by Amy Cross
Then again, I first saw the woman before I knew the creepy story. Back on the jetty...
Suddenly I hear raised voices in the distance, out in the corridor. I step toward the door, assuming that someone has come looking for me, but then I realize that the voices are arguing as they get closer.
“I don't want to hear excuses, Elena!” Mr. Percival is saying. “You were all given express orders to never, ever bring guests' attention to the hotel's past.”
“I didn't mean to do it,” I hear Elena reply, sounding upset. “It was an accident.”
“Accidents can be avoided!” he snaps. “What were you doing with all those papers, anyway? Whatever possessed you to start dredging up the past like that?”
“I know we're not supposed to,” she replies, as I creep closer to the door, “and I never would have, not normally. But then when I went through to speak to Ms. Blaine earlier, after the near-miss with the chandelier, I saw -”
She stops speaking as my foot causes a loose board to creak, and I immediately realize that they must know someone's here. I hesitate for a moment, before opening the door and – with a slightly sheepish smile – stepping out to join them in the corridor. I've got to admit, this situation is more than a little embarrassing.
“Sorry,” I say, “I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. I was just... taking a breather, you know?”
“Of course,” Mr. Percival replies, clearly flustered. “And how is the rehearsal meal going? Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, it's all fine,” I tell him, before glancing at Elena and seeing a shocked, worried expression on her face. “To be honest, there are just so many people in there, I felt like my head was about to explode. I wasn't creeping about, I promise. I just wanted to find somewhere peaceful for a few minutes.”
“That's quite understandable,” Mr. Percival says, “and I'm very sorry that we disturbed you. It won't happen again.”
“I was just admiring that portrait, actually,” I continue, glancing at a dusty old painting on a nearby wall. For a moment, I look at the stern-faced woman in the image. “It's very... striking.”
“That's Lady Millicent Argyll,” he replies, “the founder of our hotel.”
I wait for him to continue, but he falls silent and there's an uncomfortable pause as I look at Elena and she immediately turns away. She seems almost scared, and I'm worried that I've inadvertently caused her to get into trouble. I want to set things right somehow, but I don't know where to start.
“We'll leave you to your thoughts,” Mr. Percival says finally. “Elena, perhaps we should continue this discussion in my office.”
“Of course,” she murmurs, still not quite daring to look at me.
“Thank you so much for everything you've done, Elena,” I say as she steps past me and starts following her boss along the corridor. “You've really gone above and beyond the call of duty. I honestly don't know how I'd have managed without you, and that's not including the time you basically saved my life.”
I hope Mr. Percival heard that, and that he'll go easy on her, but the pair of them disappear around the next corner and I'm left standing alone with the strangest feeling that maybe I'm losing my mind.
“You're not going to go crazy on the day before your wedding,” I say out loud, giving myself a little pep talk. “Absolutely no way. If you have to go crazy, go crazy after the honeymoon, but you do not get to go crazy now.”
I wait.
Silence.
“Not again,” I whisper.
I look both ways along the corridor, but mercifully there's no sign of that strange woman. I'm sure she's just gone back to work at the spa, or back to her cleaning duties or whatever else she does around this place, and I don't really think that I want to go wandering around the hotel on some kind of wild goose chase. I keep watching the far end of the corridor, just in case she makes a reappearance. I should just go back to the main hall, but for a moment I stare along the corridor and I swear I can feel someone watching me.
I know it's nuts, but I'm certain that I'm being watched. Somewhere nearby, two eyes are fixed on me, watching me intently even though somehow I can't see them. I swear my skin is starting to crawl, and for the first time I start to wonder whether -
“Rachel?”
Startled, I spin around and step back, bumping into the wall in the process as I see Robert standing right behind me. I'm startled by the blank expression on his face, although after a half second his familiar smile returns. He seems amused by my state of shock.
“I'm sorry,” he says cautiously, “I didn't mean to -”
“No, it's fine,” I tell him, although I can't help glancing over my shoulder to make absolutely sure that nobody's watching me. I turn back to Robert and see that he's furrowing his brow. “I was just... thinking,” I add.
“In the corridor?”
“Uh-huh.”
“That makes sense.”
“How's everything going in there?” I ask. “I'm sorry I slipped out, I didn't mean to leave you in the lurch. Let's get back in and check the damage.”
I move to step past him, but he puts his hands on the sides of my arms.
“Everyone is getting along just fine,” he says calmly. “There have been no murders yet, so I think we're good. I came to find you because I think this is probably going to be one of our last chances to be alone before the wedding, and because there's something I want you to see.”
“What is it?” I ask, feeling a flicker of worry in my chest. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing's wrong.” He smiles. “There's something beautiful nearby. Something in the forest. No-one'll miss us if we sneak away for five minutes. Come on, Rachel. What do you say?”
Chapter Eight
“Are you sure we have to do this right now?” I ask hesitantly as I follow Robert across the car park, toward the edge of the forest. “I'm not really wearing the right shoes.”
