The Soul Auction

by Amy Cross

  With that, I turn and head to the door.

  “Actually, can you do me a favor?” the guy at the bar asks.

  I glance back at him.

  “If you do speak to Dora,” he continues, “tell her we've still got a parcel for her at my mum's house. It came a while ago, but she hasn't picked it up yet.”

  “I'll do that,” I reply, although as I head out of the pub I've already decided that I won't be knocking on any doors. I just want to get to my car and head home.

  There's still some light rain in the air as I climb into the car, and I'm pretty sure I'll be driving straight into the storm. That's the least of my worries, however, as I click my seat-belt into place before starting the engine.

  Or rather, trying to start the engine. Because no matter how many times I turn the key in the ignition, all I hear is a distinctly unhealthy-sounding splutter.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lizzie

  Thirty years ago

  “That's a really pretty one,” I tell Kate, holding up one of her new pebbles as we wander back toward the pub. “It'll look really nice on the desk in your bedroom.”

  “Maybe.”

  “There's no maybe about it,” I continue, trying to gee her up with a little enthusiasm. “You can take a few to school next week and show them off.”

  I wait for an answer, but she really doesn't seem very enthusiastic. I need to find some other way to grab her attention, but to be honest I think she's still thinking about that bear.

  “Okay,” I say finally, “how about -”

  “Excuse me! You, over there! I'd like a word with you!”

  Turning, I see that a woman is hurrying out from one of the nearby cottages, waving at me frantically. She's wearing what I can only describe as some kind of floral-patterned poncho, and a moment later I spot that she's barefoot.

  “Are you the lady who's staying at the public house?” she asks, already a little breathless by the time she reaches me.

  “I am,” I reply cautiously. “Is something wrong?”

  “Do you think it's appropriate to allow your children into such a place?” she asks.

  “I'm sorry?”

  “The children,” she continues, “are yours, aren't they?”

  “They are, but -”

  “And where's the father?”

  “Well, I -”

  “Young girl,” she adds, looking down at Kate, “tell me something. Where's your father?”

  Kate stares at her for a moment, before looking up at me for help.

  “My husband passed away,” I explain, feeling a flicker of irritation.

  “I'm sorry to hear that,” the woman replies, “but do you really think that allowing them into a public house is appropriate?”

  “I think it's the only place that had a room available at this time of year,” I tell her.

  “Of course, but still, I can't imagine what it does to their little minds. I dropped in just a few minutes ago, to deliver some flowers to the landlady, and your baby was in a buggy near the window. I'm sorry, but I have to say that taking a baby into a public house seems awfully wrong to me. Leaving one there alone, while you go gallivanting off along the beach, is doubly wrong.”

  “I left her in the care of the landlady for a few hours,” I point out.

  “If you're the child's mother, then you should be with her at all times.”

  “I'm not sure whether -”

  “You also mustn't take pebbles from the beach,” she adds.

  “I'm sorry?”

  “Let me take those from you,” she continues, reaching out and plucking the pebbles from Kate's hands. “There we go,” she adds, before heading past us and then setting the pebbles on the ground. “Imagine if everybody started taking pieces of the beach away. Why, before too long there'd be nothing left.”

  “She took three pebbles,” I point out. “I'm sure nobody would have noticed.”

  “I noticed!”

  “Yes, but -”

  “It's just a matter of principle,” she continues, coming back over to us. “There has to be order in the world, you see. These pebbles belong to the beach, and the beach belongs to the community. So really, taking them without permission is a form of theft.”

  “Nobody's stealing pebbles,” I reply through gritted teeth.

  “Can we go inside?” Kate asks, taking my hand and trying to pull me toward the pub.

  “The public house is no place for children!” the woman says firmly. “The law might allow them inside, but I can assure you that no decent mother would ever -”

  “Okay, that's enough!” I snap, as Kate continues to try leading me away. “I'm raising my children pretty damn well, thank you, and I really don't need your advice!”

  “Well, that kind of language -”

  “It's not like I'm sitting them down with a pint each!” I continue. “I've brought them here to get away from London for a few days, to give them a short holiday, and I'm not going to apologize for that! Not to you, and not to anybody! So I'm sorry if you don't like how I raise my children, but since I don't know you and I'm never going to see you again, I really don't give a rat's ass!”

  With that, I turn and start leading Kate toward the pub. I can hear the rude woman huffing about something, but I'm not going to indulge her by going back and listening to any more of her nonsense. By the time I get Kate into the pub, however, I'm shaking with anger.

  “Something wrong?” the landlady asks from behind the bar.

  “No, I'm fine,” I mutter, peering outside and watching as the rude woman walks out of sight. After a moment, I turn to Kate. “What would you like to drink, honey?”

  “I don't give a rat's ass,” she replies, before grinning. “Can I have juice?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alice

  Today

  “You've got a lot of damage under there,” the mechanic explains as he gets to his feet and switches his flashlight off. “Did you hit something on your way here?”

  “I don't think so,” I reply. “How long do you think it'll take to repair?”

