by Helen Phifer
He did his best not to glare at her, he really did. ‘Fine.’ It was hard to ignore that she’d just told him what to do. Taking orders wasn’t his strong point.
They walked down the high street towards the pub where people were crowding around the outside tables smoking and laughing loudly. Connor found his fingers begin to clench into tight fists; this wasn’t his kind of place at all. He preferred a nice, exclusive restaurant where there were no crowds hanging around outside.
Stella looked at him. ‘It’s a bit busy. I didn’t realise. We can go somewhere else if you prefer.’
He shook his head. ‘No, we’re here now. It’s fine. Should we go inside? It looks as if most of the patrons are outside, so we might get a table.’
Stella smiled and pushed her way through to the front door with Connor following, doing his best to breathe deeply and keep his rising anger levels in check.
They found a small table in a dark corner – which he was grateful for – near to the bar. Stella offered to go buy the drinks, but he shook his head and came back with an ice bucket, a bottle of Moet & Chandon, and two glasses.
‘Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you liked champagne. I can get you something else if you prefer.’
She looked surprised. ‘I don’t mind at all. In fact, I’m partial to the odd glass of champagne. I just can’t stretch to it on my budget at the moment. Although I can go halves with you tonight. I don’t expect you to pay for everything.’
‘Don’t be silly. I was the one who asked you out for a drink. This is on me, and if you like it, we can have another bottle or two.’
‘That’s very kind of you.’
He passed her a menu, hoping she wouldn’t order a huge plate of food. He didn’t want to be in here any longer than he had to be.
****
Stella groaned, but still managed to finish her glass of champagne, which didn’t surprise him. She’d been funny, much better than he’d anticipated. And although he was still angry about her choice of eatery, he was beginning to relax. All night he’d avoided the subject of Madeleine Hart, despite the fact that the questions were gnawing away at him.
He looked across at Stella’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes; she’d had quite enough for one night.
‘Sorry to be a bit of a party pooper,’ he said, ‘but I have to get up early for work. Would you mind if we left soon?’
Pushing her chair back, she stood up, shaking her head. ‘Of course not. Yes, me too.’
She stumbled a little and he put his arm out to catch her. She grabbed hold of it, pushing it through hers as she dragged him towards the door.
Outside was quieter, though the air was hot and sticky. Summer in the city was hard work when you didn’t have air conditioning.
As they walked back to her flat, Stella never stopped chatting about anything and everything, except for one thing – Maddy. It angered him. He’d expected her to start blabbing on after the first bottle of champagne about what good friends they were, or how gutted she was that Maddy had upped and moved away. But her friend’s name had not once crossed her lips.
In fact, she’d had managed to avoid that particular subject all night – much to his distaste.
Chapter Twenty-One
S eth did a double take as he turned the corner onto the high street. Each outside table and picnic bench was full of customers. He smiled. This sudden heatwave had brought the tourists out for a cold drink, and he wasn’t complaining. A rush of guilt washed over him that he’d left his dad to cope alone.
Parking the car, he jumped out and jogged across the road, hoping his dad wasn’t exhausted. But as he edged his way inside the pub, he had to look twice at the person behind the bar. Glenys was there, pulling pints and chatting with the customers. Alfie was collecting glasses, and his dad was sitting in the corner nursing a pint of what looked like draught lager.
Glenys waved and he waved back, torn between asking her what she was doing or checking on his dad. He opted to speak to his dad first and hurried to the table and sat down opposite him.
‘Don’t look so worried, son, I’m fine. Glenys popped in for a swift cider. In all fairness, I think she was looking for you. A coach pulled up at the town square and this lot embarked, and she kindly offered to take over so I could have a breather.’
‘Sorry, I had no idea.’
‘What are you sorry for? Don’t be daft. Like I said, I’m not dead yet, so don’t treat me as if I am.’
Seth laughed. A finger poked him in the back, and he turned around to see Alfie standing behind him holding a cold beer.
