Tregarthur's Promise

  Table of Contents

  Tregarthur’s Series

  Dedication

  Lost on the Moor

  The Cave

  Food

  Another Day

  The Note

  Confrontation

  A Visitor

  Break-up

  Ryan’s Story

  Expedition

  Tiger Cave

  Crow

  The Hunt

  The Promise

  Trapped

  Burial

  Re-united

  Winter

  Spring

  Into the Blue

  Jack’s note

  Miss Tregarthur

  About the Author

  Also by Cillian Press

  Tregarthur’s Series

  Book 1

  First published in Great Britain in 2013

  by Cillian Press Limited. 83 Ducie Street, Manchester M1 2JQ

  www.cillianpress.co.uk

  Copyright © Alex Mellanby 2013

  The right of Alex Mellanby to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9573155-4-9

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-9573155-5-6

  Cover Design: Billie Jade McNeill / Photography: Niels Mickers

  Published by Cillian Press – Manchester - 2013

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to Pat Read who has safely led so many expeditions across Dartmoor and to the many who have faced the Ten Tors challenge.

  Lost on the Moor - 1

  The Cave - 2

  Food - 3

  Another Day - 4

  The Note - 5

  Confrontation - 6

  A Visitor - 7

  Break-up - 8

  Ryan’s Story - 9

  Expedition - 10

  Tiger Cave - 11

  Crow - 12

  The Hunt-13

  The Promise-14

  Trapped-15

  Burial-16

  Re-united-17

  Winter-18

  Spring-19

  Into the Blue-20

  Miss Tregarthur-21

  Lost on the Moor

  -1-

  One advantage of having a drug dealing family with a reputation for extreme violence is that you get left alone at school. There are disadvantages, several disadvantages, and they had all mixed together into one big mess. That was the reason I was on a bus – a school trip. I needed to get away, a quiet time to think.

  ‘Off!’ A piercing screech crashed into my thoughts. I looked up to see Demelza Honey – the queen of slap and supposed school beauty – march down the aisle and take over the back seat with her followers. There was only just enough space for their overstuffed makeup bags.

  Not far behind, the wiry little rat face of Zach Bishop appeared. ‘Move!’ he shouted and poked someone sitting in the seat he wanted, pulling the boy to the ground and kicking him before slumping down, sticking his feet into the aisle and telling his two slimy hangers-on to sit opposite.

  This trip wasn’t a good idea – whatever it was. Someone had mixed the bad and dangerous with the small and weak, school leavers and some from the junior school. This wasn’t a dream, someone had nightmared this one up. Peace and quiet? No chance.

  ‘Alvin, you came.’ Big Jen – Jenna Karen – squashed into the seat beside me and pointing backwards: ‘What are they doing here?’ But Jenna could see I didn’t have answers. She went on: ‘Things at home just as bad then.’ That wasn’t a question. Jenna knew. Her family were on the same road.

  A teacher got on, she looked wild – eyes that almost popped out of her head when she talked, and dressed in army gear with enough kit for a year long expedition. Wild and a bit familiar. Miss Tregarthur, the trip sheet said. I think she taught at the junior school, but I recognised her from somewhere else. She stared down the row of seats. I was sure I’d seen her around our house, talking to my aunt. That set me worrying.

  I didn’t want to think about home right now so I actually listened to the roll call, the instructions. The teacher told us about the other two mothers who were there to help, they were weird too – they looked like twins with the same hair problems. The three of them sat down and let the mayhem continue. Stuff was flying in the air – boots, coats, and cuddly toys from the smaller kids. The bus moved off.

  Outside we passed woods and fields, quiet and peaceful. Inside Zach was torturing those smaller kids and Demelza was trying new shades of eyeliner on reluctant volunteers.

  The teacher looked asleep. Leave them alone, I thought and made myself look out of the window. A couple of hours passed before we pulled up, piled out, and this Joint Venture school walking trip walked off, with most in a rush to get away from trouble. Some hope.

  We walked.

  ‘Where are we?’ I looked hopefully at Jenna. I could see hills rolling away into the distance, but no houses. It didn’t look like anywhere I wanted to be. ‘It’s a huge nothing.’

  Jenna didn’t answer. She looked as worried as me.

  ‘Dartmoor Park,’ started Miss Tregarthur, swinging into full lecture mode. ‘The largest area of granite ...’

  I switched off. She was going on about wild stuff. It certainly looked wild. Miss Tregarthur led, not looking back. Her two helpers lagged behind.

  At first, wherever we were, looked like it was straight out of a nature film – warm sunlight, a sparkling stream bordering the path, sheep grazing in the distance. Zach pushed most of the younger ones into the water. I stuck to higher ground just in case. I wasn’t looking for a fight, yet. The bus journey had brought back all my other worries. Only a few more weeks until I was sixteen, only a few more weeks before they threw me out.

  We walked some more and then even more. I looked up to the hills. Huge grey stones stood out on their tops.

