The Evil Within

by S M Hardy

  ‘All he’s doing is drawing attention to himself,’ I said.

  ‘He’s certainly done that.’

  ‘I missed an opportunity today,’ Emma said.

  Jed and I both looked at her quizzically. ‘Why’s that?’ Jed asked.

  ‘At the committee luncheon – I should have asked if anyone knew anyone who fits the description of our mystery man.’

  ‘We haven’t much of a description. A big hulking man could be anyone; even me,’ Jed said with a grunt. ‘Anyway, they would have asked why, and would you really be comfortable telling them?’

  ‘You have a point,’ Emma said with a sigh.

  ‘Besides, if he does come from Chalfont, I don’t think anyone has much to do with the place other than the Garvin sisters, and you don’t want to give them any more excuses to keep turning up here unannounced.’

  ‘That’s another good point.’ She paused a puzzled frown creasing her brow. ‘Actually, they were acting a bit weird today, not that they stayed long, and that was strange in itself. I usually can’t get rid of them.’

  ‘Weird? They’re always acting weird.’

  ‘Then weirder than usual.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Oh, Miriam was all giggly and asking about Jim and did I see him often. Had we known Jim before he came to Slyford? Did he give seances? That sort of thing. As for Darcy, she was … I don’t know, a bit off somehow. She wasn’t saying much and kept giving Miriam these odd sideways looks. Miriam was oblivious. You’ve got a real fan there, Jim.’

  ‘That’s all Jim needs, those two turning up on his doorstep.’

  ‘I thought I scared the hell out of them the other night.’

  ‘Well, they didn’t seem at all scared this afternoon. Anyway, I told them Jim was a very private person and no, he didn’t hold seances.’

  ‘Doubt that’ll stop them. I’ve never met such a pair of nosey parkers.’

  ‘Miriam’s right smitten.’

  ‘Good God, Emma, the woman’s old enough to be Jim’s mother.’

  Emma grimaced. ‘I suppose you’re right. I think Miriam is in her fifties and Darcy is probably a year or so younger.’

  ‘Really?’ I said. ‘I would have thought Darcy was the older of the pair.’

  ‘Are you sure you’ve got that right, Emms?’ Jed asked. ‘I always thought Darcy was the older sister.’

  ‘No, I’m positive. I remember Miriam making some comment about when they were children and how she always looked after the baby. Darcy got really grumpy about it, actually.’

  ‘Bit of a control freak that one,’ Jed said.

  When we finished our meal I didn’t want to outstay my welcome, but I was a little unsure how to ask Jed to come back to the cottage with me without looking like an idiot. Fortunately, when I stood to leave, Emma voiced her concerns.

  ‘Are you sure you’ll be all right? I mean, what if he’s still hanging around somewhere waiting for you?’

  ‘I’ll walk with him,’ Jed said, getting to his feet.

  Emma crossed her arms and leant back in her chair to look up at him. ‘And what do you think you’re going to do if he is waiting for Jim, you old fool?’

  Jed grinned. ‘I might be getting on a bit, but I’ve always been good in a scrap.’

  Emma rolled her eyes. ‘Men!’

  She saw us to the door and gave us both a peck on the cheek goodnight. ‘Make sure you lock and bolt your doors,’ she said to me.

  ‘You too,’ I told her.

  ‘I’ve been setting the alarm since the other night. Maybe you should consider getting one fitted.’

  ‘I won’t be staying that long,’ I said, but couldn’t help thinking it might be a good idea. I’d at least be able to sleep at night.

  The rain had stopped but the moon was cloaked by clouds and there was a heaviness in the air foretelling there was more to come. The lane was dark and filled with shadows and I was more than a little grateful for Jed’s bulky presence striding along beside me.

  When we reached the cottage, Jed followed me through the gate and stood waiting for me to unlock the front door.

  ‘Mind if I come in?’

  ‘Not at all,’ I said, ‘I’d be grateful for the company.’

  I stepped inside, surreptitiously sniffing the air for gas before clicking on the hall light and leading the way into the living room.

  ‘Want a drink?’ I asked.

  ‘Have you got any?’

