Garrick made a strange coughing slash choking sound but he didn't say a word.
Even when Ella came charging in, he didn't look up.
'Morning,' Ella beamed. 'I've just been down to the shore and the sea is like a mirror of diamonds this morning. It's so beautiful I had to take photos. Then I remembered that we don't know the WiFi password so I can't upload them to social media. We must see if we can find it today. What's up with you two?'
'Nothing,' Mia said, a little too quickly.
'I'm cooking,' Garrick said, still staring into the pan.
'Hmmm.' Ella sat at the table and poured herself some coffee from the jug. 'You haven't had a row, have you?'
'No,' they replied in unison.
'Then why the serious faces? Didn't you sleep well?' She directed the question to Mia.
'I slept very well, thanks. I hear you did too.'
'Yep. God. Listen to us. Next we'll be discussing the weather. We sound like three old fogies. So what's the plan for today? Apart from going to the pub for lunch and meeting all the single guys. Are we tackling the locked door first? Or hunting for the password?'
'We're having breakfast,' Garrick said, and put plates of bacon, egg and tomatoes in front of Ella and Mia. He put his plate as far away from Mia as it was possible to get without it falling off the table.
'We should eat outside,' Ella said. 'It's a gorgeous day. Bloody Nora! Listen to me. I've really taken to this country living, haven't I? I think I may marry a farmer. Jet Cross is a farmer, isn't he? Or did I misunderstand Hettie? Oh for God's sake you two. Snap out of it. You're like extras in The Walking Dead.'
Chapter Thirteen
Thirty minutes later, Mia, Ella and Garrick stood in front of the locked door. After Ella's comment about The Walking Dead, Garrick had soon returned to his usual self, much to Mia's relief, although he still wouldn't meet her eye.
'Are we taking bets on what's up there?' Ella asked, as Mia turned the key.
'We'll probably find it's simply an attic filled with junk,' Garrick said. The door creaked open and he shone the beam of the torch he'd found in one of the kitchen cupboards, up the steep, narrow stairs. 'D'you want me to go first?'
Mia nodded and stepped aside. 'Yes, please. There seem to be even more cobwebs than yesterday.'
'Make way for my duster-on-a-stick-thingy,' Ella said, holding up the mop-like duster Garrick had also found while searching for the torch. She handed it back to Garrick. 'You're going first, so you'll need this.'
'Not quite a knight in shining armour,' Mia quipped, as he held the torch in one hand and the duster in the other, 'but pretty close.'
'I'm going in,' he said, in a deeply serious voice but the grin on his face belied him.
The stairs creaked twice as loudly as the door had done and with Mia following closely behind Garrick and Ella immediately behind Mia, their footfalls played out an eerie tune.
Ella gave a nervous laugh. 'I know this is silly and the sun is blaring down outside, but this still feels really creepy.'
'I can see a beam of light,' Garrick said. Then he let out a strangled shriek.
Mia screamed and Ella echoed it as they reached out for one another before realising that Garrick was laughing.
'That wasn't funny,' Ella snapped. 'I almost fell down the stairs when Mia screamed and turned around.'
'I almost had a heart attack,' Mia croaked, trying to stop shaking.
'Sorry,' Garrick said. 'I couldn't resist it. The roof's been boarded, so at least you won't need to worry about spiders, birds or mice falling on your head.' He stepped inside and flicked a switch on a wall. 'And then there was light.'
Mia followed him in and glanced around. The beam of light now blended with the ceiling light but Mia spotted two circular windows at each end of the attic room and one larger square window in the eaves, looking towards the sea. It had a padded seat beneath, piled high with cushions and a book lay open on a small wooden table beside it, as if someone had just left and would return at any moment. The roof boards had been painted white between dark wood rafters, as had the floor boards and the room had an ambience unlike anything Mia had ever experienced.
'Wow!' Ella said, once again linking her arm through Mia's. 'What a beautiful room. It's like a little sanctuary. I bet Mattie came up here when Hettie was doing the cleaning.'
They grinned at one another. 'I definitely wasn't expecting this,' Mia said, letting out a long sigh. 'I really wish I'd met her.'
'It sort of feels as if she's still here,' Ella remarked. 'But not in a creepy way. There's a mellow, chilled-out kind of vibe up here, don't you think?'
