LEITH AND THE LURKING EVIL

“SMILE FOR AUNTIE MUT!”

Flash.

“Just joking,” said Mut to Ant. “We’ve already got your mugshot!” He continued as if she had not waylaid him with her photographic highjinks.

Walking toward the bus with an equal amount of nonchalance was Broody. Today was his turn to, as Dr Grieg had said, resurface; and as if to mark the occasion, we were all to be taken on a field trip, bussed to some exotic location.

Behind the wheel, Mr Jekyll smiled as Broody climbed aboard. “Don’t forget to check your firearms at the door!” chortled Jekyll.

Broody said nothing. Maybe his time in isolation had taught him it wasn’t smart to answer back. Not when you had no power.

But, for one day at least, power-plays and paranoia were forgotten.

Jekyll took us to a place of such picture-postcard beauty, it was hard to believe that we had it all to ourselves. Tourists and day-trippers had not yet discovered it, or if they had, were keeping their distance. We swam in the crystal pool, showered beneath the waterfall, explored the cliff’s caves, and hiked in the forest as the sun beat down from a clear blue sky. It was a wonderful day, a perfect day, my first experience of happiness at Camp Damble. Then again, we weren’t at Camp Damble.

We gorged on a barbecue lunch prepared by Mavis, and the food was as good as the company. Everyone was letting down their guard and having fun. Even Broody, after a couple of hours, was showing some of his old spark, posing in his boardshorts and showing off like Mr Juniorverse.

Only Ray did not get into the spirit of the occasion. He nibbled a chicken wing while poring over his puzzle books. That guy could be a real wet blanket. When Pippa tried to speak to him, he looked up at her vaguely and said through bruised lips: “Up ripe paved axe!”

When Broody approached the rock shelf where Ray was sitting, he was told: “Cone sink bench.”

I was on my way over to help figure out what he was raving about when two girls ran out of the forest, screaming. I didn’t hear exactly what they said, but they were frantically pointing back the way they had come and were talking over each other twenty to the dozen. Jekyll snapped into action, returning from the bus with his famous twelve-gauge and taking off into the shadows of the forest. He might be foolish, but he was also brave.

Mut tried to comfort the two distressed girls (whom Pippa later told me claimed to have been chased by monsters) while Ant took up a sentry position, and then we heard---

BAM!

Followed by a pause. Then two more shots.

When Jekyll reappeared, he nodded tightly to Ant and Mut, who herded us all back onto the bus.

“Creatures,” was all Jekyll would say on the subject.

If these were the same creatures he’d talked about when we were coming here (flesh eaters), I was glad to get inside the safety of the bus, even if it was taking us back to camp.

Mut sat at the back with the two girls who’d raised the alarm. I wondered if her purpose was to give them support or to stop them talking about what they’d seen.

I might not be able to find out any more about the famous creatures (for now) but there was one mystery I was determined to crack - the reason for Ray’s strange behavior. “Up ripe paved axe?” I asked, sitting next to him. Pippa had told me what he’d said.

“Yell mist jerk,” he replied.

“Hey, who are you calling a jerk?”

His smile was sly. “Grog rot dice.”

I shook my head. Had the beating rattled Ray’s brain?

He touched my chest with his forefinger. “Live dux ate her.”

This was too weird. I got up.

Ray grabbed my arm. “You try.”

I sat back down, uneasy but intrigued. “Try what?”

His smile was superior. “Anagrams. You take the letters of a name and rearrange them to make something else - anything else.”

I looked at him.

“Live dux ate her is an anagram of Leith Devereaux.”

I smiled. So it was!

Ray smiled back. “Up ripe paved axe is Pippa Devereaux.”

My smile widened. “Grog rot dice?”

“Doctor Grieg.”

“And that jerk thing?”

“Yell mist jerk - Mister Jekyll. And cone sink bench is Benson Chicken - Broody.”

I laughed. Ray might be strange, but he wasn’t stupid. “Let me try.”

“Bet you can’t come up with anything half as good as live dux ate her.”

