Billy and the Golden Gate (8 page)

Just then, Gunner Sharpie walks into the clearing.

“Well, would you credit it, there you are!” He looks both astonished and delighted to see his young friends.

He walks up to Billy and rests a hand on his shoulder.

“Son, you made it; aren't you the brave lad?” Billy looks up at Gunner Sharpie, the old man smiles at him.

“Mr Sharpie, I don't know what to do now. I thought it would, you know, be clear.”

“Now, son, all you need to do is walk through the gate and you will find what you are looking for, that's it.”

Billy blinks. “And will you go and get your wife?” he says.

Gunner Sharpie slumps slightly and a look of sadness wells up in his eyes.

“If only it was that easy for me, Billy,” he says.

Daisy looks away from Miss Beetle and towards the old man and Billy. She nudges Peter and Rufus.

“I don't like him,” she says quietly. “I do not like that man. Who does he think he is, calling Billy son? He's not Billy's dad.”

“Don't think he means it like that, Daisy. It just like a term, um, of endearment,” Rufus says.

“Do you think? It doesn't sound like anything endearing to me.” She pauses. “I don't like that man,” she finishes.

“Billy, will you go and get her for me?” Gunner Sharpie asks.

Miss Beetle stretches her shoulders and flicks a page.

“Billy, go and get her for me,” Gunner Sharpie asks more deliberately this time. “Don't you want to see your dad? He's waiting for you, straight through there, just on the other side.”

Billy looks up at Gunner Sharpie.

“I have heard quite enough,” Daisy says, her voice is very clear and pronounced. “Billy!” she calls out.

Billy turns and looks at Daisy, taking a step away from Gunner Sharpie. Gunner Sharpie grabs Billy's arm; he holds him so tight, it hurts.

“Ow! Let me go!” Billy says.

“Now, son, I was only doing that for your own good. Don't want you making a mistake.”

“And what kind of mistake might that be, Mr Sharpie?” Daisy is beside Billy now; the two boys aren't far behind.

“You are a meddlesome little girl; did anyone ever tell you that?”

Daisy glares at Gunner Sharpie. She grabs the back of Billy's hoodie and holds it firmly.

“Only people who don't know what they are talking about,” she fires back.

Billy shakes his arm free from Gunner Sharpie.

“Mr Sharpie, what do you mean, mistake?”

“Son,” Gunner Sharpie says kindly, “don't you want to see him, feel him, be with him? Lord knows.” He finishes, “And you'd be helping an old man so much.”

“Oh,” Billy says, feeling very strange. Billy feels tremendously sad.

“I know, son, you've not been able to feel him, I know that,” Gunner Sharpie says gently.

Billy's shoulders heave and he breathes very deeply, as if this is the last breath he will ever take. Daisy stands beside him, still holding on to the back of his hoodie. She has zero intention of letting go.

“And now is your chance, one chance, today, to be with him again,” Gunner Sharpie says.

Billy looks at the arch and the gate; they are both so very beautiful. The gate unlocks before his eyes and swings away from him. As it opens, it chimes and emits the most beautiful music he has ever heard – if the heavens sang, this is what they would sound like, for sure. Billy starts to walk towards the arch. Gunner Sharpie smiles benevolently. Daisy holds on to Billy's hoodie; he stops walking after a couple of steps as it is clear she is not letting go.

Daisy whispers, “Billy, I have a bad, bad feeling about this. I don't like the look of it, one bit.”

Gunner Sharpie's face hardens. He glares at Daisy.

“What did I just say to you?”

Daisy ignores him. Peter, Rufus and Rex all close in on her. In the distance, the wolves have started to howl – a low menacing sound. Miss Beetle seems oblivious to it all. She is still flicking through the book.

Billy looks back through the archway, trying to decipher what lies beyond. Whatever it is, it appears to be the most beautiful place ever.

“Daisy, it's my dad,” he says, looking back at her. His eyes are almost pleading.

