Sage froze. ‘Elliott?’ she stammered, spooked. She managed a shaky laugh. ‘You made me jump.’
‘I didn’t mean to.’ His face was blank, his eyes so dark they looked black.
She rubbed her belly to comfort the baby, herself. Something hovered around her memory. ‘Aren’t you finished here?’ She was babbling. She could feel her pulse bounding in her neck. ‘Back to the university for you, I suppose.’
‘You sound like you want to get rid of me.’ He wasn’t joking; he never joked, she realised. He stared at her face, then down at her stomach. ‘You want to get on with your life. And his baby.’
‘His? You mean Marcus, my ex-boyfriend?’ It was strange: here was Elliott, good, dependable Ell, and yet it felt like the ghosts of the cottage were ranged up behind him, hissing at her. The hairs on her neck stood up.
His voice was low with a strange tone, his face twisted with anger. He jabbed a finger in the direction of her belly. ‘You should have got rid of it. You’ll always be involved with him while you have it.’ There was a strange expression in his eyes, as if he was listening to someone else. He tilted his head on one side.
‘Elliott.’ It was her teacher voice, and it seemed to reach him a little bit. ‘Let’s go outside and talk to Nick and Felix.’
He reached out a hand; his wrist was bony as it extended from his sleeve. He seemed taller indoors. He touched a wooden block on the work surface, his hand hovering over the silver handles of the knives. She watched him touch one after another before he drew out a long carving knife. It made a metallic hiss as it came out, and the shiny blade seemed to hold his attention even as Sage shuffled back half a step. His face was calm, and he stared at the blade in his hand and squeezed the handle until his knuckles whitened.
‘Elliott, put that down, it’s—’ her voice faded as he took a step nearer, shaking his head. ‘Ell, you don’t want to hurt me, you know you don’t.’
He twisted the blade in the light from the low window. He was almost within arm’s reach of Sage. ‘Hurt you? No, I don’t want to hurt you. I just think it’s time to get rid of the baby.’ He made a small stabbing movement. ‘Surely it’s possible to hit the baby and not kill the mother.’ He looked up. ‘I could be careful, not like whoever butchered Isabeau. There has to be somewhere that would kill the baby and not you.’ The knife stabbed forward a few inches, as if he were imagining it. ‘How could you even touch him? That sleazy old man.’
‘Elliott, you’re scaring me. That’s enough, put it down.’ Sage managed to turn and stumble into the hall. A few feet to her left was the door to the living room. God, Chloe. She stopped and turned. ‘We’re friends, Elliott, colleagues. This isn’t you, this is madness. Losing Steph—’
‘Steph?’ His face twisted into an expression of disgust that made her flinch back. ‘Steph didn’t give me a choice. She thought I was interested in her?’
‘A choice in what?’ God, where were Felix and Nick? Her mind flew to the silent child bowed over her jigsaw. She needed to get him outside.
‘She knew. She saw the pictures on my phone, pictures of you. She found out I had copied your keys. I saw the vicar going into your building and stay all night. Did he fuck you, with that estate agent’s baby right there in your stomach?’
Sage felt cold at the tone in his voice. Steph must have confronted him. What had he done? She could feel a draught from the open front door behind her, could hear the low murmur of Nick and Felix’s voices beyond. ‘What happened with Stephanie?’ There was a shrill note in her voice, and she could only hope it reached the men outside.
Elliott walked closer, until she had to look up even as she fumbled for the edge of the door. ‘You can’t believe I ever wanted Steph,’ he said, his face moving closer, angling this way, then that. God, he’s going to try and kiss me. He pushed his body against hers, the knife pressed flat between them.
‘Please, Elliott, don’t—’
He touched his lips to her cheek, slid down to her mouth. His kiss was cold, dry, emotionless. When he pulled back, his eyes seemed enormous, black and as unblinking as a lizard. His breath smelled of stale tea. She could feel the fingers on the hilt of the knife pressing against her stomach. ‘Ell, please—’
‘It’s like you’re still full of him.’ He moved back half a pace, his mouth twisted with disgust. ‘You’re full up with his filth.’
He angled the point of the knife towards her again. She cried out involuntarily. ‘Elliott!’ She fumbled behind her for the edge of the door. Thank God, it was on the latch. Her fingers caught in the door chain. ‘But, why kill Steph? She hadn’t hurt anyone.’
