Drifters End Ch. 03

"You know, we're currently wearing the same amount of clothing..." she said, hinting that perhaps he should get dressed too. But Tom just grinned.

"Jilly's not going to be getting excited to see my curves though, is she? I'm struggling enough as it is, trying to stop myself from jumping on you; I don't think ill be able to hold Matt off too..." he told her.

Sarah grinned and darted into the bedroom.

Tom looked down at the phone in his hand, dialled his own number and waited to hear it ring. Just as his ring tone sounded from the other side of the room, Matt and Jilly came stumbling through the door.

Tom raced over to the chair his phone was ringing from and managed to extract it from down the side of the cushion. He stood up and turned to the new arrivals, switching off the call and flashing them a smile.

"Tommy!" Matt called, sounding like some sort of bizarre football hooligan. He wore a stupid grin and his brown hair was sticking out in all directions. "Howzit going mate?" he asked, throwing an arm around Tom's shoulders as he came in.

Jilly threw her bags down by the door as Sarah reappeared in the room. The women looked at each other, still slightly hesitant after all these years. Jilly had never got over the embarrassment of bullying Sarah in school and Sarah hadn't yet let her forget what a bitch she'd been.

"Hello Matt. Jillian." Sarah said, in a friendly, though uncomfortable tone.

Jilly smiled all too brightly, tucked a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear and said; "Oh hi." She quickly turned to Tom and pulled a face. "You could have put some clothes of for the occasion old boy..." She said sarcastically, green eyes bright.

Tom made a ha-ha face, smiled slightly and looked down at his phone.

1 missed call; 1 new voice message.

He saw that the missed call was, in fact, from Kate and quickly connected to his answer machine to hear her message; it had arrived just after nine p.m.

"Tom , its Kate...you best send out the rescue squad...I've found that beastie you were talking about..." Kate laughed softly. "I'm joking, of course...I think I'm about ten minutes away...I've just passed a sign saying 'Drifters End' so...I'll guess I'll see you guys soon...bye."

And the message had cut off, leaving Tom standing, pale and speechless in the middle of the room, the smile completely gone from his face.

"Well...?" Sarah asked nervously.

"She rang just after nine...said she was ten minutes away...up at Drifters End." He said blankly, his head racing. His first thought was not of broken down cars or of Kate crashing, but of the mythical beast that was meant to live up there, in that desolate stretch of forest.

He dialled Kate's number, already knowing that he wouldn't get through.

"What's up?" Matt asked, looking just as puzzled as Jilly who stood beside him.

"It's Kate isn't it?" She said, more a statement than a question. "What's happened Tom?"

Tom answered as the phone continued to ring, unanswered, next to his ear. "Well...Kate was meant to arrive last night, but I thought, you know, maybe she'd stopped in a motel or something..."

"But she would have rang you if she was going to..." Jilly began.

Tom cut off the call and glared at her. "Yes, I know...but...well, I didn't realise she had until now and..."

"Why?" Jilly demanded, concern making her slightly irrational. "How could you not have heard your phone ringing, that's just..."

"Jilly..." Matt said, calming her before she got too carried away.

"We were...er, busy...and it was..." Tom tried to explain, but realised he was going off course. "Look, the point is that Kate was meant to be here and she isn't...she rang at nine o'clock last night, saying she was ten minutes away..." He looked round at them all, their faces dropping with realisation. Somehow, their fear cleared his head and made him think more rationally. "Right...this is what we're going to do..." he said.

"Sarah..." He turned a small smile on her, dark hair now tied back, wearing a simple pair of jeans and thick jumper; Sarah returned a worried look and waited to hear what he had to say. Tom turned to Jilly and took a breath. "And Jilly...I want you two to stay here, and call me if Kate arrives, or...or you hear anything...okay?"

Sarah nodded immediately, her eyes wide and fearful. Jilly looked like she might protest, but then glanced at Sarah, fell silent and nodded.

"Thank you...now, Matt and I are going to take a drive up to Drifter's End, see what we can see...we'll call you as soon as we know anything."

The girls both nodded silently as Tom slid his phone into his back pocket. He grabbed his car keys off the sideboard and looked back at Matt. "Let's go then."

The reality of what was happening, of what they might yet find out, seemed to linger, unanswered, in the air. Matt held Toms gaze for a long moment, as if asking if he was ready for this. But Tom looked away, refusing to think about it; the idea of loosing Kate was unbearable; she'd always been there; she had to still be there...