've got a raging temperature. I don't know what you think you're doing, but you must be mad. On a night like this, you should be home in bed!'

This was hardly calculated to make me feel better but, strangely, it did. The girl called the others over, and they got me off the sled and half-dragged, half-carried me to the fire. The first girl was definitely the one in charge. I listened to her telling the other what to do as if she was their bossy eldest sister.

‘That's right,' she said. ‘Have you got him? Look out, his boots are slipping off! They're not tied properly. Bring him this way – yes, that's it! Be careful, you two at the back – don't drop him! Yes, that's right, gently, gently, down here by the fire …'

I smelt it before I even got to it – smelt its warm, sweet savour and felt safe. The girls lay me down beside it, with a pillow of scarves under my head and their coats piled over me. Some of them went back to unharness Harri and Mari. They brought them to the fire too, and I remember dimly thinking that they deserved all the fuss and attention that they were getting.

Then I must have dropped off to sleep because, the next thing I knew, Harri and Mari were forgotten and the girls were round me again. In the moonlight, every single one of them looked like a silver screen goddess. I could scarcely believe that they were real.

‘You're in good hands,' the first girl said, touching
my cheek as if to prove how real she was. ‘Everything's all right. Don't you worry. You're safe with us.'

I didn't doubt that I was. But
safe
was one thing and
better
was another, and one minute I was freezing and the next I was sweating. I couldn't stop coughing, couldn't stop being sick, and the seven girls clustered round me might be goddesses but they certainly weren't doctors!

Not that that seemed to bother them. With quiet efficiency, they set to work. The first girl stayed to hold me upright while I was sick, and lay me down again afterwards, while the others hurried about, building up the fire and collecting ice off the river. I'd no idea what they were up to, but they filled a billycan, put it on the fire and waited for the ice to melt. Then, when it was boiling hard, they took it off the fire and stuck it in the snow to cool down.

Finally, when it was cool enough, they brought it to the first girl, who sat me up and put it in my hands. I looked into the billy-can and saw a scummy mess of river water with bits of leaves and twigs and goodness knows what else floating on its surface. It wasn't very appetising, to put it mildly.

‘I know it may seem crazy,' the first girl said. ‘But we know what we're doing. Honestly. Trust us.'

I did, too. Trust them, I mean. Goodness knows why, but when the billy-can was put to my lips, I decided to take the risk. Its contents might look like the most unlikely medicine I'd ever seen, but I took a sip – and the drink tasted fine. Surprisingly fine. In fact, it actually tasted a bit like wine!

I took another sip, thinking that it tasted even more
like wine – and a decent wine as well. Then my head started spinning and I went back for a third sip. And then I took a fourth, and my head began to spin even more.

All too quickly the billy-can emptied. The girls looked down at me, their faces wreathed in smiles. I started feeling sleepy and they blurred in and out of vision. The first girl said something to me, but her voice seemed to come from far away.

She lay me down again, and covered me with coats and the tarpaulin off the sled. By now I could scarcely keep my eyes open. The girls seemed miles away, and years away as well, fading from the present as if the past was taking them and leaving me behind.

I closed my eyes. ‘
Now go to sleep
,' I heard the first girl whispering. ‘
Let the river work its magic
.'

In the morning, I woke up cured. I knew it even before I opened my eyes. Knew that I was strong again, and restored in every way. I didn't feel weak after being so sick. I wasn't coughing any more and wasn't in a sweat. The band of iron had gone from round my chest, and I didn't ache any more.

Instead I felt ready for the new day. I got up. The camp fire had burned out and the coats had gone, along with every other trace of the seven sisters. But the blankets off the sled had been tucked tightly round my body, with the tarpaulin laid over them to keep me dry. Harri and Mari got up too. They shook themselves and we set off again. They were restored as well, their eyes bright and their heads up as they pulled the sled downriver.

It was a wonderful morning. I sat on the high bench seat, convinced that this would be the day when we
finally made it to the sea. I looked for it round every twist and turn in the gorge and I even sang, if I remember rightly. I couldn't see a snow cloud anywhere, and the air actually had a bit of warmth to it for a change. My mind ran on ahead of me to the river estuary where, as if my faith in the impossible had been restored, I could picture my seafaring father waiting for me.

The dogs strained forward, as if they had dreams of their own. Poor Harri and Mari – I can see them still, the sun above them and their feet flying down the icy river. They had no idea what lay ahead, and neither did I.

We came bursting out of the gorge, glad to be alive, to find that every branch on every tree was hung with diamond drops of water caught by the sun. They sparkled in the soft air, and I should have added two and two together and recognised a thaw when I saw one.

Before I could do anything, however, a sudden cracking sound had me jumping out of my skin. It sounded like a gun going off – a shooter in a wood, or something like that. Harri and Mari flinched, but I'm certain they would have carried on if there hadn't been a second crack, even louder than the first, and closer too.

They reared up in confusion, and I struggled to calm them down. But then we heard a third crack, even closer still, and they spun round on the ice and I lost control. For a moment I was almost tipped out of the sled, then it righted itself and Harri and Mari went bolting back the way we'd come, dragging me behind them, clinging to the sled to stay onboard.

There was nothing I could do to stop them. The gorge's shadows fell across us, and we bumped and lurched, twisted and turned our way past everything I'd thought we'd said goodbye to. Finally we found ourselves back in the dark place again, where the ridges of trees looked like quivers full of arrows.

The place I'd thought of as a place of slaughter.

I'll never forget it. Ahead of us, I could see the village with the hotel and the ice-locked ferries. But, before we could reach it, another shot rang out. It sounded right behind us this time, and I spun round to find a black snake racing up the ice towards us.