Daisy shakes her head, “Billy, your dad is dead, remember? He died that day in the quarry; remember you had to run the whole way home on your own?”

“But, Daisy, if I could only just feel him, see him, one more time.”

Rufus says, “Billy, you will, some day, when you are ready to leave, when your time has come, but that's not for you to choose. It's like when Rex ate the dodgy fish, he puked, and he looked like he wanted to die, but he's still here.” Rex nods and barks a short sharp woof. “You know?” Rufus says.

Billy lets out a sob. It's not a girly sound; it's a bit like he has found the sound that matches the hole in his chest. It is low and harsh and heavy.

Gunner Sharpie steps forward.

“Now you look here you lot of little ingrates, you know nothing of this world.” His voice is very strong; it booms. All four flinch away from him. Rex growls.

“Nothing!” he booms. “You will do as you are told. Billy, don't you waste the only chance you will ever have of seeing, feeling your father ever again.”

Miss Beetle sneezes. It is a loud, most unladylike noise.

“Oh,” she says. “Excuse me!” she sniffs.

Billy says, “God bless you, Miss.”

Gunner Sharpie twitches.

“Any tissues in that bag of yours, Billy?” she says.

Billy shakes his head but digs a tissue out of his hoodie pocket – it's mostly clean. Daisy releases her grip on his hoodie. He walks over to Jasmine and hands it to her.

“Why thank you,” she says. “You know, Billy, you are going to have to get this little book repaired – see the spine?”

Billy creases his forehead. “Erm, Miss, we are kind of busy here,” he gestures back to his friends and Gunner Sharpie.

“Um,” she pauses and tilts her head slightly, “really? All I've heard is mumbo jumbo.” She glances at Gunner Sharpie as she says this.

He returns her glance with a cold, grey blue glare. There is no emotion in his face; his eyes look dead, so much so – dead, flat and empty.

Daisy looks at Miss Beetle and then turns to Gunner Sharpie.

“I don't think you are a very nice man, Mr Sharpie,” she says.

Gunner Sharpie jumps forward and grabs Daisy by the cuff of her rain mac; he has a short, sharp, silver knife in his hand and holds it to her neck. Daisy hangs limply; she is terrified.

“Now,” he snarls. “Billy Spade, do as you are told.”

Billy runs back to them.

“Please, Mr Sharpie, why are you doing this? Please let Daisy go, sir.”

“You deign to ask me why, little boy? You deign to ask Gadriel Sharpie why?” he hisses through his teeth and finishes in a cold, grey blue tone. “Because I can.”

Rufus, Peter and Rex have got busy. Peter rolls his helmet behind Gunner Sharpie; Rex has run towards the wolves and howls at them. It is a most unusual sound but it achieves the desired result. They howl back in unison – the sound is primeval.

Gunner Sharpie looks at them, in shock. Just at that moment, Rex jumps up and bites Gunner Sharpie on the bum. He yells and lets Daisy fall. He steps back and trips over the helmet rolling on to the ground.

The wolves move as one, streaking across the ground at an astonishing speed.

“Daisy, Daisy!” Billy yells and grabs her. “Daisy? Are you OK?”

Daisy stares at Billy.

“OK, I'm OK, but don't leave us, Billy, don't leave us. It's like Rufus says, today you've just eaten dodgy fish, is all. Please, Billy.”

Peter says, “It's truth, Billy; you are meant to stay with us.”

“Mr Sharpie, no, I will not,” Billy says in a loud crystal clear voice.

Gunner Sharpie screams; the noise is so awful the four children cover their ears with their hands.

Jasmine Beetle doesn't seem to notice it. She has put the tissue in the pocket of her jeans and is tracing the spine of the book with her index finger on her right hand. She is tutting under her breath and shaking her head slightly.

Billy and his friends look at Gunner Sharpie. His skin is darkening in colour. The twigs in his pocket rub off each other and catch fire. The fire spreads quickly from his pocket and envelopes him.

“My Lord!” he screams.

