‘I just want to get back to Etherby. Kim wants to see some fireworks.’ Etherby was the small town that Ryan and Kim lived in. It was a ‘rough’ area. Too many low-income households crammed into one place; a common saying on Lansin Island was: ‘You don’t mess with Etherby Boys.’ Chanton was firmly on the other end of the spectrum; in general, people from Etherby looked at those in Chanton with jealous contempt.
‘She’ll just be a moment, I’m sure.’ Juliet nodded in an attempt to calm him. He still fidgeted.
His copper-red hair was illuminated by the porch light above, and Juliet couldn’t find anything attractive about him.
She’d never understood Kim’s interest in him. Although, it made more sense to her now that the reason Kim liked him was because of the timely comforting he offered after Harry dumped her.
Unshaven, Ryan had ginger stubble, and his copper hair was so short and coarse that it looked like stubble too. His face was covered in blemishes of a variety, and his teeth were crooked. He was in his early thirties, almost ten years older than Kim; but Juliet didn’t think the age gap mattered much.
Kim appeared and hugged Juliet, ‘I’ve missed this. We should see each other more often.’
Juliet replied, ‘That would be nice.’
Ryan had already started walking to his car without acknowledging his girlfriend. Something about his slouched posture and miserable attitude unsettled Juliet.
‘Kim, before you go, if there are any problems with you and Ryan, you are welcome to stay here. Just call me, okay?’ she smiled warmly.
‘Don’t worry. Like I said, he’s just stressed. Sorry if he was rude to you.’ Kim walked to the car and as she opened the door, she shouted, ‘Love you lots!’
‘Love you too.’
Kim closed the car door, fastened her seat belt and waved. Ryan didn’t look back at all but simply drove off, into the dark.
Juliet got a pang in her heart when she thought, What if I missed something? What if Harry was warning me that Ryan planned to kill her? I couldn’t live with the guilt of knowing I could have done something.
She brushed it off as over-the-top negative thinking and promised herself that she would call her best friend next week to see how she was doing. That was all she could do without arousing suspicion.
Before retiring to bed, she made plans for Sunday and thought about the visit to Grendel Manor the day after tomorrow.
Whatever was in store for her and Nicolas, she was glad to finally feel more like her confident, assured self. That is, she was fairly certain that if another spirit was to appear, she wouldn’t greet it with a scream like she did the first time.
Her life was different now; she’d accepted that it would never be the same again. She wasn’t sure if she was excited about it or dreading it, or both; but whatever the case, Monday was approaching and she found herself wanting to unravel the mystery of Samantha Crystan.
Chapter 9
When Nick left The Crow on Friday, he waded towards his car. His eyes were fixed to the ground and he didn’t look up once. His head ached as he tried to find answers.
What does Grendel Manor have to do with my mum’s disappearance?
At the thought of his mum, his heart twanged but then he felt normal again; well, not normal, more like numb.
He climbed into his car. It took a few attempts to get the thing started. He drove to the petrol station and fuelled ten pounds worth.
When the cashier asked for the money, he found himself searching a practically empty wallet. He’d thought he had a note, but then remembered that he broke into it to buy the orange juice at The Crow.
He used his card instead, thinking that going a bit further into overdraft wasn’t going to hurt much.
It was cold throughout his house when he arrived home. He hugged his own arms and waited for a readymade Chicken Tikka Masala to microwave. He ate as much as he could and then holed up in his bed to warm up.
It was like his thoughts and feelings were out of reach, but he didn’t exactly want to feel or think, because he wasn’t sure if it would be too much to bear.
Eventually, he began to cry.
Thoughts came to mind about when his mum disappeared: Monday the 3rd of February 2003. At first, Nick and his family didn’t grieve because they were waiting for her return, but his dad’s birthday wasn’t celebrated that year. It was hard to make merry two weeks after something like that. As a family they were more focused on finding her at that point. When it became more obvious that she wasn’t going to show up, Nick started to grieve, assuming the worst.
At first, Nick’s dad didn’t tell him about the money she’d taken. When he did tell him, Nick didn’t know how to feel. He’d wanted hope that she was coming home and he didn’t want to believe that she was dead, so all he could do was summarise that she took out the money to start a new life elsewhere.
