The Girls in the Woods

by Helen Phifer

  ‘What did she say. Is it bad?’

  ‘She wouldn’t say – just said there was a serious incident and they were sealing off the area until CID got there. She said the police will want to come and speak to us at some point.’

  ‘Well, as long as no one has been hurt.’

  He looked at her and frowned, staring at the fading red mark on her cheek. She knew he was hoping it would disappear before the police came knocking on their door wanting to speak to them both. He went back into the workshop, locking the door, and she sat down at the kitchen table relieved that whatever he was doing meant he was out of her way.

  Thirty minutes later he was back; she inhaled and caught a whiff of strong lemon cleaning fluid. She was sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine and jumped as he walked in, expecting him to shout at her for sitting there wasting time, but he never said a word. He locked up the workshop and went out of the back door to make sure the windows and outside door which led to it were also locked. He came back in and smiled at her.

  ‘Why don’t you make us a nice cup of coffee and we’ll put a film on? We haven’t watched that one with that man you like out of that women’s film yet.’

  He meant The King’s Speech and the women’s film he was referring to was Bridget Jones. She nodded, knowing fine well what his game was. He was playing happy families so that when the police came they wouldn’t think anything strange of the married couple who lived in the house near the edge of the woods. If only they knew the truth – but she’d never say anything. She daren’t. She hadn’t when he’d pushed her down the four steps into the garden; that had cost him a trip to the accident and emergency department whilst her ankle was x-rayed then put into plaster. He’d never left her side the whole time but he needn’t have worried; she had nowhere to go if she had asked them for help. She couldn’t leave him if she wanted to.

  It was almost two hours later that the knock finally came on their front door, and it was Jo who stood up to go and answer it. She could see two men through the small glass pane in the front door. Opening it, she looked at the two men, both wearing suits with ID badges around their necks. She felt drawn to the older, much better looking one and smiled.

  ‘Hello, sorry to bother you. I’m Detective Sergeant Will Ashworth and this is Detective Constable Stuart Miles. Would you mind if we came in to talk to you?’

  She smiled at him. He had such nice, kind blue eyes… in fact he had nice everything.

  ‘Of course. This way.’

  As he followed her in she got a whiff of his aftershave, which was lovely. It reminded her of Dr Miller. He always smelt good when they’d been dating and whenever she’d gone for an appointment. She led them into the living room, where Heath was in the process of building up the wood burner, even though it wasn’t particularly cold. Her eyes looked at the coal dust which now covered his hands. He never got them so dirty, ever. He was very particular about his hands and always wore gloves when he did anything that might involve getting them dirty.

  ‘This is my husband, Heath.’

  Will nodded at the man, and lifted his hand to shake Heath’s but then looked at them and smiled. Heath looked down at his hands too.

  ‘Sorry, I’m a bit dirty.’

  Will repeated his introduction.

  ‘I suppose you wouldn’t be able to help but notice all the police activity out the back. I’m afraid to say there’s been a bit of a gruesome discovery in the woods this morning. A group of teenagers found an unmarked grave containing a body – well, a skeleton to be exact – so we just need to ask you a few routine questions.’

  Jo gasped.

  ‘A skeleton! Oh, my God – that’s awful. Has it been there a long time?’

  She was thinking that it might be really old, maybe even a couple of hundred years old.

  ‘We can’t really say, to tell you the truth. It’s not our field of expertise. But it looks as if it’s been buried out there for quite a few years. We’re just waiting on the pathologist and a forensic anthropologist who will be able to tell us a lot more. Can you tell me how long you’ve lived here?’

  Heath spoke before his wife could open her mouth.

  ‘Twenty-three years.’

  ‘Have you ever noticed anyone or anything suspicious in the woods out the back?’

  ‘No, nothing at all – but then again, we do have a very limited view. Would you like to come and take a look?’

  Heath stood up and Will nodded at Stu to go with him; Will didn’t miss the look he gave to his wife. He waited until they had left the room.