Mia nodded. 'It feels like a happy place. The rest of the cottage feels like a home even though some of it looks like it came straight from a magazine. You were right when you said this feels like a sanctuary. There's something very personal about this room.'
'There's hardly anything in it,' Garrick said, glancing around him. 'This would make a great bedroom. Or a games room. Or an artist's studio. But it faces the wrong way for that, I suppose. Artists prefer light to come from the north, I believe.'
'I think it's perfect just the way it is.' Mia strolled to the square window, knelt on the window seat and looked out. The sea glistened turquoise in the morning sun and as she took in the scene, a solitary couple strolled along the shore with a dog dashing in and out of the flat-calm water. Even the seagulls looked serene as they dipped and soared across a cloudless baby blue sky.
She had a sudden urge to grab a paint brush herself — which was odd because the last time she had held a paint brush was probably at infants' school and even then, art wasn't her favourite pastime.
'It's unbelievably strange,' she continued, taking a deep breath of salty, sea air once she'd eased the window ajar. 'I thought I was allergic to the countryside and wouldn't dream of living near a beach, and if you'd told me seven weeks ago that I'd be saying this after only one day of being here, I'd have said you were mad, but I feel at home here.' She turned from the window and looked at her friends. 'It's as if I belong in this cottage. As if it's been sitting here waiting for me. That sounds crazy, doesn't it?'
'Coming from you, yes,' Ella said.
Garrick looked doubtful. 'I hate to say this, but as you said, it's only been one day. I think you may be romanticising the place. Don't shout at me.'
Mia opened her mouth and closed it again as Garrick continued:
'You were half expecting a hovel in the middle of nowhere and instead you found a beautiful cottage with an incredible view, in what appears to be a picturesque village filled with warm and welcoming people.'
'And Hettie Burnstall,' Ella said sarcastically.
'She was warm and welcoming,' Mia added in her defence.
'She was nosey, a dreadful gossip and dare I say it? A bit of a bitch. Especially about the vicar.'
Mia nodded. 'Fair enough.'
'As I was saying ...' Garrick shook his head. '... This is a wonderful place. A true idyll. Even not being able to get mobile phone reception doesn't seem to matter that much. But give it a few months and you may feel differently. A few weeks, even. At the moment, this is an adventure. And a bit of a mystery to get your teeth into. Plus Ella and I are here. Will you still feel so at home when you're alone in an empty cottage? Especially when the nights draw in and the wind howls through the thatched roof. Things might not seem so perfect then.'
'Well, you're a real party pooper this morning, aren't you?' Ella threw him a look of reprimand.
'I'm simply being practical.'
Mia nodded. 'You're right, Garrick. I suppose it is too soon to tell. But I can't help the way I'm feeling. And right now, I feel as if this is where I belong. Besides, Alexia said there's a landline, so not having phone reception actually doesn't matter that much. As for being alone, I'll have to wait and see. I lived alone in London and it didn't bother me. I've got a car, so it's not as if I'm trapped here or anything. And as Ella said, I can buy a TV if I want one. I've got eight
thousand of Mattie's money left, so it's not as if I'm destitute either. And I can always get a job. That'll provide both an income and some company.'
'Where and doing what?' Garrick asked.
'Oh. Well, I haven't had time to think about that, have I? But when I popped to the loo in the pub last night, I did ask Freda where the nearest town was, and it's only fifteen miles away, along the coast. That's not far at all.'
Garrick nodded. 'True. But weren't you struggling to find another job in London? Ella said you were.'
'Don't glare at me,' Ella said. 'It's true. You were. And you know I tell my brother everything. Well, almost everything. So I don't know why you're surprised.'
'If you couldn't get a job in a massive place like London,' Garrick reasoned, 'what makes you so sure you can get a job down here?'
Mia tutted. 'I hate it when you make sense. Okay, so I may not be able to get a job, but at least I'll have people in this village to talk to. Everyone's been very friendly so far.'
'I'm sure you won't want for friends,' Garrick said. 'Or boyfriends come to that. I just think that, knowing you as I do, the appeal of this place may soon wear off.'
