by Carrie King
Roger leaned forward slightly. “I’m not trying to make excuses, but even the health and safety crew were unable to determine what had happened to John. No one saw it—he was out of sight in the trees. The best they could come up with was that some kind of wild animal got hold of him.”
Gerald puffed his cheeks out. His face was red. “Really! I find that very hard to believe. Wild animals in England, so you think a squirrel or a rabbit could do that to a man?”
Roger shook his head, it made no sense but what else could it be? Maybe there was an escaped zoo animal or a serial killer lurking in the woods... there seemed to be no other explanation. “And Billy …” He trailed off, remembering. He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened again to look squarely at Gerald. “What happened to Billy could not have happened.”
Gerald rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“What a ridiculous thing to say, since it has happened! Roger, this is your responsibility. You were in charge of the entire site. We have one man dead and another in the hospital, fighting for his life, with injuries no man should have ever have sustained. Roger, the medical professionals say that his entire scrotum was ripped from his body. Can you imagine such a thing?” Gerald shuddered. “This can’t get out. As far as the public need to know, this was an unfortunate industrial accident, nothing more.”
Both men stared at each other and swallowed hard. The extent of Billy’s injury was incomprehensible. And, as Roger knew, the investigation had so far revealed no cause for the shocking event. Billy’s accident had once again occurred out of sight of the other men working at Briar Park.
Roger cleared his throat.
“Billy was in the same area as John was when his accident happened. He’d spoken to Tony, the supervisor, only moments before. Everything seemed to be fine. Tony has filled out an incident report, and as he has stated already, he knows nothing more than that Billy was going back into the trees to collect the tools. The other men had mostly clocked off for the day. Evening was falling, and it was just a matter of tidying the site for the night. I was over at the office completing the last of the paperwork when Tony ran over to get me. He swears he saw or heard nothing until Billy screamed.”
There was a sudden urgent banging on the office door. Both men turned as the door was flung open heavily, bouncing off the wall behind it.
Annabel, Gerald’s PA, was standing in the doorway. She looked as if she was about to collapse.
“Mr. Seibel? There’s been another accident.”
Chapter 26
William drove the car through the well laid out streets of the Briar Park housing estate. On every lot a partially completed or recently finished new house stood. The gardens were in the final stages of landscaping, and street lights marched proudly along the borders of the neat little roads.
Briar Park had been a very popular new development from the day it first opened for sale, and the lots had sold quickly.
William pulled the car over to the curb and switched off the engine. He bent his head a little to stare through the windscreen at the house now standing before them.
“I love it, darling.”
Sandra reached over from the passenger seat and squeezed her husband’s leg gently. She gazed at the house for several minutes before looking back at him, her face radiant.
“It’s just perfect.”
William smiled at his pretty young wife. With her blonde hair and heart-shaped face she always made him want to smile, to sing and to should out how lucky he was. Then he looked back at the house. He had wanted to purchase one of the new dwellings in the development, but as soon as Sandra had seen the original house, a property built in the 1700s which still stood in the middle of the parcel of land, she had wanted no other. She had begged and pleaded with him to buy the house, and finally he had given in. All he could see when he looked at the old two-story house was hard work and renovations, but Sandra had seen glimpses of happiness and joy within its aged walls.
“Let’s go inside! I’m so excited. Do you have a key?” Sandra had already opened the car door and placed one foot on the curb.
William grinned and undid his seatbelt. “Of course. Do you want me to carry you over the threshold?”
Sandra blew a kiss in his direction from where she stood on the street, before shutting the car door with a bang.
William climbed out of the car and leaned against the car for a minute, staring at the house. Was he imagining it, or was there a cloud of yellow dust hanging in the air above the property?
He looked around.
There was a lot of construction work still going on in the area. No doubt a lot of dust would be stirred up for quite some time to come.
He walked over to join Sandra on the front step.
Sandra slipped her arm through William’s as he placed the key in the lock. He pushed the door open picked her up and carried her over the threshold both of them laughing and giggling as they made their way inside.
William put her down and stole a quick kiss.
Sandra sighed up at him and pulled back. Before she completely moved away she impulsively threw her arms around his neck, covering his face with kisses.
“Thank you,” she cried. “Thank you for buying this house for me.”
William put his arms around Sandra’s waist and held her close. “I just want you to be happy,” he said.
He kissed the top of her head.
“But we have a lot of work to do, darling, and a lot of cleaning, too. Look at the dust!” He dropped his arms and walked over to the banister of the stairs, dragging his finger through the thick yellow dust that blanketed the wood.
“I don’t care.” Sandra spun around in a happy circle. “This house is perfect.”
She turned away from the entrance way and walked into the kitchen.
“I love this kitchen. The old wood stove is still here. It adds so much character! And the room is so bright with all these windows.” She walked to the end of the room and rubbed her hand across the dusty window to clear a space. “And, look, we have three sycamore trees on our property. I’m so glad the developers left them there.”