‘Ma said you might need this. She said to tell you she’s good. She used to be a barman before we came here.’
‘A barwoman.’
Alfie shrugged. ‘Don’t know. She worked in a pub. Are you mad at her, Seth?’
Seth swallowed the mouthful of lager he’d just taken and shook his head. ‘No way, she’s a lifesaver. I’m happy with her and very thankful.’
Alfie thought about what Seth had said for a few moments, then grinned and wandered off outside.
‘If you ask me, she’s sweet for you, is that one. She might be a bit strange but her heart’s in the right place.’
‘Dad, I’m not wanting to marry her. We had a chat and a laugh, and I like her as a person. In fact, I think she could be a good friend; both of them could. Just because I stopped her from battering Alfie and walked her home last night, it doesn’t mean we’re in a serious relationship. It is possible to be friends with someone, no strings attached.’
‘Suppose so. I’m only looking out for you.’
‘I know you are, but I’m forty-two. I can look out for myself.’
His dad shrugged, picked up the folded newspaper in front of him, and began to read. It was a signal that he’d had enough conversation for the time being.
Seth picked up his pint glass and walked across to the bar, propping himself on an empty stool. Glenys passed some change over to the customer she was serving and came to talk to him.
‘Are you mad at me?’
He stared at her purple fringe which she’d had tucked behind her ear and shook his head. ‘What is it with you and Alfie? He asked me exactly the same thing. Why would I be mad at you?’
‘For sticking my nose in.’
‘You’re a lifesaver. Like I told Alfie, I’m very thankful to you for helping out.’
‘Phew! I’m not trying to get in your bed, you know, if that’s what you’re thinking. I genuinely stopped by to say thank you and the pub suddenly filled with people. It was as if they’d all been deposited in the town square by a UFO, they just came out of the blue.’
‘Or a coach. There’s one down by the car park.’
They both laughed. ‘UFO sounds far more glamorous, though, it’s intriguing. I wouldn’t mind this lot piling into my shop when they’ve filled their boots in here. Oh, you’re almost out of cheese and onion crisps.’
‘First World problems, eh? I guess they’ll have to start on the scampi fries. I’ll try to send them your way. Why don’t you go and open up? They’ll have to pass the shop on the way down to the car park.’
‘Now that I like the sound of.’ She hesitated briefly. ‘You don’t need me to stick around?’
He shook his head. ‘No way. You need to earn enough money to buy the pizza you’re going to burn or the sausages you promised me for my tea. Seriously, Glenys, thank you.’
‘Ah, you’re welcome. It’s no bother.’
She ducked under the hatch and pushed her way through the customers, while Seth took her place with a huge smile on his face. Today had been pleasantly surprising, different, and a complete change.
He wondered how Maddy was getting on at the house; now, he did find her attractive. She was definitely his type, with her golden, blonde, messy bun. Blue eyes and suntanned skin that was peppered with freckles. He preferred the natural look to Glenys’s full-on, look-at-me-I’m-a-Goth kind of style.
The woman was certainly brave to be living in Lake
House on her own, but then again, she wasn’t from around here. She didn’t know about any of the local legends, and if you didn’t believe in ghosts or ghouls then why would a house bother you? He didn’t suppose it would. In a way he was envious, because she was living in his dream home without having to worry about anything other than making sure it didn’t burn to the ground, or not bleeding to death in the middle of nowhere.
He wasn’t afraid to admit he was looking forward to seeing Maddy again, and he hoped it was sooner rather than later. With a bit of luck, she’d need to use the Wi-Fi to connect to the outside world. It must be tough coming from a big city like London to live here, pretty much as far from civilisation as possible.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A lfie wandered away from the busy pub. Now Seth was there, he could go and do what he wanted. He didn’t have to clean the tables like his ma had ordered him to. Not that he minded taking the glasses in and putting them in the dishwasher, but he didn’t like the people. There were too many of them, chattering and laughing; the noise was deafening. It hurt his ears.