  ‘Not any of the good stuff, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Let’s check the rest of the house first, shall we?’ All pretence of why he had actually come inside being swept away.

  I gave him a wry smile. ‘That obvious, huh?’

  ‘Emma would have my guts for garters if I didn’t take a look around and something happened to you,’ he said, following me out into the hall and to the kitchen.

  He stopped halfway along the hallway and opened the cupboard under the stairs to peer inside.

  ‘Just being careful,’ he said when he saw me looking.

  The kitchen was how I’d left it, even down to the footprint and spent matchstick, so we trooped upstairs to check out the bedrooms. Once again Jed checked the cupboards and wardrobes and even pulled back the shower curtain around the bath.

  When we went back out into the hallway his eyes went straight up to the trapdoor in the ceiling.

  I frowned at him. ‘You don’t think …?’

  ‘One can’t be too careful,’ he said and went back into the bathroom to get the pole to pull down the ladder.

  As I watched him I could hear my heart thudding in my ears. Think you can hide from me, little bitch.

  As he put his foot on the first step of the ladder I reached out and touched his arm. ‘I’ll go.’

  He shook his head. ‘Probably best you don’t,’ and carried on climbing. He stood at the top, swinging the torch back and looking around him, then slowly climbed back down. ‘I think I’ll be having that whisky now.’

  While he was putting the pole and torch away, I went and sorted out the drinks as my heart gradually slowed to normal and the herd of wildebeest in my stomach stopped rampaging about the place.

  Jed came in from the hall and slumped down on a kitchen chair, gratefully reaching to take the glass I offered him.

  ‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said as I sat down opposite him.

  ‘Sounds serious,’ I said with a forced smile.

  ‘Maybe we should take a trip to Chalfont and have a look around.’

  ‘What, and hope we just happen to bump into this mystery man?’

  ‘It’s a small place.’

  ‘It must be bigger than Slyford if it’s got a school.’

  He stared into his glass as he swirled the contents around. ‘It’s a bit bigger. They have a small supermarket, a bank and a wine bar as well as a general store, a shoe shop and a couple of pubs.’

  ‘Blimey, almost a town,’ I said.

  ‘I use the general store over there when I need something and can’t be arsed to go to the trading estate. It’s more expensive, but I use less petrol so it’s swings and roundabouts,’ he said, ignoring my facetious comment.

  ‘If we both go there and he sees us together, it’ll draw you into this mess as well.’

  ‘Too late to worry about that, I think,’ Jed said. ‘If he knew enough about you to involve Emma, he sure as hell must know about me.’

  I chugged back the last of my Scotch and studied his face for a moment. I already knew Jed could be a good friend, but the expression on his face told me he could no doubt also be a bad enemy. Whoever this mystery man was, he shouldn’t have involved Emma.

  ‘One for the road?’ I asked, unscrewing the bottle.

  Jed glanced at his watch. ‘Why not?’ he said, putting his glass in the middle of the table.

  I poured him a stiff one and another for myself.

  ‘Tomorrow morning I’ll take you over to Chalfont,’ Jed said.

  ‘I’m still not su
re—’

  Jed raised his hand to stop me. ‘You need your locks changed; we can get new ones while we’re there. It wouldn’t hurt to get one of them gas alarms if they’ve got one.’

  He had a point. ‘OK,’ I told him, ‘if it’s not too much trouble.’

  ‘No trouble at all, lad,’ he said, and his mean expression had returned.

  After Jed had gone, I locked and bolted the front and back doors and went round checking all the windows, even though I’d already done so before I’d left the house in the morning. I supposed if someone was determined to get in they would break a window, but at least there was a chance I would hear them.

  As I drew the curtains in the living room I noticed the first spots of rain beginning to splatter against the window and hoped Jed would reach home before it began to pour as I was pretty sure it would. There was a still heaviness to the air and a closeness that usually precedes a storm and, sure enough, as I climbed the stairs to bed I heard the first rumblings in the distance.