William walked over to join Sandra. He felt a sneeze building in the back of his nose. The dust in the house was appalling and floated up as they moved.
He used the sleeve of his jacket to clear more of a space on the window pane. The three sycamore trees bordered the property, set up close to the new fence which marked their boundary.
“What’s that?” he pointed.
“What where?” Sandra stood on tiptoes to try and see what William was looking at.
“I think it’s an old pump, or maybe an artesian well. I didn’t notice it before when we viewed the place. I’m going outside to take a look. Do you want to come?”
Sandra shook her head. “No, I want to look around inside. I’m so excited. William, we’re going to make a wonderful new beginning in this house.”
She looked at her husband seriously for a moment. “I’m sure this marks a change for us. Perhaps once we’re settled in …”
She gazed up at him, the pain evident in her blue eyes.
William ducked his head and kissed her forehead. “Another baby will come. Give it time. You’ve got enough to think of for now. You’re going to be so busy, you’ll barely have a moment to think or worry.” He patted her rump gently. “I’ll just go and check on the garden.”
Sandra turned away and began opening and closing cupboards.
William reached the doorway and looked back.
“The delivery company will bring the furniture in the morning. Are you sure you want to stay here tonight? It won’t be too comfortable sleeping on the floor. I can still find us a hotel.”
Sandra shook her head firmly. “No, I want to stay here. This is our house now, and I’m never leaving.”
William laughed. “After months of renovations, you might wish you’d never arrived! Don’t be too quick to say that you’re never leaving.”
He walked
down the short hallway toward the back door. He tried the door leading to the basement as he passed it. The real estate agent had not had a key to the downstairs room when he’d shown the couple the property, but he had promised to send a locksmith to the house. The door was still firmly locked. Whistling, William stepped into the living room. There against the wall was a painting of a forest with a monk working in a garden. Next to him there was a rip in the canvas. That would have to go.
Picking up the picture he went to the back door and stepped down into the garden, tossing the broken painting into the bin.
William stood beside the house and looked around. Their property was still of a reasonable size. The garden was much bigger than the new build properties that surrounded them, but nothing remotely close to the area the original grounds had covered.
The couple had been told a brief history of the house, from the time it was first built in the 1700s. The estate agent had told them it had belonged to a local monastery for a period of time, and since then a range of owners had passed through its doors.
Sandra had been enchanted at the thought of owning such an old property, and she had fallen in love with it in moments. He still had his doubts though, sometimes looking at it made his skin crawl... but he would put his own doubts aside. Sandra deserved some joy and he would make sure she got it.
He looked over towards a pile of wood heaped against the side of the house. The woodstove in the kitchen still worked, apparently, and there was a fireplace in the living room. William was fond of a good open fire. In his opinion, there was nothing better than relaxing beside a roaring fire on a cold winter’s night, a glass of red wine in hand and the beautiful woman he loved by his side. He smiled at the thought. It was good to see Sandra so happy again.
It was a lovely day and he felt the sun on his back as he walked over to the pump he’d noticed from the window. Weeds grew and twisted through the aged mechanism, and rust covered most of it. He squatted down, pulling the weeds aside, and gave the pump an experimental push. The rusted metal gave slightly under the pressure of his hand, but then stopped. It was probably years since it had been used.
He looked around and spotted a sturdy stick lying in the grass close by. Getting up, he walked over to pick it up. Perhaps if he leveraged the wood under the pump handle, he could break through the decades of rust and loosen it a little.
William looked up from his task a moment later, frowning. What was that sound?
There was nothing that he could see but a whispering or a muttering was coming from nearby? Whatever it was, it was urgent and intense and very disconcerting. He stared around. The leaves of the sycamore trees rustled in the breeze. Suddenly, a piercing scream reached his ears. Sandra! He dropped the stick and sprinted towards the house, his heart pounding.
Chapter 27
William threw the door back against its hinges and ran inside the house. “Sandra!” he called frantically. “Where are you? Are you all right?” His mouth was dry, and he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears.
“I’m up here. I’m okay,” Sandra’s voice drifted down the stairs.
William took the stairs two at a time. “What happened? I heard you scream from out in the garden.”
Sandra was standing in the doorway to the bathroom, her arms wrapped around herself in a hug.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Look.”
With a shaking finger, she pointed at the old claw-footed tub standing in the middle of a maze of black and white floor tiles.
William followed her gaze. He stared for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“It’s just a spider! Jesus, I thought you’d been murdered.”
In a few steps, he stood in front of the bathtub.
“Poor little thing; it’s probably terrified.”
He reached down to pick up the insect, intent on opening the bathroom window and placing it on the ledge outside.
“Shit!”
He recoiled quickly and stood up, looking at his finger. “It bit me.”
