Chapter 34 Elin

34

Elin

Parque Nacional, Portugal, October 2021

They're about ten minutes from the Airstream when Elin hears the snapping: twigs, broken underfoot, then a soft, choked sound, as if someone's trying to stop themselves from crying.

‘It's Leah,' Isaac says. ‘From the camp.'

Despite the tree cover, Elin can see glimpses of her through the branches, crouched on the ground, hands pawing at something in the dirt.

As they get closer, she startles, then straightens, hands reaching up to dust off her clothes. Taking a few steps out, Leah raises a hand in greeting. ‘You guys been exploring?' Dull, dishevelled hair hangs limply over her face, and she runs a hand through it before her features relax into an uneasy smile.

Elin nods, noticing that Leah is trembling, her narrow shoulders rising and falling beneath her shirt. Even with the dusting down, her jeans are marked with a fine layer of dirt. Her knees too – the denim dimpled with tiny stones, twigs.

We've intruded on something , she thinks, clocking the blotchy skin around Leah's eyes, her fists, clenched so tight the knuckles are turning white.

‘We've been into town, had something to eat.' Elin keeps her voice steady.

‘Nice day for it. Bet it was busy.' All at once, Leah loosens her grip, dirt and old leaf matter fluttering to the ground. It's only when her hands are fully open, empty, does she seem to realise she's done it. ‘Dropped my bracelet,' she says quickly. ‘I was looking for it.'

Elin's gaze moves to her wrist. No bracelet.

Leah's eyes track downwards to her wrists, the scars crisscrossing the skin of her wrist. Some redder, pinkish, others silvery in the light.

Sticking her hands in her pockets, Leah opens her mouth, as if about to say something else, and then stops, eyes jumping past them to the woodland behind.

Elin's breath catches in her throat as she follows Leah's gaze.

Recognition dawns: they're only a few feet from the clearing where they'd seen the wooden structure yesterday.

But the structure … it's gone.

Elin walks forwards until she's at the edge of the open space, her skin prickling.

A pile of destruction.

The branches, so carefully arranged before, now litter the ground, metres from where the original structure stood. A sour, musty smell is lingering in the air, as if the fallen wood had lifted long-forgotten smells from the ground.

‘Weird. Who'd have taken it down?' Isaac says from behind her. Leah hovers a few feet away, watching.

‘I don't know,' Elin replies. ‘But whoever it was didn't want any of it left.' An eerie silence descends as they study it – the empty space, the floating dance of the dust motes, tiny insects catching the light. ‘We saw this when it was up,' she adds, noticing Leah's eyes still on them.

Leah's face is expressionless. ‘The pyres, they're pretty hard to miss.'

‘Pyres? '

‘Yeah. Some people here call them pira. Pira funerária.'

Elin goes cold all over. Funeral pyres.

Leah gives a brittle smile, and crouches again, running her finger over one of the pieces of wood. ‘People say all kinds of things, but when you see it like this, it's just wood. People conjuring something from nothing.'

‘So there are a lot of them?'

She nods. ‘They crop up all over the park.'

‘Do you know what they're used for?'

Leah's face tightens a fraction. ‘There's theories. Kids having fun, maybe? Or …'

‘Or?' Isaac echoes.

‘Rumours are they're used by a cult for some kind of ritual, but I think all that's just hearsay.'

Yet the nonchalance of her words is at odds with the reverence in how she's looking, not just at the discarded branches, but at the space vacated by the structure. Her eyes are drilling into the air as if she, like Elin, can still see the ghost of it.

Eventually, Leah drags her gaze away, looking down at her watch. ‘I should be getting back, I've got work. A day like this, you don't want to, but I've been putting it off.'

Elin says, ‘We'll walk with you, part of the way at least, if you like.'

‘That'd be nice.'

‘How have things been since the explosion?' She asks as they start down the track. ‘You manage to get everything cleared up?'

‘Just about. It helps that we've got Maggie, and as Ned says' – she puts on an exaggerated drawl – ‘" Maggie is nothing if not efficient. "'

‘Ned said he thought someone might have set it off deliberately.'

‘It's possible. How we live … it's different, and the one thing I've learnt these past few years is that people don't like different.' She stops, as a noise sounds out. A soft shuffle of branches. Leah's eyes dart to the woodland beyond before she brings her gaze back to them and starts again. ‘All of them, no matter how liberal they think they are, like to pass judgement when you choose not to follow the same path as them. Makes me laugh sometimes. People think normal society's the best way to live, but I think it's even wilder than out here. Just has better PR.'

‘I get that,' Elin says softly, ‘but still, it's brave to take yourself out of the loop. Leave friends and family.'

An expression flashes across her face that she can't read.

‘Most of the time it isn't a choice,' Leah says sharply, bristling. Colour rushes to her cheeks. ‘You have to do what you have to do.'

Elin pauses, taken aback, unaware she'd crossed a line. ‘I'm sorry, I didn't mean—'

Leah studies her for a moment before her face softens. ‘It's okay.'

Mentally kicking herself, Elin tries again. ‘So you work out here?'

‘This and that. Tech stuff mainly. I was in a corporate job before, but this lifestyle suits me better. I like the freedom.'

‘I can imagine that's appealing for a lot of people,' Isaac says. ‘You ever get anyone wanting to join?'

Leah falters. ‘What do you mean, join ?'

‘Other people wanting to join the camp for a while.'

There's a long pause. She seems to be weighing something up. ‘We do, but usually not for long.' Once again, her eyes shift to the trees beyond.

Isaac ploughs on. ‘You have anyone stay with you recently?'

There's a long pause before Leah nods.

‘Probably nice to mix it up a bit,' he continues.

‘Yeah, brings a new dimension to the place, and sometimes, you know, you really connect. You know, the last person who stayed—' Breaking off, tears suddenly well in her eyes.

Elin looks at her, taken aback. They'd struck a nerve.

Leah starts again. ‘The last person—' Her final few words are lost, muffled by another noise.

This time definitive.

Not just the sound of branches, but the trill of a phone, quickly silenced .

Someone's out here with them.

Elin turns, pulse picking up. She shoots a glance backwards, half expecting to see a hiker on the path, but the track is empty.

‘Look, I'd better go,' Leah says quickly. ‘Why don't you come by tomorrow night? Ned's planning a barbecue, a few drinks, now we've got the place all cleaned up. Raise everyone's spirits.' She pastes on a smile, but her eyes stay glued to the woodland behind.

‘If you're sure? We don't want to impose.'

‘It'll be fine.' She holds Elin's gaze. ‘I'll see you then.'

They watch her leave, moving quickly over the rough terrain.

‘Someone's out here,' Elin mutters, slowly looking around her. Though the noise had stopped, she had a horrible feeling that whoever it was, was still there somewhere, lingering among the trees.

Isaac nods, his face sombre. ‘Frightened her off.' He lowers his voice. ‘But she seemed pretty keen to carry on the conversation.'

‘The invite tomorrow?'

‘Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if she pulls us aside.'

As Leah disappears from view at the end of the track, Elin pictures the dirt falling from her hand, the tiny leaves and twigs slowly fluttering to the floor.