The 13th Destiny_Heaven's Deadliest Sign

by Roger David Francis

  The letter wouldn’t go away. She knew with certainty that if she threw it in the waste paper bin the phone would ring. It crossed her mind that Shandra had set up miniature cameras in her house and was watching her every move. Ridiculous of course, how could the woman have possibly known Beth would read her leaflet and phone her up? They were strangers sharing something that she didn’t understand and Beth just wanted an end to it. It seemed the only way she was going to achieve that was by complying with what Shandra wanted.

  Anyway there was no way the woman could have gained access to her living room, the idea was bizarre. Beth bit her lip, was it though? Was it any more bizarre than what was happening? She snatched up the envelope, tore it open and began reading,

  “My dear,

  You’re doing very well. So far you have sent me six star signs, now though you need to do better. You have only thirty hours left. It might seem like a lot but when you take out sleep and work it doesn’t leave you much time to complete your task. Don’t let me down. Jason is a nice young man. I’ve noticed the front wheel of his bike is a little wobbly, you should check it before he takes it out again.”

  Best wishes,

  Shandra.”

  Beth felt a coldness creep over her. She almost expected a face to appear at the kitchen window, eyes staring in watching her. Jason’s bike was in the garage, he hadn’t taken it out for over a week. Did that mean Shandra had been spying on her all this time waiting to make her move? A sudden unwelcome thought crossed her mind and she cringed. What if she’d been targeted? Had there only ever been one leaflet meant solely for her? The old woman could have been setting her up weeks before. The idea was so ridiculous that Beth laughed shakily. All teenage boys had bikes; it didn’t take a genius to work that out.

  “Mum, I’ll have dinner when I get back; I’m taking the bike out, me and Liam are going for a ride.”

  Jason stood like an undernourished stork on one leg in the doorway scratching his backside.

  “No!” Beth yelled and jumped up from her chair. “I mean,” She gabbled, “you should check your bike first, make sure it’s okay.”

  “God, mum.” Jason looked suitably embarrassed.

  “Don’t you God, mum me,” Beth shouted, “show me your bike.”

  She stood in the garage staring at it. It was nine months old, a Christmas present and it looked perfect. “Check the front wheel nuts,” she demanded. “And don’t look at me like that, young man, you can’t be too careful.”

  Sighing dramatically Jason knelt down and began checking the nuts. “It’s okay,” he said, meaning, “I told you so,” but Beth wasn’t convinced. He was about to straighten up when he frowned. “Oh.” He said.

  “What?”

  “It’s nothing really,” But Beth saw him turn a nut another circle. Was that all it would have taken? She wondered, for her son to have hit a curb and go flying off his bike into the front of an oncoming car?

  “It would have been okay,” Jason muttered. “You worry too much, Mum.”

  Damn you, Shandra, Beth thought. What’s going on; were you helping me or was it you who loosened the wheel nut? Was she dealing with an elderly woman on the phone, a strange man creeping around her driveway or a younger woman slipping into the coffee shop unnoticed? She felt confused. Maybe they were all part of the same family in on the scam.

  She watched her son pedal off down the road and sighed. How long before he wanted a motor bike? Beth shuddered. She made her way back into the kitchen and stopped abruptly. The letter wasn’t on the table where she’d left it. The floor was clear. Had she crumple it up and thrown it in the bin? She flipped the lid up but apart from a milk carton it was empty. Jason hadn’t taken it, he hadn’t come into the kitchen, so where was it? Her mobile phone bleeped.

  Beth jumped and then gave a nervous laugh. Of course it wasn’t Shandra, she couldn’t possible have obtained her mobile phone number. It was a text message.

  “My dear, I’ve taken back my letter, I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want to mislead you. I worry about you, the last thing you need is the distraction of your son being hit by an oncoming car while out on his bike. You don’t have time for that. An associate will be delivering another letter right about now.”

