by El Edwards
“Have you lived here long?” I asked.
“All my life. Mam moved us here after my dad died.”
Her words were like music to my ears.
“I don’t suppose you know anything about the old hotel on the hill, up on the main road?”
“It’s a sad old place isn’t it. Such a shame.”
“What happened to it?”
“There was a fire, oh years ago.”
“And they just left it to fall down.”
The lady shrugged. “I guess so. Was probably too expensive to fix up.”
“No-one lives there now then?”
“I shouldn’t think so. You’ve seen it, it wouldn’t be safe. Besides, the kids say it’s haunted.”
Personally I thought there was nothing like a good haunting story to dissuade curious children from climbing around rotten timbers. It sounded like the perfect story, passed on from one generation to the next. But if it was derelict, why had I heard voices?
“It’s private land?”
“No idea. Why? You fancy fixing it up? Good luck to you. I don’t reckon your chances.”
“Why do you say that?”
“That place is a money pit. You wouldn’t be the first to try but that place, it’s cursed or something, I’m sure of it.”
A shiver ran down my spine. I wasn’t one to be afraid of ghost stories but there was something about the lady’s words that set my nerves on edge. I’d definitely heard voices and it didn’t look like the kind of place you’d go for an afternoon stroll. Whoever had been there had meant business. I reached into my pocket and gave the lady one of my cards. “If you think of anything else about the hotel, would you give me a ring?”
She read the card and her face changed. “Private investigator? What’s all this about?”
“Promise you won’t laugh?” I smiled, keen to demonstrate I wasn’t a threat.
She nodded.
“I’m looking for a missing sausage dog.”
She clapped her hand over her mouth but the crinkle at her eyes gave her away. I smiled and she burst out laughing.
“She’s a very dear family pet,” I explained. “I’m looking for her as a bit of a favour. She belongs to one of the ladies in the charity shop in the main street in town.”
“I know the place you mean.” She smiled and put my card in her pocket. “If I hear of anything you’ll be the first to know. But if you think her little dog is living up at the old hotel you’re crazy. It’d be far too cold for starters. All those busted in windows. Anyway, good luck to you.” She let out a piercing whistle and both dogs came thundering towards us.
We said our goodbyes and headed in opposite directions, her still laughing to herself at the idea of a sausage dog living in a hotel and me, with my mind whirling with the possibilities of all that she had told me. If I didn’t believe in ghosts then there had to be some reasonable explanation for the voices and smells at the hotel. It was as I was thinking about what to do next that my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and groaned.
TEN
I considered sending Rob’s phone call to voicemail but knowing that that would only make him even more determined to speak to me, I plastered a smile on my face and pressed the button to answer my phone.
“Hi Rob, how are you?”
“Morning Charlie. Glad I caught you. I rang your house but Grace said you were out.”
Grace was meant to be at school. I felt anxiety run through my body but did my best to sound chipper when I spoke again. “Grace? Are you sure?”
“How many teenage girls do you have answering your home phone?” Rob laughed. “Yes I’m sure it was Grace.”
“She’s meant to be in school.” I tried to keep the grit out of my voice but could tell I was failing miserably.
“She said you’d say that and told me to tell you not to worry, her lesson for today was cancelled so she caught the early bus home.”
“Hmmm, did she happen to mention that there aren’t any early buses and tell you how she really got home?”
My best guess was she conned a lift from one of her friends with a car but since her closest girl friends hadn’t passed their tests yet, that meant she’d had a lift home with a boy, a prospect that didn’t fill me with delight.
“Never mind, I’ll sort it out with her when I get home. But that wasn’t why you were ringing?”
“Ah no. I wanted to check you were okay. You rushed off pretty quickly last night.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m fine, thanks for your concern though.”
“Charlie, come on, I know you remember.”
“Do we have to do this again today? I’m kind of in the middle of something here. I’m fine. We’re fine. Everyone’s fine. I just need to get on with my job.”
“Where are you?”
“Burry Port.”
“Oh. Didn’t realise you were going back to Beverly’s place today. Would have come with you if you’d asked.”
“I’m not at Beverly’s. I just fancied getting a bit of air so I brought Missy here to explore.”
“Fair enough.” Rob didn’t sound convinced. I waited for him to say something else and when he didn’t I took that as my cue to bring our conversation to a close. On top of wanting to come back and poke around the old hotel without Missy, I now had Grace to deal with.
“If there’s nothing else, I really should get back to Grace. You know how teenagers can be.”
“She’ll be alright Charlie, really, I don’t think you need to go charging back there.”
“Since when did you become the parenting expert?” I could feel my temper rising.
“Whoah, chill out. I’m not. I’m just saying, cut the kid some slack.”
“Firstly, she’s not a kid, she’s almost an adult. Secondly, she has exams in a couple of months and she should be at school. And thirdly, when I want your advice, I’ll ask for it.” I ended the call before he had a chance to reply and turned Missy swiftly in the direction of the van.