“Your shoes'll be fine,” he replies, not even looking back at me. “I know this isn't on your schedule for the day, but sometimes you have to break the schedule.”
“Sure, but -”
“So stop worrying. You'll love it when you see it. Let me be romantic.”
“I'm sure I could love it tomorrow,” I mutter under my breath, “but right now we're supposed to be -”
Before I can finish, I hear a door slamming behind me. Stopping and turning, I see Elena hurrying out from the front of the hotel, and I'm surprised to see that she's crying. She looks upset and flustered as she goes to her car, and then she fumbles with her keys. Just as I'm about to go over and ask whether she's okay, however, the hotel's front door opens again and Mr. Percival storms after her with a face like thunder. As soon as he gets to the car, he grabs Elena's arm and turns her around with such force that I almost call out to him to stop.
They're too far away for me to hear what they're saying, but Mr. Percival seems furious and Elena's still sobbing.
A moment later, he lets go of her arm. She stares at him for a moment, and then she turns and opens her car door. She climbs inside and quickly starts the engine, and then she drives away across the gravel before disappearing from view. Startled, I watch as Mr. Percival turns and heads back inside, and then a moment later I feel a hand on my arm and I turn to find that Robert has come over to me.
“What was that about?” he asks.
“I don't know, but she looked upset.”
“Maybe she got fired.” He shrugs, before turning and heading back toward the forest. “Come on. I'm sure it'll be fine, they'll have plenty of staff for tomorrow.”
“Sure, but -”
I turn and look across the car park once again, but of course Elena's car is long gone. Still, I can't help thinking about the look of utter shock on her face, and I feel as if something must have been really wrong. There's nothing I can do about that right now, of course, so I turn and start making my way after Robert. The sooner I can get this trip into the forest over with, the sooner I c
an get back inside and sort out the million other things that need doing before the wedding. I love that Robert has this romantic streak, but sometimes I wish his timing could be a little better.
***
“Isn't it great?” Robert asks a few minutes later, as he steps across the clearing and then stops in front of what looks like some kind of white wooden pagoda. “Isn't it just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your entire life?”
“It looks... old,” I say cautiously, immediately noticing how the paint is all cracked and peeled. “It looks like it's been abandoned for a while.”
“It's gorgeous!”
“The roof is slanted.”
“It has character.”
“What's that smell?”
“There's no smell.”
“Did you just see a badger? I thought I saw a badger over there just now. They can be vicious, you know.”
“That doesn't matter, though, does it?” he says, making his way up the rickety wooden steps that lead onto the raised section. “Its beauty is inherent. Nothing can take that away. When something's truly beautiful, that beauty never really leaves it, no matter how old it gets.”
“Be careful!” I call out, wincing as the steps creak under his feet. “It might collapse at any moment.”
“No, it's sturdy enough,” he replies, his footsteps thudding as he makes his way to the center of the pagoda and turns to me. “I checked it out earlier, after I stumbled across it during a walk. Come on up, Rachel. Get closer.”
“Can we maybe take a look some other time?” I ask. “Maybe when we don't have a million other pressing matters to deal with? I need to get back and make sure Mum hasn't screwed anything else up.”
“You need to see this thing for yourself,” he says, holding a hand out toward me. “Doesn't it look absolutely perfect? Can't you see us getting married here in the morning?”
“Well, not really, because we're getting married back out there on the lawn and -”
“We can move it here!”
“What do you mean?”
“We can have the ceremony here!” he continues with a beaming smile. “Imagine it, Rachel. There's enough space for the chairs to be arranged at the front, and we can stand right here and exchange our vows.”
“We're doing all of that on the lawn,” I remind him cautiously, while telling myself that he must be joking. There's no way he'd suggest moving the ceremony, not this late. “That's what we agreed. It's what we planned. In great detail.”
“But we can do it here instead.”
“The lawn's already set up.”
“So?”
“So it's too late to make a huge change, Robert.”
“Why?”
“There's no -”
“You've got to learn to be more spontaneous,” he continues. “Rachel, you said you wanted a perfect wedding. What could be more perfect that this beautiful place hidden away in the forest?”
“It's run-down,” I point out with a sigh. “Robert, it's -”
“No, look!” Suddenly he starts jumping up and down, landing hard each time on the pagoda's creaking wooden boards. “It's completely stable!”
“Stop that!” I shout, hurrying over to the steps. “Robert, I'm serious! What are you doing?”
“It's not going to fall down!” He heads to the railing and gives it a shake. “See? There's nothing to worry about. It's old but it's sturdy. It's been waiting here for us, all this time. You'll look so beautiful, making your way through the forest and then coming up here to where I'll be waiting with the registrar.”
“I don't have the right shoes to walk through a forest.”
“Live a little, Rachel.” He lets go of the railing and, again, holds a hand out toward me. “Just come up and see for yourself. This place is perfect.”
“Robert...”
“Come and see!”
