The Woman in the Woods

by Lisa Hall

  ‘It’s all right, Allie, I would have freaked out too. If it had been my baby.’ An expression, something heartbreakingly close to pain crosses Naomi’s face and I feel my gut twist.

  ‘I just panicked, I guess. I was expecting him to be in the cot.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Naomi looks down, sheepish, before changing the subject back to the reason why I called her. ‘Tell me what happened this morning, Al. You sounded terrified on the phone.’

  I feel the flutter of butterfly wings of fear in my chest, as I think about the bundle of bones wrapped in tissue upstairs in the bedroom. ‘It’s silly, I feel ridiculous,’ I say, but even as I say the words the butterflies take flight, panic lodging in my throat.

  ‘Don’t feel silly. Whatever it is has clearly got you rattled.’ Naomi leans forward, awkwardly with Mina still in her lap, her eyes on mine. ‘What happened? Tell me everything.’

  I take a deep breath. ‘I thought I saw someone, out there in the trees. Rav thought I was imagining it but … I really do think there is someone watching the house.’ I let the words fall out in a steady stream, worried that if I stop talking, I won’t be able to start again. ‘I was sure I saw someone out there, in the woods, and when I looked there was a patch where all the grass had been tamped down, a place where if somebody wanted to, they could watch the house in relative safety. I wouldn’t have been able to see them from the window. And then I started to find things.’

  ‘What things?’

  ‘Do you remember when Rav and I got the keys, I found a pearl in the bathroom? Mina found another one in the garden. They look old,’ I say.

  ‘Oh, Al. It could have been there for years …’ Naomi catches sight of my expression and falls silent.

  ‘No. Maybe, I don’t know. Miranda told me this whole story about how the Pluckley Witch came here with just a baby in her belly and a string of pearls, but …’ I shake my head. ‘I don’t know. Don’t you think it’s odd that Agnes Gowdie had a string of pearls when she came here, and now I’m finding them in the house?’

  ‘Well, it is funny,’ Naomi says, ‘but could it not be a coincidence? I mean, I’ve heard of the Pluckley Witch, but I don’t know the full story. Even so, Al, four hundred years is a long time for some pearls to be knocking about in a house and not be found before now. It’s probably, I don’t know … a bit of old costume jewellery.’

  ‘They don’t feel like costume jewellery.’ Naomi’s mouth opens but I raise a hand, letting her know I’m not finished yet. ‘I was prepared to try and ignore it, to ignore the pearls and the idea of someone watching the house, to let Rav convince me that I was just overtired, but when I went out into the front garden this morning, I found the bones, hanging in the branches of the yew tree. And that wasn’t a coincidence – someone deliberately put them there.’ I shudder, the idea of there only being an oak door between me and some lurking stranger (witch) making my nerve endings sing.

  ‘Bones. Now that is creepy,’ Naomi says quietly, her long, thin fingers tapping at her chin. Her nails are polished a bright coral, unchipped despite her hours spent tying florist wire and clipping stems and I resist the urge to curl my bitten fingernails into my palm. ‘Allie, it sounds obvious but are you sure you’re not missing pearls off anything you own? A decorative button off a cardigan or anything? One of those fancy purses you used to use?’

  ‘No,’ I say bluntly. ‘Naomi, I am not hysterical, no matter what Rav might be thinking. I am perfectly rational.’ I’m glad now that I didn’t bring up seeing the two of them together in the pub, suddenly sure that Naomi would use my words against me to convince Rav that I’m going mad.

  ‘Yes. It is strange, and I’m not disputing that, but they are just pearls. Someone probably snapped a necklace and they’ve just ended up turning up around the place.’ A man’s hand reaching out to Agnes’s throat as she is marched away, grasping the pearls and pulling, the gems bouncing across the floor as her mouth twists in a snarl. I blink and the image disappears.

  ‘What about the bones?’ Anxiety makes me jittery, and I want to get up and pace the floor, my swollen ankle holding me back. ‘Who the hell ties bones into a tree? Miranda called this place the witch house.’ I pause. ‘Maybe the bones appeared because of the charm.’

  ‘Charm? What charm?’ Naomi looks confused, her brows burrowing into a sharp V.

  ‘Remember the keys, and the feather in the attic? I went to see the old lady who used to live here – she told me it was a charm, hidden to keep the house quiet.’

