by Helen Phifer
He nodded. ‘I think I probably am. I haven’t really eaten since yesterday.’
‘Good, because otherwise I’d end up eating it all and not being able to get into my jeans when I finally leave here and go back to civilisation.’
They headed outside towards the lake. Seth glanced towards her. ‘Are you leaving soon?’
She shook her head. ‘Oh no, not unless I have to. I’m falling in love with Lake House, despite its unloved appearance and mysterious happenings, which kind of add to its appeal. I’ve always been a sucker for a bit of mystery.’ She aimed a smile in his direction. ‘I also really like the locals I’ve met so far; they’ve all been so nice and friendly. Not at all what I expected, if I’m honest.’
Seth laughed. ‘What did you expect? That we’d all be angry, pitchfork-wielding inbreds?’
‘Oh God, not at all. You hear these horror stories of small villages and their residents not being very welcoming, that’s all. Look at An American Werewolf in London. Those guys got stared out of the pub and ended up being chased by a werewolf.’
‘Well, that wouldn’t happen in my pub. I treat everyone the same. It doesn’t matter if they’ve turned up on a coach or lived here sixty years. My dad’s favourite saying was “treat folk as you’d like to be treated”.’
‘Your dad was a wise man.’
They reached the jetty and Maddy stepped onto it, thinking he was behind her. But when she reached the edge, she turned to see him standing at the water’s edge staring in horror at her.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘I can’t come on there, I’m sorry. I’m not very good on water. That thing’s really old, you know. It could collapse any time.’
She began to laugh. ‘It’s okay. I’ve been sitting on it and paddling my feet in the lake since the day I arrived.’
She began to jump up and down, but Seth dropped the box of food and shouted at her, his hands waving in the air.
Realising he wasn’t joking, she stopped. ‘Oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you meant it. You’re being serious?’
He nodded. ‘I am. I can climb mountains and I’m not scared of heights, but I can’t sail on water or stand on bridges. It makes me feel sick, and my knees do this whole turning to jelly and giving way thing, which is really not very manly at all.’
She bent down, grabbed the blanket she’d spread out, and walked back towards him.
‘Then we’ll sit here, at the water’s edge. I’m sorry, Seth. I didn’t mean to scare you.’
He grabbed her hand, tugging her off the end of the jetty. Maddy tripped and fell into him, he caught her and held her close. He smelt so good; his arms felt safe wrapped around her. She lay her head against his chest, then wondered if he thought she was too forward and pulled away.
Taking the blanket from her, he spread it out a few feet away from the edge of the lake.
‘Now you know my darkest secret. I guess I’m not such a tough guy after all.’
‘If being afraid of open waters is your darkest secret, I’ll take it. Everyone’s afraid of something.’
They sat down onto the blanket. ‘What about you? What are you afraid of, Maddy?’
She shrugged. ‘At the moment, my agent getting hold of me to see if I’ve finished this damn book.’
He laughed. ‘That doesn’t count. Is there anything that really scares you? I’m guessing not a lot, because you’ve moved from the busiest city in England to live on your own in what looks like a haunted mansion in the middle of nowhere. So, it’s not the dark, spiders, or being alone.’
‘Very funny,’ she replied with a smile. ‘I don’t suppose those things do scare me. Being trapped in a relationship with someone you thought you knew scares me the most.’
‘Bad experience?’
She nodded and began to take the different plates of food out of the box, setting them down on the blanket.
‘It could have been worse, I suppose. My ex-boyfriend Connor, he had it all, you know. Amazing job, loads of money, luxury penthouse with views of the River Thames, fancy car, everything.’
‘Yet he’s still your ex? He can’t have been that wonderful.’
‘He wasn’t. Well, he was at first. Then when I moved in, he began to show his true colours, the jealous rages, the punches, smashing things, threatening me. He scared me so much I knew I had to get out before he did something serious.’
