Spiritwalker

by Siobhan Corcoran

  “They said that they would send Inspector Morley out straight away” Eva informed them.

  Inspector Morley was a serious looking man, six foot tall and clean shaven. He looked to be in his early thirties, and fit. He was dressed in a dark blue shirt and navy pants, his black shoes were polished until they shone and he wore a grey tweed jacket. Everything about him screamed police. Anna had often wondered how criminals were so apt at recognising police when they were in plain clothes, but the more dealings she had with the police the more she understood, they stood out like a sore thumb, they might as well have police tattooed on their foreheads. It was something about the way they held themselves, the way their eyes never seemed to settle, always roving from one object to another, continually watching and filing.

  “Good evening” Eva greeted him, when Olana had shown him into the lounge. “Won’t you sit down” she indicated to a chair beside her. “This is my friend Anna Cotter, it was her car that was broken into.”

  “Good evening Mrs Westhall, Ms Cotter.” he said scrutinising Anna from top to toe and taking a notebook out of his pocket. “My colleague PC Barnes is outside taking a look around. Can you tell me what happened and give me a list of stolen items.”

  “Nothing was stolen that I'm aware of.” Anna cut in quickly. “I was just after arriving, it was about five, I left my things in the car it was parked out front exactly where it is now. Olana, the housekeeper made me some soup and a sandwich, I suppose we were talking in the kitchen for maybe half an hour, then she showed me up to my room.”

  “Miss Cotter is staying with me for a few days.” Eva explained.

  “When I came down to collect my case, I discovered that my car had been broken into and my bag had been emptied, the contents were strewn all over the front seat.”

  “But nothing was taken?” he asked. “Did you see anyone hanging around, kids maybe?”

  “When I was up in my room, I happened to look out and I thought that I saw someone heading towards the woods at the bottom of the garden, but it was too far to see clearly.”

  At that moment PC Barnes entered the room and handed something to the Inspector, and whispered in his ear, the Inspector frowned and looked at Anna.

  “Miss Cotter, PC Barnes has just handed me this.” he said handing the investigators licence to Anna. “What exactly are you doing here?”

  “I hired her, to find my sister.” Eva said defensively.

  “I see” The inspector said still looking at Anna. Turning to Eva he said. “I don't approve of anyone interfering in police investigations.”

  “Inspector” Anna said, “I have just arrived, I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone, but I promise that if I do find out anything you'll be the first to know.” She was anxious not to get on the wrong side of him.

  “Anna came highly recommended” Eva cut in. “She has a lot of experience finding missing people, since the police aren't taking my sister's disappearance seriously, I decided to find someone who would.”

  “Mrs Westhall, I can assure you that we are taking her disappearance seriously, we are doing everything possible to locate her. We are checking every sighting, every bit of information we receive. Unfortunately thousands of people go missing in the UK every year, most of them of their own accord, the majority of them turn up on their own.”

  “That may be the case for other people but not Jane, she wouldn't just leave without telling me, besides her passport is still in her room along with her money and cards. How far do you think she would get without any money?”

  “I will allow that her case is slightly different to the norm.” The inspector said. “However it does happen. People do up and go without telling anyone, even their nearest and dearest.” Then as though a thought suddenly accord to him, he looked from Eva to Anna. “You haven't had a ransom demand have you”

  “Inspector” Eva said annoyed. “Do you think if I had a ransom demand that I would be sitting here passing the time of day with you. Don't they always say not to inform the police? I only wish I had a ransom demand so I could pay it and have her back.” She finished bitterly.

  “Miss Cotter, you mentioned earlier that you saw someone from your window, can you give me a description?”

  “I'm afraid not, but it must have been whoever broke into my car.”

  “Well ladies,” The inspector said rising, “I promise I'll look into it, but since nothing was stolen, I don't see what more I can do. It was probably an opportunist and you frightened him off before he could get anything.”

  “Is that it? Is that all you're going to do?” Eva said angrily.

