Beneath the Moon and the Stars

by Amelia Thorne

  She scrabbled out of bed and went to stand near the adjoining wall.

  ‘You heard that didn’t you?’ she asked the wall.

  There was silence for a moment then she heard a shifting of weight as someone moved closer to the wall.

  ‘Yes,’ came Finn’s voice.

  She closed her eyes. Silence stretched between them. There were no words she could find to lessen her embarrassment. She wondered, if she prayed and wished really hard, if the gods, fairy godmothers, guardian angels or whoever else might be listening might be persuaded to turn the clock back five minutes. In fact, whilst the gods of time were messing about with the timeline, they might as well turn the clocks back forty-eight hours. That way she wouldn’t, rather embarrassingly, bare her soul to Finn about her parents and her home, she wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble for the barbeque if she’d known no one was going to turn up, then she wouldn’t have got drunk, told Finn she hadn’t got any friends and then tried to kiss him.

  She kept her eyes scrunched for a moment, hoping that when she opened them she would be lying on the chair swing, wrapped in the blanket that Zach had covered her with and everything would be right with the world.

  She opened her eyes and to her disappointment she found she was still standing next to the wall.

  Joy sighed. She knew she would have to speak to Finn at some point and at least talking to him through the wall was easier than doing so face to face.

  ‘I’m … sorry about last night.’

  She heard a shifting of weight again as he moved closer. She couldn’t say why, but she felt sure he was pressing his hand against the wall, almost like he wanted to touch her. It was a silly thought, if he wanted to touch her, he would have done so the night before.

  ‘It’s fine.’ His voice was cool, clipped. She sighed. They had been making headway in their friendship. The day before, when he’d been so nice about the farm, had been lovely. Now it seemed that they were going to revert back to how they were when she first moved in.

  ‘Darcy, let’s go for a walk,’ she said, indicating to Finn that their conversation was over. She stormed out, but then hesitated near the door as Darcy ran past her and thundered down the stairs. She frowned in confusion at the lack of movement from Finn’s side, almost as if he was still standing there, next to her wall. Turning away, she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

  *

  As Joy walked back from the fields with Darcy, she thought back again to the night before. The way Finn had held her when they had danced, the way he had looked at her right before she tried to kiss him, had indicated to her that perhaps he had feelings for her too. The rejection confused her.

  She sighed. She had bared her soul the day before. He now knew more about her than most of her friends. Why she felt so compelled to share her innermost secrets with him, she didn’t know. All she had to do now was tell him of the time she was attacked in London and that would be it, all her secrets would be laid out before him.

  Almost all of her secrets. There was still one that she held very close to her chest.

  She had given away too much information about her wood carving and chainsaw experience to Finn the night before. If he saw her with the chainsaw or Casey told him about it, Finn might put two and two together. They both could, especially if they compared notes. The unfortunate timing of the Menton Hall robbery was too close for comfort as well. She had spent the best part of two years keeping the identity of her alter ego hidden, she couldn’t afford to be found out now just because her tongue got a bit loose when she was drunk.

  She let herself back in, filled Darcy’s water bowl and opened the back door so Darcy could lie outside.

  Blanking out the number plates outside her home just before her last job had been a mistake. Normally she did it just round the corner from where she would go off road, but as Menton Hall had been so close, she’d done it at home and that had been careless. If anyone saw, if Finn saw that, then suspicions would certainly arise.

  She had another job to do tonight, another local one. Maybe she would start to load a few bits now so it didn’t look quite as suspicious as it would if she did it all in one go later.

  ‘Hey!’ called Zach from his garden, disturbing her from her reverie. ‘Sorry I couldn’t make your barbeque thing last night. I wish I could have come, I bet it would have been much more fun than the stupid rehearsal dinner thing.’

  ‘A rehearsal dinner does sound a bit strange. What do you need to rehearse? She says I do, he says I do, job done.’

  Zach laughed. ‘You’re right, it is silly. Casey’s just doing anything for a quiet life at the moment. That’s why he keeps hanging round here all the time, trying to keep out of Arielle’s way whilst she goes mad with all the wedding preparations.’

  She stepped closer to the fence. ‘What do you make of Casey marrying Arielle?’ She had to be careful what she said here.

  ‘I think it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve never known two people less suited to each other. I’m pretty sure she’s shagging Robert Franks, the local plumber so I doubt it will last. She makes Casey miserable and if Mum stopped getting so excited about this big wedding of the year for just a second, she would see how unhappy he is. I do worry about him.’

  Joy was surprised by this. Although Zach seemed like a nice bloke, she had always thought that he was quite self-involved. To hear him so concerned about his brother was incredibly endearing.

  ‘Listen I have something to ask you,’ he went on, ‘and just hear me out before you say no. I know you’re coming to the wedding on Saturday but I was wondering if you would come as my date. No funny business,’ he added quickly. ‘It’s just that there will be a lot of single women at this wedding and a lot of them are interested in me…’

  ‘Poor you, that must be so hard.’ She smirked at him.

