False Witness (Part 2)

Eloise, 2003

Eloise stood on the edge of the kerb, looked back and forth, then crossed the road, just like mom told her.

This was a big day, her first time ever walking to school on her own. Casey and Lola had been walking by themselves for months and teased her ever since, giggling while Eloise’s mom kissed her goodbye at the school gates. 

Being walked to school was for babies. She told her parents this, pleading, crying, cajoling until finally they relented. 

Eloise did a little skip, then composed herself. 

Big girls don’t skip, silly. 

She passed the drugstore and the Oldbean Café, raising a hand to her mom’s friend Susan who was parking across the street. More kids joined the path ahead, filtering in from the homes nearer the edge of town.

She glanced at her birthday watch and hurried along. It wouldn’t do to be late, today of all days. 

Nearer to the school, were the ‘weedy places’, as Eloise thought of them, a couple of mid-sized industrial units abandoned years ago and never re-let. The left half of the entrance sign was missing, so it just said 

land
olny

She often wondered what it was supposed to say, but could never make anything fit. 

“Eloise.”

She stopped and looked around, once then twice. Someone said her name. Someone with a crackly voice.

“Eloise, come talk to me.”

She span full circle, but there was nobody there. 

“Down here.”

She looked to her feet and spotted the drain a few metres ahead. Below, down in the smelly darkness, something moved, away from the light. Eloise leaned forwards, closer to the grate. 

“What are you doing down there?”

Whoever it was, laughed. The voice said something almost inaudible, something like “Always the same.”

Eloise frowned. The person in the drain didn’t sound happy or amused. Their laugh reminded her of how Sally Jessopson chuckled when she burned earthworms with a magnifying glass.   

“What are you doing down there?” she repeated. 

“I’m trying to talk to you. You want to talk to me, don’t you?”

A boy from the year above passed by her on the pavement and Eloise cheeks burned red, suddenly aware that she was talking to a drain. 

“I have to get to school.” she said.

“Listen to me,” the thing in the drain said. “I’ve got a secret to tell you about the man in the car across the street.”

Eloise was desperate to move along, to get to school on time, but it was hard not to listen to this thing. 

That was how she thought about it, “a thing”. She couldn’t see it with any clarity, but had the impression it was wild looking, the sort of creature to bite her fingers if she put them near the grille.

She looked across the road to where a flatbed Ford was parked crookedly on the sidewalk. There was a man in the driver’s seat wearing a green sleeveless T-shirt, with slicked back greying hair. The window was open and he rested his elbow on the frame. The man wasn’t doing anything, just staring straight ahead, towards the school, a twitch flaring at the corner of his eye every few seconds. 

“Can you see him?”

“Yes.” she said. Her voice was small now, nothing like a big girl’s. Seeing the man in the Ford made her think of the lesson they’d had at school about stranger danger. Here she was, breaking all the rules they’d told her to follow, chatting to a stranger, a thing in a drain and staring at a guy parked on the side of the road. 

“That man is very very angry.” The thing in the drain said. Do you know why?”

“No.” Eloise said.

“His wife moved out of their house and took the kid with him.”

“Oh.” It was all Eloise could manage, more confused than ever now. 

“He’s Cody Palmer’s Dad. You know Cody?”

She did know Cody. He was a quiet boy who often arrived at school with his hair all in a mess. Some of the other kids said horrid things to him, that he smelled and didn’t wash properly. Eloise had tried to talk to him once, but he just ran away. 

“I know Cody.” she said. 

The thing in the drain continued, “Cody’s Dad has a big gun on the seat next to him and another one in the seat behind. In 47 minutes, when you and your friends are in your classes, he’s going to  get out of the truck and walk into the school. He’ll be bringing those guns with him.”

Eloise was shaking now, on the verge of tears. This was not how this morning was supposed to go. She only wanted to walk to school on her own, to show the world how grown up she was. 

“You’re lying.” she said.

