“How?”
“Oh don’t worry about that. I have my ways.” And with a wicked little grin he turned and opened the door. Holding up a hand to indicate that she should wait he stepped outside. He glanced back and forth across the road and garden and listened to the silence for a while before waving her forward.
They walked together the few yards to the farm. “Try not to worry Pauline. This will soon be over I promise you.” He threw an arm around her shoulder in a sort of friendly half hug and then pushed open the wooden gate to let her through. As she made her way across the cobbles she could feel his eyes watching her and his presence ‘keeping her safe.’ It warmed her and she was surprised by the thrill of something approaching excitement deep in her gut. She grinned to herself. For some unaccountable reason, in the midst of all this turmoil, she felt happy.
Chapter 35
“Oh my word, I was getting so worried! Are you alright? You look a bit flushed.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine Dolly. It was just lovely over at the cottage. Peaceful you know, and I took a little time. I hope you weren’t worried.”
“Well, I don’t know. The last few days have had me so upset.
“I wonder if you have a few minutes spare? Can we have a little glass of wine and a chat?”
“Well, yes of course. Dolly, I have to tell you that I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me. I would never have brought all this trouble to your door but you’ve been such a friend. I’ll never forget how lovely you’ve been.”
“Oh, now come on don’t be getting upset. Don’t cry. Come on let’s have a drink.”
“Can we sit in the garden, that little private bit at the back, behind the barn? It’s such a lovely evening. You know I used to come to Cornwall so much when I was little and over the years I had forgotten how magical it can be. All this drama could have spoiled it but meeting you and receiving such kindness, it’s made me determined to somehow handle all this, you know, not let it spoil my memories.”
“Well, I only did what anyone would do and yes, I know what you mean about the magic. I missed the place such a lot when I was away and when I lost my husband, Bill, I just wanted to come home.
“Will you ever go back to your husband do you think?”
“No, no definitely not. He used to hit me.”
“Oh, my word. You poor thing. It’s despicable, absolutely unforgiveable. Was it him? Was it your husband who sent that awful man, the one who took you away?”
“Oh… no… no it wasn’t him; not George. That was all to do with something else.”
“But, why – I mean why did that happen? Oh no, no you don’t have to tell me. I shouldn’t be asking. It’s just so – well so odd and unexpected. That sort of thing doesn’t happen here; thugs and kidnappers. Of course we have our bits of robberies and so on but nothing like that. When I think about it, you over there in that awful cave all day and then struggling back on your own all bruised… oh, it makes my blood boil.”
“Hey, come on it’s all over. Let’s take these glasses outside and enjoy the peace.”
Sitting on the little flagged patio in the early dark, listening to the quiet shush of waves on the beach and the cry of an owl hunting in the woods soothed and quietened Pauline. It should have been bliss; it would have been if the shadows hadn’t held such threats and the rattle of dried grass on the dunes hadn’t sounded so very like footsteps and if only a tall, bulky man with a bald head and kind eyes had been standing close and keeping her safe.
“What are you going to do Pauline?”
“Do?”
“Yes, you can stay here as long as you like. I hope you know that. You can stay here until you are ready to go on to your new place in France – or whatever you are planning now. The thing is though; you must be so confused with everything that’s happened.”
“Oh Dolly. I hope you know that I’m going to pay for my room and everything, is that… erm… is that what you were thinking? I suppose it’s best we clear that up right now. I want you to charge me whatever you would take for that room. Good heavens, I owe you so much more than that and I wouldn’t dream of you being out of pocket. Now we must be clear, yes?”
“Well, that wasn’t what I really meant but yes, I suppose we should clear that up. Now, you can’t pay me what I would usually charge, I wouldn’t hear of it. But we’ll perhaps come to some agreement. I would let you stay in the cottage, if you wanted, but it’s been booked for a long time and… well…” Here a shrug of the shoulders was enough to convey the problems and commitments of the service industry and Pauline leaned over and gave Dolly’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“It’s fine Dolly, really. I love being in the farmhouse and if I can just stay for a few more days and then…” as the words left her lips she realised that she had no ‘and then.’ There was just now, this hour today and no knowing what tomorrow would bring.
“Are you cold Pauline? Are you shivering?”
“No, I’m not cold it’s just… oh what do they say; someone walked over my grave.”
“Oh… I don’t like that expression. It always seems so very sinister.”
“Yes, I suppose it is. Hey let’s not get down. Cheers, Dolly. Here’s to the future.”
“Yes, yes that’s better. To the future, whatever it may hold.”
Their glasses chinked and the wine glowed in the moonlight. Pauline wondered if perhaps that were an even more sinister thought than the old wives’ tale about graves and shivering. Her stomach flipped as she thought of the secrets and the threats and the strangeness that had overtaken her and which seemed now to be no nearer an end.
Chapter 36
There was no air. Her lungs screamed for it. Water tickled at her legs and she felt it rise, above her ankles, her knees, sliding upwards silken against her flinching skin. Sightless eyes strained against the dark. She was blind, blind and gasping and desperate. High above a tiny light beckoned. She reached but her hands were caught. She tried to turn. Her body was held. A scream gathered in her throat, locked there by the terror.
She had thought that it was over. Surely she had escaped the cave and the horror? She thought that he was killed. “Bitch! Bitch!” There was the shutter of small rocks, the fear and the blame “Bitch! Bitch!” As her body tossed and twisted the bonds grew tighter and the darkness gathered close.
The pain of burning lungs jolted her into wakefulness.
The lurch from nightmare to the dimness of her little room brought with it only more terror. The hand across her mouth, fingers hard against her cheeks was a greater menace than the lack of air in her dreamscape; for this was real. She no longer wanted to reach for the tiny glow as the torch beam probed the gloom. Every instinct urged her to turn from the light, but the grip on her face and the weight across her shoulders disabled her more than the ethereal bounds of the dissipating dream had done.
“Pauline, shush. Pauline, don’t scream. I’m sorry, It’s me. It’s Pete.”
He shone the torch to his face. Angled it so that she could see him; a deep shadow towering over her with the moon of his face terrifyingly lit from beneath. Deeps and planes and shadows, a mask of horror.
“Okay?” She nodded and even as he released his grip she pushed up and away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to frighten you but we have to go. We have to go now.”
“Go? I’m not going anywhere. How did you get in here? Where’s Dolly? Where’s Jim?”