Burnington Gaol

T W E N T Y - T W O | Adeline

Billy and I walked silently back to the old Gaol, our clothes dirtied with soil and sweat.

The streets were quiet, empty, as if all the life that once was had perished after nightfall. The most intimidating part of it all was the Gaol itself. The closer we got to it, the more the structure seemed to loom over us, the more it seemed to glare down, its eyes as piercing and unnerving as those of Frank Dawson. I averted my eyes and spotted the two guards manning the front gate. Tony was one of them, standing as quiet and still as the Gaol itself. He glanced over, took a double take.

"Kids," he said. "You're both a mess. Where have you been?"

I looked at the second guard, faked a smile.

"We were playing mud pies with our little cousins. The little terrors got us good."

Tony shook his head.

"Alright, let's get you guys inside."

He opened the front gate and let the two of us slipped inside.  Only once we were through the front office, past the Turning Circle, and walking the outskirts did he speak.

"What on earth did you do?" He barked.

"As we were told," I said. "We checked out the graveyard."

"After I specifically told you not to?!"

I gulped, remembered how Tony had chastised us after our visit with Frank. I shook my head.

"We had to," I said. "To be sure."

"And if you had been caught?"

"Well, we weren't," Billy snapped. "And now we know that something is off about your files."

Tony paused, jaw clenched.

"You were stupid, reckless."

"Welcome to the world of teenagers."

"Don't get smart with me, Billy."

"Then stop acting like this is a bad thing. We know now that Maynard is dead, which means we can cross him off the suspect list. And we know that the files have been tampered with, which tells us the guy must be in law enforcement."

"I got you those files so you could see that the Dawson Brothers are one hundred per cent responsible for the murders of Susie and her parents, not so you could gallivant and cause a mess of the justice system."

"An innocent man is about to die," I snapped. "Where's the justice in that?"

Tony pressed his lips together, tensed his shoulders. I sighed.

"We appreciate what you've done for us," I said. "It's given us leads we can use to help set things right."

Tony frowned.

"Leads? Plural?"

"There was a blond hair found at Susie's crime scene," Billy said. "Since nobody involved had blond hair, we have something to go off of."

Tony shook his head.

"That's impossible."

"It's true," I said. "Cops brushed it off, said it was a mistake, but we don't think so."

Tony lowered his eyes, confusion in his features.

"We're going to solve this, Tony," I went on. "No matter the consequences."

Tony paused, lifted his eyes.

"Goodnight, Adeline," he said, before walking past us towards the front gate.

Billy sighed.

"That went well."

"He's just worried," I said as we walked towards the tower. "He probably thinks we're going to get him fired."

Billy shrugged.

"I guess if anyone found out he gave us those files, he probably would be out on his ass."

"Definitely."

We reached the moonlit tower and I pushed the door open –

– and froze.

A sick feeling washed over me, the air changing in a split second.

Our father, sitting on our couch, with some half-naked girl straddling him. He broke their kiss and looked in our direction, lipstick smeared across his mouth, and a panicked look on his face. The girl glanced over too, then looked to Dad, then immediately rolled off of him. Billy launched forward.

"What the hell is this?!" He roared.

"Billy, I can explain."

"It wasn't enough that you had to send Mum away; now you have to replace her too?"

I was too frozen, too in shock to say a word. All I could do was watch the girl cover herself up, go tomato-red in the cheeks, and make a frantic dash for the exit. She weaved past us, an apologetic look in her eye, before disappearing into the outskirts.

"Look, we got a little carried away. It's no big deal – "

"No big deal?" My little voice whispered.

Dad looked to me, a terrible look of pain on his face. He got up from the couch, approached us.

"I'm sorry, Addie." He said.

"No you're not!" Billy shouted, leering over him. "If you felt anything for any of us, you wouldn't of done any of this. You say I'm selfish? That I need to grow up and take care of my family? Why don't you start setting a good fucking example?!"

"I am doing the best I can!"

Billy pulled back his fist and punched our father directly in the nose. Dad stumbled back, clutching his face, the blood spilling through his fingers and running down his arms.

"Billy!"  I yelled.

I looked up at him, his face red with anger, eyes burning, fists clenched. He looked about ready to kill the man. Then he met my eyes – my big, scared, horrified eyes – and his face softened ever so slightly. He opened his mouth, ready to apologise, but instead he turned and stormed out of the tower, into the silent night.

© A.G. Travers 2018