by Agatha Frost
Iris exited the church, leaving the three of them in the vestibule to digest what she had just said.
“She just described Flora,” Percy said, his nose wrinkled. “Odd, don’t you think?”
Julia had been so wrapped up thinking about Skye during the service that she hadn’t noticed Flora wasn’t there to say goodbye to her best, and only, friend.
Dot and Percy departed to go for lunch, leaving Julia to stand alone outside the church; they didn’t invite her along. She stared at the Christmas market, which had started to pick up now that the rain had passed. She considered fitting in a spot of Christmas shopping if only to avoid spending the rest of the day back at the cottage desperately searching online for any trace of Skye. Julia looked past the market to her dark café, more grateful than ever to have the business in her life. It had taken a week away to realise how it had become her security blanket when times were tough. Without it, she felt like a ship lacking a sail.
Instead of shopping, she decided she was going to walk to the post office and buy the ingredients to bake something in her café’s kitchen. She hadn’t picked up a wooden spoon since she had baked the firework biscuits. As she walked past, she cast one last glance in the direction of Gloria’s grave, surprised to see someone there. At first, she thought it might have been the gravedigger filling in the hole, but unless the gravedigger was an attractive, English rose beauty in her late-twenties, she knew she was mistaken.
“Skye,” Julia breathed aloud.
Julia hopped over the wall and set off towards the still open grave. Skye was looming over it, wearing a black trench-coat that nipped in at her tiny waist. A bunch of red roses, not unlike the ones that had turned up for Julia’s wedding, had been laid next to the hole.
“Skye!” Julia called. “Stop right there!”
Skye glanced at Julia before setting off in the opposite direction. Julia ran to catch up, her shoes squelching in the sodden grass as she weaved in and out of the headstones. Skye was calmly walking away, albeit at a brisk pace. Julia closed the gap between them and wrapped her arm around Skye’s arm.
“What do you want?” Skye cried, dragging her arm away from Julia. “Leave me alone!”
“I just want to talk to you,” Julia replied, taken aback by Skye’s volume. “I know you lied about your alibis.”
“Is that why you’ve had Alfie ringing me nonstop?” Skye snapped. “And why you visited my place of work to ask about me? What’s wrong with you, woman? Are you that in love with Alfie that you can’t stand the thought of him being with someone else?”
“In love with Alfie?” Julia couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that what you think?”
“It’s obvious!” Skye threw her arms wide. “Why else are you in my face questioning me every chance you get? Alfie told me you were investigating the choir, and I just knew you’d pick on me. Women like you always do.”
“Women like me?”
“Jealous ones!” Skye pointed her finger in Julia’s face. “You’re jealous of me. I get it, you’re what, forty? But you’re still pretty, and you have a fiancé, so just leave Alfie alone. Leave me alone, for that matter. I don’t want to be any part of your game!”
Julia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.
“I think you’ve really misunderstood my relationship with Alfie,” Julia said in her calmest voice. “He’s my adopted daughter’s brother. I know there’s less than a decade between us, and yes, I feel protective of him, but like a mother would of a son. I care deeply about his happiness, but I’m not in love with him.”
Skye appeared to be holding her breath. Her nostrils flared, and her cheeks darkened as she glared at Julia.
“So, why the obsession with me?” Skye asked.
“I know you lied about being in the village on the morning of the wedding. There were cameras in the church to capture my wedding, and I saw the video of you confronting Gloria. I know she slapped you, and that you ran away afterwards. You told me you were trapped in a flood.”
“Are you surprised?” Skye exhaled, her body relaxing. “A woman I didn’t like slapped me and then she died two hours later. I’m not stupid. I know how that looks and sounds. I didn’t think it was important. I came here today to put that to bed and pay my respects.”
“And the lie about the cinema?” Julia cocked her head. “Alfie told me the truth. You lied and dragged him into it.”