  “Mrs Westhall,” the Inspector said firmly. “ PC Barnes had a look around, I’m sure it was just kids, if anything else comes to light we will follow it up. Miss Cotter,” he said turning to Anna, “remember you are not a policewoman and while I can't stop you asking questions, I want you to let me know immediately if you find out anything.” He handed her his card and turned to go. PC Barnes followed him. Eva was left fuming in his wake.

  Chapter five

  Jane slowly came to. She opened her heavy eyelids, her head was pounding and her mouth was dry. It took her a moment to realise that she wasn't in her own bed, in her sister's house. She began to scream as the memory of her encounter with him began to surface. She tried to get out of the bed but her legs were weak and wouldn't hold her weight, her head was spinning and her stomach felt as though it was about to empty its contents at any moment. She lay back on the bed and tried to assess the situation. She was in big room, the walls were painted an egg-shell blue, the room itself was sparsely furnished with a pine wardrobe in one corner and beside it a matching dressing table and stool. The only window in the room was small and the bars on it looked new. She knew that even if she managed to open it she would be too big to fit through, the perfect prison, she thought miserably. The bed was sturdy oak, covered with white sheets and a floral duvet. The light coming from the small window was dim and she didn't know if it was day or night.

  She tried again to get out of the bed, she was still woozy from whatever drug he had used to knock her out. Slowly she swung her legs out of the bed and made her way to the door, she turned the handle but nothing happened. She twisted and pulled but still nothing happened the door was locked. She started screaming again, shouting for him to let her out, she pounded her fists hard on the door pleading to be let go. Finally exhausted and with both fists bruised, she gave up and sank to the floor sobbing. Why was she here? What did he want from her? She was terrified beyond anything she had ever felt before. She had heard stories about people like him, awful stories of abduction and torture, read about people like herself in newspapers. Was he going to rape and murder her? What if he killed her and dumped her body where on one would ever find it. She trembled sobbing uncontrollably. She sat there by the door rocking herself back and forth.

  Finally all cried out she forced herself to think, there must be a way out of this, people would be looking for her. Her sister would alert the police when she didn't come back from her run. They would find her, you couldn't just abduct someone and get away with it. Was there a chance he would let her go? Maybe he just wanted to scare her. The thought cheered her up, maybe it was money he was after. Her husband would pay she was sure of it. He still cared for her, they had been married for a long time, they had two children together, he would pay, they were well off. Then dark thoughts began to intrude again, what if he didn't pay? What if he just wanted her out of his life for good? Stop it, stop it she scolded herself again. Think positive... They had loved each other, she was the one that wanted a divorce, he had wanted them to work things out. Hadn't he promised never to look at another woman again? Sadly Jane realised that that was a promise he could never keep, she had forgiven him numerous times in the past, she just didn't have any trust left. Her friends had told her to leave him, she hadn't dared tell her sister the full extent of his adulteress behaviour, she knew what her reaction would have been, Eva would have killed him.
No she couldn't ever take him back it would drive her crazy every time he went on an overnight trip without her, wondering who he was with, if he had bedded some bimbo or other. No divorce was her only chance at a normal happy life again. Her girls had understood, they were furious with their dad. Jane hadn't realised that they had known about previous affairs but children understand a lot more than they are given credit for.

  Sitting on the floor rocking, she lost herself in her thoughts. The sound of footsteps approaching made her jump. She got to her feet and began pounding on the door and demanding to be let out. The footsteps stopped outside the door and she fell silent, she could hear a key turning in the lock.

  “Step away from the door.” He ordered her.

  She took a step back, the handle turned and the door opened, he stood there filling the frame, seeming to her to be larger and more ominous than she remembered. She was determined not to let him know how frightened she was. He walked into the room carrying a tray.

  “I brought you some food”, he said placing the tray on the bed.

  “I don't want your fucking food she roared at him.” finding more courage within herself than she thought she possessed. She darted forward trying to get past him and out the door. She almost managed to make it out the door but he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. He twisted her arm painfully behind her back. She yelped in pain and tried to hit him with her free hand. He turned her to face him and slapped her open-handed across the face, she was sent reeling back onto the bed. The liquid on the tray over turning and spilling on the duvet.