  By the time I’d finished in the bathroom I could hear the steady patter of rain on the roof and against the windowpane and as I entered the bedroom there was a flash that lit up the sky. I pulled the curtains shut. I usually enjoyed a good storm, but I wasn’t in the mood; tonight, the crashing of thunder and the bright flashes lighting up the room brought with them a tight feeling of anxiety in my chest.

  I undressed down to my T-shirt and underpants but stopped as I was about to pull the shirt over my head. I usually slept naked; tonight was going to be an exception. The thought of being alone and naked in the cottage set my pulse racing and the fear I’d felt earlier in the day returned to haunt me.

  I sat on the bed, turned on the bedside light and glanced around the room, feeling edgy and vulnerable. There was another flash of lightning and I counted one, two, three, four, then came the crash of thunder. It was getting closer and my nerves were already jangling. On impulse I jumped from the bed and picked up the chair by the window and carried it over to the door propping it under the handle. I knew I was being paranoid, but I couldn’t ignore the fear bubbling inside my chest.

  Another flash of lightning lit the window. One, two, three, crash. I climbed into bed, reached out to turn off the light and hesitated, fingers outstretched. What was I – a child now too scared to sleep in the dark?

  I groped for the switch, went to click it, then stopped and sunk back on the bed. Damn it. Damn this mysterious man who had me acting like a small, terrified kid. I curled up and wrapped the duvet around me, tucking my head down and covering my eyes. Damn him.

  Outside the rain thrashed down, the lightning flashed and the thunder roared. I pulled the duvet over my head, but it made no difference. The storm’s cacophony wasn’t about to be silenced. Then there was a flash of lightning that beneath my covers appeared as though it had cut right through the room, followed by an almighty bang that I swear shook the cottage right down to its foundations.

  ‘Bloody hell.’ I stuck my head out from under the duvet, then pulling it around me got up and padded across to the window to look outside.

  I wasn’t sure what I expected to see. Maybe flames and smoke from a tree that had been struck or God forbid someone’s house in the village. The garden was in pitch-black darkness and the rain was falling so heavily I doubted I would be able to see much had it been daylight.

  Then there was another zigzag flash across the sky illuminating the garden and the trees beyond. Over the pounding rain I somehow heard a dog yap twice and when I looked down, standing in the middle of the lawn was a small figure in red and grey holding a little dog in her arms. As the light faded away she lifted a hand and waved. I pressed my nose against the window, straining my eyes to see through the darkness and thrashing rain that had enveloped her, but it was no good.

  I waited and waited and then there was another flash, but she was gone. One, two, three, four, five – the storm had passed over. I padded back to bed, curled up, and with the image of Krystal smiling and waving at me fell into a deep sleep.

  True to his word Jed was knocking at the back door just after nine. ‘Wanted to miss the school run,’ he explained.

  I’d been expecting Jed to drive some beaten-up old van, so it was a bit of a surprise when we walked around the front to find an old but pristine maroon Jaguar parked in front of my car.

  ‘Nice wheels,’ I commented as I dropped down onto the dark-red leather passenger seat.

  ‘Bit of a beast when it comes to petrol, but she’s my one luxury,’ he said, his cheeks taking on a ruddy glow.

  ‘Had her long?’

  ‘Since new,’ he told me and that made me glance back his way. This model of Jag was an expensive car in its day, which made me think Jed couldn’t have been the village handyman for all of his life. It occurred to me I didn’t actually know very much about him at all.

  The inside of the car had a comforting smell of old leather with a slight tang of citrus, which I suspected was furniture polish; the walnut veneer dashboard certainly gleamed in the sunlight pouring through the window.

  As far as I could remember this was the first morning I’d left the house to a clear day without a layer of mist surrounding me. The storm had at least been of some benefit, although pools of water had been left on the tarmac and pavements to steam in the sunshine.

  As Jed drove us out of the village we passed a car coming the other way. The narrow road forcing both cars to slow as they passed. I recognised Darcy Garvin hunched over the steering wheel, peering at us with narrowed eyes and pinched lips. Her sister Miriam’s mouth opened into an ‘O’ and then she forced it into a smile and waggled her fingers at us. Jed muttered something derogatory under his breath, and when I glanced his way the mean look was back.