What he wanted to do was to go to the empty house, lie on the wooden pier, and stare down into the water. He liked to see if he could see them; some days you could and some days you couldn’t. His ma told him off when she knew where he’d been, saying it was dangerous. And it might be. He wasn’t a very good swimmer, which was why he never went into the water.
He would walk along the pier if the water was calm, but if it was choppy, he would crawl so he didn’t lose his balance and fall in. He loved lying there and staring over the edge, but only if he was feeling brave. Some days he didn’t feel brave enough and instead would press his face to one of the gaps in-between the boards, squinting his eyes to see if he could see the lake people. He hadn’t told anyone about them because he knew they would think he was mad. Even worse, they might think that he’d put them in there, and he didn’t want the blame for something he hadn’t done. People always blamed him for everything.
Walking around the edge of the lake, he reached the dry-stone wall which separated the grounds of the big, empty house from the public walkways, and clambered over. No one ever came this far along the edge of the lake. It was too near to the house, and they kept away from it.
He stared at the empty building. It was huge and looked like a hotel someone had forgotten about. He would like to live here instead of the flat above the shop. He would be able to wander the halls and not have to worry about his mam being angry with him, because she wouldn’t be able to find him. There must be hundreds of hiding places inside. One day, he would go inside and have a look around, just not today. It was a shame he didn’t have any real friends, as they could have had a great time exploring inside it.
He picked up a handful of stones, looking for flat ones that he could skim across the lake. Every time he found one, he slipped it into his pocket. He’d forgotten his slingshot today; when he used that, he could send the stones almost to the middle of the lake. Once he’d fired a stone at the house and heard the window splinter from where he’d been standing. That had made him feel bad inside. He hadn’t meant to break it, and he’d run home in case he’d got caught. That was weeks ago, and the police hadn’t been to arrest him, so he had been very lucky. Now he made sure he only fired the stones into the lake, and that was how he’d found the lake people.
That day, he’d dropped his handful of pebbles onto the wooden pier and scrabbled around picking them up. As he’d looked through the gap in the wooden slats, he’d seen a face staring up at him. It proper scared him and he had screamed out loud. Leaving the stones, he’d run all the way back to his mam’s shop, wanting to tell her what he’d seen. But she’d been busy and waved him away. Then he realised that it might have been his imagination playing a trick on him and he better not say anything. At least, not until he knew for sure there had been a man’s face in the water, all glassy-eyed and staring up at him. He didn’t want the other kids in the village to hear about it; they laughed at him anyway.
Alfie suddenly realised that the pier had wet footprints on it. They weren’t very big, and for the first time since he’d been coming here Alfie felt a cold, wedge of fear fill his stomach, like a lead weight. One of the lake people must have come out of the water, like in some terrible fairy tale. How had they got out? Even worse, why had they come out? Were they looking for him and, if they were, why?
He dropped the handful of stones he’d been about to throw, turned, and ran back the way he’d come. As he reached the stone wall, he risked glancing behind him to make sure they weren’t following him. Doubling over to catch his breath, he noticed there was a light on in the big, empty house.
Why were they inside the house? They’d never been in it before. He launched himself at the wall, scraping his knees and elbow on a sharp stone. Not caring about the pain, he fell to the other side and began to run back home. The fear that something from the lake was going to chase him and drag him into the water to become one of them, made him run faster than he’d ever run before.
Chapter Twenty-Three
C onnor escorted Stella to the top of the steep, rickety steps, and watched as she fumbled with the key to get into her flat. Stella knew she should have let him leave her at the bottom of the street, but he’d insisted he make sure that she got inside safely, which was a bit of a laugh. She’d staggered up and down these steps more times than she cared to remember, and only once had she fallen. Luckily, that time she’d landed on her arse and bumped down at great speed, bruising nothing but her bottom and her ego. Maddy had screeched in horror which then erupted into laughter once she’d realised that she hadn’t done any serious damage. There was a lot to be said for extra padding on the derriere.