‘I didn’t think she would die. She hit her head on the drain cover.’ He pulled her closer. ‘She knew how I felt about you. I didn’t mean to hurt her, not at first. But then she found out about the doll. Chloe told her I’d taken it.’
Sage’s mind raced back to the disgusting thing in her car.
‘The doll? But… why?’
‘I started reading about the sorcerer that lived here, about spells and witchcraft.’
‘You can’t take that seriously.’ Sage backed away a few more inches.
‘But you saw the lab results – the alchemy was working. I did some research; the kid had already connected you to the doll. All I had to do was make it into a love spell.’ He looked less certain for a second. ‘I know you can love me. I’ve seen you look at me – you chose me for this project. Everything I did was for you, for us.’
‘But you hurt Steph. Ell, how could you?’ Sage felt sick, her chest tight with fear for the baby.
‘She was going to tell you, she was going to warn you. Like I said, she knew I had the keys to your van, your flat.’ He grimaced. ‘She was jealous.’ His eyes dropped again to her belly.
‘Elliott,’ Sage said, breathless with fear, ‘I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone intentionally, I’ve known you for three years. It must have been an accident.’
‘I could see she was dead, so I dragged the cover off. It was easy to drop her in: no one was indoors, they were at the hospice.’ His voice hissed. ‘I heard her body hit the bottom of the well.’
‘Oh, God.’ For a moment Sage saw the white face in the dark water. Elliott lifted the blade again and she put her arm up to defend herself. He’s going to do it.
‘Sage?’ Chloe was standing in the living-room doorway.
‘Chloe, get inside and lock the door!’
Sage was relieved to see the living-room door immediately slam shut. Elliott’s head turned at the noise, and she found a wave of strength to push him away, her hands flat against his chest. He was thin, and she managed to push him a couple of steps back, but he recovered quickly, raising the weapon. He stepped forward and stabbed straight at the top of her belly. She put her hand up to fend him off, the blade slicing between her thumb and finger as she deflected it. She cried out with the pain but he seemed lost in the study of her belly. This is what happened to Isabeau. She finally managed to pull the front door open as he lunged forward with deadly speed, burying the knife in the doorframe just beside her. He wrenched it out as she turned and stumbled down the broad front step.
Sage screamed involuntarily, and staggered onto the garden path, almost falling. She turned to fend him off which made his second strike miss her, his wrist jarring her shoulder as she ducked under his arm. As the knife flashed after her, she put out her uninjured hand to protect her belly, then turned and staggered to the corner of the house and pulled open the gate to the back garden. ‘Ell, you have to stop this!’
Elliott was like a robot, immersed in whatever nightmare of jealous obsession he was inhabiting. Sage slammed the gate in his face and heard the knife crunch into the wood. She lurched into the garden, cradling her injured hand against her. Nick and Felix were standing by the well; the cover was discarded on the grass. Felix looked startled. Nick took a step towards her. ‘Sage?’
She fought to get her breath back. ‘It’s Elliott!’ She looked down at her hand,
at the blood streaking down her shirt. ‘He’s got a knife, he killed Steph—’
‘Watch out!’ Nick stepped in front of her as she swung around to see Elliott pacing towards her through the gateway, knife outstretched.
‘Elliott, stop!’ The command came from Felix, and even Sage involuntarily glanced at him. The student stopped, standing between the two men, then turned to Nick.
‘She’s mine.’ The words were spat.
‘What?’ Nick stared at Sage.
Elliott’s contorted face barely looked like the young man she had known. ‘You can’t have her!’
‘Let her come with me then,’ said Felix. His voice was calm, fatherly. ‘It’s all right, but she’s scared and she’s cut her hand.’
Elliott twisted his head around to stare at him. ‘That bastard’s brat has to go.’ His voice had cracked into a growl, and then Sage knew for certain that it was the voice she had heard down the phone at the vicarage. ‘It’s not a real baby. You know that.’
Sage stumbled backwards, away from the hatred in his voice. Felix stepped between them and Elliott. ‘Elliott, you care about Sage. You don’t want to hurt her.’ He glanced at Nick, who started to edge around to Elliott’s side.
