The House

by Eden Darry

  Uncle Finlay waved her off. “She’s like a fucking cat, that one. Popping them out all over the place. I should put a cardboard box under the stairs for her and have done with it. You’ve got kids, haven’t you?”

  Fin didn’t want to talk about her kids. Not with them and not in here. Now all she wanted was to get out and go to bed. Christ knew what she’d been thinking, coming here in the first place. She must be mad.

  “Look, Uncle Finlay—”

  “No, you look, sweetheart. I haven’t got time for games. You want something, else you wouldn’t be here, and I think we both know what it is.” He spoke quietly and Fin was surprised at his directness.

  “It was a mistake to come.”

  Uncle Finlay made a seesawing motion with his hand. “Depends on how you look at it. I’ve got business, so you’ll need to excuse me. Why don’t you stay for a bit and catch up with Nate? You always were his favourite cousin.”

  She nodded.

  He stood up and leaned towards her. “If you come around again, though, Finola, you’d better be sure about what you’re after because once a deal’s done, it’s done. Catch my drift?”

  She nodded again. Next time she came here he’d take it as a green light she wanted Sherry killed, and then she’d be his forever.

  She stayed for another drink, then made her excuses and left. She was glad to get out of there. The drinks were doubles and she couldn’t drive on them. She hailed a cab and headed into the centre of town. She didn’t want to go home yet. She felt disconnected and unlike herself.

  Fin couldn’t believe she’d gone there, to see him. She knew what would have happened. Lance Sherry would be found floating in the river or dumped in a park, and it would have been on her. And the blood would be on her hands. She’d have to face Sadie, knowing what she’d done after she promised not to.

  What was so wrong with her that she’d considered ordering a man killed? Even someone like Lance Sherry. Fin had worked so hard to leave these people behind. She had fought not to end up like her cousin Michelle, popping out baby after baby by an endless stream of useless blokes. Used up and exhausted by twenty-eight.

  In one night she had almost undone all that hard work. She almost brought those people back into her life. Into Sadie’s and her kids’ lives.

  Fin directed the cabbie to a women’s bar in Soho. She needed a drink or ten.

  * * *

  19th September 1893

  She still bangs her fists against the door, but there isn’t much force behind them any more and it comes much more infrequently. I like to sit on the other side with my ear pressed against it so I can hear her weep and beg me to release her. I am growing bored with Anna, and my wife will return from her mother’s home in just a few more days. It wouldn’t do for her to find out about my game. Like before, I shall tell her another maid resigned her post while she was away. Sometimes I watch my wife and wonder. I watch her and imagine she was locked behind this door, banging against it in vain. Would it feel different than having Anna in there? Would I enjoy it more? These are questions for another day. Anna has stopped weeping. I’ll turn on the gas soon.

  * * *

  Fin woke up and felt sick. It felt like someone was tightening a steel band around her head. She groaned. Something moved beside her and she turned her face to see the top of a woman’s head poking out of the duvet.

  Her stomach roiled. Oh no, what had she done? She didn’t remember much about last night except that she’d started out in a women’s bar in town. She had a vague recollection of being in a club and dancing. There had been a woman grinding up against her. What had she done?

  Fin sat up and the world tilted on its axis. She thought she might be sick, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the booze or the woman lying next to her.

  That was when she noticed she still had her clothes on. What? She glanced around and the room seemed familiar too. Fin reached out and pulled the duvet off the sleeping woman next to her.

  “Hey! Get lost, Fin.”

  Fin felt relief wash over her at the sight of her very hung-over and very sleepy best friend. She grinned. “Morning. You look rough, Rose.”

  “Back at you, dickhead.”

  Fin laughed. “What happened last night?”

  “You called me, pissed out of your head. You were all, Rose come down to the bar, me and Sarah are doing shots.”

  “Sarah?”

  “Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything. You were out of your tiny mind. I tried to bring you home, but you insisted we go clubbing.”

  “Shit, sorry.”

  Rose waved off the apology then yawned. “Can you at least make coffee? I feel as rough as a badger’s arse.”

  Fin got up and waited for the room to settle down. Gingerly, she made her way into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She found a couple of aspirin in Rose’s cabinet and swallowed them.

  In the shower she sniffed Rose’s shampoo and decided she’d rather smell of patchouli than beer and cigarettes. She was just starting to feel human when Rose burst in.

  “Fin, it’s the police. On your phone. I picked it up—”

  Fin jumped out of the shower and ran back into the studio room. She felt sick but it wasn’t anything to do with the booze.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Fin put down the phone and turned to face Rose. “They got him,” she whispered.

  Rose’s face turned to pure joy and she pumped her fist. “Yes!”

  Fin laughed and pulled her into a hug. She picked her up and swung her around.

  Rose squealed. “Umm, Fin.”

  “What?” Fin grinned.

  She lowered Rose to the floor but kept her arms around her.

  “Well, as happy as I am for you and Sadie, you might want to put some clothes on.”

  Fin looked down and realized she was naked. She hadn’t thought about it as she’d barrelled out of the shower. “Oops. Sorry.”