Seth reached out his hand, his fingers brushing against the side of her cheek. ‘Well, I’d like to meet him one day. I’ve never hit a woman in my life, but I’m not averse to hitting a man who deserves it. Did he hurt you?’
Maddy blinked away the tears, not wanting to ruin their evening. ‘Only because I was stupid enough to let him. It won’t ever happen again. Anyway, enough of this feeling sorry for myself. I’m putting you off your food.’
Seth laughed. ‘Nothing puts me off my food.’
As they ate, Seth began to tell her the tale of woe about Alfie ruining Glenys’s new computer programme, and the mood soon lifted.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
G lenys watched Alfie lying on the sofa flicking through the pages of a magazine. Although she didn’t for one moment think it was him who’d been playing tricks on Maddy, it was playing on her mind.
‘Alf?’
He didn’t hear her; he was concentrating too hard on the pictures in the magazine about the sky at night, staring at the photographs of the constellations. She had no idea why they interested him so much.
‘Alfie.’ She crossed the room and shook his shoulder.
He jumped, shocked at her sudden touch. ‘What?’
‘Have you been going to the old house?’
He looked at her, then nodded.
‘Have you been messing around up there? Did you leave a wedding dress on the steps?’
A look of confusion spread across his face as he tried to digest what she was asking him, then his head began to shake from side to side. Glenys knew by the expression on his face he didn’t have a clue what she was talking about – proof enough for her that whatever was going on, it had nothing to do with her son.
‘What for?’
She smiled at him. ‘Nothing, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Is your magazine good?’
He smiled, nodding. His attention drawn back to the glossy pages; she was forgotten about.
Glenys walked over to the window where she could see the very tip of the roof of Lake House over the trees. A shudder wracked her entire body and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself as she continued to stare at it. Something was wrong, but she had no idea what. She’d avoided the house ever since she’d moved here because of the bad feelings she got whenever she thought about it. But she couldn’t ignore her feelings any longer; she liked Maddy and the woman was living there all alone.
Regardless of its history or the atmospherics, it was time for her to pay Lake House a visit. She would open herself to it and let its history seep into her mind. If there were any ghosts that walked the desolate corridors, she would talk to them and find out if they were intelligent or residual. For some reason, she felt fiercely protective of her new friend and she had no idea why. But no matter the consequences to herself, she knew she needed to find out what was going on before things got out of hand, and the last thing she could do was ignore it.
Little things were happening; small occurrences which might very well be some village idiot trying to scare Maddy away. Somehow, though, she didn’t think that was the case. It was as if the house was being roused from a deep sleep and was slowly waking up.
Glenys had no idea what it was capable of, but tomorrow she would try to find out.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
S eth lay on the blanket staring up at the inky blue sky. The clouds were rolling in and the breeze had picked up, blowing the edges of the blanket and extinguishing most of the flames on the tea lights. Maddy, who was packing away the plates and leftover food, shivered.
‘The weather around here has
a mind of its own,’ she commented. ‘It changes so fast, from one extreme to the other. One minute you’re baking in the sun, the next, well, it’s like winter.’
‘You noticed that? It does, and that’s often why walkers get lost or stranded on the fells. They set off and the sun is burning so brightly they don’t take the right equipment with them. There’s a shift in the weather pattern, and suddenly they’re dressed for an afternoon sunbathing by the pool when a torrential downpour begins. Soaked to the bone, high up a mountain, and with no sense of direction, it isn’t long before hypothermia can set in.’
‘Does it happen often?’
‘Too often. You’d be amazed how many people get caught out.’
‘You and the other rescue guys are real heroes.’
Seth laughed. ‘No, definitely not. I don’t wear my underpants on the outside.’ He winked at her. ‘Come on, I’ll help you get this stuff into the house. You can blow the rest of the candles out, though. As brave as I am, I still don’t want to go onto that rotting wooden jetty when it’s almost dark.’
Maddy shook her head. ‘Deal.’
