She walked as far as the rocks and trudged up through the soft sand and found the rocky seat that was a favourite during the day. The boulders still held the heat of the sun and she shuffled backwards to rest against the warm hardness. It was slack tide and the waves were little more than silver frills on the edges of the great billow. She felt safe and calm and so very lucky to be here in this moment.
She closed her eyes. The darkness had never held any fear for her. She knew only too well that danger and trouble came in the full light of day and not from hidden mysteries but from the hands of those best known and closest. The murmur of waves lulled her mind and the dull rolling of the sea amongst the rocks sounded like the heartbeat of the very earth itself. If she were to sink down now and become one with the beach and the water and the wondrous sky she would have no regrets.
After a while a chill breeze rippled across the dunes and drew the tiny hairs on her arms to attention. She dragged on the warm sweatshirt that she had brought and with a sigh pushed herself up and began the walk back to the cottage and a cup of tea and the cosiness of the bright little lounge.
Should she come again tomorrow, or would familiarity spoil the magic? Well, the weather, her mood and instinct would inform her decision, but not the stories of ghosts in the sand dunes and hauntings on the cliffs. She had felt no threat and no fear and had loved the whole experience.
As she trekked the last few yards to the little gate in the back garden there was the rumble of an engine. No light showed on the road and no swish of tyres gave witness to a passing vehicle. She paused beside the wall. A few hundred yards down the road a gleam in the hedgerow drew her attention. The moonlight glinted on a hard reflective surface – didn’t it? Was a car parked in the gateway to the cow meadow? She couldn’t be sure...
She closed the door behind her and went to the window to pull the drapes. The garden was shades and shadows save for the beautiful rambling rose. Tree branches shifted in the stiffening breeze and down against the wall of the barn. Where the farm and cottage shared space a darker shadow formed and moved and was swallowed by the night. She gulped. All the time on the beach she had known not a moment of unease and here, back in the snug little house she felt a chill of fear. She snatched the curtains closed and turned on the lights and double checked the locks on the old oak doors. Her neck prickled and she needed the noise from the radio and the comfort of a blanket around her shoulders but with no idea what she was afraid of.
Chapter 12
Later, in the darkened bedroom Pauline replayed the evening. She relived the pleasure of the walk on the sands and then the strange finale which had left her unsettled and nervous.
Had there been someone in the dark garden? She just couldn’t be sure. Certainly there was movement in the corner by the barn wall. It could have been a trick of the light, a cloud on the moon or just imagination. There was the rumble of an engine though. Perhaps that was just the trawlers out on the water and the effect of echo and wind. There had been a glint of something from the field gate. The moon was tiny and surely the light so very faint that it couldn’t reflect on anything. The street light could perhaps be coming though and yet the movement of the trees in the breeze had made it tricky to see properly. Was there something? Was it imagination?
She flipped over onto her side and dragged the duvet tightly around her shoulders. The house was secure. Though it was away from the village it was hardly deserted. The farm was just a few hundred yards away. She had her new phone on the bedside table. She was safe and in any case why should there be someone in the garden or in the lane? It didn’t make any sense and here she was spoiling the wonderful evening worrying about something that hadn’t happened.
She closed her eyes and used a meditation technique to lull herself into sleep. She travelled in her mind to a desert island and walked the deserted beach and the real and present swoosh of the waves from across the meadow made the familiar, virtual journey very real. When she slept she slept deeply with dreams of the beach and the water and a presence in the cove and when she woke in the bright morning she puzzled about who the figure had been standing on the cliff top watching her. Dream and reality had melded and blurred and it was fascinating.
“Hello – are you there?
“Morning Dolly, come in I’ve put the kettle on.”
“Lovely. How are you today?”
“I’m fine thanks. I can’t believe how quickly the time is going though. I realised today that this time next week I’ll be packing up to leave. I’m going to miss it here.”
“Aww that’s nice to hear but you’ve got a lot of exciting things ahead.”
“Yes, yes I have. I have had a wonderful time though and last night was so brilliant. I went down to the beach in the dark and walked on the sand and sat in the rocks. It was amazing, hey and no ghost!” As she made the light-hearted comment a knot of unease pulled at her and she turned away, unsure whether the moment showed in her face.
“Well that’s good. It was a beautiful evening. Did your friend go with you?”
“Sorry?”
“Your friend, did he go with you? I hope you don’t mind me mentioning this by the way. You have rented the cottage and it sleeps four of course and it’s fine to have someone to come and stay but you do need to let me know when there are extra people in. It’s all to do with the fire regulations.”
“I’m sorry Dolly – I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“Oh. Well that’s odd. Mind I didn’t see him myself. Jim told me about him.”
“Who?”
“Okay, Jim said that when he went up to check on the beasts in the top field he saw a friend of yours in the garden. He waved and the bloke waved back and then just went and sat on the little bench. It didn’t seem strange or suspicious and the chap didn’t seem put out. Jim said it was just as if he was waiting for you.”
“Are you okay Pauline, you’ve gone very pale. Hey, here, sit down.”
“Sorry Dolly, sorry, just a dizzy spell. I’m fine really. I… I just need my breakfast. But I assure you, I haven’t got a friend here and I’m not expecting anyone. It must just have been someone needing a sit down perhaps? Maybe it was someone local? Perhaps if you ask Jim again?”
“Yes, yes I will. Well how odd.”
The chill that she felt was nothing to do with a change in the weather and Pauline breathed a sigh of relief as the other woman gathered up her things and left to work in the vegetable garden.
She sat in the chair by the window staring out at the little wooden bench. Who the hell had been sitting there while she was away? She knew no-one apart from Dolly and Jim and none of the people from her past had any idea where she was.
Did they?
Chapter 13
The barn wall formed part of the garden boundary. Beside the old stones the soil was damp and soft. Pauline peered down through the heather and rose bushes. She had to check, though she hoped there would be nothing to find. The shadow and movement had been imagination and a movement of the light, hadn’t it? No, not that, for she could see them now: footprints unmistakable in the dark earth. Perhaps they had been there for a long time? She had never come over here before peering and poking about; why would she? The branches scraped at her arms and hands. As she knelt to look more closely she caught her cheek on a sharp thorn and hissed with shock.