  Rose made a show of looking her up and down, then cocked an eyebrow. “No need to apologize. It’s been years since I’ve seen you naked, and I have to say, you look all right for an old bird.”

  “I’m thirty-five,” Fin muttered. Her face was on fire and she slunk back into the bathroom and shut the door on the sound of Rose’s laughter.

  Five minutes later and she was dressed. She was wearing the clothes from last night and they stank of stale beer and cigarettes, but at least she felt cleaner. The headache and queasiness were gone. Rose had made coffee and was sitting on the couch with the duvet wrapped around her.

  “When did they get him?” she asked.

  “Yesterday, late afternoon. They’ve arrested him for a load of stuff, and he’s been denied bail. Which means he’s going to be locked up until the trial.” They’d picked him up on the south coast, where he’d been staying for the past few days. That meant it would have been difficult for him to have been the one who shut the trapdoor on her.

  “That’s great news. Does Sadie know?”

  “Yeah, they called her first thing. I need to phone her now.”

  Before she could, the phone rang. It was Sadie.

  Fin picked up her mug of coffee and perched on the edge of the sofa. “Hello, babe,” she said.

  “Did you hear?”

  “Yeah, they just called. It’s great news.”

  “It is, it is! I can’t believe it. I feel like a weight has been lifted. I managed to get us on a flight that leaves in a few hours. We’ll be home tonight.”

  Fin’s heart soared and tears prickled the back of her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose to ward them off. “I’m so happy. I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you. We all have. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

  “See you soon. I love you too.”

  Fin hung up and she felt Rose rubbing small circles on her back.

  “Aren’t you glad you didn’t ask your uncle for help now?” Rose asked, startling Fin. “You told me last night.”

  “Sadie can’t
ever know about that.”

  Rose nodded her head. “I won’t tell her. But, Fin, if you ever get it into your head to do something stupid like that again—”

  “I won’t.”

  “If you do. Please call me or something.”

  Fin nodded. “I will. I promise.”

  * * *

  Lance Sherry lay on his bed in his cell. He could almost see the Man perched on the end watching him. He wasn’t there. He wasn’t. But all the same…

  “Don’t look at me like that. It wasn’t my bloody fault,” Lance said petulantly. “There’s CCTV everywhere in this country. They were bound to catch up with me sooner or later.”

  A member of the public had recognized him in the chicken shop and called the police. As soon as he stepped outside with his family bucket, he’d been dragged to the ground and handcuffed.

  “It’s your fault anyway. I wanted to go back to the bitch’s house straight away, but you said no, we had to wait.”

  The Man regarded him silently and Lance felt his anger bubble over. “Fuck you, you don’t even speak! How do I know what you want when you don’t even fucking speak!”

  The flap in the metal door of his cell flicked down and Lance saw two eyes peek through. “Pipe down, Lance. Who are you talking to anyway?”

  Lance gave him the finger and turned back to the Man. He carried on in a whisper. “You do realize this is crazy, don’t you? That I’m crazy. You don’t even exist. Christ, I’m losing my mind.”

  Lance got up and began to pace the small room. He was talking to a figment of his imagination. Seeing something that wasn’t there. He didn’t feel like he was mad, but he must be…Mustn’t he?

  Lance turned around to face the Man. The Man smiled and beckoned him over. He had a plan to get out of this place. Lance grinned. He was a man with a plan.

  * * *

  It was after midnight when Sadie and the kids pulled up in front of the house. Fin had wanted to come and collect them from the airport, but the flight was delayed, and Sadie told her it was easier to just take a taxi.

  Fin must have been waiting at the window though, because she was out of the front door and at the car door before Sadie had even undone her seat belt.

  They carried the children inside. Both of them had fallen asleep on the journey over here. Back in their own bedroom, Sadie drew the curtains. She had switched on the bedside lights leaving the room in a warm glow.

  The bedsprings squeaked as Fin got in. Sadie quickly shed her clothes and joined her. Fin lay on her back with her eyes closed. Even in this light Sadie could see the dark circles under her eyes. She traced them with one finger. “Did you get any sleep while we were away?” she asked softly.

  Fin’s blue eyes opened and caught hers. She smiled. “I went out with Rose last night. It was a late one.”

  “You went to London?”

  “It’s empty here without you,” Fin replied simply.

  Sadie stroked her face. She loved the feel of her soft skin. She traced the arch of her cheekbones and the gentle bow of her lips. “We’re back now. We can move forward.”

  Fin reached up and took her hand. She kissed Sadie’s palm and held it against her face. “There’s still the trial,” she said quietly.

  That was true. As a lawyer, Sadie knew how these things went, and it wouldn’t be pleasant. She was confident he’d be convicted though—there was too much evidence against him. “I’m not worried about that. He’s caught, and the trial is a long way off yet. If he has a good solicitor this time, I imagine he’ll be advised to plead guilty.”

  “So they’ll give him a lighter sentence?”

  “It’ll still be a long one. He tried to kill me. He stalked me after the fact. Don’t worry, Fin.”

  “I’ll try not to.”

  “I don’t want to talk about Lance Sherry any more.” Sadie slid down so she was pressed against Fin’s side.

  “Oh? What do you want to talk about then?”

