Ruby forced her eyes open and a cry caught in her throat. The cold, dark cave had been replaced by a hospital bed.
Her beautiful mother slept in an armchair to her side, her bottom lip inflating with every breath before letting out a pffft of air. Ruby was overjoyed, although much too tired to react.
A middle-aged woman with both legs in casts lay in the bed opposite. She poked a pen into the top of one cast, clearly trying to reach an itch.
So she hadn’t been dreaming. Baxter and David had found her—but how? She needed to know, but after a sleep.
David, Scarlett and her mother were around the bed when Ruby opened her eyes again.
Scarlett squealed and jumped forward, hugging Ruby’s neck. After the initial tears and emotional reunion, Mum and Scarlett began chattering in unison.
Ruby winced. “Shhhh. Please guys, one at a time.” Her head still felt woozy.
“You go,” her mother said to Scarlett, tears still streaming down her face.
“How?” Ruby asked.
“Mum worked everything out, sis. She could tell Cody was bad news as soon as she laid eyes on him. I didn’t. I thought he was lovely.” Scarlett shook her head. “I’ll never doubt her instincts again, I can tell you.”
“But how did you find me?”
“David followed Cody. Once we found out where he lived we all turned up. David was ace! He didn’t take any shit from Cody or his dad.”
“Thank you,” Ruby mouthed at David.
David winked at her and smiled—the special smile he used to reserve only for her.
Ruby’s stomach flipped.
“Kyle was lovely. He showed us where he took you,” Scarlett continued.
“Felicity?” Ruby asked, her voice hoarse.
“She’s back where she belongs—with her family,” her mother said. “At least now they can give her a proper funeral.”
“And the other grave?” Ruby asked.
“Cody’s mum,” Scarlett said. “Seems she was going to leave her husband and so he strangled her. He used to take Kyle to visit there, that’s how Kyle knew about the old mine in the first place.”
“They always went by car, approaching from the other side. Kyle didn’t remember there being a gate, but he was only little. Then years later, his dad took him and Cody into the mine entrance closest to the house. He told them the tunnel led through to the river. Kyle worked the rest out for himself,” David said.
“What will happen to them?”
“Cody and his dad will be locked up for the foreseeable, I guess,” David said.
“And Kyle?”
Mum shrugged. “He’s in good hands, Rubes. He’ll be taken care of, and you can always visit him.”
“How did you work it out, Mum?”
“Fifty percent instinct. Then Baxter, the dog who loves everyone, was petrified of Cody—combined with the fact his mother had vanished but he didn’t even think to mention it to us. I saw blood on his face... lots of little things really. But the police had verified his alibi and so we had no choice but to deal with it ourselves.”
“Wow, I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it. I’ve told you many times—”
“We know, we know,” Scarlett said.
“Mother knows best!” they all chanted in unison.
The End
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