As my little van came into view I took my keys out of my pocket, ready to get unlocked and bundle Missy in. It was as I was about to press the fob to unlock that I saw a man up ahead flick something into the bush next to my van. When I arrived, I saw a cigarette butt smoking gently in the dry brambles. For a split second I was about to let it go, I’d had enough of difficult men for one week, but instead of dying out, the smoke was increasing.
“Hey!” I called in the direction of the now departing figure. He didn’t turn round so I tried again, louder this time. “Excuse me …”
This time the man turned to face me and as he did I was struck by how long his eyelashes were. He winked and gave me a smile. “You alright love?”
“I think you forgot something,” I said, without returning his smile.
He started walking towards me. “What’s that then?”
When he arrived next to my van I pointed at the cigarette butt. “That’s a fire hazard.”
“What do you want me to do about it? Can’t put it in the bin can I.” He waved his arms about gesturing to the non-existent rubbish bins.
“You should have taken it with you. Those things are lethal to wildlife. What if a bird ate it or something?”
“Survival of the fittest love. Too many of those damn birds around anyway. Just the other day one shat on me windscreen. Right bloody mess it made.”
I could tell I wasn’t going to convince him and I was tired of arguing. “Just make sure you put it out next time.” I unlocked the van and was about to lift Missy in when he put his hand on my arm.
“Maybe next time you can help me? Can I buy you a drink?” He gave me what I imagine he hoped was a winning smile.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re kidding right?” I shook his hand off. “No thanks. Got to go.”
I lifted Missy into the van through the driver’s door and quickly climbed in after her.
“Stuck up bitch!”
Before he could say anymore I started the engine, put the va
n into gear, and pulled out of the carpark. My hands were shaking as the distance between me and the man grew. I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw him standing in the same spot, his eyes following my van as it raced away. First Rob and now this stranger. It was turning into one of those weeks and I didn’t like it one bit. At least when I’d been with Jonathan the ring on my finger had indicated I was off limits, spoken for, already taken. I cursed the idea that I needed a man in order to feel safe, that sounded too much like my mother’s thinking. It was then that I remembered our dinner plans for later that day and groaned inwardly. Could this day get any worse?
ELEVEN
As I pulled up in front of our little home in Gloddfa Bont, I heard Grace before I saw her. Music was blaring from an open upstairs window and my daughter was singing tunelessly from the top of her lungs. I didn’t recognise the song but the lyrics made me wince. If she really wanted a faceless him to do that to her, she and I clearly needed a conversation about appropriate physical contact. I could easily imagine how well that conversation would go so I decided to proceed with caution.
“Grace? I’m home.” I called up the stairs in a faux cheerful voice but she couldn’t hear me over the noise. I walked up the stairs and knocked on her bedroom door before pushing it slowly open. Grace was lying on her bed with her headphones on. She leapt up when she saw me and turned the music off.
“Why do you need headphones when the music’s blaring out of the speakers,” I asked, genuinely puzzled.
She looked at me as if I’d just asked the most insane question on the planet. “So I can hear myself of course.”
Oh of course, silly me. “Why not just turn the music down a bit?”
“Oh Mum!” She laughed. It sounded like a babbling brook after the previous riot on my eardrums. I didn’t know what was so funny but it was clear that I’d succeeded in greatly amusing Grace.
“Anyway, why aren’t you in school?”
“Didn’t Rob tell you? Daft sod!”
“Grace!”
“Sorry Mum but it’s true. I asked him to tell you I’d caught the early bus home, my lesson was cancelled.”
“Early bus? Since when?” I knew that buses came in and out of Gloddfa Bont three times a day, and the next one wasn’t due in for another hour.
She had the good grace to look a little sheepish. “They must have put on an extra service. It’s an experiment I think.”
“How did you really get home?” I waited but she didn’t say anything. “Grace, who gave you lift home?” I asked again.
“Don’t go mad.”
“Just tell me.”
“It was Mark, from the garage.”
“Gareth’s son? But he’s nineteen. And rides a motorbike.” I felt a wave of fear crash over me. “Oh Grace, please tell me you weren’t on the back of his bike?”
“I wasn’t on the back of his bike.”
“Well thank goodness for that! Have you seen the accident statistics on those things?”
It was a rhetorical question. I just needed Grace to understand that there were some things that I simply couldn’t allow and careering around the countryside on the back of an older boy’s bike was one of those things.
“I didn’t know you two were friends.”
“We’re not. Or, we weren’t. But he’s alright really.” She shrugged but I saw colour appear on her neck.
“Will you be seeing him again?”
“Dunno. Maybe. It’s no big deal Mum. He was heading back to Bont and offered me a lift.”
“And Louise?”
She shrugged again. “Back on the bus I expect.” She glanced at the clock. “I need to finish up here before we go to Gran’s so if there’s nothing else you wanted …”
There wasn’t much else I could say. Mark was harmless enough and had to be better than some of the boys she could have been spending time with. I went into my own room to mentally prepare myself for an evening with my mother.
“I’m out the back.” My mother’s voice called from inside the house. We took that as permission to let ourselves in and gently closed the front door behind us. I exchanged glances with the girls. It was unheard of for my mother not to come to the door.