  Beth ran into the hall and stared at the letterbox. She thought she heard a scratching noise at the door but it could have been her imagination. There was no way in the short time she’d been in the garage had some old woman crept into her house, made her way into her kitchen and took the letter. It was impossible given that both the front door and the back door were locked.

  She sidled along the carpeted hallway expecting an envelope to come flying through the letterbox but nothing happened. Had Shandra watched her son ride off on his bike, waited for him to disappear down the road before slipping up to her front door? How bizarre, Beth thought; unable to actually imagine something so unlikely taking place. Old women knitted jumpers for their grandsons and played Bingo with their neighbours, they didn’t creep around people’s houses frightening them.

  Her heart was racing. The top half of the front door was frosted glass and Beth thought she could see a dark shadow behind it. Even in her panic she knew she could be imagining it. Sometimes when the bushes swayed in the wind they cast a shadow over the glass door.

  Except there was no wind.

  A part of her wanted to throw open the door, grab the old woman by her shoulders and shake her, tell her to stop, that what she was doing was wrong. Instead she stood trembling, too afraid to move.

  Someone was outside her door. The shadow wasn’t moving, whoever it was seemed to be standing there for the sole purpose of scaring her. Beth stood on her toes, her instinct was to turn into the living room, pull the curtains closed and curl up on the settee; instead she twisted the door handle down and yanked the door open, gasping.

  There was no-one there. A neighbour’s cat sat a few feet away watching her, his tail swishing. Right beside him on the grass lay an envelope.

  Beth stared at it. She realised it had begun to rain; sullen black clouds floated overhead. Looking up and down the road she couldn’t see anyone apart from a man opposite cleaning her neighbour’s front window. Had Shandra driven off in a car? No, she would have heard it, saw it even; she had a clear view up to the top of the road. Maybe whoever it was had hidden behind one of her neighbours hedges. She shifted her eyes around, the uncomfortable sensation of being watched niggling at the edge of her imagination. Looking again across the road Beth frowned at the man cleaning the windows. He was swishing his brush up and across the large central pane of glass like an amateur.

  She stood in the doorway watching him feeling a cold chill running along her spine. Something wasn’t right about the scenario. Since when did Miss Danvers pay someone to clean her windows? She was a tight arsed spinster who singularly undertook the maintenance of her home because she didn’t believe in hiring tradesmen whom, she’d tell anyone who would listen, couldn’t wait to rip off a single woman living alone. Two days ago Beth had observed her with a large bucket cleaning the same window.

  The man had put his brush in his bucket, his movements slow and methodical, when he straightened up he half turned his head and his eyes met Beth’s. She shrank back alarmed at his expression. He was actually glaring at her. He was middle aged, unshaven and his grin was too wide as if he couldn’t control his mouth. Beth began to close the door but not before she saw him raise his arm and point his finger at Miss Danvers front door.

  Beth snatched up the letter and stuck it in her jeans pocket. Going back into living room she parted the curtains a few inches and peered out of the window. Her breath misted the glass up and she had to rub a circle with her hand to look out of. She blinked in disbelief. The man wasn’t there.

  He should have been standing by Miss Danvers front door. Beth knew it had only taken her a few seconds to get from the hall to the living room and look out of the window, but there was no sign of him or his brush and bucket and sudden
ly Beth was afraid.

  She didn’t particularly like Miss Danvers, in fairness she hardly knew her but what if the man had sneaked around the back and pushed his way into her house to rob her? Beth knew she couldn’t stand here in the comfort of her living room while the poor woman might be in danger. The letter would have to wait.

  She grabbed her coat and headed across the road. A miserable cold wind had whipped up suddenly out of nowhere bringing with it sharp rain that stung her cheeks. Had Jason remembered to take his Mac with him? She couldn’t remember. He’d be pedalling along some country lane by now getting soaked. No good worrying, she thought, deal with one problem at a time.

  She’d reached her neighbours house. Should she knock the door, ring the bell? But if the man was in there Miss Danvers might not be allowed to answer the door. She wished it wasn’t raining; she had to keep blinking water out of her eyes.