  ‘I can imagine that this must be a bit of a shock for you. It’s not the sort of thing you want to happen near your house, is it?’

  ‘It is… I mean, it’s terrible. You don’t expect things like that to happen right on your own doorstep. The poor thing. How awful being buried out there in the middle of nowhere and left for years. What must the family be going through?’

  ‘It is horrible, isn’t it, but whoever it is could have been there a very long time. Do you go out there much?’

  ‘No, not really. I love living here but I don’t go into the woods on my own. To be honest I find them a little bit creepy. They’re far too quiet for me.’

  Will smiled, encouraging her.

  ‘What about your husband. Does he spend much time out there?’

  ‘Oh no, he’s far too busy with his work to think about going out and actually relaxing. He spends all his time in his studio.’

  Heath walked back in, followed by Stu, and she shut up, not even looking at him – instead she lowered her head. Will had picked up on the body language as soon as he’d walked in but this just confirmed it, that and the fear that had crept into her eyes. He felt his knuckles begin to clench. He looked at the man, who was well built but not fat and would make a good rugby player. He took an instant dislike to him. Will hated men who hit their partners with a passion and he would bet a full month’s wages that this prick hit the much smaller woman sitting opposite him.

  ‘I’m a photographer so I work long hours; I do a lot of wedding photographs, portraits, proms, school photos… that sort of thing. I like to develop them all myself. I much prefer using film than digital, although it does have its uses. Neither of us really goes out into the woods, which is a shame because they really are beautiful and right on our doorstep.’

  ‘Do you remember who you bought the house from? We might need to speak to them, providing we find out how long our body has been buried out there.’

  ‘It was an elderly couple, I’m not even sure if they’ll still be alive now but I do have their names and address somewhere. The only thing is it might take me some time to locate them.

  ‘That’s fine. If you could have a look and give me a call when you do I’d really appreciate it.’

  Will was looking at the woman the whole time he was speaking; he pulled a business card from his pocket. The man stepped forward to take it from him but Will pushed it into the woman’s hands before her husband could reach it. He let his hand linger on hers for a touch longer than he normally would and then he looked into her eyes.

  ‘That’s my mobile number. You can call me when you find them. Any time, day or night, don’t worry about it. If you remember anything or need to tell me something and I don’t answer just leave me a message and I’ll get straight back to you.’

  Stu frowned at Will, not sure what was happening. Then Will stood up and Stu followed; Will turned to the man, whose face was a touch redder than it had been moments ago.

  ‘Thank you for your time. I’m sorry to have bothered you. We won’t know for some time yet who it is or how long they’ve been buried out there but we’ll keep in touch.’

  The man nodded and led them to the front door; as they left the room Jo rushed across to the sideboard. Scribbling the number off the card onto a bright pink Post-it note, she then tucked it as far down into the inside of her jeans pocket as it would go. Rushing back, she threw herself onto the sofa, still cl
utching the business card in her hand. He stormed back in; snatching it off her, he crumpled it up then pitched it at the fire and she watched as it began to smoulder and then burst into a tiny ball of flames.

  ‘What a smarmy bastard he was. I hate nosy coppers. If he wants to speak to us he can bloody well come here. I’m not wasting my breath or my money phoning him… and what did he think he was doing holding your hand like that? I’ve a good mind to go out there and knock his head off.’

  She flinched at his outburst, waiting for the open-handed slap that would normally accompany such behaviour… but it never came. He was far too distracted and stomped out of the living room back to his workshop, leaving her cowering on the sofa, her hand tucked into her pocket protecting the small piece of paper which might just have the answer to all her prayers written across it. That nice detective had sensed something was wrong and he might be able to help her should she need to escape.

  ***

  As they got outside Stu looked at Will.

  ‘I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, boss, or overstepping my mark – but just what exactly was that? That lingering touch and “you can call me any time you like”. I thought you were a happily married man.’