  ‘Must be the granite,’ Jen muttered. Perhaps she’d been listening more closely to the teacher.

  We stopped to eat; packs had been handed out on the bus. Zach and his groupie pair made lunch painful for many. I lost count of the times Jenna told me: ‘Leave them, it’s not worth it.’ I couldn’t understand why they were annoying me. Sorting them seemed so much easier than sorting my life.

  Off we went again. The path became steeper as we left the stream. It wasn’t easy and the group spread out. Soon we were picking our way over rocks, climbing towards one of the peaks.

  ‘Didn’t know this was a rock climbing trip,’ muttered Jenna.

  ‘Looks worse further up,’ I peered ahead – huge boulders seemed to be closing in around us.

  A breeze started. Weather here changed fast. The wind grew stronger, rolling in the clouds and hiding the sun. I pulled my fleece tighter. Higher up the boulders were as big as houses, looming over the path. The sky became a nasty threatening grey. A few watery drops fell in the wind.

  Miss Tregarthur waved us on. ‘Only a bit of rain. Don’t stop. Nothing unu
sual. But hurry up.’ There was something rather like panic in her voice.

  The rain fell harder, huge paintball size drops splattered on the ground. The air was soon thick with wet cloud.

  No one hurried, just more pushing and shoving. The teacher had no idea how to control this lot. She took another look at the dark clouds. Then her shouting started: ‘Get up that hill! Run.’ And now shrieking: ‘Run! Run! Run!’ but it was too late, even if anyone had taken any notice of her. Rain pelted down and the wind blew her shouts away.

  If rain wasn’t unusual I knew it wasn’t normal when the ground started shaking. Someone screamed, ‘Earthquake!’

  I might never have been on the moor or on a school hiking trip before, but when the huge boulders crashed down the hillside like giant beasts coming out of the gathering mist I knew this was even worse than Zach and the rest of them. Death looked more than likely.

  I ran through blinding rain, but rocks seemed to be everywhere in my way and seconds later I crashed into a cliff wall I was sure hadn’t been there before. I felt my way along the rock face and tripped, tumbling into a gap and sliding down into darkness. Scrambling to my feet I saw I was in a cave stretching in front of me into the hillside. Dark and gloomy but in the distance a faint blue light radiated out of the dark. I could hear sounds of the storm outside. In the cave it was still and quiet, almost as though the earthquake, or whatever it was, didn’t exist.

  I turned, climbed back up, and looked for the others. For a second, the wind cleared the cloud of mist. I saw Miss Tregarthur further up the hill. A giant slab of stone had fallen across her, pinning her to the ground. She struggled frantically, unable to escape, screaming. But she wasn’t screaming for help. A gust of wind carried her strange words: ‘Keep my promise. Keep it. Save him.’ More rocks fell on her. A swirl of cloud curled down the hillside, she started to disappear, then she looked up. Almost as though she was searching me out. Her face twisted in a hideous snarl as she howled: ‘YOU – Alvin Carter – YOU – keep my promise.’ That was the last I saw of her.

  I had no idea what she meant, it made no sense and I didn’t much care. I was thinking about survival. There was nowhere out there to run, nowhere safe. Disappearing into the cave felt safer.

  The cloud cleared again. I saw the others – mud soaked, lashed by the wind and rain – they were trying to get down the hill. But the way seemed blocked as though the stones of the moor had moved to trap them. Torrents of water washed down the path. I looked away. What did I care? Then I heard Jenna’s calls for help. Peering back I shouted, ‘Over here! Over here!’ again and again, and waved my arms.

  Jenna made it but she wasn’t alone. When I saw the others I wished I hadn’t bothered: that spoilt bitch Demelza and ... surely not ... Zach. But they were just part of the group, difficult to tell how many in that chaos.

  We all slid down into the cave, crowding around the entrance, but the driving rain soon pushed us further into the gloom.

  In the next second everything seemed to stop outside. The wind died. All became still and silent. I looked again at the back of the cave and now I could make out a narrow tunnel, the entrance lit by the faint blue haze of light. A damp rotten smell hung in the air. The still quiet wasn’t right. I knew something bad was about to happen. I was good at that sort of prediction, bad things often happened around me.

  A deep rumbling started. It came from way out on the moor, growing louder and louder until a thundering wave of noise rushed towards us. The ground shook and cracked under my feet. Sounds of the earth breaking filled the cave. Demelza screamed the loudest as rocks smashed down over the entrance. We couldn’t stay here and we couldn’t get out.

  I went for the tunnel, yelling: ‘This way.’

  ‘What? In there? No way!’ Jenna yelled back, seeing the dimly lit narrow passage.

  There was no time to argue. Huge rocks fell into the cave entrance, rolling down towards us. Everyone pressed towards me, moving into the tunnel, onwards into air thick with dust and fear. I felt my way forward in the faint blue light. The rest were still pushing against me. There was no way back – the entrance now completely blocked.