  ‘Could the bones be some sort of charm? Something similar?’

  ‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘It’s hard to explain. They feel … different.’ Darker, somehow. ‘They feel like a threat, a warning. I don’t know. Maybe I need another charm to hide back under the floorboards.’

  ‘Superstition?’ Naomi raises an eyebrow at me. ‘Come on, Allie, you’re the least superstitious person I know. You don’t believe in charms. I bet this Miranda has pink hair and wears tie-dyed dresses.’

  I let the corners of my mouth lift in some semblance of a smile. ‘You’re not far off.’

  ‘See? I bet she makes it her life’s mission to bring up witches and throw them in people’s faces every chance she gets. I bet she carries a sage stick in her mirror-covered knapsack.’

  I let out a short bark of laughter at that. Naomi hasn’t even met Miranda and she’s got her down to a tee, not that I see anything wrong with a sage stick or mirrored knapsacks. I think of the shrieks from the woods, the scratching in the chimney, the way I was convinced I could feel eyes on me, and my smile fades. Even if Naomi is trying to make things seem normal, I still feel unsettled and on edge. As if there is danger lurking just around the corner, just out of sight. I can smell it, almost taste it on the air but there is nothing substantial for me to grab hold of and confront.

  ‘I wish my mum was here.’ A wave of longing washes over me, and I wonder how long she’ll leave it before she turns up again.

  ‘Oh, Al, do you miss her?’ Naomi comes to sit next to me on the sofa, leaving Mina in the armchair still glued to the phone. The baby murmurs in the Moses basket and Naomi tenses, straining to see into the cot. I shake my head, and we wait, the baby eventually settling again.

  ‘Yes, I do miss her, more than I expected,’ I say, the memory of my mum sitting at the café, coffee in front of her, dancing in front of my eyes. I open my mouth to say that she was here yesterday but close it before the words come out. I haven’t told Rav yet that I saw her, and while he says he doesn’t have a problem with her, I have to admit that life is easier when she isn’t around. And it’s easier for me to deal with her when Rav isn’t around. If she decides to stay longer than planned then of course I’ll tell Rav she’s here, but until then I don’t see any reason for Rav to know – he’ll only insist on inviting her for dinner out of politeness, and I’m not sure I could cope with the strain of the two of them in the same room at the moment.

  ‘You kind of get used to it, don’t you?’ I say. ‘When you grow up and leave the family home, you get used to not being around them all the time, but at the moment it feels odd not to see her every day. I always thought when I had a child I wouldn’t be able to get rid of her.’ I blink rapidly, picking at the sore skin around my bitten nails, as I think of the way she was so suffocating to me as a child. The way she wouldn’t leave me alone. It all changed, once I left to go travelling and met Rav, almost as if she wanted to punish me for leaving her behind.

  ‘But I thought you weren’t that close? Growing up, anyway.’

  ‘Hmmm. It was complicated, growing up with her as a mother. We were close when I was younger, it was just the two of us, so we stuck together. After I met Rav, she didn’t approve and we kind of … fell out. But everything changes when you have your own children, you sort of see things in a different light. You see things the way your mother might, you know?’ I could kick myself. Of course, Naomi doesn’t know.

  ‘And I just wish I had a child for my mother t
o fuss over,’ Naomi says, her words tinged with bitterness.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ I hate the way Naomi’s face changes, grief etched into her features.

  ‘No, I am. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. It’s just difficult sometimes, you know …’ She breaks off, sighing. ‘But I have you guys, right? I told you before, Al, I can help with the children anytime.’

  ‘I know. I do appreciate the offer but I just …’

  ‘There’s something else bothering you, isn’t there?’

  I wait a moment, uncertain whether I want to be this open and honest with her. I haven’t forgotten that she told me she hadn’t spoken to Rav, even though I saw her name in his messages. That she was with him in the pub, when he told me he was working late.

  ‘Al?’ she persists. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Remember I told you about the … dream I had? The one that seemed so real. I’ve had it again. More than once.’

  Chapter Seventeen

  Naomi fixes her dark eyes on me, a slight frown creasing her brow. ‘It’s just a dream, Allie. It’s nothing to worry about it.’