  “Depends on what parts I've got at the garage,” he says with a sigh. “If you're lucky, I can have it fixed by tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Tomorrow?” I ask, shocked by the thought that I'm stuck here.

  “And if you're unlucky, it could take 'til Monday. I might have to order something in, but I won't know until I've got her back to the shop and taken a proper look.”

  “I kind of need to get home tonight,” I tell him.

  “Then you'll be needing a rental, 'cause this baby isn't going anywhere under her own steam. Do you want me to take her in, or will you be calling someone else?”

  I open my mouth to tell him that I really, really need to get the car fixed within the next few hours, but then I realize that the situation is hopeless. I can probably arrange to rent a car from somewhere, so I guess I don't really have a choice.

  “That's great,” I say finally. “I understand it might take a little while.”

  “I'll load her up,” he replies, heading to his truck and grabbing a set of chains from the back. “I can't believe you didn't hear yourself damaging the thing. The underside of your car's been really ripped to shreds. Are you sure you didn't hear it?”

  I watch as he hooks the front fender up to the back of his truck, and then finally he starts towing my poor car away. As he does so, I look down at the patch of pebbles where the car was parked, and I can't help noticing that the ground seems to have been disturbed. Stepping closer, I crouch down and examine the pebbles more closely, and I see that the beach seems to have been churned from below in this spot. It's almost as if something reached up through the pebbles to get to the underside of my car, although I know that's not possible.

  Getting to my feet, I watch as the tow truck disappears beyond the final cottage, taking my car at the same time, and then I take my phone from my pocket. Time to find a cheap rental car from somewhere.

  ***
<
br />   “And you've really got nothing?” I ask with a sigh, as I wander past the pub for the third or fourth time. “All I need is something that'll get me back to London.”

  As the man on the other end of the line explains that all their rental vehicles are out for the next few days, I hear footsteps nearby crunching across the pebbles. Turning, I spot the guy from the bar carrying some kind of parcel along one of the rows of cottages, and then I watch as he stops and knocks on one of the doors.

  “Okay, thanks,” I tell the rental guy finally, before cutting the call.

  Great, that's three companies that have told me they can't help. I'm starting to think that I might be stuck in Curridge until my car's fixed, which means I'll have to see if they have any rooms available at the pub. Just as I'm about to go inside and ask, however, I see that the guy is still standing at one of the cottages, and a moment later he knocks again before glancing this way and waving at me.

  “Car trouble,” I call out.

  “Neighbor trouble,” he replies, before knocking on the door for a third time. “Come on, Dora,” he yells, “it's me! It's Graham from next door! I've just got a package for you, it came about a month ago. Can you open the door so I can give it to you?”

  He waits, but then finally he carries the parcel over to me.

  “Maybe she's out,” I suggest.

  “With one of her many friends?” he asks, and it's clear that he's being sarcastic. “She's always been a strange one. It wouldn't surprise me if she's turned into a total recluse by now. She's a cat lady without the cats, if you catch my drift.”

  “It looks like I'm stuck in town for the night,” I reply, as I feel more light rain falling on the back of my neck. “I think I'm going to have to stay at the pub.”

  “They do decent rooms.”

  He balances the parcel on one knee, before reaching a hand out for me to shake.

  “Graham,” he says, introducing himself. “Graham Bayliss. Handyman and all-round dogsbody. If there's anything that needs fixing, you can bet I'll know what to do.”

  “Does that include cars?”

  “Sometimes, but I saw you let Colin take it away already. Good luck with that. He's a bloody decent mechanic, but he takes his sweet time with everything. You'll be lucky if you get your car back this side of a fortnight.”

  “I'm sure it won't take that long,” I reply, although I'm already starting to worry.

  “Gotta get back to work, have you?”

  “Something like that.”

  “What do you do, anyway?”

  “Well, I'm a...”

  My voice trails off as I realize that if I tell him I'm a writer, eventually he's going to want to know the titles of my books, which means he'll end up finding out about my current catastrophe.

  “This and that,” I say finally. “I work in publishing.”

  I mean, that's kind of true.

  “You do, huh?” he replies. “What kind of stuff do you do?”

  “Oh, this and that.”

  “Like writing?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “What kind of stuff do you write?”

  “Um, reports.”

  “Cool. What kind of reports?”

  “You know,” I reply, “I think maybe I should head inside and make sure they've got a room for the night.”

  “Oh, they will,” he tells me. “This place isn't exactly swamped with tourists at the best of times, and right now it's pretty dead. You know, you've hit town on a good day. There's a local shanty band playing in the pub later and they're pretty good. You should check them out.”

  “I'm really not sure shanties are my kind of thing,” I reply, “but thanks for the tip.”

  “So what kind of publishing are -”

  “I'm sure I'll see you later,” I add, trying not to be rude while making sure that I get out of the conversation. “Have a nice day, doing whatever you do.”

