Chapter 39 Miles
Miles
It’s nearly dark, and Miles scans torchlight in all directions as he hurries down the path towards the hide.
The sound of the downpour raises in pitch as he approaches, becoming a harsher din as rain rattles the roof and gushes through gutters and downpipes.
Water drips from his hair and face. He pauses halfway up the steps and aims light into the hide as he creeps towards the door and peers inside.
The yellow orb illuminates a figure sitting on the bench, his torso bent over, face aimed at the floor. Elis.
‘Hey,’ Miles says, doing his best to keep his tone calm, to hide his annoyance at having been dragged out here. The last thing he wanted was to come back to the hide, but he can’t just leave him out in the forest in a storm. ‘I thought I’d find you here.’
Elis turns his head to the side, wearily, but otherwise remains in his hunched position. ‘As opposed to all the other places to find shelter in this forest?’
Miles takes a seat next to him. ‘Look, why don’t you come back to the bus? George has calmed down a bit, now, and if you apologise—’
‘Apologise?’ Elis straightens his back and glares at him. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘You did punch him in the face. Quite hard.’
‘And he deserved it.’
Miles prepares to reply, then he reconsiders.
Elis doesn’t appear to have calmed down at all – he is every bit as het up as when he stormed out of the van an hour ago.
‘Listen, mate,’ Miles says, eventually. ‘What George was saying, all that beg friend stuff. He knows it’s not true, he just likes to stir things up, get a reaction out of people. You shouldn’t rise to it.’
Elis mutters something, but Miles doesn’t hear. The noise of the rain pounding against thin metal has increased, to the point where it sounds like a train is speeding past them.
‘Come on,’ Miles says. ‘Let’s go back.’
‘So, we’ll all just return to being happy campers, shall we?’
‘Why not?’
The question hangs unanswered, and Miles feels his pulse tick a little faster.
Why is everyone getting so dramatic about tiny things?
Falling out over nothing. As someone who has experienced real stress, Miles wants to grab them all by the ears and give them a shake, let them know how bloody lucky they are.
‘Why not?’ Miles repeats, eventually. ‘We’ll be moving on tomorrow, exploring somewhere new. There’s no reason we can’t all get along. Let’s put this behind—’
‘Well, it’s not exactly been a fun trip, so far, has it?’
Miles shakes his head. ‘Tell me about it.’
Elis cackles a little too loudly, and not in a way that suggests he’s found anything amusing.
‘What?’ Miles says.
‘Well, this trip hasn’t been such a drag for you, has it, hanging out with your new girlfriend and your treasured schoolmates.’
Miles’s brow creases. ‘Are you serious? She’s hardly my girlfriend – I’ve only known her a few days. And have you forgotten everything that’s been happening? To me?’
‘Oh, I remember everything. It seems to me like you’re the one with the short memory.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
Elis shoots him a withering look, and Miles breaks eye contact. They both know exactly. The agreement was they’d never speak of it again, but, apparently, that agreement hasn’t lasted very long.
‘It wouldn’t kill you to show a scintilla of gratitude,’ Elis says.
‘I am grateful. What makes you think I’m not?’
Elis scowls. ‘George. Out here, you’ve been acting like the sun shines out of his arse. It’s like I don’t exist. You take his side on everything.’
‘George is one of my oldest friends.’ Miles’s voice is raised to match Elis’s volume. ‘I’ve known him since we were five.’
‘And that’s all that matters, is it? Time? Never mind shared interests, or common goals, or loyalty.’
‘I think you’re being a bit harsh.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. For a start, I have been loyal to you. You were invited on this trip, weren’t you?’
‘I might have been invited, but it’s pretty obvious your loyalty is with George.’
Miles takes a deep breath, giving careful consideration to what he’s about to say.
He doesn’t want to upset Elis, but, at the same time, he can’t allow him to carry on.
‘Elis, mate,’ he says, in the sort of measured but purposeful tone a schoolteacher might use.
‘I’m glad you came on this trip, I really value our friendship .
. . but you need to remember that I’ve known George for pretty much my whole life. We’re almost like brothers.’
Elis stares at the darkening mirror of glass in front of them, his jaw set tight. Then he slowly turns his head to look at Miles, his eyes wide and burning with emotion: surprise, loathing or fury, or some combination of all. ‘You’re unbelievable.’
‘I’m not sure what you want from me. Am I expected to grovel at your feet every five minutes? For the rest of my life? Is that what you want?’
Elis stands. ‘You really are an entitled, spoilt, ungrateful little prick,’ he says slowly.
Miles recoils, stunned by the venom in Elis’s words. ‘Am I?’
‘You are.’
Miles gets to his feet and steps back, putting a few yards between them. ‘Well, if you don’t like me, you’re free to leave any time you like.’
‘Yeah, I am,’ Elis says, as Miles turns and crosses the room towards the exit. ‘And I’m also free to change my statement, any time I like.’
Miles stops in the doorway and turns to face him. ‘Sorry, what?’
‘You heard me. I’m free to change my statement.
And I might do just that. Maybe I’ll go to the police and tell them the truth about the night of Caira’s murder, that you didn’t come to my flat, that we didn’t watch Chinatown together, and that, quite frankly, I haven’t got the foggiest idea what you were up to that night. ’
Miles is dead-still, a statue in the doorway. ‘Now you’re being ridiculous.’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘You are. Why on earth would you do that?’
‘Because it’s the right thing to do.’
‘The right thing to do? You’d be admitting perjury. You’d go to prison.’
‘Maybe I would. But not for as long as you’ll get when they do you for murder.’
‘No.’ Miles shakes his head. ‘That’s not how it works. I’ve been acquitted.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
‘I’m not having this conversation.’
‘I think you’ll find we just had it.’
Miles’s veins are electrified, fizzing with anger.
How dare Elis turn on him like this, after everything he’s been through?
After bringing him on this trip, all expenses paid.
He steps towards Elis, shining the torch in his face so that he squints into the light.
‘You’re deluded,’ Miles says. ‘What you’re saying, it pretty much amounts to blackmail.
What are you thinking, here, that you can hold this over me forever, like some sword of Damocles? ’
‘What were you thinking? That you could just treat me like crap and get away with it?’
Miles opens his mouth and immediately closes it, deciding against the first thing that comes to mind.
He takes two drawn-out breaths. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve upset you.
I genuinely am. But I think it might be best if you make your own way onward once we reach the next town.
And perhaps we should avoid each other in future. ’
Miles turns and leaves the hide, unwilling to continue the conversation. He has no intention of staying for Elis’s response, but hears it anyway as he makes his way down the steps.
‘You’ll do well to avoid me.’