“You’re on.”

He won. The best I could come up with was I vs. Ma - an anagram of Mavis. We’d had such a great day, I hadn’t even thought about the events of this morning. In a way, I didn’t want to. It was so much more comfortable being ignorant, feeling safe---but you’re not safe, you’re all in terrible danger!

And as we passed beneath the gateway with CAMP DAMBLE carved in stone, Ray looked up and said: “Damble - anagram of Bedlam - the famous madhouse that no one ever escaped!”

Then I heard the big steel gates clang shut behind us. And Mr Jekyll smiled.

The fence was twice the height of Dr Grieg and topped with a nasty tangle of barbed wire.

We’d arrived back at dusk and the grey wire had been invisible in the half-light. A fence – that had not been there this morning - was there now … just like that. While we were pleasantly distracted, swimming, hiking, having fun (all just a diversion, something to keep us out of the way), Dr Grieg had been tightening his net around us, ensuring that now there really would be no escape.

I slept fitfully that night, but next morning - like a ray of sunlight - Mavis was there. Solid and dependable, she stood behind the mess hall’s breakfast counter. Just the sight of her made me feel better. Maybe she’d done something - maybe she’d told someone.

Was that the reason the fence had been put up - not to keep us in, but to make sure outsiders stayed out?

My blood turned cold. I thought of all the stories I’d heard about cults - cutting themselves off from the outside world ... held in thrall by an egocentric leader ... and when his last shred of sanity gave out, everyone came to a sticky end. Was that how this would end - in a bloodbath, with a body count higher than all the Robocop movies put together?

“Mavis, how did you go - what’s the plan?” I squeezed her hand.

But she didn’t squeeze back. This was not the motherly Mavis I knew.

“And you’d like ...?”

“Mavis?”

She seemed to look right through me. Not at me; not over my shoulder; just an unfocused stare like I wasn’t there.

“What is it?” I asked. “Are they watching?” I let go of her hand.

“We have eggs, bacon, toast, ten different cereals ...”

I glanced around, trying not to be too obvious. No sign of Dr Grieg. Not a counsellor in sight. As far as I could tell, they were not watching.

“ ... or you might prefer fresh fruit and a nice glass of low-fat milk?”

“It’s OK, Mavis, you don’t have to talk - just nod your head if I’m right. Did you tell someone? Call the cops? Talk to the papers? Tweet?”

“New on our menu today is---”

“Stop that! What’s happened? Did they threaten you? Why did they build the fence? Are you still able to go home at night? Are they keeping you here?” From the way she was acting, I thought they’d drugged her. Maybe even given her shock treatment.

“Did you enjoy your day out yesterday? Devil’s Gorge is a lovely spot.”

I looked at her, despairing. One way or another, she’d been gotten to.

“We have many interesting activities at Camp Damble ...”

Camp Bedlam, I thought.

“Smile for Auntie Mut!”

Flash.

I spun around to see Mut snapping Pippa’s picture, then turned back to face Mavis.

“Canoeing can be fun, but perhaps volleyball or table tennis are more to your liking?”

Mavis, my one hope, was a lost cause. Either through fear or manipulation, she was now at the mercy of them. All I could do was pray she would not betray me.

“Mavis, please---”

“Have a lovely Camp Damble day!”

Outside, I walked with my head down, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone (for fear of what my sad, angry expression would give away), determined to get back to Dr Grieg’s office and make that phone call. Last time, I’d snuck out as soon as he and his toadies left. I’d counted myself lucky to get out in one piece and hadn’t felt like sticking around to press my luck. The truth was, I was scared of Dr Grieg. But if he came in this time, I’d knock His Royal Shortness senseless with that funny remote-control on his desk, dial emergency services and tell them to get a squadron of police cars and ambulances over here quick as a---

---WHACK! I’d walked into someone. My ankle turned. Over I went.

A hand reached down to help me up. Whoever it belonged to, I could see she had pretty good legs. When I saw who it was, my eyes widened in excitement and surprise.