by Robert Innes
“Who is he?” Harrison asked Blake quietly.
Blake exhaled deeply before answering. “This is Nathan. My ex-boyfriend.”
He looked exactly as Blake remembered him. That same cocksure smile, his curly black ringlets on his head that would have looked stupid on anyone else, his shirt unbuttoned at the top to just about reveal the same amount of curly chest hair. As Nathan raised an eyebrow at Blake, in that same way he always had, Blake suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable as if Nathan could tell exactly what he was thinking and feeling.
“So,” Nathan said, putting a hand casually in his pocket and looking Blake up and down. “How have you been?”
Blake felt incapable of responding. All he could feel was his mind whirring painfully, trying to comprehend why Nathan was standing in front of him. Finally he cleared his head enough to respond. “Fine, you?”
Nathan glanced at Harrison and Blake could instantly tell the assumptions that he was coming to. “Grand, thanks,” Nathan said.
There were a few moments of awkward silence. Harrison picked up his suitcase and gestured towards the stairs. “I’ll just take my case up. Nice meeting you,” he said to Nathan.
Nathan nodded, a cocky grin appearing at the side of his mouth. “Yeah, you too, fella.”
Harrison didn’t say anything else. He just smiled awkwardly at Blake and then disappeared up the stairs.
“Nice looking guy,” Nathan said, indicating towards the stairs. “That your new man, is it?”
“What are you doing here, Nathan?” Blake asked him again.
“I told you,” Nathan said. “I’m on holiday.”
“Davina here, is she?” Blake replied coldly, the mental image of him walking into his bedroom and finding the two of them in bed together flashing through his mind.
“Yes, she is as it happens,” Nathan said, turning his head towards the bar.
“And how’s married life?”
“Not bad. We had a nice honeymoon. We went to the Bahamas.”
“Lovely,” Blake said, attempting not to sound as bitter as he felt. “Well, if you’ll excuse me.”
“You’ve got your man to get back to,” Nathan said, his eyes twinkling in that same mischievous manner that had attracted Blake to him in the first place. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“No doubt,” Blake said. He picked up his case and walked away, trying to look as unaffected by the encounter as possible. As he started to climb the stairs, his stomach churned and his heart pounded, his skin prickling with an overwhelming sense of anger and bitterness.
Blake walked quickly along the corridor to Harrison’s room and knocked on the door. Despite the fact that Blake had a lot of things he felt like saying to Nathan, the majority of them insulting, the last thing he wanted was for Harrison to feel pushed out or uncomfortable.
Harrison opened the door and stood in the doorway. “Hi.”
“Look, Harrison,” Blake said quickly. “Trust me when I say, I do not know what he’s doing here, I don’t know why he’s here today of all days, but you don’t need to worry about anything.”
Harrison opened the door wider to let Blake into the room. “Why would I be worried?”
“Come on Harrison,” Blake said, putting his suitcase down and turning to him. “I know what you must be thinking, that this is all going to lead to some big romantic reconciliation with him, but I can assure you that it’s not.”
“Blake, I don’t think that,” Harrison said, staring at him in surprise. “I thought I was the paranoid one. I did think you’d probably want to at least say hello to him or something so I left you to it. Are you alright? I know I’d probably be a bit of a mess if I bumped into one of my exes in the middle of nowhere like this – well, both of mine are dead so I’d probably be more than a mess but you get what I mean.”
Blake found himself laughing and then shook his head in disbelief. “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Have you seen him since you left him?”
“I haven’t seen him since I walked in on him in bed with that woman. When I was going ‘round to collect my stuff from his house when I was moving to Harmschapel, he always made sure he was out, cowardly arsehole that he is. That was the first time I’ve seen him. He tried to get in contact when he was getting married but I-“ His mind briefly flittered back to when he had gotten drunk, read the invitation, and rang Nathan up in the middle of the night before leaving him a tirade of abuse on his voicemail. “-I ignored him.”
“Try not to worry about it,” Harrison told him. He walked across the room to the curtains and pulled them open. “We’ve got all this to concentrate on for the next week, you’ll probably barely see –“ He stopped as he looked out the window and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Blake asked him.
“That hooded weirdo. They’re out there.”
Blake stood up and looked out of the window. The view from where they were, a few floors up, meant they could see one of the lakes that the manor boasted, just past the main gardens outside. Walking slowly around the lake, they could make out the same, eerie looking figure. The wind began to pick up and billowed the cloak around the feet of the stranger and even from the distance they were apart, Blake felt unnerved watching them.
“Stay here,” Blake said to Harrison. “I’ll go and tell Polly on reception.”
“Be careful,” Harrison said, not taking his eyes off the figure. “I really don’t like the look of whoever that is.”
“Don’t you worry about me,” Blake replied, smiling. “It takes a lot to put the wind up me.”
“Just ex-boyfriends, yeah?” Harrison quipped.
Blake laughed sarcastically at him and left the room.
When he arrived at the reception desk, Blake tapped the bell and peered out of the window on the other end of the hall. In the darkness, he could just about make out the glistening of the lake, but from where he was standing he couldn’t see anybody walking around it.