  As I walk away, I'm already regretting that choice of words. Have a nice day, doing whatever you do? Seriously? I sounded completely rude and arrogant there, and I want to turn around so I can apologize. At the same time, I'm worried that he might ask more questions about my work, and I could easily end up admitting that I wrote that a book that's probably going to go down in history as one of the worst horror novels ever written. Best to just keep to myself, I guess, and just try to keep a low profile while I'm in town.

  The last thing I want is for anybody to find out who I am or why I came to Curridge.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lizzie

  Thirty years ago

  “Are you sure you don't mind looking after them both?” I ask the landlady as I set a piece of wire and a hook on the bar. “I won't be long, I promise. I just have to fetch that bear.”

  “We'll be fine here,” she replies. “Trust me, I know how important a toy bear can be!”

  Glancing over my shoulder, I see that Kate is sitting patiently in a booth in the pub's far corner, drawing with crayons on some sheets of paper. She has a glass of orange juice on the table, and she seems pretty calm, but I still feel like I'm letting her down by making her spend so much time here in the pub. Turning back to the landlady, I find that she's eyeing me with a hint of concern.

  “Are you okay?” she asks.

  “Me?” I try to force a smile. “I'm fine.”

  “You know, I can look after them again tomorrow,” she continues. “If you want to get away for a few hours.”

  “I'm going to take them for a walk in the forest.”

  “Do you ever get time by yourself?”

  “I'm looking forward to going to the forest with them.”

  “That's not the point.” She reaches over and places a hand on my wrist. “For their sake, as well as yours, you need to spend some time looking after your own needs.”

  “I'm a single mother of two young girls,” I point out. “I don't have time to -”

  “What kind of support network do you have?”

  “Support network?”

  “What about the girls' grandparents?”

  “They don't have any. They're all dead.”

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “It's just us,” I explain, bristling slightly. “We're fine, though. We don't need anybody else.”

  “I'm worried you might -”

  “Or do you think I'm doing a bad job?” I continue, unable to keep the irritation from my voice. “Is that what you're saying?”

  “Not at all...”

  “I've had enough of people telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing!”

  “Ah,” she replies, “yes, I saw you talking to Dora earlier.”

  “Who?”

  “Dora Ohme,” she continues, “our resident busybody. You don't want to pay much attention to her. She basically spends all her time telling other people how to live their lives. Everyone in Curridge knows not to take it to heart. She probably just saw you as fresh meat.” She pauses for a moment. “You know, I think you're doing a wonderful job with your two lovely little girls. For a single mother, coping alone, you're doing brilliantly.”

  Sighing, I turn and head over to the booth.

  “I don't need special treatment,” I mutter.

  “I didn't mean that!” she calls after me.

  “Hey Kate,” I say, trying to sound happy and excited, “I've changed my mind. I think I'm going to take you and Alice out to the rocks with me. You can play while I'm fishing Mr. Puddles out of his hole.”

  “That's not necessary,” the landlady calls out. “They'll be fine here.”

  “Come on,” I continue, taking Kate's arm and leading her out of the booth. “That's right, we'll have fun.”

  “I was drawing,” she complains.

  “You can draw later. What kind of mother would I be if I left you sitting in a pub with strangers?”

  “Please,” the landlady continues, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.”

  “You didn't offend me,” I rep
ly, glancing at her briefly before slipping the wire and hook into my pocket. Heading to the nearby bench, I pick Alice up and arrange her in my arms. The thought of carrying her all the way to the rocks makes me feel tired already, but I know her pushchair would be useless on the pebbles. “I just want to take my daughters along the beach.”

  “But -”

  “We'll be back later,” I add, aware that I'm being very abrupt but unable to help myself. “I'm just -”

  Before I can finish, I feel a sudden, brief burst of pain in my head. I flinch, but the pain is already gone and I look over at the landlady. She's staring at me, but I think maybe I managed to hide the pain.

  “We'll be back to eat later,” I explain, before turning and carrying Alice to the door, while Kate walks behind me. “This'll be fun, going for a walk as a family. It's what we came here for, after all.”

  Still balancing Alice in my arms, I try to push the door open. When that doesn't work, I have to maneuver around slightly and use my butt to push the handle, which finally turns and allows the door to swing open. Stumbling slightly, I head out the front of the pub and then stop to take a deep breath of sea air. I'm already exhausted, but there's no way I'm going to leave my girls in the pub and let people think I'm a lazy mother.

  “Okay,” I say, turning to Kate with a smile, but seeing only a furrowed brow in return. “Let's go. Come on, this is going to be fun!”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alice

  Today

  “You'll find Curridge is a very peaceful town,” the elderly lady says as she leads me up the pub's narrow, winding staircase. “People are friendly, but they're not pushy. Whatever you're here for, you'll be left alone to get on with it.”

  “That's fine,” I reply as we reach the top, “I'm only -”

  Before I can get another word out, my head slams into a low-hanging beam and I stumble back, bumping against the wall. For a moment, I'm actually worried I might pass out, and I quickly start to feel a painful throbbing sensation on the very top of my head.