Starlight (The Four Lights Quartet Book 1)

by Fergus O'Connell

  ‘Alright,’ she nodded. ‘You’re right.’

  ‘Come on then,’ he said. Let’s pack. One case only. We’ve got about three quarters of an hour but we’ll do him yet.’

  Lewis went to the door and locked it. Then they hurried upstairs.

  ‘How do we know he’s not waiting for us outside?’ she said, as they reached the top of the stairs.

  ‘We don’t,’ he said. ‘But I reckon he’s so cocky that he’s scared the life out of you that he’s probably in a pub somewhere having a whiskey and soda and warming himself while he savours his victory. He just thinks he’ll be able to come back here and walk straight in. Come on, we have to hurry. We’re in a difficult and dangerous position.’

  A noise came from outside and Helen jumped.

  ‘What was that?’ she said.

  ‘A night bird? An animal? Here, I’ll go and take a look.’

  Lewis edged along the walls to each of the upstairs windows in turn and looked out. There was the view to the sea, the front gate, but no sign of human life. They listened. The house was silent. Coals fell in the stove. In the distance the sea sighed. They listened for footsteps or any sound outside but there were none. Finally Lewis said, ‘Come on. Pack as quickly as you can. Ten minutes – no more. I’ll do the same. Clothes, wash things, your handbag. Probably best to leave the lights off.’

  He emptied the wardrobe hurriedly and stuffed his things into his bag. On top he threw the three books and his diary, dealing them out like cards. Then he clicked the two brass clutches shut. He went into Helen’s bedroom. It was the first time he had done so with her there. Her case lay on the bed. Lewis helped her to close and tie it.

  ‘I’ll write to Mr Jones, the landlord, to finalise the rent and organise to get the rest of our things.’

  He considered this for a moment.

  ‘It might be safer not to do that. Doing anything that involved a forwarding address could mean that he just picks up the trail again.’

  Her face fell.

  ‘Anyway, never mind that now,’ he said. ‘We can decide later. The thing now is to get out before he comes back. Ready?’

  ‘Ready,’ she said. Then, ‘Lewis?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, an exhausted smile on her face.

  He touched her on the cheek with the palm of his hand and held it there for a moment. It was the first time he had ever done anything like that. He smiled back.

  ‘When we go outside,’ Lewis said. ‘If he’s there, drop your case and run. I’ll try to delay him. Find your way into Fowey and go to Mrs Middleton’s Guest House. I’ll meet you there.’

  She nodded. He checked his watch. They still had half an hour. He took both his bag and her case and they hurried downstairs. In the porch, they put on their coats and then Lewis opened the door and stepped outside. She followed, bareheaded, out into the gathering evening and the frosty fog.

  They listened but there was no sound except for the sea and the croaking of some crows somewhere. The moon had not yet risen. Helen passed him the key and he locked the cottage door. Their bags were heavy but manageable – Lewis hadn’t realised how fit and strong he had become since the day he had first arrived here on the bus. Then they followed the wall of the house to the first corner and he looked around. Nothing. Now they could see the small white gate. His eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness and Lewis scanned the open space they would have to cross. It appeared to be empty. He turned to her.

  ‘Ready,’ he whispered.

  She nodded.

  They crossed the twenty yards or so, Lewis leading the way. He found himself crouching down. As if that would help. Their feet, crunching on the gravel seemed incredibly loud in the silence. But then they were onto the rough grass and Lewis had opened the gate. By lifting it as he opened it, he was able to stop it from squealing. They stood out in the roadway, stopped and listened.

  ‘So we’re going to Par?’ said Helen.

  ‘Well we probably shouldn’t go towards Fowey. I presume that’s where he’s staying and where he’ll come from. If we’re on the road we’ll run straight into him.’

  ‘How far is Par?’

  ‘About four miles. We’ve done much more on our walks.’

  ‘Not carrying bags.’

  ‘Let me worry about the bags. We’ll find a place to stay and catch the first train out in the morning.’

  ‘And what if he’s at the station when we arrive?’

  ‘Maybe we’ll worry about that tomorrow. Or maybe we won’t catch a train. We’ll get a bus instead. Or get a ride somewhere.’