It made sense now that she had somehow died. He couldn’t remember her acting strangely before she disappeared. She was the loving mum that he’d always known her to be. She had no apparent reason to want a new life.
He shoved away his memories. He hated that he’d spent most of the last eight or nine years resenting her for leaving. There were still holes though; why did she take the money out? What happened to her car? Also, she could have died at any point between her disappearance and now.
He brought himself out of the memories. He cried on and off with a mixture of guilt for the woman who fell and sadness at knowing his mum was truly dead.
When he fell asleep, he slept like a rock.
*
He arrived at his dad’s house the next day. He knocked, and Tommy answered the door.
‘Alright?’ Tommy asked, his large frame blocking the doorway.
‘Yeah, thanks,’ Nick said. Tommy sidled out the way, ‘Where’s Dad?’ he asked, walking inside.
‘He’s makin’ us food.’ Tommy nodded towards the kitchen.
Nick felt how warm it was inside the house, took off his jacket and hung it in the hallway. He hadn’t visited in a few months but everything looked the same as he’d remembered.
Tommy had Nick’s old bedroom now. Tom and Tommy used to share a room with a bunk bed before Nick moved out, but they were a lot younger then.
The house was spotless. He eyed the furniture that used to be so familiar to him. He felt relief envisioning a life of no bills, no mortgage, no washing up, no ironing, and no food shopping, and in that moment, he missed living there and having everything so easy.
Then he brought himself back down to earth.
He found his dad, John Crystan, in the kitchen laying out some plates on the worktop. Whatever he was cooking smelt remarkable; a warm, commingled and engaging aroma.
‘Hi, Dad.’
‘Hello, Nicolas,’ John awkwardly wiped his hands on a tea towel and gave his son a hug. John released him and moved back, his eyes danced about, aimed down at the floor. His back was arched. Without looking up, he said, ‘You look well.’ then shuffled to the oven and adjusted some knobs.
‘Thanks, you too, I’m going to say hi to Tom, is he upstairs?’
‘Err, yes, in his room.’ John half-turned towards him, didn’t quite give eye contact.
Nick ran up the stairs in the manner of someone who knew the staircase well, then knocked on Tom’s bedroom door. Tom opened it, smiled at the sight of his older brother, and automatically hugged him. Nick found himself thinking why Tommy never greeted him with a hug.
I suppose he’s to coooool for that.
Tom didn’t have the muscular frame that Tommy did but they looked almost identical in every other respect.
Nick thought his brothers were more handsome than he was and could see why all the girls swooned around them.
‘You coming downstairs, Tom?’
‘Yeah, is food ready?’
‘I think it’s almost done, Dad didn’t say. You been alright?’
‘Yeah, Halloween was good; I didn’t get to go to The Burning Grounds this year though.�
� Tom pulled a disappointed face, ‘But I can go at any time. I just like going there on Halloween.’
Nick hadn’t been to The Burning Grounds for a while now, but he knew that Tom loved to go there. Tom would go every year on Halloween, but if you didn’t get there early enough then you weren’t likely to get in. To preserve The Burning Grounds a limited number of people were allowed in per day.
‘Did you go around Eradon Lake instead?’ Nick asked.
‘Yeah, you know me; I like going places, and thinking. I usually sit and look at the stone platforms where the witches were burnt and listen to my iPod. I walked around the lake instead.’
The Burning Grounds was near Eradon Lake which was another attraction for tourists. It was in the centre of the island and in the 16th century, when the stone platforms were built, people living on the island used it as a fresh water supply.
From the hills in the north above Chanton, Aberfin River flowed into Eradon Lake which sourced two other rivers; Nova River that passed Etherby and the village of Beade to the south and the Lynn River that flowed through Amiton. Both rivers went out to the Celtic Sea.
‘I’m sure you’ll go to The Burning Grounds another time. I might come with you actually, I haven’t been in ages.’
‘Awesome. Let’s go downstairs, I’m hungry.’ Tom said and nodded. He wore a black baggy hoodie and skinny jeans which created a top-heavy effect, but it suited his slim frame.