  “I don’t want to talk at all.”

  Fin sat up and gasped in mock surprise. “You’re trying to seduce me!”

  Sadie laughed and pulled Fin down on top of her. She ran her hands up Fin’s sides and kissed her.

  She felt Fin’s thigh push between her legs and against her centre, and the sensation made her moan. She rocked against it, creating the friction she needed to get off. Fin darted away from her, and Sadie almost groaned until she saw where she was going.

  Sadie lifted her hips and parted her legs wide as Fin came to rest between them. Fin licked her gently at first, tasting. She began to stroke with her tongue, becoming firmer and more localized on her clit—the way she liked it. When Fin pushed two fingers inside her, Sadie orgasmed. She held on to Fin’s head, pulled it against her, urging her to carry on. The second orgasm crashed through her, and she pushed down hard on Fin’s fingers.

  Fin gentled the strokes with her tongue until she stopped altogether. Sadie felt her plant a soft kiss on her inner thigh, and she reached down to stroke her hair.

  She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty

  When Sadie woke up, Fin was already gone. She reached over and felt Fin’s side of the bed. Cold. Sadie was aware of her tossing and turning in the night, and a few times she’d cried out in her sleep. Sadie guessed it was the stress of the last few months, and she was worried about her. Fin had been a rock for her, never complaining and taking on most of the load, much more than she could reasonably be expected to. But she had done it willingly, and Sadie knew she was lucky to have her.

  Perhaps it was being away and not seeing her for a few days, but Sadie thought she looked drawn and like she’d lost weight. She seemed exhausted. Sadie decided it was her turn to pick up some of the slack and let Fin rest. She was going to deal with the children this morning but Fin was already up.

  Sadie dressed and went into the kitchen. Fin was hunched over the table with Lucy and Liam. They were doing the spot-the-difference puzzle in one of Liam’s magazines.

  “What time did you get up?” she asked, bending to kiss Fin and brush her hair out of her eyes.

  “Miss Lucy decided to get me up at six.”

  Sadie poured herself coffee. “I could have gotten up with her.”

  “It’s fine—you’ve been on your own with them. It’s probably my turn. Besides, I was already awake.”

  “Mama.” Lucy drew Fin’s attention away before Sadie could ask about her bad dreams.

  She stood and watched them for a minute. Liam was serious, studying each picture with intent. Lucy tried to turn the page, already bored with the game, while Fin absently batted her hand away then tickled her. Sadie felt a huge swell of love for them. If Lance Sherry’d had his way, they wouldn’t be here like this now, and she was again struck by how fragile life was.

  Upstairs, a door slammed. Sadie jumped, nearly dropping her mug.

  “What was that?” asked Liam, looking worried.

  “Koosh,” Lucy replied with authority. “He wants to play monster.”

  * * *

  Fin had skulked off to the basement while Sadie put the finishing touches on dinner. Rachel would be here soon, and Sadie was looking forward to seeing her. As soon as she’d heard she was back with the children, she’d wanted to come straight down. Sadie offered to put her off, but Fin insisted it would be good for her to have a friend over. Fin bought pizza for herself, Liam, and Lucy, and they planned to have a Pixar night in the back lounge. All that space was one good thing about having this house, Sadie thought.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like the house, not exactly, but she didn’t feel comfortable here either. She supposed it might have something to do with all that had gone on, and she was hoping it would grow on her. There was still time. As well as that, though, she missed London. There wasn’t much in the way of local entertainment, and she missed being able to go to the cinema or theatre without planning it first.

  She would try and like it here, though. She owed F
in that. Fin and Lucy loved the house—Liam, she wasn’t sure about. He didn’t ever really show his feelings, but Sadie got the distinct impression he felt the same as her. She uncorked the wine just as the doorbell rang.

  “It’s a great house,” Rachel said as they sat at the kitchen table after dinner, drinking wine.

  “You like it?”

  “I didn’t say that. It’s perfect for someone like Fin. I just don’t see you here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s so…country.” Rachel waved her glass over her head, sloshing the wine around. She was drunk. “You’ve always been a city girl.”

  Sadie made a mental note to make up the bed in the spare room for Rachel. “It’s less than half an hour to London.”

  “To Stratford.”

  “That’s London.”

  Rachel made a seesawing motion with her free hand. “I mean, what exactly are you going to do out here, anyway? Raise chickens? Go to jumble sales?”

  “Maybe I will. Maybe I’ll become a fifties style housewife.”

  “The villagers will be out with their pitchforks for you. Are there any other same-sex biracial families here?”

  “Rachel, you’re making it sound like The Wicker Man. We’re half an hour from London—most of the people here are Londoners who’ve moved out. You know, I even saw another black person today in the town. There wasn’t a pitchfork in sight. You’re so bloody dramatic.”

  “I’m just saying, moving somewhere like this. Fin wouldn’t even think about it but—”

  “Rachel. Enough.”

  Rachel held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, sorry. You love it here, Fin’s going to start baking, and you’ll pop out more babies. I get it.”

  Sadie laughed. “I don’t know about more babies. I think we’re happy with the two we’ve got. Anyway, what about you? Any prospects on the horizon?”