Seth watched as she walked along it, his heart racing a little too fast. He knew it was ridiculous; she’d walked on it lots of times and it hadn’t collapsed. Yet he still had this irrational fear that it would, and he’d be buggered if she plunged into the lake. He’d have to go in after her; he couldn’t stand by watching and let her drown. That wouldn’t be very heroic, would it?
She bent down, blowing out the last few flames, then stood up. ‘Should I leave these on here? Do you think they’ll blow into the lake?’
He shrugged. ‘I doubt it. I’d leave them until tomorrow when it’s light. That way, if you fall in, you’ll be able to see to drag yourself out.’
‘Very funny.’
She walked back onto the grass and he felt his shoulders relax. She looked so cute with her hair in a messy bun. Strands of it had come loose where she’d been lying on the grass, and he wanted to pull her close and kiss her, pick her up in his arms and carry her back into the house. But he wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. He got the impression that she liked him as much as he did her, but he didn’t want to make a move and upset her.
And if he was honest, he didn’t know if he wanted to make love to her in the dark, inside Lake House. Whenever he was inside the building, he got the uncomfortable feeling he was being watched. By whom, he had no idea. No doubt it was his imagination, fuelled by the rumours many of the villagers had spread over the years. Definitely not much of a hero, he thought, if you’re afraid to sleep in an empty house. And he couldn’t admit that to Maddy, because she’d been here almost a week and didn’t seem in the least bit bothered about staying there on her own.
They walked back towards the house which seemed to have doubled in size as the light had faded, looming now against the backdrop of the fells. The shadows cloaking the building gave it a sinister edge.
Maddy, who’d been in front, paused as she glanced up at it. ‘I’ve never looked at it from the outside in the dark. It’s something else, isn’t it?’
Seth nodded.
‘Have you ever read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson?’ she asked.
‘No, I haven’t.’
‘What about Hell House by Richard Matheson?’
‘God, no, definitely not. I’m far too much of a wimp to read haunted house stories. I take it you have?’
‘Yes, both, several times when I was a teenager. They’re fabulous books; you should read them. Every time I look at the house, it reminds me of them. The stories were set in sprawling mansions built by rich, mad men.’
‘Yet still you don’t mind staying here, on your own? Are you like some kind of crazy woman who hides it really well?’
A snort escaped her mouth, followed by loud laughter that echoed around the valley.
‘Who knows? I suppose I must be. This sounds mad, but the minute I set my eyes on Lake House, I felt drawn towards its abandoned beauty. I fell in love with it and, yes, I suppose that makes me a bit crazy, because how can you fall in love with something so desolate yet hauntingly beautiful?’
She carried on walking up the steps while he followed. There was no answer to her question because he didn’t know at all. He’d never felt that way about anything, except maybe for her. If he had to describe Madeleine Hart, then hauntingly beautiful was a pretty apt description.
As he followed her inside the house, the faint sound of jazz music was carried towards them.
‘Where’s that coming from?’ he asked.
‘I found an ancient radio in the library, so I plugged it in and got what seems like a 1940s’ station which plays swing music and jazz. I like it.’ She smiled at him. ‘The music makes the house seem more…’
When she paused, he knew she was searching for the right word, and wondered if she was going to say ‘homely’.
‘It makes it seem more alive,’ she finished eventually.
Seth entire body shivered. That was a terrible description. Could a house come alive?
Chapter Sixty
M addy wanted Seth to stay with her so badly, but she wouldn’t ask or beg him. When he followed her to the kitchen where the radio filled the air with music, it was dark inside, so she grabbed the torch she kept by the door on the worktop and flicked the switch. The beam illuminated only a small part of the huge room.
Maddy shone it at the pine table. ‘Just put the box on there,’ she said. ‘I’ll sort it out in the morning.’
She stood with her back against the door, holding it open for Seth, who obliged then scurried back towards her. Maddy hid a smile. He really didn’t like being in here in the dark, but she couldn’t really blame him. She was kind of used to it now, so it didn’t scare her as much as it had the first couple of nights.