  Will stopped dead in his tracks and turned to dead-eye Stu.

  ‘Don’t be an idiot, Stu. I can’t believe you just said that – in fact, don’t even go there. Can’t you see the facts when they’re right in front of your eyes?’

  ‘What, what facts are you talking about?’

  ‘I don’t know what the hell is going on with the skeleton – for all we know that could have been there a hundred years – but I do know that it’s pretty obvious that the bloke back there likes to show how much of a man he is by beating his wife.’

  ‘What? How could you know that from the whole ten-minute conversation we had back there? Don’t tell me you’re a psychic genius as well as your wife.’

  ‘Because of her body language. She practically shrivelled into herself when he walked in the room. Then there was the fact that she had pale blue bruising under her eye which she’d tried to cover with face powder and she was terrified of him. When he came back in the room you could almost feel the fear which radiated from her, and she never looked up once when he was in the room or made eye contact with either of us.’

  ‘Really? I never noticed.’

  ‘If there is one thing I hate more than anything in this world, it’s weak, pathetic men who feel they have to take their problems out on their wives with their fists. Do me a favour Stu and go find someone else to irritate for an hour because I can’t be bothered with you right now.’

  Will walked away from him, leaving Stu staring after him, shocked at his boss’s tantrum. Then, realising he’d been a complete idiot and so wrong it would be hard to put it right, he hurried after Will – trying his best to think of all the ways he could make it up to him.

  Chapter 8

  Annie walked down the lane towards Apple Tree Cottage and felt her heart fill with joy to see Jake and his adorable baby girl, Alice, playing in her front garden. It never failed to melt her heart – the sight of huge, tough, gorgeous Jake playing with Alice. She opened the gate and Alice began to squeal with delight at the sight of Annie. She hurried over to scoop her up into her arms and plaster her with kisses. Alice giggled. Lifting her small, chubby finger she began to twirl it around one of Annie’s curls that had escaped her ponytail.

  ‘Well, hello, my adorable Alice, I’ve missed you so much – did you miss me?’

  Alice began gurgling at her.

  ‘Yes, you did, I know that you did.’

  Jake walked over and bent to kiss Annie’s cheek.

  ‘Yes, she did, I cannot lie. The poor kid almost had to go cold turkey off the chocolate buttons because Alex banned chocolate from the house for a week. I missed you as well, though. You look really well, you look...’

  Annie slapped his arm.

  ‘Don’t you dare say that I’m blooming. I hate that expression. I have a bad back which is keeping me awake at night, can’t stop peeing and I still want to devour box after box of Coco Pops.’

  ‘Best not get you started on the haemorrhoids then.’

  He winked at her and began to laugh.

  ‘Suit yourself – I won’t say it then. Tell me, how was your holiday? That’s what I’ve come to see you for. I want to know every sordid detail, every cocktail that you drank and where was the most exotic location you two had sex?’

  ‘I’m not telling you that even though you are my bestie. What’s the matter with you?’

  Jake pouted.

  ‘Well, did you at least join the mile-high club?’

  ‘In case it’s escaped your notice, Jake, I’m six months pregnant – I could only just squeeze myself into the toilet on the plane. There was no room for me to manoeuvre, never mind Will! Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll make us a cool drink and fill you in on everything.’

  ‘Everything?’

  ‘Well, almost everything – there are some things a lady should never discuss.’

  He looked around the garden, ‘What lady?’

  She ignored him and walked to the front door, passing Alice to him so she could open it. It was cool inside. She hadn’t realised how warm it was outside until she stepped onto the cold tiled floor and kicked her shoes off. Jake ducked under the porch and followed her in.

  ‘No sign of?’

  He didn’t finish it; he knew the rules. Neither of them was to speak about that woman inside the perimeter of the house and gardens. Annie shook her head.

  ‘No, but I saw those two little boys earlier, looking out of the bedroom window, and I can’t help thinking that if she was around they wouldn’t be here, would they? They kept their distance when it was all going on and I don’t mind kids as long as they’re sweet and innocent like Sophie.’