Sighing, I realize I have to at least humor him. There's no way I'm ever going to agree to move the main part of the wedding, not now with all the plans well underway, but I take his hand and make my way up the steps, and the first thing I notice once I'm properly inside the pagoda is a moldy, rotten smell that makes me scrunch up my nose. And I thought the smell outside was bad!
“Isn't it perfect?” Robert asks.
“It kinda smells foul,” I point out. “Like death.”
“Nonsense. It smells fine.”
“It smells like rotten wood, or rotten... mud, or something. I think maybe something got trapped under the boards and died.”
“You're just being negative.”
“We're not getting married in this thing,” I say, looking around for a moment longer and seeing the peeling white paint that's clinging to gnarly old timbers. “Maybe it could look good with some tender loving care. It definitely has potential, I'll grant you that, but it'd take months to bring it up to scratch and we're getting married in a little over twelve hours.” I turn to him. “Robert, please, we've been planning this for months. We can't make a major change at the last minute.”
“Yes, we can,” he replies.
I sigh.
“I'll do all the work,” he continues, once again putting his hands on my arms as if to hold me in place and make me focus. This is what he always does when he's trying to change my mind about something, and it usually works. Not this time, though. No way. “Rachel, please, I've let you plan your dream wedding, I've paid for it all, but I really want everything to be perfect and I've just got this sudden vision of us exchanging our vows right here in this beautiful pagoda. You have to trust me that the ceremony will be perfect, and that it'll all go off without a hitch.” He pauses, staring into my eyes for a moment. “It'll be the most beautiful thing,” he adds finally. “I promise.”
Damn, it's working.
“Robert...”
I want to insist that this is a dumb idea, but he seems genuinely passionate about the idea and I don't want to come across as some kind of controlling bitch. Even though I can't stand the thought of my well-laid plans being undone at such a late hour, I guess moving the actual ceremony here wouldn't be that much work. We'd have to move the chairs, and do something about the smell, and maybe get a little more light through. But all that really matters is that we get to start our new life together, and Robert has paid for everything, so I guess it's only fair that he gets to change it around.
I can't believe I'm about to let him have his way.
“It's charming,” I tell him, trying to find the bright spot. “It's... quaint.”
“It's authentic,” he adds. “It's real, like our love. And it's old, and only true things get a chance to grow old.”
“I guess we can make it work,” I say, heading over to the railing and running a hand along the rough, cracked wood. I still don't love this idea, but I've been wanting Robert to take a greater interest in the wedding plans and I suppose I should let him have what he wants. “It might even look nice.”
“It'll look perfect, I promise.”
He steps up behind me and kisses the back of my neck, and I instantly feel the last of my resistance start to crumble. He kisses me again, and I smile as I feel him slip his arms around me. Part of me hates the way he always managed to do this, and part of me loves it.
“I always knew that we'd get here,” he says, his hot breath against the side of my neck. “Tomorrow, we'll be together properly. Forever.”
“And that's all that matters,” I reply, forcing a smile as I look up at the ceiling and see weathered old wooden slats with sections missing. I guess a more rustic approach might work, and I'm willing to try anything that makes Robert happy.
Turning, I see that he's staring at me with a curious expression, almost as if he's amazed by something. I guess the wedding's affecting him more than he wants to admit, because so far today he's seemed just a little off somehow. And then, just as I'm about to ask him what he's thinking, he steps closer and takes me in his arms, kissing me with more passion than ever before. In that moment, all my f
ears subside and I know deep down that he's fine.
Like me, he's just impatient for the big day, and for the start of our life as a married couple. And I guess now we're getting married in a pagoda!
Chapter Nine
“I don't care where we get married,” I remember telling Robert once, when we first got engaged. “I'd marry you in an actual pig-sty. All that matters is that we're together.”
I guess those words are coming back to haunt me now.
***
“Don't worry,” Robert says as we head back out of the forest, making our way toward the hotel, “I've got everything covered. Try to relax for the rest of the afternoon.”
“I need to get back to the dining hall,” I tell him, startled by his animation and energy. “People will be wondering where -”
Stopping suddenly, I see that there's a police car parked over by the hotel's main entrance, and that a police officer is making his way into the building. I stare for a moment, before turning to Robert and seeing that he looks worried.
“Do you think something's wrong?” I ask.
He doesn't reply at first. Instead, he simply looks at the hotel for a moment until finally – as if only just remembering that I'm here – he turns to me.
“What?” he murmurs. “Oh. No. No, honey, everything's fine. We're out in the sticks, I'm sure the police just do routine patrols.”
“But -”
“I'll go and double-check,” he adds, before leaning closer and kissing me on the cheek. “You should find your mother and see what damage she's managed to cause in the past half hour. I'm going to be busy for the rest of the afternoon, making sure that everything's perfect for tomorrow morning, but don't forget you promised to meet me for a sundown swim later on.”
“I don't think I'm going to have time for that,” I tell him.
