by Juliet Bell
He held the necklace out again, finally feeling as if he’d accomplished something good. He hadn’t wasted his time coming to Gimmerton. He had achieved something, even if it was just to bring the story full circle, to a better ending.
Kate lifted the chain from his hand and stuffed it in a pocket. ‘Well, thanks, I guess.’
‘It must be nice to have something of your mother’s.’
She nodded again.
‘From Heathcliff.’
Another nod. ‘I know’
Lockwood shook his head. He could almost laugh. At himself and his fancies as much as anything. This should be a moment, a handing on of something that mattered to the next generation. But obviously he was the only one who thought that. ‘So what are you two doing now?’
Kate smiled. ‘We’re going to go to London to see the sculptures at the V&A and The Lion King and Hyde Park. And then Paris for the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa and then…’
Harry interrupted. ‘We’re going to travel a bit.’
‘Both of you?’
Harry nodded. ‘Like she’d last two minutes on her own.’
Kate’s cheeks coloured pink. ‘Well, you wouldn’t have a clue where to go without me to…’
‘Anyway, we’re going to go all over.’
Lockwood understood. ‘Away from Gimmerton.’
Harry met his eye. ‘Well, you’re not going anywhere if you don’t leave Gimmerton.’
No. Of course you weren’t. Lockwood nodded. ‘Well, good luck to you then.’
He turned his heel and walked away. He was a stupid old man chasing ghosts that weren’t even his. He climbed back into his car and started the engine. He’d lived in London forty years and he didn’t think he’d ever set foot inside the V&A. Or seen The Lion King. He drove away from the Heights, back towards the town centre and the road out of Gimmerton. He didn’t go direct. He diverted via the Catholic church. He pulled up outside and got out of the car. In the distance, he could see one fresh grave in the unkempt part of the cemetery. It was entirely on its own, almost right up against the stone wall at the far end, as if the man trapped below was straining to get out of the confines of his grave and make the leap to the blue hills beyond.
Lockwood reached into his pocket and pulled out the twisted nail. He tossed it in his hand a couple of times, feeling the familiar shape and weight. With a deep breath, he lifted his arm and flung the nail into the wild brambles by the stone wall of the overgrown graveyard.
He got back into his car and drove away.
The End
Copyright
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Janet Gover and Alison May 2018
Janet Gover and Alison May asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
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This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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E-book Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 978-0-00-828449-7