  Sophie was the little girl whose soul had been stolen by the shadow man. Annie had never been so scared as the day she had to do battle with the dark entity that collected souls of the innocent and who had wanted Annie’s soul. Jake had been there in the church whilst Annie had done her very best to fight the shadow man and send him back to hell; she’d done it with a little help from Sophie and her mum, who had both died in 1984. All three of them had held hands and fought against him, managing to get rid of him for good – or so Annie hoped. She had watched Sophie be reunited with her mum, who she hadn’t seen for twenty years, and she’d known then that as scary as her newly found psychic gift was it was also very wonderful.

  ‘That’s good. In fact it’s more than good – it’s a huge relief. I mean, you have this fabulous house and it would be terrible if you had to sell it because of its ghostly inhabitants – not that anyone would want to buy it if they knew it was haunted. So come on then, what was Hawaii like? Am I going to want to get the next plane there?’

  ‘Oh yes, it was beautiful and the people were so nice – in fact they were amazing. I would seriously think about living out there if I didn’t have to worry about leaving you all behind.’

  ‘See, you’re a posh bird now. You’ve gone up in the world since you married into money. I’m surprised that you still talk to us lower-class heathens.’

  ‘Pft, Alex is by no means lower class, Jake, and you live in the poshest part of Barrow so stop talking rubbish. Who’d have thought it, though, I mean seriously – you ended up with the man of your dreams, who just happened to be rolling in it with a good job. And I met the man of my dreams, who I had no idea was rolling in it because he kept it so well hidden. I’m not going to lie; it’s a lovely feeling seeing the brown envelopes come through the door and not have to worry if my wages will be enough to cover the bills – but if I lost it all tomorrow it wouldn’t matter as long as I had Will and the baby.’

  ‘We did all right, didn’t we, kid? We’ve survived some scary shit but we’ve come out the other side. Bloody hell, we should be drinking champagne not…’ He took a sip from the tall glass filled with ice and juic
e that she passed him. ‘What is this?’

  ‘A non-alcoholic Pimm’s.’

  Jake spat an ice cube down the front of his shirt.

  ‘Since when did you drink Pimm’s?’

  ‘See, you don’t know everything about me. I do have some secrets.’

  ‘You’re a dark horse, Annie Graham – I mean Ashworth. I can’t get used to calling you that, by the way. You know you will always be Annie Graham to me, don’t you.’

  She nodded.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Good, I love my plain old Annie.’

  ‘And I love my red hot Jake.’

  ‘Calm it down, woman – you know I’m a married man now.’

  But he winked at her, relieved to see that for once she had a lovely golden glow, wasn’t missing half of her hair, didn’t have any black eyes or bruises and wasn’t being stalked by a serial killer or a scary ghost. He just hoped that he wasn’t jinxing things by being so happy for her. She’d had such a rough couple of years he was amazed she wasn’t hooked on vodka and anti-depressants. Annie led them into the living room and flopped down onto the sofa.

  ‘You may have to haul me off this thing before you go or, if you can’t, hire a crane. I’m so tired all the time. I had no idea it would feel like this.’

  ‘I could haul you off there with one hand. You’re not that big.’

  ‘Really, because I feel as if I’m the size of a house. I’m scared to look in the mirror sideways or have a bath when Will isn’t here in case I get stuck and can’t get out – I don’t fancy sitting in a bath tub for hours on end.’

  He laughed. Alice was sitting on the soft cream rug by his feet playing with an assortment of toys Annie had brought in from the cupboard under the stairs. They both watched her play and Annie had to stop herself from sighing out loud. She couldn’t wait to watch their baby playing with Alice. The ball, which had rolled away from Alice and was too far out of her reach, began to roll back towards her. Annie watched it and smiled. Jake grabbed her arm.

  ‘Did you see that? Jesus, look – it’s moving on its own!’