  Lewis felt himself becoming exasperated.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said irritably. ‘I just know we need to get out of here.’

  They turned to the left, following the road uphill where it would eventually connect with a surfaced road that would take them to Par. They had only been walking a few minutes when Helen suddenly said, ‘Oh my god, I have to go back.’

  ‘Come on, don’t be silly,’ said Lewis. ‘We’ve been through all that.’

  ‘No, you don’t understand. I’ve forgotten my money.’

  ‘But you have your bag,’ said Lewis, without slackening the pace. The cases were heavy and he didn’t want to lose whatever momentum he had.

  ‘I know,’ she said. But all the rest of my money – my savings. When I sent Robert the letter telling him I was leaving, I took all of my money out of the bank and closed the account.’

  Lewis had stopped by now.

  ‘I don’t know – I was afraid he might be able to get his hands on it or something.’

  ‘So where is it?’

  ‘Under the mattress.’

  ‘Is it much?’

  She nodded.

  You wait here,’ she said. ‘I won’t be long.’

  ‘No, don’t be silly,’ he said. ‘I’ll be quicker.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Lewis. I’m really sorry. I should have remembered but we were just so rushed.’

  ‘Never mind,’ said Lewis, looking at his watch. ‘We still have time. You wait here with the bags. I won’t be long.’

  Freed of the cases, he hurtled down the hill. At the white gate there was so sign of anybody. He opened it and went in, crouching as he scurried to the cottage wall. Then, hugging the wall, he worked his way around to the corner before the porch. He turned the corner cautiously but again, there was nobody there. Looking around he put the key into the keyhole and turned it. He was ready at any moment to repel an attack but none came. He opened the door, stepped inside and closed it behind him with relief. He slipped the bolt and looked at his watch again. He probably had about fifteen minutes. It was enough.

  He ran upstairs and into Helen’s room. A faint smell of her perfume hung on the air. He touched the pillows and, on an impulse, picked one up and held it to his face. He touched the sheets and then pulled the covers back and smelt where she lay. Her fragrance was everywhere.

  The money. Swiftly, he grabbed the mattress and upended it, throwing it off the bed onto the far side. There was a brown envelope that bulged. Quickly he checked inside. There was a large wad of banknotes rolled up and held together with an elastic band. He took the envelope and stuffed it into the pocket of his coat.

  He was dithering about whether or not to put the mattress back when he thought he heard a sound outside. It was a very faint, very distant, low grumbling sound. He thought it might be a distant car or truck on the road from Fowey to Par, but he quickly realised that it was closer than that. He ran to the window in the gable end of his room. Outside the light in the hedgerow beyond the gate changed so that it seemed to move and dance. The grumbling sound had resolved itself into the sound of an engine and now the light on the hedgerow was a solid beam from the headlights of a car. It came to a halt outside the gate. The engine was turned off and the lights died. Lewis felt the sweat in his armpits and on his neck go cold.

  Robert got out of the car and opened the gate. His heavy shoes crunched ac
ross the gravel and then clicked on the flagstones. Lewis followed his progress around the corner to the porch. Then he heard the handle being turned and the bolt rattling as Robert tried the door. There was a pause and then the door was kicked and finally, it sounded like a shoulder had been thumped against it. Lewis heard a sound that might have been ‘bitch’ and then the footsteps re-commenced, around the flagstones, across the gravel and back to the car.

  The engine was restarted and then, the laneway being too narrow for anything else, Lewis heard the car being reversed at high speed back down the hill, the lights on the hedgerow eventually dying out. Lewis slipped downstairs, unbolted the door and eased it open. Then he slipped out, locked it again and was across the gravel and through the gate. He raced back up the hill to find Helen.

  ‘You got it,’ she said.

  He nodded breathlessly.

  ‘He came while I was there.’

  Her eyes widened.

  ‘Oh my God.’

  ‘He’s got a car, like he said. He tried the door and then went away again. I’d say he was cursing himself for not having stayed.’

  ‘What do you think he’ll do now?’

  ‘Go back to wherever he’s staying and try to get us in the morning. That’s what I’d do. If I was him I’d be waiting at Par Station.