  ‘Well, normally I wouldn’t mind, but since I fell in love with the girl next door, I’ve been sworn off women for the next month. It would make it a lot easier if I had a date to the wedding – that way no possible suitors will come after me. I’m not asking you to pretend to be my girlfriend or anything, just to accompany me. Maybe dance with me once or twice.’

  She barely heard what he said; her mind was still processing the fact that he’d just said he was in love with her. No one had ever said they loved her. There’d been boyfriends in the past, but no real long term relationships. Ed had been the longest and he’d never uttered those words. But then it was clear he never loved her – if he had, he wouldn’t’ve dumped her over what had happened that fateful night.

  But Zach had just said it so casually, so simply, the words didn’t seem to matter at all. She had always envisaged hearing those words for the first time in much more romantic circumstances. Did he really love her? The ‘can’t breathe, can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t think,’ kind of love?

  She found herself nodding, inwardly cursing herself for being so flattered that he loved her, or at least had said it. ‘Ok then, just as long as you know that it’s not a proper date, there’ll be no kissing or anything else that your dirty little mind can imagine.’

  He pretended to look offended. ‘I’ll have you know that my mind is squeaky clean.’

  ‘Well that’s ok then. We’ll just be two friends going to the wedding together.’

  Zach crossed his heart and held his fingers up in a boy scout’s salute. ‘I promise, I won’t even squeeze your butt when we dance.’

  ‘I should hope not too.’

  He grinned. She heard the phone ring in his house and he waved goodbye to her as he ran to answer it.

  ‘Jesus, you women are a sucker for the love word aren’t you?’ came Finn’s voice behind her. She turned to face him, determined she wouldn’t be embarrassed after what had happened the night before. ‘It didn’t even come with flowers, chocolates, a ring, or a violinist to serenade you and I could still see your heart fall out of your chest and the little birds singing gaily as they flew around
your head.’

  ‘What’s it got to do with you?’ So they had gone full circle then. Finn’s niceness the day before was very short lived. The sneer on his face was back. Though she couldn’t understand why he was so angry about it.

  ‘Nothing at all. I couldn’t care less. I’m just amazed at how easily you were swayed. One moment you’re standing your ground, refusing to be another notch on his bedpost, and the very next second, he tells you he loves you and now you’re going out on a date.’

  ‘It’s not a date, we’re just friends.’

  ‘Men and women can’t be friends, Joy.’

  There was something about the way he said that, that made her think he was talking about them not being friends. She moved closer to his fence. ‘We seemed to do ok yesterday, at the farm.’

  ‘Don’t mistake kindness for friendship. Besides, you crashed straight across those boundaries when you tried to kiss me.’

  She hated that she gave him the satisfaction of blushing. It was mortifying. Of course he didn’t want her. He was magnificent, the great Finn Mackenzie, he could have any woman he wanted. He’d shown a little bit of tenderness to her and she’d fallen for him because of it. Idiot.

  ‘That’s why men and women can’t be friends, someone always wants more.’ Finn’s eyes were cold. Arrogant sod.

  He was so inconsistent, she couldn’t keep up. He had been rude, but then he had been so kind, so considerate the day before at the farm, and the way he had held her when they had danced the night before was so… loving, but now this anger over a kiss. It was exhausting. Maybe it was better if they weren’t friends. Though being friends with him was far easier than this continual angst.

  He must have thought so too. ‘Look, if you understand that I don’t want more, with you or anyone else, if you realise that nothing is ever going to happen between us, that I don’t find you in the least bit attractive, then maybe we can be friends.’

  Egotistical, conceited little… ‘I tell you what Finn, you can stick your friendship up your arse.’

  With that she stormed back into the house.

  *

  Finn scowled as he pulled up outside Joy’s house a few hours later, glaring at her front door. He had hurt Joy but he wasn’t going to feel guilty just because he didn’t want a relationship. He was perfectly happy with his life as it was, he didn’t need her crashing into it with her beautiful red hair, her intense green eyes, her sad stories and her stroppy moods.

  He glanced at himself in the rear-view mirror. Two angry grey eyes glared back at him, the frown between his eyes was an almost permanent feature now, as it had been for the last eighteen months. Oh yes, he was perfectly happy!

  He got out and slammed the door, grumpy that the blasted woman had such an effect on him, and was just unloading his car when the police car pulled up outside again.

  He deliberately dawdled with his stuff as he surreptitiously watched the policewoman from the other day get out and walk up the path towards Joy’s front door.

  A few seconds later the door opened and Joy gasped. ‘Oh god.’

  ‘Hello Joy, can I come in?’

  And that was it. The policewoman went inside and the door closed firmly behind them. Not a lot to go on.

  He was perturbed slightly at the lack of information. He went through to the back garden to put his stuff in the shed and attempt to fix the lawn mower that had died the day before.

  It wasn’t long before he heard Joy’s front door open and close and presumably what sounded like the police car driving away.

  Had she been arrested?

  Though that theory was quickly dismissed as she came outside and stood on the decking. She looked very pale.

  He looked determinedly down at the lawn mower.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw her walk on shaky legs down to the summer house. The lawn mower; that’s what he was out here for. He was not going to get involved.

