Chapter 49 Miles
Miles
For the first ten minutes of their hike, Miles and Faith barely utter a word to each other.
They’ve been on high alert, and the only sounds are the dawn chorus and the pounding of their boots.
But now the sky is clear, bluish even, and the brightness and visibility have increased so they can see reassuringly deep into the trees.
Miles is confident that, given the time of day, they’re the only ones out here.
Still, he orders himself not to get complacent.
He continues to scan every inch of the forest, searching for even the slightest movement.
‘You should’ve just told her, you know,’ Faith says, breaking the silence.
‘I know.’
‘Jessie likes you. Well, she did. But you lied to her, and it came as a shock.’
Miles puffs his cheeks. ‘I know.’
‘I see your quandary, though. If you’d told her about your history, she wouldn’t have gone near you.’
‘I know I should’ve told her. It was a mistake.’
‘You can say that again.’
Miles doesn’t say it again, and they walk the next hundred yards or so without a word.
Faith keeps a couple of paces between them as she walks.
And as she scans the forest for threats, Miles can’t help but notice she takes regular glances at him, too.
Her vigilance includes keeping Miles under observation.
In her mind, he must also pose a threat.
‘Faith, can I ask you something?’
‘Okay.’
‘Do you believe me?’
She squints at him. ‘About what?’
‘About how . . .’ Miles searches for the right words. It’s an absurd statement to have to make, and he’s tired of having to point it out. ‘I didn’t kill anyone.’
‘You said that last night. About twenty times.’
‘Because it’s true.’
‘Well, it doesn’t make much difference to me. As soon as we’re out of this forest, the chances of you and I running into each other again are pretty damned small, I reckon.’
‘I guess that’s true.’ No one will be in a rush to get together and reminisce about this trip, Miles thinks. The fewer reminders, the better. ‘Where are you going to go?’
Faith takes a swig from a bottle of water. ‘Home. I’m not really in the mood for a holiday anymore.’
‘Same.’
She raises her bottle. In doing so, she closes the gap between them. ‘Here’s to travelling on to home.’
‘Cheers to that.’
They walk on in silence.
Miles hadn’t given any thought to getting home.
And now, the moment he entertains the idea, he realises that home will not bring the same comfort that it will for Faith.
He needs to brace himself for another ordeal.
When the media finds out about this latest development, a new storm will be set in motion.
It’ll be a gift for anyone peddling clickbait articles: another murder, connected to him.
The public will eat it up. He imagines people rage-scrolling; thousands, if not millions, of hateful eyes poring over his image, and minds reaching for their between-the-lines conclusions about what’s happened.
They’ll share their theories, discuss him with loathful tones and furious faces.
At water coolers and bus stops and school gates.
He immediately feels guilty for these selfish thoughts, given what’s happened to Elis. His friend is dead. Murdered in the most awful of ways. But that doesn’t change the dismal fate that awaits Miles.
There needs to be compelling evidence against someone else for Elis’s murder. The police have to find out who did it. If they can’t, there remains the unignorable possibility that they will find a reason to accuse Miles. And then, his nightmare will begin all over again.