  ‘Quick.’ ‘Help.’ ‘Move!’ came the shouts from behind me.

  Voices echoed against the stone walls.

  ‘What about that teacher?’ someone called.

  ‘She’s had it, I think.’

  ‘Shouldn’t we go back for her?’

  ‘Can’t,’ I shouted. ‘And if we hang on we’ll all die. Come on.’

  Nobody went back. The blue light grew stronger, always just ahead of us, as though showing the way. I stood to one side as some of the others pushed past. Then I heard more stones crashing down. The tunnel roof was crumbling behind us.

  ‘Move it!’ I was pushing with the rest.

  One of the younger ones fell to his knees shaking and whimpering. Someone grabbed the fallen figure and pushed him forward. I couldn’t see who had helped but he looked bigger than most of the others.

  Then I heard more shouts: ‘Get out of the way.’ Zach barged through. I thought of tripping him up but in the end I just moved aside, waiting for Jenna. She appeared, pushing, shoving and half-carrying two smaller children. I liked Jen but I never thought of her as a caring sort of person. She tripped over Demelza who had slipped and lay moaning.

  ‘Get up.’ Jenna seized Demelza’s arm, wrenched her to her feet and shoved her hard. Grabbing the two other children again Jenna pushed onwards.

  Another boy kept stopping and looking back as though expecting Miss Tregarthur to reappear. She didn’t. His scream echoed in the tunnel. I turned and saw the boy’s leg pinned underneath a massive lump of fallen stone. If Jenna was helping, maybe I should too. I turned back and tried to lift the rock but I couldn’t do it on my own.

  ‘Help, back here!’ I yelled. ‘Where’s that big bloke? Help.’

  A shape appeared through the dust. Together we heaved. The boy screamed and passed out but we’d moved the rock enough for me to drag him clear. We carried his unconscious body onwards.

  The tunnel ended, the blue light disappeared and in a rush we stumbled out. Daylight was fading. Behind us the rumbling and crashing continued. Everyone was spluttering and coughing, wiping away the dirt from their faces. We lowered the injured boy onto some grass outside the entrance. The rest collapsed on the ground, picking places between the rocks.

  ‘Is he still alive?’ asked Jenna.

  The boy groaned.

  ‘Seems so.’ I turned to see if anyone else had followed us in the tunnel; there was no one.

  The sounds of the earthquake stopped again, leaving an empty silence. Looking around it felt like something from history – an old war picture in black, white and mud. People slumped on the grass, some shivering even though it wasn’t cold. No one talked, no one stirred, nothing happened. We hadn’t moved far from the end of the tunnel. It was too dark to move about safely.

  ‘What do we do?’ Jenna stood and was silhouetted against the last of the light.

  She seemed to be speaking to me – I had no idea.

  ‘I suppose we wait until they find us,’ someone said.

  ‘Don’t think they will,’ a girl’s voice came from back in the tunnel, her voice miserable enough to spark off even more crying.

  ‘Of course they’ll find us, they have rescue teams.’ Another girl sounded just as uncertain and other voices started up.

  ‘What happened to the others?’

  ‘Left behind.’

  ‘Did you see the teacher?’

  ‘I think she got hit by a rock.’

  ‘If they’re all dead then no one will know to come after us.’

  ‘They’re not all dead. Some must have gone back.’

  ‘Why don’t our phones work?’

  All our mobile phones wer
e blank: no signal, no power. Dead no matter how much poking, all dead.

  It started to rain again. I could just see that we were at the top of a slope. Behind me the tunnel came out from a huge cliff. I couldn’t see any way to get out of here. Nothing felt right. At the bottom of the slope it looked as though there might be a forest. I saw shapes moving in the wind. Rustling and scuffling noises came from the trees, but nothing else. There were no lights, no sounds of cars or people.

  The injured boy let out another groan. His leg was still bleeding.

  ‘Let me help.’ One of the girls moved towards him.

  I’d almost felt it was my job to do something, as though leading them all through the tunnel meant I was responsible. I didn’t like that thought and I had no idea what to do. Better that someone else should do it. The girl tried to look at the wound and I heard another painful moan.

  ‘I can’t see. It’s too dark,’ she said to Jenna, who had joined her. ‘I need to tie something over the wound.’

  I knew the girl who’d helped – Mary – everyone called her ‘Nurse Mary’ even before this walk. She’d always talked about becoming a nurse like her mother. Did she know what she was doing with a real emergency? Mary took off her jacket and tied the sleeves tightly across the wound, a strange bandage. The injured boy shrieked with pain but the bleeding seemed to stop.

  ‘Help me move him.’ Mary looked over at me but I turned away. She let out an angry sigh and I felt my face burn. Why me? I’d done my bit, someone else could help.

  The rain fell harder. The tunnel provided the only shelter and we all moved back under cover. Inside the opening it seemed as though there was another cave, much larger by the sounds of our echoing voices, but it was impossible to make out any details.