Nick started for the stairs.
Remembering something, he stopped and opened a door upstairs first. When he peeked inside, he sighed at the sight of piled up boxes, a dusty computer desk and various junk that crammed the room. He turned to Tom and asked, ‘Dad still hasn’t moved back into that room?’
‘You know what he’s like.’ Tom gave an understanding shrug.
Nick shook his head in resignation, and after plodding back down the stairs, he and Tom settled at the dining table with Tommy.
He observed how one of the chairs was an odd-one-out at the table that usually dined for three. John brought the food and set it down.
They began eating. Nick asked his brothers how college was going. Tommy bragged about how much he loved it, but Tom wasn’t so enthusiastic.
‘Are you still dating Sophie? Was it Sophie?’ Nick asked Tommy.
‘Sophie? Yuh mean Stacey?’ he rumbled a laugh.
‘Yeah, Stacey.’
‘Nah, I ain’t seen her for weeks. I’m with Chloe now.’ Tommy said proudly. ‘But I got with Jade and Kerry after Stacey anyway.’ Tommy threw the names out there as if Nick knew these random women, ‘Stacey don’t talk to me no more. She got with my mate to get back at me, yuh know Brendan?’
‘Oh yeah,’ he nodded along.
‘Yeah, he’s a twat; they hooked up the week I dumped her.’ Tommy’s eyebrows came together as an angry twosome. ‘But I don’t care anyway, Chloe’s way better than her. And I got with Jade that week and she’s mates with Stacey.’ he smiled, full of himself.
‘I can’t keep up with your personal life, Tommy. But at least I don’t feel so bad about forgetting Stacey’s name now.’ Nick laughed and Tom snickered too.
‘Shut up,’ Tommy retaliated, ‘just cause you two ain’t gettin’ any!’
Nick felt awkward at the use of the term ‘getting any’ in front of his dad, and Tom seemed embarrassed too.
‘I’m not looking.’ Nick replied.
‘And I’m staying single for a while.’ was Tom’s excuse.
Tommy laughed to himself, ‘Whatever.’
After that, Tom started talking about films that he wanted to lend to Nick, but Tommy didn’t seem to know any of the films.
Nick found himself impressed at how much Tom had changed over the years. When he used to live with them, the twins were so alike. Possibly with Nick out the house, it gave Tom more room to be himself or maybe it was because he had a separate bedroom to his twin now.
Whatever the reason, Nick was pleased and found it much easier to relate with Tom now.
John kept his head down and stayed quiet for most of the meal. Nick was hoping that his dad would offer some input. He grew disappointed when he didn’t.
He observed how much greyer his dad’s hair was compared to the last time he saw him, and the way his skin had begun to droop in places. He’d never seen much resemblance between his dad and his brothers or himself. John had green eyes, the twins had brown. John’s hair was fair and mousey (and greying), the twins had dark hair.
He could see his mum’s face in the twins, and thought that it must be hard for his dad to see the resemblance every day.
Once the food was gone, he sat heavy and stuffed; he hadn’t eaten so much in a long time. The lingering smell was coaxingly sweet before, but now it repelled his glutted belly.
While John took the empty plates away, Nick thought about Tom and what his personal matter might be. It crossed his mind that Tom could know something about their mum’s disappearance. Maybe that was what he wanted to talk about? But then, how could he know anything? The temptation to ask jumped around in his head, but he decided that impatience was a bugger and he should learn to wait.
Incipient frustration; the annoyance of how quiet his dad was, mixed with a heavy guilt in knowing about his mum.
He yearned to tell his family, She’s dead, Dad, you can stop waiting for her to come back, but he couldn’t tell them anything. They would ask how he knew. I saw the future and saved a woman who now sees ghosts, and Mum appeared to her. Hmmm, not such a good idea.
He would have to wait until he knew exactly how she died. John placed a jug of orange squash in the centre of the table then passed some glasses around. He sat back down at the table, silent again.
‘How’s work?’ Tom asked Nick.
John looked up with sudden interest.
‘It’s okay. Halloween was good. I just wish I had more hours, or better pay.’ he answered with a drubbed laugh.