Mia crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'Perhaps you don't know me as well as you seem to think you do, Garrick Swann. You've only seen me a few times over the last five years. People change you know.'
Mia waited for him to respond but he merely looked her up and down, as if he was trying to decide if she had changed. At least on the outside. Ella didn't say a word. Which was very unlike her.
Eventually, Garrick nodded. 'People do change. You're right about that.' He looked away and glanced around the room once more. 'Anyway, I don't think there's anything else to see up here. And definitely no laptop. It must be somewhere else.'
'Oh, I'd forgotten about the laptop,' Mia said, pleased for the change of subject. 'I wonder where it could be? It's definitely not in her bedroom because I looked for it last night before I got into bed. Unless there's another hidden door. Although I don't think there is. After I found the bathroom last night, I banged and pushed all the remaining wall space and nothing else popped open.'
'Perhaps there's a hidden safe,' Ella suggested. You know, behind one of the paintings or something. There were several in the hall, a couple in the living room and quite a few in the dining room. None in the bedrooms though from what I could see.'
Mia nodded. 'That's a possibility.'
'Not many homes have safes, I would have thought,' Garrick said. 'But it's worth a try.'
'I've got a safe,' Ella added.
Garrick tutted. 'You've got a biscuit tin in a cupboard.'
'But I hide my savings in it. And the jewellery Gran left me. So it is a safe. It just doesn't have a lock.'
'And it isn't hidden or impenetrable,' Garrick pointed out. 'Not that all safes are hidden of course, but most have some way to stop or at the very least, deter burglars and thieves.'
'Burglars and thieves are the same thing,' Ella said.
Garrick sighed. 'No they're not. A burglar breaks in, or sneaks in through an open window or door, with the intent of committing a crime. A thief could be living in the property or staying as a guest. A thief can be someone you know and trust. Or someone who comes to your home on a regular basis.'
'Like a cleaner?' A sudden thought popped into Mia's head.
Garrick nodded. 'Yes. A cleaner could be a thief. Oh, are you wondering if Hettie Burnstall could've taken Mattie's laptop?'
'That's exactly what I'm thinking. I know it's a horrible thing to say, but she does have keys and she said herself that she'd been in to clean. There was something about her that made me feel a bit uneasy.'
'You know something else that's odd,' Ella said. 'I've got jewellery I've bought or been given, plus the jewellery Gran left me. You've got jewellery. Your mum's got jewellery. Our mum's got jewellery.'
'Okay,' Garrick said. 'I think we've established everyone's got jewellery. What's your point?'
'My point is, where's Mattie's jewellery? With her expensive clothes, shoes and bags, she would definitely have had expensive jewellery.'
'You're right!' Mia shrieked. 'But there wasn't a jewellery box on her dressing table and no special drawer in those built-in wardrobes. So where is it?'
'I see,' Garrick said. 'Well then, there must be a safe. And now we're not just looking for a laptop. We're also looking for Mattie's jewellery.'
Chapter Fourteen
'Perhaps we should've started by asking Hettie Burnstall,' Ella suggested, as they sat in the warm spring sunshine at one of the bench sets outside The Frog and Lily, three hours later.
After leaving the attic room they searched the cottage from top to bottom, moving all the pictures and mirrors hanging on the walls and banging all the walls in case there were more hidden doors, but they found nothing. By the time the church clock struck twelve they were thirsty and disheartened – until Ella suggested it was time they retreated to the pub for a glass or two of wine and Freda's purportedly delicious Sunday lunch.
Garrick shook his head and lowered his voice. 'You can't go around accusing people of stealing.'
Ella pulled a face. 'I wasn't planning to. I was merely saying that, if there is a safe, and we now believe there must be even though we can't find it, she may know where it is.' She grinned. 'But if she goes bright red and looks all flustered, then we'll know she's stolen the lot and we'll force a confession out of her.'
Mia grinned. 'She's such a gossip, she'll probably blurt it out anyway.'
'Perhaps it's all a front,' Ella said. 'Perhaps she's an international, jewellery and laptop thief hiding here in the village and doing people's cleaning to cover her tracks.'
'My word,' Garrick said, a slight grin lightening his serious expression. 'This village is a den of iniquity. First Mattie was a gangster's moll, then she'd stolen all her lover's money and was hiding in the village. Now Hettie's on Interpol's most wanted list. I wonder what Alexia and the others are hiding!'