Elliott’s face was dark red and sweaty. ‘She’s filthy, whoring with that estate agent and now with him.’ Spittle dropped from his lips. ‘I’ll cut it out and throw it down that fucking well. I should have done it weeks ago.’
Felix’s voice was even. ‘That would kill Sage. You don’t want to lose her.’
‘He’s taken her from me!’ Elliott lunged forward, and Sage fell back. Her foot stumbled on the ring of stones, and she grabbed Felix to keep her balance. The well was uncovered, just surrounded by a few scraps of fluttering blue tape. She circled around it, putting the black hole between her and Elliott.
A flash of yellow caught Sage’s eye – a child’s T-shirt – and she saw Chloe standing by the garden gate. ‘Chloe! Get inside!’
‘Sage?’ The child looked confused. ‘Why is the scary man here?’
Nick darted towards her, but Elliott had already grabbed Chloe, who squealed in protest as he pulled her by one wrist, swinging her almost off her feet.
‘Chloe, stay still!’ Sage’s words were breathless, sobbed. ‘Please don’t hurt her, Elliott, she hasn’t done anything. She’s just a little girl.’
‘Come here and I’ll let her go.’
Even as Sage took a step towards him involuntarily, Felix pulled her back. Only the ring of muddy stones and the black opening of the well was between her and Elliott, the musty stink in her nostrils. She saw Nick turn a little, move out of Elliott’s line of sight.
‘I’ll do it!’ Elliott had the child almost on tiptoes, lifted by one arm. ‘Come here or I’ll drop the kid down the well.’
Chloe whimpered, locking eyes with Sage. Her slippers were right over the ring of stones.
‘You wouldn’t hurt a child.’ Sage’s breath was coming in little sobs. ‘I know you, Elliott.’
‘I threw Steph down there,’ he said, his face twisted, his voice mocking. ‘It was easy.’
Felix squeezed Sage’s arm. ‘You can’t reason with him. He isn’t thinking rationally.’
She wrenched herself away. ‘Elliott, please. Look, it’s just me. I know you. We can go somewhere and talk. Just let Chloe go and put the knife down. We all know you’ve been under a lot of stress.’
‘Stress, because of you!’ He spat. Chloe’s dangling foot was hanging over the edge of the well, her eyes wide with fear. ‘You wouldn’t get rid of the baby, you ignored me, you fucked him…’ Nick froze, a few feet away from Elliott, and stared at the knife jabbed in his direction.
Sage glanced at Nick. ‘Nick is a friend. That’s all.’
Elliott’s grip seemed to loosen and Chloe slipped a few inches towards the shadow of the well. The child screamed, the sound cutting through the wind.
Nick shouted. ‘No! Let the child go, this has nothing to do with her.’ He edged forward, his hand open, reaching towards Chloe. ‘You’re angry at me, not Sage. Let her take the child indoors.’
Elliott’s head swivelled. Chloe twisted in his grip, her wrist clamped in his fingers, her breath sobbing in her throat. ‘Mummy, Mummy…’
‘I know you were with her. In her flat. In her bed.’
‘Nothing happened, I swear. Look at the child, she’s terrified. Let her go to Sage at least.’ Nick stepped closer, forming a triangle between Elliott, Sage and himself, the well in the middle. ‘Come and talk to me, it’s me you’re angry at.’
Sage clung to Felix’s arm as Nick continued to try and reason with Elliott, the other hand clenched against her stomach, dripping blood. She had the strangest feeling, like this had happened before, like a story was reaching for her and the baby. ‘He’s beyond reason,’ she whispered to Felix, ‘but maybe he’ll follow me away from the well and Nick and you can grab Chloe.’
Felix shook his head. ‘He’ll go for the baby. Do you have your phone?’
She knew where it was, uselessly sat in the glove compartment of her car. She shook her head. ‘You?’
‘In the cottage, in my bag. If we can distract him and get Chloe to you, lock yourselves in the house and call from there.’
Sage nodded. Elliott and Nick were now in a silent standoff, Nick’s hands twitching as if to take Chloe but repelled by the bloodstained blade.
Elliott stared at Nick. ‘Sage could love me. She just doesn’t realise it yet.’ He looked over at her. ‘We’re meant to be together.’
Sage reached her bloodied hand out to him. ‘Then let her go, please let Chloe go.’ She took one step closer. ‘I could never love someone who hurt a child.’