  “What the fuck do you want from me?” Jane demanded, the fight still in her. “If its money you want my husband will pay, just let me go, I won't tell anyone, I'll get the money for you.” She was pleading with him, hoping to make him see sense.

  He looked at her surprised. “I don't want money” He seemed amazed that she could even suggest it.

  “What do you want?”

  “I just want you, I want us to be together forever, to be a family, maybe, even children of our own someday.”

  Jane's blood ran cold at his words, he didn't want money? She looked at him and wondered how she had ever thought this man was handsome. How could such a sane looking man be so fucking crazy. The longer she looked at him the more she realised he wasn't going to let her go. “My family will come looking for me!” she protested, “You can't keep me locked up here, my sister will miss me, the police will come, they will find me. “They will hunt you down” she shouted at him.

  “They think you ran away, they're not looking for you anymore.” he lied.

  “I'll never stay here with you, this is a shit hole.” she spat back at him. “The very sight of you makes my skin crawl” She knew she had got to him then, she saw his eyes turn cold and anger sparked in them but he managed to control himself.

  “I'll leave you to calm down” he said pleasantly “Soon I'll have a big surprise for you... Sassy's coming to visit.” And without another word, he turned and left, locking the door behind him.

  Stunned Jane didn't know what to think, she jumped to her feet and hurled herself at the door. “You leave her alone you bastard or I'll kill you.” she screamed and dropped to the floor praying that he had only been taunting her. Sassy was like a daughter to her, he wasn't going to abduct her too, surely not... Was he?

  Chapter six

  Andrew Westhall Wasn't at all what Anna had expected, he was smallish for a man barely five foot eight with silver receding hair. His dark rimmed glasses made his grey eyes appear bigger than they actually were, this gave his face an owlish appearance. While he was neatly dressed, his tweed jacket, worn with brown corduroy trousers made him look more like a college professor than a wealthy business man. Eva introduce her husband to Anna and they shook hands warmly. Anna took to him instantly. It was clear to her that husband and wife were devoted to each other. Andrew Westhall was very concerned when his wife related the events of the day to him and promised to speak to Inspector Morley in the morning. They ate a light dinner which Olana had prepared, Sassy reluctantly came down from her room to join them. In typical teenager fashion she ate as quickly as possible and returned to whatever it was that she had being doing. Eva apologised and appeared to be slightly embarrassed by her daughter's behaviour. Anna assured her that she wasn't in the least offended, saying that no teenage girl wanted to sit with her parents when she could be on Facebook talking to her friends.

  Olana vanished as soon as her duties in the kitchen were finished, she told them that she was going to spend the night with her sister who lived in the village. It was evident that she was still spooked by the day’s events. Though the Westhall's tried to persuade her that there was nothing to worry about, she wasn't having any of it and informed them that she would be in as usual at eight in the morning. Eva sighed but secretly didn't blame the woman. She knew Olana had been used to city life in her native Poland with lots of noise and people, she knew she found it difficult sometimes to cope with life in a quiet rural setting.

  Anna headed up to her room early, it had been a long tiring day and she was looking forward to a long hot shower and a good night’s sleep. The following day was going to be a busy one, interviewing friends and neighbours of the missing woman, she had planned to go to London where Jane and her husband had lived before their separation. Jane's daughter would be there and she might be able to shed some light on her mother's disappearance. Eva had called her to make sure she would be available and Molly, Jane's daughter had cancelled her plans, she was very anxious to do anything she could to help find her mother.

  Anna slipped out of her clothes and into the shower, the hot water rained powerfully over her and washed away the aches and weariness of the day. She stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and invigorated and wrapped herself in a warm fluffy towel. After towel drying and brushing her hair she put on a pair of floral cotton pyjamas and put her white dressing gown on over them. She dried her hair with the hair-dryer and slipped under the covers of her bed. She switched off the bedside lamp and lay in the darkness carefully going over the day’s events in her head. She always found it easier to think when she was in darkness with nothing around to distract her. She lay there for a while thinking, unable to sleep despite her tiredness, finally she decided to go for a wander in Stealth mode as she referred to it. She closed her eyes and concentrated on easing herself out of her body. It didn't take long before she was floating above her still body, and heading over to the window and out into the night beyond.