“Oh, Blake isn’t it?” Polly smiled as she looked out of the office door. “Everything alright in your room?”
“I’m actually here because I was wondering if you were aware that there’s some man, or at least I think it’s a man, wandering around the grounds?”
Polly’s face dropped. “A man? What sort of man?”
“Well, he’s got a large hood and-“
“Rupert!” Polly cried suddenly, turning to the open office door. “Rupert!”
The office door opened and a tall man appeared, concern etched across his face. He looked to be around Blake’s age, but he had a receding hairline and the onset of a bald patch at the top of his head.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, staring at the panicked Polly.
“He’s out there again,” she said, clutching his arm. “The hooded man – Rupert, he’s back!”
Rupert’s eyes narrowed. “Where? How do you know? Did you see him?”
“No, I did,” Blake said. “He was outside the main gates when we arrived and I saw him walking round the lake a few minutes ago.”
“Right,” Rupert said, pushing Polly gently to the side. “Stay here. I’m going to put a stop to this, once and for all.”
He strode out from behind the desk and through the large doors.
“Rupert, be careful!” Polly exclaimed as he disappeared.
“I’ll go and make sure he’s alright,” Blake said. “Is this hooded figure likely to do him any harm?”
Polly shrugged, wringing her hands together nervously. “I don’t know, I really don’t.”
Blake nodded and followed Rupert out of the doors and into the grounds.
Once outside, Blake jogged to catch up to Rupert, who was storming towards the lake on the other end of the grounds.
“Rupert,” called Blake. “Wait a minute.”
“I don’t need any guests to get themselves involved,” Rupert said sharply, glancing over his shoulder.
“I’m not just a guest,” Blake said as he arrived a
t Rupert’s side. “I’m a policeman. A detective sergeant actually. I’ve dealt with my fair share of intruders, hooded or otherwise.”
“This guy isn’t exactly your average trespasser,” Rupert replied as they approached the lake.
Blake looked around him. The lake’s surface was mostly still, with only the slight breeze around them pushing the smallest of ripples across it. Aside from that, the grounds were silent and the hooded figure was nowhere to be seen.
“You’re sure you saw him here?” Rupert asked him, looking around. “Which room are you in? It could have been the other lake behind you?”
Blake briefly raised his eyebrows and turned behind him. There was indeed another lake, a little way away from them. It was about the same size and stretched out besides the mansion itself. The only thing between the two lakes was the path they had walked along to get where they were, which led further into the grounds. There was also a small wooden hut, which was positioned centrally to the two bodies of water.
“No, it was definitely this one. I didn’t even see the other lake.”
“And what was he doing?” Rupert asked him, still looking fervently around.
“Just walking around the lake.” Blake shrugged. “Sometimes stopping to look up at the mansion, but that was about it.”
“What about earlier? When you arrived?”
Blake wasn’t used to being asked this many questions. “Not a lot. Just stood staring at the mansion. I didn’t even think he was a real person at first, until he moved.”
Rupert sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair then started walking back towards the mansion.
“So who is this hooded man?” Blake asked him, having to jog again to catch up to Rupert’s long strides. “I take it you’ve seen a lot of him?”
“You could say that,” Rupert said simply. “There’s no need for you to concern yourself though. The police we’ve got round here have never seemed especially interested, so I see no reason why you should be. Sorry,” he said, sighing and turning round to face Blake. “I don’t mean to snap. I’m – well, we are just under quite a lot of stress at the moment.”
Blake nodded. “I understand. This ‘hooded man’ been giving you quite a bit of trouble, has he?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Rupert said quietly, walking back towards the mansion again.
When they arrived back at the front entrance, Polly was waiting outside. “Oh thank God,” she said when she saw Rupert. “Are you alright? Did you see him?”
Rupert shook his head. “He’d scarpered by the time we got there.” He walked past Polly and back into the reception area. “I need a drink.”
“Well?” said a stern voice from behind them.
Blake turned to the reception desk. Standing in the office doorway was a man who looked to be in his early sixties. He had scraps of white hair around the bottom of his scalp and had a pair of silver glasses hanging around his neck on a chain. He was staring at Rupert, his eyes narrowed into slits.
Rupert turned round to him and scratched the back of his head nervously.
“I’m sorry, Rupert,” Polly said quietly. “I had to tell him, he was wondering where you were.”
Blake watched the older man walk from around the reception desk and towards Rupert. He couldn’t help but feel an intense dislike for him – everything about him seemed to suggest somebody who considered themselves to be above everyone else.
“He wasn’t out there, Duncan,” Rupert said, appearing to be unable to look the man in the eye.
“Who is that?” Blake asked Polly quietly.
“That’s Duncan. Rupert’s brother,” Polly murmured.
“Of course he wasn’t out there,” Duncan said, now standing over Rupert and looking down on him with his arms crossed. “Isn’t it a funny thing? Both you and your wife claim to have seen this ‘hooded man,’ this unexplained phantom figure, and yet you never seem to be able to produce any proof, do you?”
“I can’t help that, Duncan,” Rupert said. “And I swear to you – he is real. How else would you explain everything that’s been happening here the past few months?”