  ‘You really don’t like those two, do you?’ I said.

  He grunted. ‘I don’t like the way they try and insinuate themselves into everyone’s lives. You’re lucky you scared the crap out of them, otherwise they’d be camped on your doorstep.’

  I leant back in the seat and crossed my arms. I really didn’t need reminding about the night of Emma’s get-together. The Garvin girls weren’t the only ones who’d been scared.

  ‘Mind you, from what Emms said they seemed to have got over it by the committee meeting, so you may have that pleasure yet to come.’

  ‘Oh joy,’ I said to a snort of laughter from Jed.

  Chalfont St Mary wasn’t very far away at all, only about fifteen minutes or so by car. ‘If you’re fit it’s a good walk along the cliff,’ Jed told me. ‘Though you have to watch the weather, it can get a bit slippy.’ He absently rubbed at his beard. ‘Come to think of it, someone took a tumble along there a few years back.’

  ‘Hmm.’ It was doubtful I would ever walk that way again, not alone at least. Even thinking about it made my heart rate speed up and my chest tighten.

  I breathed in deeply and then out again trying to quell the anxiety bubbling up inside me. Hyperventilating in Jed’s car would be too humiliating for words. It had been bad enough when I’d woken this morning to find myself still in my underwear with the bedside lamp burning and a chair wedged under the bedroom doorknob. I hadn’t needed to look into the bathroom mirror to know that my cheeks had flushed scarlet.

  Despite what Jed had said, Chalfont had more of the feel of a town about it, and compared to Slyford was large and sprawling. It actually had a high street with proper shops. It even had a chemist.

  Jed parked up in a small pay and display car park around the back of the high street for the princely sum of twenty pence for an hour. ‘Two will be more than enough,’ he muttered.

  ‘So what do we do now?’ I asked as he fed two ten-pence pieces and a twenty into the machine.

  ‘Buggered if I know,’ he said, snatching the ticket from the slot, ‘but I suppose we could start with getting you some new locks and that gas alarm.’

  I waited while he placed the ticket on the dashboard and then fell in step beside him. At the far e
nd of the car park there was a narrow alleyway, which took us out about halfway down the high street.

  ‘How about I give you the grand tour and we walk up one side and back down the other? It should take all of fifteen minutes.’

  ‘Sounds good.’

  We passed a hairdressers. ‘Emma comes here now and then,’ Jed told me, and I wondered how he knew that and whether he brought her. Then it occurred to me that whatever he might say, the locals of Slyford came here more often than he might think.

  There was also a fishing supplies shop, the window cramped with rods and reels and even a few brightly coloured fishing nets and buckets for the kids.

  The hardware store was a few shops along and, surprisingly, considering the number of varied modern appliances stacked on its shelves, had one of those old-fashioned tinkling contraptions announcing your arrival. The window and front few shelves were stacked with ice cream and bread makers, food processors and microwaves, and plenty of other modern technology, some I didn’t recognise. I even saw a few flash drives and USB cables hanging on a rack.

  Jed made his way to the back of the store where it was like we could have stepped through a time warp. A long counter stretched the width of the store and behind it, rising up from floor to ceiling, were row upon row of small cubbyholes filled with wooden drawers, each labelled with a yellowing, handwritten card within a small brass frame.

  A young man glanced up from the register and smiled upon seeing Jed. ‘Dad,’ he called over his shoulder.

  ‘Morning to you, Tim. How’s yer pa today?’

  Tim grimaced, though it was with a smile. ‘Moaning about the government, moaning about taxes – you name it. I’m gonna stop him from reading the paper before home time, it only puts him in a bad mood for the rest of the day.’

  ‘What’s life if you can’t have something to moan about?’ an old boy said, coming out from a door at the back. ‘Morning, Jed, what can I do you for?’

  Despite his son’s comments, his father had the face of a man who was happy with life. Merry blue eyes sparkled from below sandy, bushy eyebrows and his rosy apple cheeks had me thinking of him as a diminutive, though beardless, Father Christmas, or maybe one of his helpers. The store was certainly a Santa’s grotto of goods.