The wolves circle around him, unafraid of the flames that lick at their paws.

The gate has started to swing back. Gunner Sharpie backs away from the wolves in terror. He takes several short steps backwards, but the wolves follow him.

And then Gunner Sharpie reaches the gate; the flames that now engulf him spread over and through the gate. Soon the whole thing is on fire. Beyond the gate there is no longer any light, only darkness. The gate cranks shut, imprisoning Gunner Sharpie on the other side.

The four children stand up. Rex trots over to a rock that is close to Miss Beetle. He lifts his back leg and pees – even with the crackling of the flames you can hear the whooshing sound.

“See?” Daisy says. “Come on, Billy.”

As they walk away from the flaming gate, Billy starts to cry. Rufus puts his arm around him.

“Come on, Billy, all will be well.”

Billy sobs and sobs.

“Dad,” he says.

The children stand for a moment. As they look around, they see the second gate and start to walk towards it. Rex sees the water pump on the far side and thumps the gate with his head. It needs opening. He barks and barks and barks. Soon the four children are looking at him; Billy's sobs have subsided.

“You want some water, Rex?” he says. “Hold it a second.” Billy's breathing is shallow. He reaches to the clasp on the gate – it's a bit rusty and needs a little nudge, but eventually he unclasps it. Billy pushes the gate. It swings away from him, making creaking noises.

Rex scampers ahead to the water pump – the water bowl needs filling – and whines back at the four children.

Daisy runs in, unhooks the old pump and fills the bowl for Rex. It must be the best water ever as he laps it down with abandon. The four children look around the field; the grass is green and slightly mossy – some bits are filled with clover and in other parts, it's more like scrub. It's a pretty normal field really. There's a shovel standing against the water pump. In the distance there are sheep, lots of them, black heads, white fluffy-looking wool. They are bleating, just a bit.

Rufus plonks down on the ground. “I am pure knackered,” he says. “I'm sitting for a few minutes anyways.”

The bell in Billy's bag starts to tinkle. Billy takes the backpack off and tumbles everything that's in it out onto the ground. The bells rolls and tinkles non-stop. There's the collar, the tin box, the soldier, the marble – they are all there.

Daisy and Peter join Rufus, and they sit down on the grass.

“What next?” Peter asks.

Billy says nothing.

Rufus says, “I'm hungry.”

They feel the wolves before they see them. They amble towards Billy, his friends and Rex. The skinny wolf sits beside Peter, the more muscular one sitting down beside Rufus. The one that's fond of scratching nudges Rex and laps a bit of water himself. The final two split up; the one with the streak of white hair prods at Billy's leg and the last wolf sits down beside Daisy. It starts to lick its paws fastidiously.

“Eh, this is weird,” Peter says. “Jenny never mentioned this.”

“That's cause Jenny only knows about werewolves Peter, honestly,” Daisy mutters.

“Yeah, this is like typical wolf behaviour,” Rufus says. “Now, we're all like a pack.”

Daisy gestures at all the stuff that's been upended from Billy's bag.

“What were you going to do with all of that Billy?”

“Find my dad,” he says.

“But Billy, that's just stuff,” she says. “You don't need stuff to find your dad. Anyways, he's right there,” Daisy taps at her head.

“I can't feel him, Daisy,” Billy says angrily. “I can't even remember him.”

Rufus says, “Sure you can, why don't you just bury all that stuff first? You don't need it.”

Billy looks at Rufus like he has just turned cracked altogether.

“Yeah, that's what you should do,” Peter says, and Daisy nods in agreement.

“Fine,” Billy says. He gets up, picks up all the bits and pieces and carries them a few metres away from his friends. Then he picks up the shovel and starts digging. The ground is hard but once he has broken through the crust, it gets easier. Soon the hole is deep enough. Billy gently places the collar, tin box, marble and soldier in the ground.

“Don't forget the bell,” Peter says.

Billy hesitates, then he picks up the bell and adds it to the other items. He stands back up and covers in the hole.