  It was a dark night, the moon was hidden behind the clouds only appearing from time to time as it peeped briefly through, illuminating the dark countryside for an instant. It was when she was like this, floating, free from her body that she felt most alive. She could dart anywhere almost like an eagle. She wondered if this was how birds felt as they observed the world from flight. Something caught her attention as she was soaring. A movement, she moved closer to investigate, a shadowy figure was creeping silently away from the house. Whoever it was didn't want to be seen they were keeping close to the shadows of the bushes. Anna moved closer still for a better look and was surprised to find that it was Sassy. The girl was quietly making her way towards the woods at the edge of the grounds, she reached a wire fence and easily faulted over it onto the other side. Anna wondered if she should follow, she didn't like to intrude on people’s privacy it was one of the rules she used to govern the use of her ability, she only broke this rule if the people she was investigating were criminals or if she had to enter private property to look for someone. She decided that under the circumstances she should follow, if only to make sure that the girl came to no harm. It was evident from her demeanour that her parents weren't aware of her nightly escapades. Sassy stopped at the edge of the road and glanced up and down, she moved back further into the shadows and waited. Anna was convinced that she was waiting for someone. She decided to wait with her until whoever it was that Sassy was there to meet showed up.

  Su
ddenly unaware to Sassy, a man emerged from the foliage behind her, she didn't hear him as he crept up behind her, she had her ear-phones in. Anna saw him and tried to warn Sassy to look out, but of course the girl couldn't hear her. The man grabbed Sassy, who let out a scream. A hand was quickly clamped over her mouth and her cries were muted. Sassy continued to struggle but within a moment Anna saw her body go slack and limp. The attacker easily hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her to a waiting van that was hidden down the dirt track. Anna was starting to panic. She knew that screaming or shouting at him would do no good he couldn’t hear her, there was nothing she could do to stop him taking Sassy. She watched as the dark hooded figure threw Sassy into the back of the van as though she were no more than a sack of potatoes. Her mind was racing, what should she do? She decided to wait and see where he was going to take her. The man was oblivious to Anna's presence. He sat into the van and slowly drove to the end of the dirt track leaving his headlights off in case passing traffic should see them and remember. At the end of the dirt track he turned right out onto the road, he was headed for Canterbury. This was all that Anna needed to know, quick as a flash she willed herself back into her waiting body and in an instant she was back. She jumped out of bed throwing on her shoes, she grabbed her car keys and she rushed out the bedroom door calling Eva and Andrew at the top of her voice.

  They emerged from the lounge where she had left them. As coherently as she could she told them about Sassy. She knew she was babbling but could see that it was fast dawning on them what was wrong. She ran out the front door followed closely by Andrew and Eva. They all piled into the hire car and Anna took off at speed, wheels screeching in her wake. Andrew had grabbed the remote for the gate from the hall table and holding it in his hand he was desperately pressing the open button long before they reached the gates. The gates were opening as they reached them but it was an agonising wait before they were open enough for Anna to drive through. She quickly turned right hardly bothering to look left or right to check for oncoming traffic. She thundered down the road as fast as her car would go, all the while going over what she had seen. Eva was moaning in the back seat certain the fate of her daughter was about to be decided in the next few moments. She was sitting in the middle of the back-seat as far forward as she could get eyes peeled on the road in front for the van that her daughter was a prisoner in. Andrew, fearful that they might crash due to the speed Anna was driving, and aware of the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt, belted his and demanded that his wife do the same. He was not a person who liked speed but he certainly wasn't going to tell Anna to slow down, not with his daughter’s life in danger. He was grateful that it was she who was driving he didn't think he would have been able to control the speeding car as well as she was.