“I told you that all spiders are evil.”
Sandra spoke from the doorway, but she made no attempt to come any closer. “Don’t try and save it. Kill it. Squash it,” her voice rose and was slightly hysterical.
William sucked at his finger. He’d never experienced a spider bite, and he had not expected to feel such pain from such a tiny creature. Already, the tip of his finger was throbbing. The spider moved suddenly, scurrying quickly across the white ceramic surface in a flurry of long, scrabbly legs. He raised his foot and stomped his boot down into the tub, leaving the insect with no chance of survival.
He heard Sandra let out a sigh of relief behind him as he removed his foot from the tub and stared at the smeared remains of the creature with satisfaction.
“Maybe we should get the pest control people in,” Sandra said. “This place must be crawling with bugs.” She shuddered.
“It might be a good idea.” William looked at his finger again. He could clearly see two small puncture wounds on the tip, and the surrounding area of skin was red. His flesh still throbbed with pain.
“I hope that spider wasn’t poisonous. It managed to take a sizable bite out of my finger.”
He shook his hand quickly and turned back to Sandra.
“Come on. We’ll go and get our things out of the car and set up the beds.”
William smiled as he drove back into the estate, the headlights of the car picking up their neighbors’ properties as he turned into their street.
Sandra was still giggling beside him, highly amused by the joke he had just made.
He pulled the car over and switched off the engine.
“Well, I guess it does bode well that we’ve discovered a good local restaurant nearby already. I can see Mrs. Chang’s fine establishment becoming a firm favorite for future evenings out. Now we’ve been fed and watered are you ready for our first night in our new house?”
He flicked off the car lights.
“William, what is that? It looks like there’s a light coming from the upstairs window.”
Sandra turned back to him, her face creased into a frown.
“I’m sure we didn’t leave any lights on.”
William felt the faint stirrings of apprehension. He too was sure that no lights had been left on.
“Wait here,” he said firmly. “I’ll go and check. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
He walked toward the house, feeling uneasy. He’d locked the front door when they’d left; he was positive of that, but had he locked the back door? He pushed the door key into the lock, noticing the throb and ache of the spider bite as he did so. Nudging the front door open, he stepped cautiously inside onto the wide floorboards of the entranceway.
“Hello?”
His voice echoed back at him from the white painted walls of the empty house. He flicked on the light switch beside the door, flooding the entrance way with welcome light. He glanced back at the car. Sandra was now leaning against the side of the vehicle, watching him.
“Hello?” he called again, and stopped and listened.
The house answered with a slight creak, but nothing more. William glanced into the empty kitchen and living room as he passed, and then he began to climb the stairs. The wound on his finger prickled and burned.
He reached the upper landing and turned on the light. From outside the light appeared to be coming from the second bedroom. But from here the room was dark.
He walked quickly into the room, which was cloaked in thick darkness.
Running his hand over the cold wall, he switched on the light. A quick movement in one corner caught his eye, and he whirled around.
The room was bare and empty, except for a slight haze of yellow dust which hung in the air. The strange whispering noise he’d heard earlier started again, then stopped just as abruptly.
William turned around in the room. There was nothing there, nowhere to hide and then a tree branch scrapped across the window.
; Letting out the breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding, William turned to walk back downstairs again. It was just the wind whispering in the trees. The light must have just been a reflection from one of the neighboring properties.
He had reached the kitchen doorway when Sandra suddenly walked out of the darkness of the room, startling him.
“Jesus, Sandra! I thought I told you to wait outside.”
His heart was pounding uncomfortably, and the bite on his finger throbbed harder in response to his agitation. His voice was harsher than he meant it to be.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I was looking at the window and I realized that the light was a reflection from one of the street lights. There was nothing upstairs, was there?”
Sandra moved forward to wrap her arms around her husband.
He shook his head but something didn’t feel right.
“Awww, William, were you spooked?” she teased.
“Don’t.” William pushed Sandra’s arms away abruptly.
She stepped back and looked at him in hurt surprise. “William?”
He shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be short with you. I’m just tired, I guess. And that stupid spider bite still hurts.”
He held his finger out and the couple studied the wound in the light of the entrance way. A faint shimmer of pus seeped from the puncture marks, and the skin around them was red and inflamed.
“I think you’d better get that looked at,” Sandra said, peering closely at the injury. “It looks infected.”
“I’ll be fine for now. I’ll rinse it in a little antiseptic because I’m not going out again tonight. This is nothing.” He waved the offending digit trying to ignore the pain. “I can just about guarantee it’ll be back to normal by the morning anyway. Do we still have that old first aid box in the car? Perhaps I’ll put a plaster on it as well.” William had already turned back to the front door.
Sandra nodded. “Yes, it’s under the passenger seat.” She flipped on the kitchen light. “I’m making a hot drink. Do you want one?”