“I was at the cinema.” Skye’s eyes darted down, and she clasped her hands together. “I was at the cinema with another guy, okay? I panicked when you asked, and I didn’t want to admit it in front of Alfie. I like him, but we never said we weren’t seeing other people. I was just seeing how things went, and I already had a date planned with a guy from work.”
“Oh.”
“I can get you the camera footage of me being there if you don’t believe me,” Skye offered, her edges softening. “I was there all night. I stuck around after the film ended and helped one of the new girls with a stock check.”
“I believe you,” Julia found herself saying. “I could tell you were lying before, but I don’t have that feeling now.”
“Thank you.” Skye half-smiled. “I can see why you’re protective of Alfie. He’s a great guy. Things might have worked between us if the circumstances were different.”
“Can’t it work out now?”
“There’s too much going on.” Skye shook her head as her bright eyes became shiny from welling tears. “I have a lot going on with work and all this stuff with the murders. I need some time on my own to figure out what I want in life. I have a truckload of debt to pay off, and I’m not going to do it working in a cinema. I racked up the debt at university studying fashion design, and yet I’ve never tried to chase that dream. Life got in the way, and I got complacent. Maybe now’s the right time to give it a shot. I’m still young, and the debt isn’t going anywhere for a while, so why not try to be happy while I pay it off?” Leah reached into her trench coat and pulled her purse from her inside pocket. She pulled out a pile of notes. “Can you give this to Alfie? It’s only half of what I owe him, but it’s all I can afford this month. I’ll get the rest to him as soon as I can.”
Julia nodded that she would as she pocketed the money, but something white and shiny around Skye’s neck caught her eye as she put her purse away. Julia dove forward and ripped open Skye’s coat. A glistening pearl necklace hung around her neck.
“Where did you get that?” Julia asked as she ran her fingers along the pearls.
“My aunt gave it to me.” Skye glared as she stepped away from Julia. “It was a thank you for getting her back into the choir. It’s probably just a cheap piece of costume jewellery, but it’s the first thing she’s ever bought me.”
“It’s not costume jewellery,” Julia said, her heart pounding in her throat. “That’s Rita’s necklace. It was taken off her corpse right after she was murdered.”
Skye stared at Julia as the words sank in. When they did, she screamed and scrambled for the back of the necklace. She ripped it off and tossed it into the wet grass. They jumped back as though it was about the explode.
“Are you serious?” Skye cried as she rubbed at her neck. “How did she get it?”
“Skye, where does your aunt live?” Julia asked, her voice shaking.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Isn’t it weird that you don’t know where your aunt lives?”
“She’s always been private,” Skye replied, her eyes shifting from the necklace to Julia’s eyes. “What are you saying? That my aunt … that she…”
Skye’s voice trailed off, and before Julia could finish the sentence for her, her phone rang in her handbag, startling them both. She fished it out to see that Barker was calling her.
“Julia!” he panted down the phone as though he’d just been running. “You need to come home right now. There’s someone here I think you’ll want to talk to.”
Julia didn’t press
Barker with questions; somehow, she knew exactly who was there. She plucked a handkerchief out of her bag and scooped up the necklace. Leaving Skye standing dumbfounded in the graveyard, Julia sprinted home. When she burst into the hallway, she wasn’t the tiniest bit shocked to see Flora sitting in the armchair next to the fire, gobbling down a sandwich with Mowgli curled up in her lap.
“I think it’s time to explain yourself,” Julia said in between her gasps for air, “don’t you, Flora?”
14
Flora continued to stare into space as one hand shovelled sandwiches and the other stroked Mowgli. Barker appeared from the kitchen with wet hair and a red face. He had a cup of tea, no doubt containing five sugars, in his hand. He passed it to Flora, and she paused to gulp it down.
“I caught her trying to shove these through the letterbox.” Barker reached into his pocket and pulled out two gold wedding bands. “It was lucky I was coming out of the bathroom when I did. I had to chase her halfway down the lane in my bath towel! She’s an agile little thing.”