  Oh, but it is, I think, seeing my feet on the stairs, that unfamiliar room, feeling the chill swirl around my body.

  ‘It’s just a dream,’ Naomi goes on. ‘I think you’re having some sort of weird lucid dreams, maybe because of your hormones, or perhaps when you do sleep, you’re sleeping deeper than usual? I don’t know.’

  ‘It feels so real, not like a dream at all.’ I stand, forgetting about my bandaged ankle, ignoring the pain that bolts up my leg. ‘I keep waking up after it, with this … sense of dread. As if it’s going to reach out into real life and take over all of this.’ I sweep my arm to encompass the room. ‘What if everything is all connected? What if I did something really awful?’

  Naomi is shaking her head, her hair falling over her face so I can’t see her expression. ‘No, Allie. It’s just a dream. You’re not an awful person, you’re not the kind of person to do awful things. Look at you, you uprooted your whole life to follow Rav to Pluckley, you gave up your life in London, even though you loved it because you love Rav more. Those aren’t the actions of a horrid person. Those are the actions of a selfless person, a kind, decent person.’

  I think of the way the stairs creaked beneath my feet, the way I had peered into the darkened room to see Mina and Leo asleep, and I shiver, rubbing my hands over my arms.

  ‘Al, I think you’ve freaked yourself out over nothing.’ Naomi stands next to me now, taking my hands in hers. Her palms are cool against my clammy fingers. ‘Look at what you’ve got – two lovely kids, a nice house, an amazing husband. Stop focusing on the bad stuff and appreciate what good you have in your life. Come and sit back down; you’re going to make that ankle even worse.’ I let her guide me back to the sofa, sinking slowly back down onto the cushions. ‘Drink this, you haven’t even touched your tea.’ She hands me the lukewarm cup and I take a sip, grimacing as the cool liquid hits my lips.

  ‘Honestly, Allie, I think you’re more likely to be living in a haunted cottage, haunted by witches no less, than you are to have done something so dreadful that you can’t sleep over it.’ Naomi grins, and I utter a small laugh.

  ‘Maybe. Maybe Miranda was right after all.’

  Naomi laughs, her face lighting up, illuminating her flawless skin and perfect make-up. I feel shabby again, fat and frumpy, and adjust my T-shirt to cover my still lumpy belly. ‘I’d take a haunted house over my cramped, empty flat any day of the week. Why don’t you let me look after the kids for a day?’ Naomi says, the smile fading from her face. ‘There’s no shame in asking for some help if you need it, Al. I’m your best friend, you should ask me if you can’t cope.’

  ‘I can cope.’ The image of her name in Rav’s phone swims in front of my eyes, my gut twisting with the sense of betrayal. ‘I can cope fine. I just let Miranda’s superstition get to me. You’re right. Rav is right.’ I watch her face for clues, to see if guilt crosses her face but there is nothing.

  ‘How is Rav?’

  ‘Fine,’ I say shortly, not wanting to talk about him, even though I am the one who brought him up. ‘Working hard.’

  ‘I bet. He’s a good guy.’ Naomi takes my cup from my hand, still full. ‘Let me get us a fresh one and then we can change the subject, OK? Talk about something else.’

  I nod and sit back to wait for her to return. Maybe I am reading too much into Naomi seeing Rav behind my back. After all, they get on well, I made sure of that. When I came back from India with him on my arm, my mum was so dismissive, so adamant that he wasn’t the right one for me, that Naomi’s opinion became even more important. I hadn’t known her long before I went travelling but she was the first friend I made at college on the floristry course I took after school. Her opinion of Rav was important to me, important to the survival of our friendship, so when she had turned to me in the pub while Rav was in the loo and squeezed my hand, I knew she approved.

  ‘Allie, he’s perfect!’ she had breathed excitedly, ‘and you met him on the beach. That’s so romantic.’ She had faked a swoon, making me laugh so that I almost choked on my vodka and tonic. ‘I wish Jason and I had a more romantic meeting than crashing trolleys in Costco.’

