Chapter 12

July 20th 1988 – Crystal Cove Bay

"We're here!" Harriet May announced as she brought her pale blue Volkswagen campervan to a stop on the sandy beach.

Katie Goldman, Declan Dinkley, the Jones Triplets and Harriet May climbed out of the campervan and onto the beach.

The sun was shining brightly, and they knew they had picked the right town to visit, Crystal Cove was a small town with a low flow of tourism. The beach was almost empty, there was a woman walking her dog, and another woman walking with three dogs. A small group of mothers with their children who played in the sand and some older kids playing in the sea.

"What do you guys wanna do first?" George asked, "Set up camp or go swimming."

"Swimming!" Harriet and Katie exclaimed, and the guys nodded in agreement. The group quickly changed into their swimming kits and raced each other to the sea.

Henry and Declan splashed each other before they began wrestling in the sea. Harriet started to splash George and Katie until she saw fish swimming at her feet and became more interested in them than anything else.

Katie began splashing Peter, a cheeky smile spread across his face before he began splashing Katie back.

After a few hours splashing in the sea and laying in the sand, they headed back to the campervan when the sun started to set. After drying off and changing into dry clothes, Declan and George started on the fire whilst Peter and Henry set the camp chairs up around them.

Katie and Harriet were inside the campervan, "What food did you bring Harry?" Katie asked, hoping her 'hippy-veggie-cousin' hadn't brought a van load of vegetarian food, "I brought vegetables, you know like mushrooms, peppers and corn, I brought veggie burgers but I thought we could head into the town and get some…meat for you guys." Harriet replied.

Katie smiled as her cousin held up a bag full of vegetables.

"So, you and Peter."

"What about me and Peter?"

"You know, splashing in the sea, laying in the sand, like it's like every teen girls dream summer romance. Like, except this summer romance has lasted four years."

"It has not!" Katie replied, "And it's not a summer romance." She looked out the window to check that the boys weren't listening to their conversation, but they seemed to be having a discussion on how far the chairs should be from the fire, and where the sleeping bags were supposed to go.

"So, what is it then?" Harriet asked, but all Katie could do was shrug, she didn't know where it was going with her and Peter, but at the moment she liked it where it was now.

"Ok girls, camp is set up!" George exclaimed. "We need to head into the town and get some burgers and sausages, and some alcohol." Harriet replied.

"Awesome." George said, "Hey guys, who wants to go on a food run?" He exclaimed.

"I'll drive." Harriet said.

"I'll go." Katie volunteered.

"Me too." Peter said. George, Henry, and Declan exchanged glances and Harriet smirked. "I'll come too." Henry said, "You guys gonna be ok on your own?" He asked as he saw his brother and his best friend standing around a raging fire.

"We'll be fine." Declan replied. "Come on then, let's go before it like, gets dark." Harriet said, and she, Katie, Peter, and Henry climbed into the campervan and set off into the town.

"They didn't make it back to the beach." Mr Dinkley said. "They made it to the town and got some burgers, sausages and drinks from the store, and were on their way back to the beach."

"What happened?" Daphne asked.

Mr Dinkley sighed heavily, "George and I were sat on the beach waiting for them to come back, we saw some cars speeding by, followed by two police cars, and that was it. They had been gone for nearly two hours before we decided to go look for them."

Another sigh, "As we began to walk across the beach, we saw a couple of ambulances speeding in the direction of the cars and the two police cars. As we came off the beach, we saw flashing lights ahead, and saw it was the ambulances, there were also the police cars and two fire engines had just arrived. Just before a police officer could push us away from the scene, I saw the two cars which had sped by the beach, and…and Harriet's campervan, all a blaze."

The gang exchanged looks and Mr Dinkley wiped his eyes, "I explained to them that the kids in the van were my friends and we wanted to help, but they told us to stay back."

"What happened?" Velma asked.

"After the fires were put out, an office spoke to George and I, he said he and his fellow officers were in pursuit of the two cars, the people in the cars had broken into a liquor store and stolen a case of expensive whisky. They officer said they came around the corner so fast they didn't have time to stop when they saw Harriet's campervan coming towards them." Mr Dinkley explained. "George and I went to the hospital and waited for the others to be brought in, during that time we contacted our families and told them what happened."

Mr Dinkley cleared his throat, "Katie died. The others got away with a few burns and cuts, but they all healed reasonably quickly."

"That's how Katie Goldman died?" Shaggy asked, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way Shaggy, but yes, she died. The car crashed into her side of the campervan, and she was crushed when it rolled over, and the other car collided. George and I later learned that Peter fought the officers when they dragged him out of the campervan, he insisted that Katie was still alive and they needed to get her out."

"But they didn't?" Daphne asked, Mr Dinkley shook his head, "Not until the fire was put out, she died of smoke inhalation and major burns, and a head injury which knocked her unconscious."

"Peter was angry." Fred stated, Mr Dinkley nodded, "He was furious. He told Harriet that it was her fault as she was driving, but he apologised, and he had only accused her because he was angry. I began to see Peter in differently, I had not seen him like this before, even when he was an angry little ten-year-old boy. No, I could see in Peter's eyes, he wanted revenge for Katie's death." He explained.

"What happened to the people in the other cars?" Velma asked.

"One of them had an operation, but he was fine. The others survived with a few cuts and burns, the same as my friends." Mr Dinkley explained, then he quickly cleared his throat, "Your father was the passenger of the first car, Daphne. And your uncle Bradley was the driver."

"So that's how it's all connected?" Daphne asked, Mr Dinkley nodded. "Less than a year after the crash, Peter disappeared. We all set out to look for him, and our parents joined us. We were looking for weeks, and as July came to an end, we found a car burnt unrecognizably at the old recycling plant. After the police examined it, they found it was Peter's. Then in August, Peter was declared legally dead, though a body was never found."

"But?" Fred asked, and Mr Dinkley sighed. "But, after I started working for this company, when I was in my early twenties, I found that Peter was alive, and he had been in contact with Bradley Blake. It seemed that Bradley had been the instigator in liquor theft all those years ago, but he decided that his brother should be the driver. I searched through police records and saw that William and Bradley had both been stopped by the police multiple times before the crash, due to speeding, but they had never been involved in a crash before '88."

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way Daphne." Mr Dinkley said, "But since '89, Peter and Bradley have been working together."

"What do we do now?" Velma asked.

"My keeping you in the book has given me the chance to track Bradley and Peter. Whilst you were in the book, my back up arrived at took them into custody."