‘Do you need some money?’ John interrupted.
‘No, Dad, I was just saying. It was easier when I had a full time job.’
‘Have you got enough to pay your bills?’
‘I can manage.’ Nick said defensively.
‘I’ll see what I’ve got in my wallet…’ John stuttered and began fumbling into his trouser pocket.
‘No. Dad, stop it, I don’t need it.’ he said firmly, gesturing for John to cease. John ignored him, pulled some notes from his wallet and handed them across the table.
Tom and Tommy shuffled awkwardly. They kept out of it.
Nick pushed his dad’s hand away,
‘I said stop it!’ he shouted. His body buzzed, irritated, he couldn’t stay still.
‘I don’t mind, Nicolas, we’ve got plenty. I can give you more if you need it.’
‘I said no.’
‘I want you to have it. Just take it please.’ he extended his note-filled hand again.
Nick’s blood boiled. He pushed the hand away.
‘You’re the reason I moved out in the first place. You’re the reason I don’t have any money. If you weren’t so weird about Mum, I wouldn’t have moved out yet.’ he saw a snippet of pain run across his dad’s face, but he continued anyway, ‘You haven’t even moved back into your old bedroom. The office is too small for you to sleep in.’ He bawled, pointing up towards the ceiling.
‘Nick, you’re outta line.’ Tommy interrupted, his voice deep.
Nick stopped and caught his breath. Tommy looked mad. Tom just looked upset.
Bringing his hands to his forehead, Nick closed his eyes and turned quiet for a moment.
‘Sorry. Sorry, Dad.’ then he stood and moved away from the table, ‘I’m going to leave now. Thank you for dinner.’
John nodded and mumbled gently, ‘That’s okay, I’ll see you soon.’
His dad’s submissive reaction annoyed Nick some more, but he walked down the hallway and grabbed his jacket.
Tom came up behind him, ‘Can I still come speak to you at yours soon
?’ he asked Nick in a hushed voice.
‘Yeah.’
‘Thank you.’
Nick left the house and sulked to his car. He knew not to drive when he was distressed. He thumped the steering wheel repeatedly and let out an angry wail. It helped. Although now his throat was raw and tasted bloody, he felt better expressing his anger.
He drove around the corner, and once he arrived home, he ran a shower and washed himself, scrubbing hard to rinse away the shame.
The shower left him alert, and that was the last thing he desired. He just wanted to go to sleep and have Monday arrive. He contemplated why he didn’t suggest visiting Grendel Manor on Sunday as he wasn’t doing anything tomorrow.
Having forgot it was Bonfire Night, the fireworks and his thoughts kept him up for a long stretch, but sleep always won in the end.
Chapter 10
Why would anyone like me?
Juliet stopped typing and closed the laptop lid. She was on the sixth assignment out of ten. Deficiencies and disorders was the topic.
Sundays were the day that she allowed for her Diet and Nutrition home-study course and she’d whizzed through it so far, but today she struggled.
Don’t say that, Juliet, you’re way prettier than most girls and you’re intelligent.
She put the laptop away, flopped onto the sofa, and laid on her back, eyes closed. She tried to relax, but she kept having thoughts about Nicolas.
He was definitely attractive; he was tall, dark and handsome. Those boxes were ticked. But, she also thought that he came across almost immature, maybe a few years younger than her.
Her ex had been older. That was the only real attraction. She felt guilty for thinking it, but she didn’t like the thought of having to support someone less mature.
It doesn’t matter anyway; I just want to help Samantha Crystan. I’m not interested in getting to know him.
With some fidgeting, she turned over and tried to take a nap on the sofa. Maybe she’d wake up refreshed and ready to take her study seriously. She liked to exceed in everything she took on. Even though this course was a giant step down levelwise, she liked to continuously educate herself. She would hate to stagnate. After her parents moved away, left her the house and bought her the café, she studied for a degree through distance learning. It was a Business Studies degree with specialisms in Catering and Hospitality; she attended part-time classes at Amiton College for the practical elements of the modules. At the age of eighteen, she balanced full-time study with running Chanton Hillview and adapting to living alone. She completed her degree within three years and achieved a First-Class Honours.
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