'Alexia's hiding very little from what I've seen,' Mia said, perhaps a little bitchily. 'I'm sure the shorts and T-shirt she's wearing today are even skimpier than yesterday. There should be a dress code for a Sunday. Especially as the pub's right opposite the church.'
Garrick smiled. 'I didn't have you down as a frump. Besides, I like what she's wearing.'
Mia glared at him. 'Why doesn't that surprise me? Is that why it took you so long to get a few drinks and order three roasts dinners? Ella and I wondered if we should send out a search party.'
'Don't be a bitch,' Ella said, playfully slapping Mia's arm. 'If I had a body like hers, I'd be wearing even less. And so would you.'
'True.' Mia sighed. 'I'm just jealous.'
'Why?' Garrick asked. 'You've got a great body. Um. You both have. You simply don't flaunt yours. And, not that it matters, but I wasn't talking to Alexia. Freda took the order and I was chatting to Toby about the rugby team. If I'm going to be visiting here on a fairly regular basis, I thought I might be able to play a few games, or at least join in with some of the training sessions. You know how much I love rugby.'
'Who says you'll be invited for regular visits?' Ella queried, but with a grin.
Garrick winked. 'Alexia. At least she did in my dreams. I'm only joking. You're right. I shouldn't have assumed I'll be invited.' He cast Mia a puppy-dog look and she laughed.
'You're welcome anytime, Garrick, you know that. And so is your lovely sister.'
Ella tutted. 'I told you last night, I may never leave. And I was only half joking.'
'Look who's coming our way,' Garrick said. 'Better call Interpol quick.'
'Coo-ey!' The cheery tones of Hettie Burnstall rang out from the direction of the church and within a matter of minutes she was standing at their table, puffing slightly in her haste to get there. 'I thought it was you, my dears. How are you settling in? I hear you came to the pub last night. Did you manage to get all your unpacking done?'
'Hello Hettie,' Mia said, fo
rcing a friendly smile. 'Um, no. We've still got some to do.'
'Well, if I can be of any help you only have to ask.'
'Actually, you may be. Alexia told us last night that Mattie had a laptop but we can't find it anywhere. We've been looking for it all morning. Do you happen to know where it is?'
'And her jewellery?' Ella added. 'We can't find that either and we know she would've had some.'
Hettie's face turned a pale shade of beetroot and she loosened the white collar of her high-necked blouse. She gave a little cough and then the cheery smile returned.
'Wasn't the laptop in the attic room? That's where she kept it. I don't have a key for that because dear Matilda said that was her 'special' room and she didn't want anything disturbed. I understood of course. We all have our special places, don't we? She kept it locked at all times, even when she was in there, and she wore the key around her neck. I was always curious as to what was quite so special about it, but I believe in giving people their privacy and I wouldn't dream of asking. You've been in there you say?'
Mia struggled to prevent her mouth from falling open. Could Hettie actually hear herself? Did she honestly believe she gave people their privacy? The woman was clearly delusional.
'Yes,' Mia replied. 'This morning. It is a very special room. I think I'm going to keep it locked, just like Mattie did, in honour of her memory.'
'Oh, I see. Well of course, deary. I understand.'
'And the jewellery?' Ella persisted, while Garrick remained surprisingly quiet and sipped his beer.
Again Hettie coughed. 'I believe she kept her jewellery up there too. Family heirlooms, she once said, and the jewellery I saw her in was certainly old and expensive-looking, not that she wore it often. But once or twice, and at Christmas and birthdays, that sort of thing. I'm not one for adornments, myself, but if others choose to wear their little trinkets and keep them hidden away, who am I to judge them? My wedding ring is all I need.'
Hettie twisted the simple gold band on her left hand and Mia stared at it. She hadn't noticed it yesterday and hadn't thought to ask if Hettie was married. From the things Hettie had said, Mia had assumed she wasn't. And the fact that Hettie had mentioned that only Prince Gustav, her pet rat, was waiting for his tea, made it obvious that if there had once been a Mr Burnstall, he was no longer around.
The Cottage on Lily Pond Lane-Part One_New beginnings Page 7