Barker tipped the rings into her palm. Julia turned them over with her thumb. The yellow gold caught the light as though calling her to put her ring on. Had it really been a week since that dreadful day?
“Has she said anything?” Julia asked, closing her fingers around the rings.
“She sat herself down and asked if I’d make her some sandwiches.” Barker folded his arms and turned to Flora. “Could hardly say no, could I?”
“You did the right thing.” Julia patted him on the shoulder. “Can you give us some time?”
Barker nodded and retreated into the dining room. When he closed the door behind him, Julia ventured into the sitting room. Flora looked up out of the corner of her eye, but her attention was firmly on Mowgli. She stroked him from tip to tail, causing wild purrs to vibrate in his throat.
“He likes you,” Julia said as she perched on the edge of the couch across from Flora.
“William liked me stroking his tail,” Flora said as she ran the fluffy mass through her fingers. “It’s their pride and joy.”
Julia smiled. She stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, merely watching Flora stroke Mowgli. Knowing what she had to do pained her.
“Thank you for returning these.” Julia opened her hand. “We really appreciate you bringing them back to us.”
“I didn’t want them.” Flora shrugged, blinking her eyes repeatedly. “Didn’t feel right. They never belonged to me, did they?”
Flora looked at the empty plate as though willing more sandwiches to appear. Julia almost offered to make more, but if she did, she knew they would sit there all night while Flora ate everything in the kitchen.
“Where do you live?” Julia asked, consciously keeping her tone soft. “Where’s your home?”
“It’s in the woods.”
“You live in the woods?”
“My house is in the woods.” Flora nodded. “William loved the woods. He’d chase the birds for hours. Never caught one though. He wasn’t violent like that. Gloria hated cats, but she loved William.”
“You weren’t at Gloria’s funeral today.”
“Didn’t want to go.” Flora rubbed her nose with the back of her fingerless-gloved hand. “I’ve said my goodbyes to Gloria. She’ll understand. She was the only person who knew where I lived. People called her awful things, but she was kind. She’d bring me bags of food. She was good not to get anything that would go bad because she knew I didn’t have a fridge. She even gave me this coat.”
Julia stared at the pin-covered coat, which she had noticed was many sizes too big for her tiny frame during Flora’s first trip to the cottage.
“Can you show me where you live?” Julia asked.
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to see it.”
Flora squinted as she decided her answer. After a minute of consideration, she nodded. Julia stood up and lifted Mowgli off Flora’s lap. Flora seemed sad to lose her companion, but she stood up all the same. Julia placed Mowgli on the couch and walked into the hallway, nodding for Flora to follow.
“What about him?” Flora nodded at the dining room door. “He chased me.”
“He doesn’t need to know,” Julia responded with a wink. “Our little secret.”
Flora grinned the first genuine smile Julia had seen from her. Several of her teeth were missing, a true statement to her age, despite her childlike personality.
They set off along the winding path into the village. Julia knew Flora could run away at any moment if she wanted to, but Julia had a feeling she didn’t want to. It felt like they were on a treasure hunt, and Flora was leading them to the jackpot.
They walked around the village green, ignoring the bustling Christmas market. They bypassed the church and set off down the lane to the school. Halfway down the lane, Flora scrambled over the stone wall and waved for Julia to follow. They crossed the field and passed the spot where the bonfire had burned only days ago. Flora walked right through the black patch of charred grass where the fire had roared. Barker had been right; she was a nimble little thing. Julia almost had to jog to keep up with her speedy pace.
They entered Haworth Forest at the exact spot they had talked on the night of the bonfire. Julia suddenly realised where Flora had flitted off to when her back was turned.
Flora manoeuvred through the forest as though she was at one with the space. She hopped over fallen trees and ducked under low-hanging branches without looking. Julia tried her best to follow in her footsteps, but twigs and thorns scratched at her skin.