  Anyway, I have an idea,’ he said. ‘We still don’t know how we’ll get out of here – by bus, by train.’

  She nodded.

  ‘And we don’t know whether he’ll be waiting for us – say, at the station. Or whether he’s even by himself. Maybe he’s got his brother with him.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well what if we don’t go by bus or train? What if we don’t go by land at all? What if we go down to Readymoney, borrow one of the boats that are always there and sail off somewhere. We don’t have to go very far. We can even go up the Fowey. We’ll just hole up there for a few days until they’ve gone. Presumably Robert has to go back to France some time. His leave can’t last indefinitely.’

  ‘Unless he’s been posted back to England.’

  ‘Even so,’ said Lewis. ‘Presumably he has to go back to work.’

  ‘But we can’t just steal a boat.’

  ‘We’re only borrowing it. And we don’t have to go very far – just enough to get away. We can return it in a few days. You told me you learned to sail.’

  ‘I did – when I was a teenager. I’m a bit rusty.’

  ‘Can you sail it a bit out to sea and then maybe round the headland to Fowey?’

  ‘Of course. On a night like tonight, no wind, no swell. That’s easy.’

  ‘Alright. Ready?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said.

  They went back down the hill. Lewis felt lighter. The whole thing was developing into a bit of an adventure now. Who’d have thought that when he’d come here he’d be getting up to things like this? Chasing around the countryside with a married woman; hiding from her husband, stealing boats. And the night was still young. He was about to say some of this to Helen when he suddenly saw a shaft of light bounce off the trees straight ahead. Simultaneously, he heard the sound of a car engine.

  ‘Oh Christ, he’s coming back,’ he said. ‘Quick.’

  The roadway was narrow with trees and dense undergrowth on both sides. The remains of a low wall were on their right. Lewis threw the bags over the wall and then he and Helen scrambled over. The ground sloped away sharply so they began to slide downwards but soon the thick underbrush stopped them. The squatted down, panting as the blazing lights of the car tore past them going up the hill.

  The car came to a halt just outside the gate. The engine was turned off and the lights died. Lewis couldn’t see what was going on – only the top storey of the cottage was visible – but he could hear clearly in the still night. A car door was opened and slammed shut and then a second one. The gate squealed.

  ‘Reckon they’ve flown?

  It was Bill’s voice. So he was there as well.

  ‘No, they’re just playing silly buggers with the lights out.’

  Their heavy shoes crunched across the gravel and onto the flagstones. Lewis was half-tempted to make a run for it but was afraid of the noise he would make scrabbling out of the ditch. What a pity he couldn’t drive – they could have taken the car. They waited and listened to the cottage door being tried. When the two men realised it was locked, a voice – it was Bill’s – said, ‘They’ve gone.’

  ‘Nonsense. They’re hiding inside. Break open the door.’

  ‘This is private property, Bob.’

  ‘I don’t give a damn,’ said Robert angrily. ‘Down with the door. If you don’t do it, I shall do it myself.’

  There was the thud of a shoulder put to the door. Then came what sounded like a grunt of exertion and a boot crashing onto the wood. There was a splintering sound and the sound of the door banging on the wall as it flew inwards.

  ‘In, in, in,’ said Robert.

  Lewis heard footsteps downstairs and then the sound of boots rattling up the old stairs. Feet thundered on the planking of the floors and then the window of Lewis’s room was flung open with a slam and a jingle of broken glass. A sleeve brushed broken glass from the window sill and then a figure leaned out, head and shoulders. The head moved slowly from left to right looking high out over the undergrowth. Lewis was sure they would be seen but if they were, the figure gave no sign of it. There were feet on the stairs and then there was the sound of heavy bootheels on the flagstones and the gravel again. The gate squeaked once more.

  ‘They must be close by; they can’t be far.’

  It was Robert’s voice.

  ‘They can’t just have disappeared,’ he added.

  ‘They could have had another place to go to. Guest house. B & B.’

  ‘You’re the damn policeman. What do you suggest then?’