The key turned in the lock and Stella threw the door open, stepping inside. Her heart was doing this strange, out of turn, skip-a-beat thing, and her stomach was a mess of churning knots. It was now or never, and against her better judgement she gave Connor her most seductive look.
‘Would you like a coffee?’
There, she’d said it. In a way she hoped he would turn around and say no, then walk out of her life for good, because this was so screwed-up, even for her.
He smiled at her, and for a fleeting moment a look crossed his face which sobered her up; it wasn’t anything she’d ever seen before, and it made her shudder. Before he could answer, she shook her head.
‘Sorry, Connor, I’m being stupid. Of course you wouldn’t. You have stuff to get on with and I’ve drunk far too much. I better get to bed. I have to be up early tomorrow, there’s a big delivery.’
The words gushed out of her mouth and she stepped back and began to close the door, wanting to lock and bolt it while she recovered her senses. What the fuck had she been thinking?
Before the door could click shut, he stuck his foot into the gap, stopping it in its tracks.
‘Aw, don’t be so hasty, darling. I’d love a coffee. We’ve had such a fun night, it would be a shame to let it end here.’
Pushing the door open, he reached out and stroked her cheek. His lips smiled at her, but his eyes didn’t, and cold fear began to snake up the length of her spine. Grabbing hold of the door with both hands, she shook her head and pushed it, trying to slam it shut. He snatched his foot back and she’d almost closed the door when there was an almighty crash as he kicked it with all his might, slamming it back against her.
Stella fell backwards, ripping one of her extra-long acrylic nails clean off, and screamed in pain as she landed on the floor. Connor stepped inside, shutting and bolting the door behind him, then stood over her with his arms crossed, shaking his head.
‘What’s wrong, Stella? We were having such a lovely evening. Why have you gone all nuts on me? I’m not a monster.’
For a moment, she wondered if she was overreacting. Had the champagne sent her into a fear-filled frenzy? Or had she come to her senses? Maddy had never lied to her the entire time they’d been friends. How stupid was she to think that
he might have been telling the truth?
The pain in her finger was throbbing and she shook her hand up and down to try to ease it. Connor leant down towards her, holding out his hand.
‘Sorry, are you okay? Let me help you up and then get your finger sorted. You need to run it under the cold tap, it will numb the pain a little.’
Every nerve in Stella’s body began to tingle. He looked as sincere as Buffalo Bill did in Silence of the Lambs. His voice echoed in her mind: ‘It puts the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again.’ She’d let a lunatic into her flat and now she was going to pay.
Stella decided to play along; she’d do anything to get him out of here. If she could just keep him happy until she locked herself in the bathroom and phoned the police, it might be okay. She took his hand and he pulled her up.
‘There, see? What was that all about? I don’t understand, Stella. I thought we were okay and that you understood me.’
‘I’m sorry, it must be the champagne. I’m not used to it. I feel a bit squiffy to be honest with you. I should never have drunk so much.’
That smile again, it made her cringe inside. He tugged her towards the sink in the kitchen.
‘Run your finger under the cold water, it’s bleeding.’
She nodded, turning on the tap and doing as she was told. He stood to the side of her watching her every move. She knew where the kitchen knives were without even looking for them and wondered if she was going to need one.
‘Seeing as this date night has turned into a bit of a terrible ending, I might as well come straight out and ask you. I suppose there’s no point in waiting around much longer. Where is she?’
Stella closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and shook her head. ‘I don’t know, she hasn’t been in touch since she left.’
He frowned. ‘Are you sure about that? I would think very carefully, Stella, because first, I know she tells you every little gory detail about her life. And second, for every lie you tell me, I’m going to break one of your fingers. If you think it hurts because you broke a nail, you haven’t experienced anything yet. I’ll let you have a moment to think about it.’