“He’s going to kill people. Lots of people. Bang, bang, bang. You need to run home, right now.”

“You’re lying.” she said again, but this time her voice wasn’t so small. Eloise could feel the heat of fury filling her chest. 

“If I’m lying, then how can I know that’s Dale Palmer sat in the truck across the road? How can I know about the guns he’s got with him?”

“I know you’re lying, and I’m going to prove it.” she said. 

“Don’t go near him.” The thing in the drain replied. 

Eloise didn’t want to listen anymore. She was big and brave and she was going to walk to school on her own and not listen to silly stories about Dad’s with guns. 

But she needed to be sure, right? Just in case. So, Eloise stepped off the sidewalk and crossed the road towards the Ford.  

The voice in the drain called after her. “You’ll regret it.”

As she got closer, Eloise expected the man in the car to turn towards her, to smile  and say something like “Hello, honey.”  But the man didn’t move, except for the twitch at the corner of his eye. She arrived at the car and stopped, now feeling silly for approaching in the first place. 

“Excuse me, sir” she said. 

The man just kept staring straight ahead. 

“Sir, is your name Dale Palmer? Are you Cody Palmer’s father?” 

A few more seconds passed in silence, then he turned to face Eloise. 

His eyes were wide and wild and seeing something other than a worried little girl. His mouth was open slightly, and crooked yellow teeth were visible between his lips. It reminded Eloise of her grandma’s dog, growling when someone rang the doorbell.  

People were not supposed to look this way. She’d heard her own father use the word “mad” and not really understood what he meant.  This or that person had “gone mad” was such a confusing idea.  How did they go there? And why? 

But Eloise understood what it meant now. This man had lost his mind, had “gone mad”. 

She glanced over the man’s shoulder, hoping, praying that the passenger side seat would be empty, but there it was: a chunky, military style rifle. 

“Please.” she said, “Don’t do it.”

“Fuck. Off.” Dale Palmer replied.

Eloise stepped back from the car, tears blooming at the corners of her eyes. “Please. Leave them alone.” she said. 

Behind her, the thing in the drain laughed. “Get away from the man, Eloise.” it screeched.  

“Fuck. Off.” Dale Palmer repeated.

Eloise turned and ran as fast as she could, all the way home. 

***

“Sir? Sir?”

The man with the British Airways badge was looking at him with a confused frown. 

“Passport and boarding card, please sir.”

Danny handed them over, waited for them to be checked, then proceeded to the gangway for boarding, following the woman he’d seen in his dreams. 

They were not sat next to each other on the plane, but close enough, taking the window seats at either end of the same row. As Danny packed his bag in the overhead locker, he noticed, for the first time, that the woman had also taken notice of him.  They shared a look, only a split second, just before he took his seat.

Danny bit down on his bottom lip and slumped into his seat, feeling heavy, lethargic, a sense of ill-defined dread seeping into his bones. He leaned forward in his seat and looked back towards her. 

Eloise, that was her name. Somehow, he knew it.

She was staring back at him, through the throng of passengers still settling into their places. The tension in her expression redoubled his own disquiet.  She wanted answers too.

Danny gestured to her with two hands, fingers splayed.  He mouthed the words “Ten minutes. After take-off.” and pointed towards the toilet area at the back of the plane. “We’ll talk.” 

She nodded, not reassured, but placated for now. 

A hostess was working her way down the plane, serving drinks from a bottle.  

“Nice, complimentary drinks.” Danny’s neighbour said.  

Danny held back a sigh and responded with a pained smile. The last thing he wanted was a chatty neighbour all the way to New York. When the hostess arrived, she poured them wine and smiled.  Without even thinking if it would be a good idea, Danny swigged his back in one gulp.  

“Thirsty?” his companion asked?

“Just tired.” Danny said, “Just very tired.” 

End of part 2. Part 3 is here:  https://www.abctales.com/story/charlie77/false-witness-part-3