  Maybe Miss Danvers was out shopping or visiting friends, the thought stopped her momentarily. The man might know the house was empty; she could be walking into a trap about to be raped and murdered. He was inside now lying in wait for her, knowing she couldn’t resist poking her nose in. Laughing to himself because he’d found an easy prey. Was that heavy breathing she could hear? Beth pressed her ear up to the front door and held her breath but all she could detect was the sound of rain hitting the door. She thought about him gesturing with his finger and she shivered. Her mind screamed at her to run, get back to the safety of her home and phone the police, let them deal with it, but how long before they got here? The man could be wrecking Miss Danvers house, stealing the poor woman’s savings while she stood dithering.

  Creeping stealthily she put her face up to the front window and tried to look inside. She couldn’t see anything through the heavy net curtains, and now the rain was pounding down soaking her. She would have to go around the back of the property and see if the kitchen door was unlocked. If it looked like it had been forced open then she would need help.

  For a second Beth hesitated. Did she really want to put herself in danger, risk her life for someone she barely knew? Hadn’t she got enough to worry about without playing detective? God, she wasn’t even a member of the neighbourhood watch, that merry bunch of amateur sleuths who would surely have advised her not to take matters into her own hands. None of these meandering thoughts helped though, the bottom line was her neighbour Miss Danvers was in trouble and she was going to help her.

  And then she heard a noise. Shivering, she stood listening. It could have been a cat yowling or it could have been a woman screaming. She made up her mind.

  The passageway at the side of the house was overgrown with brambles, Beth stumbled past them and turned into the back garden. She’d never been in it before and was surprised how scruffy it was. The lawned area was covered in patchy grass and dirt and weeds grew in abundance all around the edge. She’d somehow imagined Miss Danvers would be a keen gardener but she’d obviously got that wrong. It seemed she got a lot of thing wrong lately.

  A black cat sat in the middle of the scrubby lawn its tail swishing, its green eyes watching her.

  Nice one, puss, Beth thought.

  Her heart stuttered for a moment when she realised the back door was wide open. Naturally she’d left her phone on the kitchen table like all good investigators did, and of course she’d come unarmed, not even a pair of nail scissors to defend herself with.

  Creeping to the door she stood listening. Her hair was plastered on her skull and she could feel the rain soaking through her jeans. Great, Beth thought, biting her lip, why don’t I just march in, trainers squelching and offer myself up as the next victim? She took a couple of tentative steps into the kitchen. There was a mug with half a cup of tea on the table and a plate with two biscuits on. The rest of the kitchen looked like it had been ransacked. Beth’s heart plummeted. What had that awful man done? Fear sent slivers of ice up and down her spine. Dear God, he could be behind the living room door waiting to pounce, grinning to himself at her stupidity walking straight into his trap.

  “What on earth are you doing?”

  Beth stumbled backwards hitting her shin on the sharp edge of the work surface. Miss Danvers stood framed in the doorway her hands on her hips, her lips pursed.

  “Oh, God, you’re all right.” Beth spluttered.

  “Of course I’m all right. Why are you sneaking into my house?”

  “I’m not, I mean I am but it’s not what you think. I saw a man cleaning your windows and I thought he looked suspicious so I came over to ....”

  Miss Danvers interrupted her, a look of outrage on her face. “Cleaning my windows? In this weather? I wouldn’t pay someone to clean my windows, I do them myself.” She shook her head. “I know who you are, that single mother from across the road.”

  “Yes, that’s me,” Beth babbled. “I know this looks bad but I was concerned. I’m sorry to have bothered you, I’ll leave now.”

  “Sit down you silly girl, I’ll make you a cup of tea. I don’t know,” she muttered, “you come in my house all bedraggled, what did you think was going on?”

  Beth sat down at the table. “I thought you were being robbed,” she admitted sheepishly.

  Miss Danvers gave a harsh laugh. “I’d like to see anyone try. Now,” she said briskly, “tell me what this is really about.”