He sighs, “That's it then.” He rejoins his friends and sits down.

“What happened that day, Billy?” Rufus asks.

Billy looks at his brave friend.

“Dad wanted to take me looking for treasure. People are always chucking stuff into the quarry.”

The children chat about Billy and his dad. Not so far away, Gunner Sharpie rolls on the ground. The fire has dwindled and he is just smoking now. Darkness surrounds him.

“It's very dark,” he says to himself, to the silence. Nothing, no one responds. He puts his head in his hands and feels very sorry for himself. “Why me?” he says to himself. The darkness remains, no one answers.

Billy says, “Dad had his metal detector – he made it himself, with magnets and bells and things. He was really good at making stuff, you know?”

Peter nods.

“My mum's the same; she's very creative,” he says seriously. “Like last week, she got some stuff in the dump and is making an
installation
. It's very artistic.”

Rufus says, “Yeah I saw that Screech, pongs a bit, dun't it.”

Peter sighs, “Yeah.”

Billy tilts his head.

“Dad's chin was like sandpaper; he'd always scratch it when he was making stuff.”

His three friends exchange glances.

“He'd call me, ‘Billbob, that blunt chisel
¹¹
thing, can you get it for me?' He wouldn't look at me cause he'd be just staring at his new object,” Billy's face takes on a bemused expression.

“Oh yeah?” Daisy says. “My dad always has his head in a book, spends a lot of time thinking,” she finishes.

“And when we'd be having tea, he used to drive Mum mad cause he'd always ask for the salt. She'd go get it; he'd wink at me, like a really big wink, and then he'd smile and use hardly any of it, an throw some over his shoulder for luck,” Billy says.

“The odd time he'd read me stories in bed, he'd sit in beside me and I'd have hardly any room. He'd put his arm around me and get me to turn the pages. He smelt of freshly cut wood, an he'd get bored with the story and he'd make up other bits, with monsters,” Billy starts to smile.

Rufus says, “My dad never reads me stories.” He pauses. “He'd be crap at it anyway; his voice, see, only gets funny when he's talking about…” Rufus has to think for a second, “football, an football is
boring
.”

“Your Dad can be a right pain, Rufus,” Daisy says.

“Hmmm, he never says but I figure he really misses my mum,” Rufus replies, by way of explanation.

“You think football's boring?” Screech says.

“Big bunch of babies, even Rex doesn't complain as much an he's a right wuss,” Rufus says. Rex barks in indignation.

“An Dad would always put the shopping away for Mum, and he'd, you know, turn the tins the wrong way round, an then Mum would be looking for them later and she'd yell, ‘Harry!' an he'd run over to her and give her a cuddle, tight like, around her waist and he'd say, ‘a bit o'fun, love' an then they'd both start laughing. She'd half hit him on his chest. They laughed tonnes.”

Rufus says, “What did his laugh sound like, Billy?”

“Kinda like this…
har har har
; you know, deep but funny.”

The four of them all look at the ground. Rex paws at the upturned dirt, where Billy has buried all the stuff.

“Was Bugsy his?” Daisy asks.

“Kind of, I guess. Bugsy was old, since ever, wheezed a lot and always wanted to lie on top of Dad when he'd be on the couch, like. He had the smelliest, quietest farts – used to drive Mum mad. Dad'd just say, ‘sure, he's only warming up the room poor ol boy', and then Bugsy'd want to go for a pee.”

“What was he?” Rufus says.

“Dunno really, bit of boxer in him I think,” Billy replies.

Daisy says, “I remember the day he came into school and he stole Miss Beetle's lunch, put his head in her bag, ate all her lunch he did, an then he got sick.”

“Yeah, dodgy tummy,” Billy says. “Dad came and got him, rubbed his tummy an said to Miss Beetle that she shouldn't be making such rich sandwiches for her lunch, an she laughed and Dad carried Bugsy the whole way home.”

“See?” Daisy asks. She pats Billy on his arm.

Billy looks at her, smiles and nods slightly.