They walked for what felt a lifetime, until Julia began to wonder if Flora was leading her on a fool’s errand. She knew Haworth Forest was dense and spanned several miles, but it had to end eventually.
“Where are we going?” Julia called after Flora, who was way ahead.
Instead of replying verbally, Flora gestured for Julia to follow. Finally, the old woman slowed down. They walked for another minute before reaching a steep, muddy hill. At the top of the hill, Julia looked down at a rundown cottage. It had bricks missing from the walls, and parts of the roof were absent. Julia wondered if Flora was playing a trick on her, but the sprightly woman set off down the slope, bouncing from tree to tree. Julia attempted to copy her route, but she slipped several times, muddying her jeans in the process. When she reached the bottom of the slope, Flora had already withdrawn into the cottage.
As Julia crept towards the strange building, she suddenly remembered a story from her youth. Children at school had talked about a witch who lived in the forest in her own house, not unlike the lady from the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale. The children would scare each other by telling wild stories about the things she did to anyone who dared venture inside. Julia had always known it was nothing more than a tale, but it had kept her from exploring too far into the dense wood. It struck her that this was the furthest she had travelled, despite being born and raised in the village. Was Flora the witch from the story? All the best tales had an element of truth in them, after all.
Casting those silly thoughts from her mind, Julia walked towards the front door. It was inches shy of the ground and looked like it might rot off any second. She pushed on it, and its hinges screamed out for oil. What met Julia inside made her jaw drop.
Flora sat in an old rocking chair in the corner under a hole in the roof. Light streamed through, but a plastic sheet had been hung to protect the indoors from the elements. The glassless windows were boarded with wood, and leaves provided a carpet underfoot. A metal-framed bed topped with a thin mattress and scratchy-looking sheets stood near a portable fireplace that seemed to run on gas canisters.
It wasn’t the furniture that commanded Julia’s attention, however; it was the overwhelming number of items on display. She didn’t know where to cast her eyes first. An upturned milk crate was adorned with dozens of glass ornaments; another was topped with as many ticking clocks. Trinkets of gold and silver glistening in the light lined a shelving unit. Julia took a step in,
wanting to see more.
Jewellery boxes of all shapes and sizes sat on the window ledge, each stuffed with handfuls of jewellery. There were even three bicycles, a pile of shoes, jars of buttons, and an empty pram. Some items looked worthless, while others looked like they held extreme value. A small clock sat with pride of place on another window ledge, and even though Julia wasn’t an expert when it came to style, she would have bet her life that it dated back to the Regency era.
“What is all this stuff?”
“My treasures,” Flora explained, her tone hinting that it should have been obvious.
“Did you steal all of this stuff?” Julia asked. “Flora, this is unbelievable.”
“It’s not stealing!” Flora snapped, her head shaking. “It’s taking. It’s different. I can’t help it. I see things, and I know I have to have them, and it doesn’t stop until I do.”
“What doesn’t stop?”
“The feeling.” She stamped her finger on her chest. “The compulsion. I’ve had it since I was a little girl. My mother called the feeling ‘the magpie’ inside of me. I’d take her things and hide them. I didn’t know why; it just made me feel good. It’s like they speak to me. They want me to have them.”
Julia was at a loss for words. She had never seen such a vast array of different items under one roof.
“And nobody knows you live here?” Julia asked. “People must walk out here.”
“Nobody ever does.” Flora shook her head. “Only Gloria knew, and now you do. It’s nobody’s business.”
“Do you have any power?” Julia asked, stepping further into the cluttered space. “Or water?”
Flora shook her head.
“How do you eat?”
“People feed me.” Flora kicked her feet off the edge of the rocking chair; they barely scraped the ground. “Gloria always made sure I ate when she saw me. And she brought me gas for the fire. She was a good woman. She looked after me.”
“Why do you have to live like this?” Julia crept forward and sat on the edge of the bed. It cried out under her weight, and the mattress felt damp to the core. “Surely the council could help you. What about your pension?”