  He glanced over again and saw she was now sitting with her head in her hands.

  Shit.

  No, it had nothing to do with him. His eyes slid back towards her again. Was she crying?

  He stared back at the screwdriver in his hand, threw it down in annoyance and pushed his way through the connecting gate.

  She was crying. No doubt about it. He could hear the stifled sobs as he walked closer. She hadn’t seen him yet, he could still back out.

  ‘Are you ok?’

  She jolted in shock, looking up and quickly wiping the tears from her face. Damn it. A woman’s tears were the most powerful tool in the world. He would have done anything for her right then, he would have lain down and died for her if she’d asked, or thrown her into the back of his pick-up truck and spent the rest of their lives on the run, hiding from the law.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she snapped, clearly embarrassed.

  ‘Well you’re obviously not.’

  ‘Like you care.’

  He felt his jaw clench. ‘You’re right, I don’t.’

  He turned and stormed away, angry that his offer of help had been refused.

  *

  She wouldn’t let it affect her, Joy thought as she loaded her boot with her chainsaw and a collection of other power tools. She’d had a little cry and that was only natural, but she wouldn’t think of it again. If she dwelled on it, allowed herself to be scared, then the bastard had won – and he wouldn’t win, she was damned sure of that.

  She jumped in the car and drove off up the road, deliberately ignoring Finn as he watched her from his window.

  But she was angry and she was entitled to that. The justice system had let her down. If she hadn’t fought back, if she had let the bastard have his way, he would still be rotting in prison, probably for another four years. Instead he had got out in just under two. The fact that he confessed and that his solicitor had said there was mitigating circumstances had made the sentence much less. Mitigating circumstances. Bullshit.

  She stopped the car in a layby and when the road was quiet, she quickly got out and covered her number plates. She drove round the corner and as the road was still empty she turned off and drove through the trees, allowing the greenery to swallow her, hiding her from the view of the road. She drove on as far as she could before she had to stop; the trees were getting too close together to go any further.

  It was a good five minute walk from where she’d stopped to get to her target, so she’d kept the luggage to a minimum, one large rucksack on her back and she carried the larger chainsaw in her hands.

  It was quiet in the woods, trees stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction. This was the perfect place to work. Working in the public grounds of Menton Hall the other night was not ideal, it was more likely she would get caught in such open places like that. But not getting caught was part of the thrill and it was also integral to being The Dark Shadow. Without the mystery, there would be no demand, well very little.

  She had fallen in love with chainsaw carving when she stayed with a chainsaw artist for a week in Alaska four years before. She had become hooked on the excitement of using such dangerous equipment and relished in the skill needed to use chainsaws to carve such intricate pieces.

  On her return to the UK, she had gained her chainsaw qualifications at a local agricultural college and spent months refining her skill. She had contacted a local chainsaw artist, Dan Cordell, with the hope that she could get some pointers from him. His work was stunning. She expected to get little or nothing back. Based on her limited experience of those in the art world, people didn’t really have the time or inclination to help their peers. Chainsaw carvers were a different breed. What she had got from Dan had been amazing. He taught her so much about the use of different power tools and their effects. He introduced her to loads of other chainsaw carvers who were also more than willing to pass on their tips and expertise. She had met Matt George, another carver, who had lived just down the road from her at the time with his lovely wife Emily and three beautiful daughters. Matt had firmly tak
en her under his wing. He had been more than happy to let her follow him around for weeks as he did commissions and attended events. The carvers were a family of great people who looked after one another, and were genuinely happy for each other’s successes. She was quickly accepted as one of them and not just Matt’s weird little stalker. She attended events, small school fetes, craft fairs, demonstrating her skills and slowly, very slowly, building a name for herself. Although she got a few commissions, work was still very thin on the ground.

  She had been keen to show Jake Aldbury, her former lover and mentor, how much she had learned in wood carving since they had parted in Australia all those years before. One night, she had snuck into the grounds of his farm and using the chainsaw had carved a huge flying unicorn into the trunk of a dead oak tree. It was fantastic and to this day was one of the pieces she was most proud of.

  She presumed she would get a text or a phone call from him the next day but instead Jake went to the press. Hamming it up for the TV cameras, he stood in a pork pie hat, chewing on a blade of grass, looking confused and a bit simple. He explained to the journalists that he had gone to bed the night before and when he woke in the morning the unicorn was there as if it had quite simply grown out of the wood. He spoke of aliens and of time travellers, but repeatedly kept saying “why me, why did they choose me?” Joy’s favourite part of the news clip, which she had played hundreds of times since, was Jake looking round at the unicorn in bewilderment, shaking his head, but as he turned back to the camera, for a split second there was a fierce pride in his eyes. When the journalists asked if he had seen anything, he told them of what had appeared on the CCTV, a shape, a dark shadow that moved so quickly it was impossible to tell who or what it was. The news programme then played the clip of the CCTV in slow motion, and as Jake said it was nothing more than a shadow and subsequently The Dark Shadow had inadvertently been born.