‘Sage!’ Nick put out a hand. ‘Don’t trust him.’
‘You would never hurt me deliberately, would you, Ell? Tell him, Nick, we’re just friends.’
‘Of course, we’re friends…’ He stared at Sage, his eyes wide with emotion. She had a flash of memory, of his sleeping body pressed against hers when she woke.
The point of the knife wavered slightly. Elliott took a step around the well towards Sage and he frowned. His expression changed. ‘But the baby has to go.’ He swung his hand and Sage lurched back, her ankle twisting beneath her. The raised knife caught the light.
‘No!’ Nick leapt forward and Elliott dropped Chloe on the grass and turned to meet him. The blade came down. Nick put up his forearm; the knife glanced off it, then buried itself up to the handle in his chest.
Sage screamed, Chloe screamed, Elliott screamed. Even Felix shouted something, but Nick fell back without a word.
Felix strode towards the child, now sobbing in a heap, and snatched her up in his arms. Sage huddled on the grass as Elliott, now empty-handed, walked towards her. There was blood on his shirt. Her blood, Nick’s blood.
‘If I can’t have you, no one will.’ His voice was calm again, although his face was twisted into a grimace. He grabbed her wrist with both hands and dragged her a step, two steps towards the well. Although she was tall, he was taller and stronger. He hauled her closer to the open mouth. Cracks had opened up around it, dark scars in the earth.
‘No, no!’ She fell to her knees.
He pulled her back up and put his face close to hers. ‘I heard her hit the bottom of the well,’ he hissed. ‘I’ll throw you down there too.’
‘Elliott, please.’ Sage heaved against him, pulling him half a pace back.
He wrested her back against him. ‘You’ll be conscious all the way down,’ he snarled, his face scarlet with effort, with rage. ‘You’ll drown in the water, you and the baby.’
One of her feet slid half into the well. ‘Elliott!’
‘Sage!’ Elliott turned at the sound of Felix’s voice. Sage strained to look over his shoulder. Chloe was nowhere to be seen, and Felix had both hands pressing on Nick’s chest either side of the knife. As she watched, he started to stand up, to come towards her and Elliott. Terrified he was leaving Nic
k to die, Sage found a last surge of energy. She kicked out and twisted, swinging Elliott towards the edge. His mouth was wide open, his hand gripping her wrist—
He fell backwards into the well. His weight dragged Sage forward onto her knees as simultaneously someone grabbed her around the waist, knocking the scream out of her. Felix’s forearm was around her, the tendons standing out as he struggled to stop her tumbling after Elliott. She felt pulled in half, her other hand braced on the ring of stones.
She looked down to see Elliott, one elbow crooked over the edge of the well, his free hand biting into her wrist. His fingers were slipping and he shouted something, his voice high and garbled with rage. Elliott stared up at Sage with white-rimmed eyes. It wasn’t even fear, it was hate, and it made her recoil, jerking his fingers from her wrist.
He screamed as he dropped and Sage fell backwards against Felix. She waited for a splash, but instead there was a horrible thud. The stones at the top of the well shifted and shook. The earth dropped underneath her as the well collapsed, and she slid towards the black mouth as darkness took her.
56
16th December 1580
I am a man of almost fifty summers yet I race across the spinney towards Well House barely three paces behind the girl, not heeding obstacles in my way. All my thoughts are on Viola ahead of me. I must be there when she confronts – as I believe she must – the demented woman that Isabeau charged with stealing her baby. I barely think what has happened is credible, yet I have seen it with my own eyes, seen the butchered body of Isabeau.
The garden gate stands ajar, and as if Agness’s guilt was not proven enough it is confirmed by a bloodied handprint upon the frame. The sky casts a blue light over the frost, the last stars melt into the beginning of day. My Viola barely checks, but throws herself through and into the garden beyond, her skirts caught above her knees. Past an orchard of gnarled ancients, she sets to flight a dozen rooks in the low branches. Near the house she finally pauses, giving me a moment to catch her, to stand with my flanks heaving like a plough horse. A figure stands, side on to us, wrapped in a rough cloth, her hair unbound, a mass of wiry curls. She spares us no glances, but is rapt in the gaze of the man. He stands bareheaded, in simple shirt and hose, his boots unlaced, and stares back at her.
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