“Perhaps she’s ill,” Louise whispered.
“That would be wishful thinking love.” I smiled and steered my offspring in the direction of the kitchen where we found my mother wearing a pair of bright yellow gloves.
“Grace! Louise! Look at the pair of you. Have you grown again?” She offered each girl the side of her cheek which they duly kissed. I waited for her to acknowledge my presence and was soon rewarded with a frown. “You look tired Charlotte. Are you getting enough iron?”
“Nice to see you too Mum.” We exchanged awkward air kisses. “Shall I put the kettle on?” Anything to distract her from the state of my health.
“Only if you want one. I have a glass of water on the go. Good for ones complexion you know, especially when one reaches a certain age.” She looked at me again and leaned in to whisper. “You might want to think about cutting back on the caffeine Charlotte. Gives you wrinkles. I read it in one of my magazines.”
I scowled at her and put the kettle on. She could believe any crazy article she wanted to but there was no way I could endure an evening in her presence without either a glass of wine or a coffee. The former wasn’t an option, I was driving, so coffee it was.
I smiled sweetly at the girls. “Grace, Louise, would either of you like a drink? Tea? Coffee? Something stronger?” I turned to my mother. “That’s okay isn’t Mum? You don’t mind?”
Determined not to rise to the bait, she echoed my syrupy sweet tones. “Anything for my two girls, you know that.” She pulled off the gloves, linked arms with Louise and headed out the door. “When you’re done, we’ll be waiting for you in the dining room.”
I watched them leave then turned to Grace. “Quick! What do you want to drink?”
“Nothing, I’m fine, honest.”
“Go on, if only to wind the old bag up a bit.”
“Fine, I’ll have a glass of wine, but you’d better put some sugar in it. It’ll taste vile otherwise.”
Ah, my daughter, such a refined palette. I quickly sloshed a glass half full with white wine and topped it off with two spoonfuls of sugar. As it was, she still shuddered when she drank it but it was worth it to see my mother’s expression. I knew I shouldn’t but I loved to wind her up. It felt like pay back for every criticism I’d ever been forced to endure.
“Have you been working today Charlotte?”
I nodded and waited for the next inevitable question.
“What are you working on at the moment then?”
“Ah, this and that Mum. You know how it is, client confidentiality, just like always.”
I’d lost count of the number of times I’d explained to my mother that I couldn’t share details about my cases with her. In this instance I could quite easily have told her about Tortoise but it was more fun not to. Besides, with still no decent break in the case, I was starting to fear that maybe this was one case too far, even for me.
TWELVE
After waving the girls off to catch the bus the following morning, reminding Grace that she needed to stay in school all day and not convince local lads to drive her home, I headed over to Burry Port to see Beverly. The time had come to be honest with her about my efforts, or lack there of. I was only looking for her dog as a favour, I reminded myself when guilt threatened to hit me again. I hated admitting defeat but with no leads and no resources, enough was enough.
I found a parking space just round the corner from the charity shop and headed straight there. The bell over the shop tinkled to signal my arrival and I was faced with the same pair of ladies I’d met on my previous visit.
“Good morning Charlie,” said one of the ladies. I couldn’t remember her name but she’d been the one most interested in my profession so it came as no surprise that she remembered me. “How are you today?”
&nbs
p; “Very good thank you. Yourself? Are you keeping well?”
“Not too bad. Arthritis is giving me a bit of grief but can’t complain. No-one listens if you do anyway.” She roared with laughter and the other lady joined in.
“Too right May,” the second lady agreed.
“Is Beverly around?” I asked.
“She’s just popped out to the bank. Won’t be long. How about I make us a cuppa while you wait?” said May.
“That would be great, thanks.” I followed May through the shop into the little kitchen out the back. It was then that a thought occurred to me. “Tell me May, have you lived here long?”
“All me life. Except for a short spell in Swansea. Worked in the post office but I didn’t like it. Too busy.”
“Know anything about the old hotel on the hill?” I tried to keep my tone light but inside my heart was pounding. There was something about that place that I couldn’t let go of.
“That place should have been pulled down years ago. Used to go dancing there when I was a girl, such a shame.”
“Someone mentioned a fire?”
“Yep, years ago.” She leaned in and whispered. “Between you and me, I always thought it was an inside job. Insurance scam, you know?”
“Oh?”
“It was beautiful, in its hay day, but there were whispers, about a row between the brothers. You know what folk can be like about money. One of them wanted to sell and the other refused but neither could afford to buy the other out. The day it went up in smoke they just happened to be shut for renovation.”
“At least no-one was hurt.”
“Guess they wouldn’t want that on their conscience.”
“So it went up, they got a big pay out and?”
“And nothing. No-one knows.”
“Who owns it now?”
“That’s the thing. I’ve no idea. It’s a big plot too. You’d think someone would take it on for the land if nothing else. Pull the whole lot down and start over.” The bell over the door tinkled. May looked up. “That’ll be Beverly. Help me bring the tea through would you?”