  I had laughed even harder, loving the way we all clicked as a foursome. We’d go to dinner together, to the theatre, Naomi and I would talk books, both of us swapping recommendations on new releases and old favourites, and Rav and Jason would talk films and music, neither of them being big readers. We were good friends, all four of us, and when Jason left Naomi, it was us she called on to come and help her move her stuff, me and Rav who helped her redecorate the tiny flat she found on the outskirts of Pluckley. I don’t know why I thought a text from her in Rav’s phone would be anything more sinister than her perhaps checking up on him – on us – to make sure we didn’t need anything. Hormones. All of this can probably be put down to hormones. But then I think of her fingers linking with his, the way Rav lied to me about where he was and then, once again, I’m not so sure.

  ‘Cheers.’ I gratefully take the steaming mug of fresh tea from Naomi, determined this time to at least get more than a mouthful before the baby starts to grizzle in the cot. ‘Sorry for dragging you away from the shop. I didn’t mean to be so weird, I was a bit shaken up.’

  ‘You’ve always been weird.’ Naomi grins. ‘I just want to know that you’re OK, that’s all.’

  ‘I am,’ I lie, burying my face in my cup. ‘I am honestly OK.’ The baby wails and I jump, spilling hot tea on my shirt. ‘Oh, shit.’

  ‘Let me get him.’ Naomi is already on her feet, her hands reaching into the Moses basket for him. ‘Oh, baby, come on. Al, he still smells delicious … but he’s definitely hungry.’ The baby is twisting his head, rooting at her chest as she holds him close for a long moment before handing him over to me.

  ‘I didn’t even ask, is everything OK with you?’ I say, stuck where I sit now until the baby has finished.

  ‘Fine,’ Naomi says, ‘busy at work, and I went on the most awful date the other night, but apart from that everything is fine.’

  ‘Right. Well. That’s good.’ I run my hand over the baby’s head as he feeds, my eyes on his perfect peachy skin. ‘I just thought I should ask, you know. In case there was anything you were worried about or wanted to talk about. I know I’ve chewed your ear off.’

  ‘No.’ Naomi gives me a puzzled smile. ‘Everything is fine. You know I would tell you if I had something on my mind. Shall I get Mina a snack?’

  I nod and Naomi takes Mina by the hand into the kitchen, as I think again about the text from her on Rav’s phone, telling him she needed to see him. I don’t know what to think. Am I seeing things that aren’t there? I can’t confront either of them until I am absolutely sure. I hear the fridge door open as I gingerly drink down the rest of my tea, careful to twist my head away from the baby. I get a fierce image in my head as I drink, of the cup slipping out of my grasp, the no longer boiling but s
till hot liquid scalding the baby’s delicate skin. Nausea rises in my gorge, warm liquid bracing the back of my throat and I lean over the arm of the sofa, letting the virtually empty cup fall to the floor.

  ‘Everything OK?’ Naomi appears in the doorway, glancing towards the tiny puddle of tea that has spilled onto the floor where I dropped the cup.

  ‘Couldn’t quite reach the floor.’ I offer up a wan smile, the image of the scalded baby still bright in my mind. Naomi mops up the small drops of spilled tea, talking about the new girl, Evie, how they went for a drink at The Black Horse, but I’m finding it hard to follow the conversation, my eyelids drooping.

  Scratch. My eyes fly open and my shoulders tense. The baby unlatches and I freeze for a moment before I tug my top down. Scratch, scratch.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ I interrupt Naomi, who is still talking about Evie. ‘Did you hear that noise?’

  ‘What noise?’ Naomi says, but I think I see her eyes go to the chimney.

  ‘A scratching noise. Coming from the chimney. Just the same as the one I was telling you about.’ I watch as Naomi’s eyes glance towards the chimney again, before realizing she is looking at Mina who sits to one side of it, a small plastic tub of circles of ham and cheese with crackers in front of her.

  ‘Allie…’ Naomi’s voice is calm, quiet. ‘I can’t hear anything.’

  ‘Really? You didn’t hear that scratching sound? Like …’ I flounder for a moment. ‘Like claws, or fingernails or something?’ My voice rises as Naomi shakes her head.

  ‘No, Allie. There wasn’t a noise.’ She points another meaningful glance towards Mina, who sits oblivious. ‘You looked like you were starting to doze off. Maybe you imagined it.’

  I sit back, letting Naomi take the baby. ‘No. I don’t think so.’ As she takes Leo upstairs to change his nappy, I strain my ears, taking shallow breaths and listening as hard as I can but the noises don’t come again.