‘I’ll just turn the radio off.’
It was his turn to prop open the door while she crossed the expanse of terracotta-tiled flooring and pulled out the plug. The silence was deafening, the blackness became suffocating, and she heard Seth let out a gasp.
When she reached the door and stepped into the hallway, he followed, letting it slam shut behind him. The sound echoed throughout the house.
‘Shit! Maybe you should leave the radio on,’ he told her. ‘I see what you mean, it makes it sound so much better.’
Maddy nodded. An overwhelming rush of tiredness took over her body, the urge to curl up under the duvet and sleep until the morning filling her mind. She let out a huge yawn which she tried to stifle unsuccessfully with her hand.
‘I should leave it on, really,’ she admitted. ‘It does seem much lighter in here with music playing, but I’m just scared because of the dodgy electrics and how old it is, in case it’s a fire hazard. The last thing I want is to fall asleep and burn the house down with an ancient radio. There are no smoke alarms, so I might get stuck in here and burn to death.’
Seth stared at her, wide-eyed. ‘Your imagination is really something else.’
Maddy smiled. ‘I know. It’s my downfall.’
‘Why don’t you come back to the pub with me?’ he suggested. ‘I have plenty of spare rooms; you can take your pick. If you don’t want to be on your own, I have a king-size bed I’m more than happy to share.’
She thought about it, then shook her head. ‘That’s a very kind offer, but I like it here. And I’m getting paid to stay here. I don’t want to wimp out at the first chance and lose my job.’
‘Who would know? I’m not going to say anything; you could sneak out in the morning before any of the villagers saw you. Even if they did, they wouldn’t know who you were or what you were doing there.’
She shook her head again. ‘Sorry, I can’t. It wouldn’t be right. You’re welcome to stop here, though. You’d have an easier time sneaking out of here than I would at your pub. There are no neighbours for miles that I know about.’
Seth half smiled at her. ‘I would, that’s true. I’m sorry, Maddy, but I c
an’t. I think I’d be a bag of nerves, and I have a lot to do tomorrow.’
He reached down and kissed her, but she turned at the last moment, so his lips brushed her cheek. He stepped back.
‘Thank you for supper, it was lovely.’
‘You’re very welcome. Thanks for coming.’
The conversation had become strained, both of them too stubborn to give in, despite it being obvious that what they both wanted was each other.
Seth turned and headed towards the front door, and an irrational anger filled her chest as she watched him turn one last time to shout goodnight. Lifting her hand, she waved, not sure she should reply in case she said something she regretted.
The front door shut behind him and she felt sad that he’d had the chance and turned her down. Just like that, he’d wimped out at the thought of spending the night here, and it upset her beyond belief. What sort of man said no to the chance of a night of passionate sex because they were scared to be inside a house in the dark?
That was it, she determined. He could go and find someone else to wine and dine. He obviously didn’t find her that attractive.
Maddy stomped her way along the hall and up the stairs to the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. A flurry of emotions ran through her head and her heart that she’d never felt before, and she really wasn’t sure what to do about it.
Chapter Sixty-One
G lenys lay in bed. She’d tossed and turned most of the night, unable to settle into her usual deep sleep. It was that damn house; it was taking over her mind. Bad enough she hadn’t stopped thinking about it all evening, now she was lying awake worrying if Maddy was okay there on her own. She had no idea why she had this terrible sense of foreboding, but it was a dark cloud which clung to every shred of her being.
Kicking the duvet off, she lay in her pyjamas, wondering what she should do. She closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply in through her nose, releasing the breath out of her mouth. It was a silent meditation which could go one of two ways: she would either relax herself enough that sleep came and took her once more; or, she would make contact with her spirit guides who would tell her what she needed to know. In all fairness, she was hoping it would be sleep that came to her and not a visitor from the other side.