  So Beth did. Starting from her first phone call to Shandra, but missing out some of the stranger things, like the letters, she didn’t want to frighten the woman.

  Miss Danvers looked intrigued. “And you say that people are actually getting what they wished for?”

  “It seems so, but not in the way they expected.”

  “Well, I have to say I’m intrigued.” Miss Danvers said to Beth’s surprise. “You say you’ve still some star signs to fill?”

  Beth nodded, “Yes, six more.” She took a sip of tea, it was lukewarm and too sweet but it helped to stop her shivering. Miss Danvers had pulled a tin down from a shelf and was fishing about inside it. She pulled out a twenty pound note.

  “Now,” she said to Beth, “I like a challenge. My birthday is the 25th July, do I qualify?” She’d put on a pair of round spectacles and Beth could swear her eyes were twinkling behind the lenses.

  “You’re Leo,” Beth said. She thought she’d misjudged Miss Danvers. She wasn’t up herself as she’d thought; she was just a private person minding her own business. The kitchen was a mess because Miss Danvers liked it that way. She’d always thought the woman was about sixty now she realised she probably wasn’t even fifty. Her face was almost unlined. Was she really going to sell this defenceless woman a wish that would in all probability go sour just so she could cross another star sign off?

  “You’re in luck,” she told Miss Danvers, pulling a soggy piece of paper out of her pocket, “here’s the number to call.” She hesitated, “Be careful how you word what you ask for, I wouldn’t like you to say the wrong thing.”

  “The wrong thing?” Miss Danvers eyebrows shot up. “Should I be worried?” Her tone was light but Beth thought she detected a note of unease.

  “Take no notice of me; it’s just a bit of fun.” Beth assured her hastily, adding, “I really hope you get what you wish for.”

  “I’m sure I will. It’s all rather exciting, isn’t it?” Miss Danvers beamed with delight.

  Beth could think of another word for it. As she walked across the road to her house she couldn’t help feeling she’d done a bad thing, tricked an innocent woman into doing something she’d regret. But wasn’t that what she’d done to the others, tricked them, got them to part with twenty pounds because she’d had the good fortune to win on a scratch card? God, she hadn’t meant to. They should have laughed in her face and refused to play the silly game, but of course they hadn’t because they wanted to believe that someone really could make wishes come true, like she had. The truth was Beth knew she was someone they thought could be trusted, good hearted, down to earth Beth, what possible reason would she have to con them?


  Thinking back to her first conversation with Shandra, hadn’t she known then that something wasn’t right? Beth knew she should have heeded the little voice in the back of her mind that had whispered to her, the sensible Beth who knew there was no such a thing as something for nothing but she’d ignored it because she was being offered something too good to be true and she hadn’t been able to resist.

  Now she wished she’d paid attention to the warning voice, not gone ahead because of greed, and that’s all it had been, pure greed, that had made her do the deal with Shandra. But how could she have known it would go bad?

  It had seemed so simple, twelve star signs, a physic reading, surely innocent enough so why did it feel like she was ruining people’s lives?

  Maybe she was allowing her fears to get the better of her, letting her imagination take flight when all that was happening was simply coincidence, someone playing mind games. She could put a stop to it, all she had to do was say no. It was that simple. So why was she afraid to say it?

  Because Shandra wasn’t an ordinary person, she was something else far more terrifying. Beth knew this on a deep subconscious level and the truth was, she was afraid what might happen if she didn’t keep to her end of the bargain. Afraid what it would mean for her and her son.

  And that’s what it came down to, putting herself and Jason first, and if it meant bad things happening to good people then that’s what had to happen.

  Standing in her hallway Beth pulled the envelope out of her pocket. The same scrawled writing and old fashioned stamp were on the front of it.

  What now? Beth wondered pulling the piece of paper out.

  “My dear,

  I hope you appreciated my help guiding you to another star sign. If you preferred it that I didn’t interfere then I suggest you try a little harder to satisfy your end of the bargain.

  Shandra.”

  Bitch, Beth thought.

  Chapter 9