  Lewis was terrified that they would start to search for them, but then Bill said, ‘Best to leave it until the morning now, Bob. We have the train and the bus times. We’ll find her, don’t you worry. They’ll be trying to get out of Fowey. Not much chance of doing that this evening, I’d have said. In the morning we’ll get to Par station first thing. If they’re leaving by train they’ll have to go there.’

  ‘But they could leave by bus, on foot, on a bloody donkey and cart for all we know.’

  Now it was Bill’s turn to get angry.

  ‘I don’t know why you didn’t wait at the bloody house when you had them. I go to all this trouble to track them down —’

  He left the sentence unfinished.

  ‘Alright,’ said Robert. ‘We’ll wait until the morning.’

  There was the sound of the car doors being opened and slammed shut again. Then the engine started. The lights turned on and the car reversed down the hill as before and soon the sound of it had died away.

  39

  Lewis clambered out over the wall and then helped Helen out.

  ‘Alright?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I was sure he was going to see us that time.’

  ‘Well, he didn’t,’ said Helen. ‘Oh Lewis, I’m sorry I got you involved in all of this. Do you want to just pack it in now? We’ll go back in the cottage and take our chances tomorrow. Or maybe better still, you should go back to Mrs Middleton and I’ll just stay here and catch the train tomorrow. Who knows? The cottage might be our safest option now. They’re unlikely to come back here again, are they?’

  ‘Who knows?’ said Lewis. ‘I just think that as long as he knows where you are you won’t be safe. And I’m not leaving you. You know I’m not going to do that. Let’s go down to the beach.’

  They began the descent to Readymoney. It was about a quarter of a mile. Over on their left the moon had begun to rise and was just clear of the Polruan side of the estuary.

  ‘Anyway,’ said Lewis, ‘since I met you, I’ve been chased by irate husbands, I‘m about to steal a boat, I don’t know where I’ll be sleeping tonight. I feel like I’m living the
adventures of Mister Toad.’

  She laughed. It was the first time she had done so since all this had started.

  ‘I’m sure it’s all good training for when I go into action.’

  ‘Let’s hope there are boats down there now,’ she said.

  ‘There are always boats there.’

  Over on their right, over the underbrush and through the trees, they could see the sea. The moon had just begun to shine on it, creating a shining pathway across the water. The laneway they were on curved to the left and as they came round it, Lewis thought he saw something that seemed out of place. It looked like a small, regularly-shaped splash of moonlight down at the bottom where the laneway joined the main road from Fowey.

  Lewis, who was on Helen’s right, was just about to say something to her when the world lit up. An engine roared into life and two large discs of light began to gather speed as they moved towards them. Lewis felt his heart jolt and he thought he heard Helen scream his name. It was hard to tell how far away the car was. Lewis thought it might be a couple of hundred yards. A quick glance to left and right confirmed that there were no places for them to hide.

  ‘Go towards the car,’ shouted Lewis above the roar of the engine.

  ‘Towards the car? Are you mad?’ she screamed back.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Come on – and when I tell you to run to the beach, do exactly that. Alright?’

  If she answered he didn’t hear it. He dropped the bags and took her hand. Feeling her resist, he yanked it. This time she complied. It occurred to Lewis that seeing them hand in hand must be confirming everything that Robert had said – and must also be making him even more angry. Swiftly they walked towards the approaching headlights, blinded by the light.

  The car, which had been gaining speed, slowed at first and then stopped altogether, the engine still running. Lewis heard the handbrake being applied. He moved to the left to try to get out of the glare of the twin beams. He was just in time to see the door being opened.

  ‘Now,’ he said to Helen. ‘Quickly, run. I’ll see you there.’

  Helen ran past the driver’s side of the car. As she did, the door had opened some more and Robert’s head began to emerge. In his peripheral vision Lewis saw the passenger door opening. Robert’s ear was just level with the edge of the roof when Lewis lashed out with his right foot. His boot connected with the door and it recoiled straight away slamming back against Robert. The impact banged his head against the metal of the roof. Robert screamed but tried again to get out of the car. By now Lewis was abreast of the door. He shoved it as hard as he could with his shoulder and for a second time Robert’s head cracked against the steel. This time he went down.