“I can think of one or two explanations,” Duncan said, looking at Rupert as he would something that he had just trodden in. “And they’re a damn sight more sensible than any of the feeble excuses you’ve come out with!”
“Oh come on, Duncan,” Polly said imploringly. “Why would we lie about something like this? It’s ridiculous!”
“Oh, that’s one of the brightest things she’s said since you burdened us with her, Rupert!” Duncan laughed, his fake jovial expression instantly being replaced by an intimidating glare as he towered over his brother. “You know, Mother was right about you. Everything she said was just bang on the money.”
“Don’t even go there, Duncan,” Rupert said, attempting to stand up to his full height, which wasn’t much compared to the man standing over him.
Duncan merely smirked. “Let’s not pretend you could do anything about it. Remember, you have a month. One month for you both to prove to me that this ridiculous spa business is worth destroying my home for.” He held his hands out, indicating the reception around him. “So I would suggest you stop trying to make excuses.”
He threw one last disgusted look at Polly and stormed away, striding up the staircase. Rupert watched him leave, exhaling slowly to calm himself down.
“Don’t let him get to you,” Polly said, walking towards her husband and putting her hand on his arm. “You know what he’s like. If you rise to him, he wins.”
“I will not let him treat you like that,” Rupert said, his voice shaking. “He has no right.”
“We wish you hadn’t seen that,” Polly said to Blake. “Sorry. Duncan can be…” she seemed to struggle for the right word.
“A pompous moron?” Blake suggested, smiling warmly. “Don’t worry about it. I know my fair share of them. I take it your brother has never actually seen this hooded figure?”
“Not exactly,” Rupert said, nodding to his wife that he was feeling alright. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
At that moment, Blake saw Nathan out of the corner of his eye. He was walking out of the bar, with his arms linked with a woman that Blake vaguely recognised from the night that he had entered his bedroom, unaware of the sight that awaited him in his bed. Davina had dyed her hair since Blake had last seen her. It was now ice blonde, and cascading down her shoulders
“Well,” said Blake, watching his ex and his wife climbing the staircase, trying to ignore the angry jealous flip of his stomach. “In that case, mine’s a vodka and coke.”
Blake smiled at the barmaid as she placed his drink in front of him.
“Thank you, Charlotte,” Rupert said, taking his own drink, a neat brandy, from her. “You can close up if you like, I don’t think we’re going to get many more in here tonight.”
“Thank you, Sir.” The barmaid smiled as she placed another glass down next to Polly. She picked up an empty bowl from the next table and walked away.
“So,” Blake said, taking a sip of his vodka and coke. It tasted smooth, the vodka very distinguishable but not bitter. “Tell me about this hooded figure.”
“You’re on holiday, Mr Harte,” Rupert said. “You don’t want to hear about our problems, surely?”
“Trust me,” Blake replied. “After the day I’ve had, I would welcome other people’s troubles.”
Rupert sighed, then took a long sip of his drink. “I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it was a long story. You see, this whole thing started about fifty years ago.”
“Fifty?” Blake exclaimed.
Rupert nodded. “Let me give you a brief history lesson. Urquhart Manor is actually a fairly recent addition to the surrounding grounds. I mean you get all of these old country manors that have been passed down generation by generation, but this manor and its grounds were only built in the last century.”
Blake took another sip of his drink and leant
back in his chair, waiting for Rupert to continue.
“You see, this whole stretch of land actually used to be an old steam railway. You know the sort of thing, fairly short journeys, taking visitors around the outskirts of the Lake District and this particular area used to be the end of the line.”
“So?” Blake said.
“The station here used to be owned by the Lomaxes. Now that really was a generational hand down. Right from when there was nothing else on the railways other than steam. Then, as steam began to fall out of use, the line was put up for sale. It had been losing money as more and more people flocked to electric trains and eventually, the Lomaxes couldn’t afford to keep running their station anymore.” Rupert glanced at Polly, who gave him a reassuring smile and then continued. “The lines were pulled up and my grandfather, Arthur Urquhart, bought these grounds. There’s a long history of aristocracy in my family so the money to buy the place wasn’t a problem. The Lomaxes’ were essentially pushed out. From what I gather, they were originally under the impression that they’d be kept on in some capacity, staff on the grounds or whatever. But my Grandfather decided to just hire his own staff, leaving the Lomaxes’ without a penny to their name.”
“I don’t imagine that went down too well?” Blake asked, pulling his ecig out of his pocket. “Am I allowed to use this in here?”
Rupert waved a dismissive hand in consent, so Blake gently sucked on it as Rupert continued. “No, it didn’t go down too well, as you say. It began, what I can only describe, as all out warfare between the Lomaxes and the Urquharts. Frequent vandalism, hate mail, fisticuffs on several occasions should any of my family dared to have ventured into the nearest village where the Lomaxes reside.”
“But that was all years ago, wasn’t it? What does it have to do with what’s been happening round here recently?”
Rupert drained his brandy glass and placed it on the side of the table. “Just as the manor has been handed down to my generation, or Duncan’s anyway, so has the family rivalry. We did think that as the older members of the Lomax family had died, the hatred towards us would die with them. But then, Polly came along.”
