Chapter 2

Lily and Nathan were huddled in the back with coats over them, not that it was cold as the night had been muggy but it had offered them some comfort, it had been a long time since they had done that, but the night called for it, fear can make you do strange things like cuddling up close to your little brother or big sister, it made them both seem safer against whatever gremlins were lurking in the woods, because during the night they both had thought there would be some gremlins or other kinds of monsters that would come and devour them whilst they slept, they had both fallen asleep not long after the rain and the winds stopped, finally giving in to exhaustion, the fear finally subsiding and everyone realising that they weren’t in fact going to be swept away and swallowed up by a river, no that was never going to happen, it was only the woods they had to worry about.

Eileen had eventually fallen asleep in the passenger seat and was soon preceded by her usual snoring, which in a strange way, though her snoring annoyed him, it now gave Peter comfort, she had made sure the children were asleep or at least dozing before she tried to sleep herself, she could see that the awful journey and the fact that they were stranded had taken it out of them quite a bit, Lily tried not to show it, but the fear was etched on Nathan’s face, Peter himself tossed and turned unable to get really comfortable, not really knowing how he had been daft enough to allow himself and his family get in that situation, but he was now thankful that his family were now safe as he imagined the car and its occupants being swept away by the rain, he was the only one awake at the moment after a restless night, and in a way he was glad of that, he knew his family would be asking questions, which at that moment he had no real answers, his own carelessness had confused him and he shivered at the thought of what the cost could have been, he could just see the break of dawn coming and knew in 30 minutes or so, it would be light enough to see and get the hell out of the woods, still not comprehending how they actually got stuck in the woods in the first place, he was really thankful the rain had stopped when it did, for at one time he thought they were in deep trouble.

Peter looked in the back seats, the kids were asleep and the noises coming from Eileen confirmed she was, and at that moment he felt the luckiest man in the world, with the best wife and kids anyone could wish for but there was still a knot in his stomach from what he had put them through, he would never forget his own fear, he was proud of his family for dealing with it the way they had, it was then he swore he would never put them in that position again, he wound down the window a little, feeling the warm but fresh air hit his face, it had a dampness in it and it smelt of the woods, he lit up a cigarette and inhaled and exhaled deeply ‘what a night’ he thought’ as he did so, he took out his phone, tried to get the weather app on, but his phone was telling him he had no signal. ‘I bet you don’t get much of anything out here’ he told himself, swearing he would never visit Wales again, thinking the fathers who claim the land can keep it, he threw his cigarette stub out the window just as a beam of sunshine tried to break through the trees that made him jump a little, now with the skies looking brighter than they had been for the last 24 hours, he licked his lips,’ just one more cigarette’ he thought, ‘then I’ll wake them up.

He was feeling better, he just hoped they could put this behind them and enjoy their holiday, he would make it up to them, make it special somehow he vowed to himself.

‘Wakey, wakey, it’s holiday time’ Peter shouted after his third cigarette, feeling in a much better mood as he could see the shades of blue mixing with the orange in the sky, he was tired but raring to go, he thought he would have an hours sleep when they got there as Eileen and the kids explored the park, surely they wouldn’t begrudge him that, he clapped his hands in a dramatic gesture, he had a big grin on his face, they were going on holiday.

Eileen was just coming around but Peter calling them made her jump, the two kids in the back also jumped, Nathan thinking for one moment he had woken up in the caravan until he saw his surroundings, he shivered a bit but was glad he wasn’t devoured in the night by some demonic monster, Peter began to laugh.

‘Bloody hell dad’ Lily shouted ‘you frightened the shit out of me’ she realised she was cuddled up to Nathan and quickly freed herself from him, brushing him away as if he was an insect,

Eileen turned around and gave her a stare, meaning to cut out the language. Lily stretched her arms.

‘I gotta get out and stretch my legs, we got anything to drink ‘she asked,

‘Where are we’ asked Nathan as he peered through the windows, all he could see was trees, he sounded as if last night was a distant memory and both Eileen and Peter were glad of that.

‘Were in the woods’ said Peter accentuating the word ‘woods’ immediately wishing he hadn’t as he didn’t want to scare the kids more than they already were, ‘there’s drinks in the boot I’ll get them’ he opened his front car door, there was a spring in his step as if they had just survived the night from hell, and the truth was Peter thought that’s exactly what they have done, if the rain hadn’t stopped he dared to think what would have happened, the others got out wanting to stretch their legs after being cooped up for sixteen hours or more, all the events of the night before seemingly forgotten, well just for the moment.

‘My bums gone all numb’ commented Lily as she done a weird dance that made everyone laugh, flinging her hands in the air as if she was swatting flies, the air was fresh, the sun was trying to peep over the trees, the skies an orange and blue colour, it looked beautiful as they looked above them,

‘Going to be a nice day’ said Eileen as her sandals squelched in the mud.

They got a four pack of fruit shoot’s out of the boot along with a pack of cereal bars that Eileen was thankful she brought, both Lily and Nathan moaning at the meagre rations, they walked to the front of the car and leaned on its bonnet whilst eating and drinking, Lily screwing her face up at every bite, Nathan picking small bits off his cereal bar, Eileen thought of her and Peter’s camping trips when they were courting, they would often camp in the woods in a two man tent that would get soaked through even at the mention of the rain, but then it was their sanctuary and she smiled as the warm memories came over her.

‘I’ll have a fag, reverse out of this mess, then we can stop off somewhere and have a coffee’ said Peter, sounding more determined than he ever been, this lifted everyone and the holiday mood was once again with them and soon they would be in the caravan all laughing at this, Peter was thinking of Bodmin Jail.

‘And breakfast, I need bacon’ said Lily,

‘And breakfast’ laughed Peter,

‘With lots of brown sauce’ added Nathan licking his lips, Lily high fived him.

Eileen had got the map out of the compartment and studied it,

’ there’s a service station a couple miles away in Magor I think, we just need to get back on that road that led us up here, I would kill for a coffee’

‘I’ll reverse us down’ Peter said, ‘we’ve only come about a mile this way, shouldn’t be too difficult, at least I’ll be able to see where I’m bloody going this time’ he looked at the trees in front of him and the narrow track leading through ‘Under fucking wood’ he thought, you can stick your Underwood’

Lily went back into the boot to get a magazine when she found out she still had no signal on her phone, ‘how could people live without Facebook’ she thought, she would need something to occupy her in the car, even if it was to blank out the noises of Nathans silly game, daylight seemed to have got amongst them quickly and it did indeed look as if it was going to be a nice day as the sun shone through the trees, she could feel the heat of the sun as she found the magazine she wanted and turned to get into the car.