Dream Cottage

by Harriet J Kent

  “Is that you, Willow? If it is, you are very pretty.”

  The reflection of a young girl’s face beamed back at Nonie. Her little white teeth shone like wild pearls. The girl giggled. Nonie smiled back at the little shade. Her smile quickly evaporated when the giggling became mocking laughter. The depth of the laugh was clearly not that of a child. Nonie stared again at the reflection; this time the child’s face has transformed into the form of a male face. Rugged, unshaven and dirty. A toothy grin of blackened teeth and red raw gums snarled back at Nonie, black eyes and rugged weathered skin. Nonie was startled as the face began to speak. As it did so, Nonie noticed that, as the body materialised in front of her, the man only had one arm.

  “You will not be rid of me, witch! Don’t think you will ever get me to leave this place. You do not have the power or the strength. Leave this place!” it roared back at her.

  Nonie stood her ground.

  “Barnabas! You must be Barnabas,” she murmured; taking heed of what Max had instructed. She tried not to raise any suspicions.

  “Yes!” the reflection replied and in a split second, the mirror was snatched with invisible hands from Nonie’s firm grasp. It was thrown up into the air, where it hit the ceiling and came crashing down on to the uncarpeted floor. It smashed into hundreds of shards, which spread like a huge cobweb all over the floor.

  “Oh! Ha, ha! You ought to be more careful!” Barnabas mocked. His voice was travelling around and around the room until Nonie was immersed by his uncontrollable laughter. “Seven years’ bad luck; but not as many years of bad luck that I have suffered! Don’t try to cross me, heathen!”

  Nonie turned around and around in the room like she was being spun in a vicious, endless spiral. She held her head as the feeling of vertigo made her plunge to the floor. She landed on a shard of glass, which bit into her forearm. She winced from the pain and tried to remove the offending glass. She held her breath as she carefully removed the glass and threw it onto the floor. As she reached for a tissue to mop the speck of blood on her arm, she felt another sharp pain on the side of her face; and another, and another, until the side of her face, arm and legs had been pierced by numerous flying shards of glass; each in turn had lifted from the floor in succession and had been expertly aimed at Nonie like spear-shaped javelins. Nonie screamed and ran from the drawing room. She found Max in the kitchen talking to one of the fitters. Max took one look at her and immediately urged her outside to the garden.

  “What the hell is going on?” he hissed. “Didn’t you listen to what I said earlier? I don’t want any fuss from you!” He stopped as he looked at Nonie’s blood-stained face. She dropped to the floor in pain. “What the hell has happened to you?” Max was horrified by Nonie’s injuries.

  “I’m so sorry, Max. I tried not to make a scene. It was the mirror in the drawing room. It fell to the floor. I think I must have fainted and fell on to the glass,” Nonie lied. She panted with the pain as each shard clung to her flesh.

  “You need to get to the hospital. I will call for an ambulance. I can’t leave here.” Max fumbled for his mobile phone and dialled 999.

  “Max, please don’t worry. I’ll be fine. It is just a few scratches from the glass. Nothing I can’t deal with. Besides… I also can’t leave here…”

  Max hesitated before he pressed the call button.

  “Why can’t you leave here?” he asked incredulously.

  “Because of… well, because of Barnabas. Sorry, but it was him who caused the mirror to shatter. It is his way of trying to get rid of me.”

  “I don’t believe this!” Max held his hands to his head, still clutching his phone.

  “You must trust me on this, Max,” Nonie panted.

  “Seems like I don’t have any choice. But I am telling you, God help you if this is one of your stunts!” Max cancelled the call and placed his phone back into his trouser pocket. “Here, go to the bathroom. Take this and keep your mouth shut!” He handed Nonie a pack of tissues. “There is a first aid box in the kitchen, I will bring it up to you. Go and get yourself cleaned up,” he ordered.

  Nonie obeyed and began to walk upstairs. Max shook his head in disbelief. He was beginning to regret the day Greta had set eyes on Nonie. He returned to the kitchen where the fitters had begun.

  “Are you clear on what to do, guys? If you make a start in the top bedrooms and stairs, ensuite and then the bedrooms on the first floor,” Max instructed.

  “Yes thanks, boss. No problem. Uh, is everything all right with that lady? She looked a bit shaken up.”

  “Oh her, yes. Bit of a liability, that one. Broke a mirror, got a few cuts from the glass. I am going to sort her out now. I don’t know; some people!” he joshed and hoped he had allayed any suspicion from the fitters. Instead they laughed and took their tools upstairs to start laying the carpets. They talked amongst themselves. Max sighed with relief. He thought about Greta and what was happening with Leo.

  “Are you going to tell me honestly what the bloody hell you were playing at?” Greta yelled at her brother, who was lying in a hospital bed with his ankle suspended.

  “Oh. Hello sis,” Leo weakly replied.

  “Don’t hello sis me, you little idiot!” Greta slammed her handbag on to the bed and dragged a chair up so she could sit as close to Leo’s face as she could.

  “Darling, your brother is very poorly!” Jeanne scolded as Greta pushed her mother to one side.

  “My arse he’s poorly. You will do anything to gain attention, eh, Leo? I’m right, aren’t I?” Greta snarled. Her face was inches away from Leo’s as she pretended to kiss his cheek.

  “Please, Greta, be a little more compassionate. He had a terrible fall, a dreadful shock!” Jeanne tried to reason.

  “Oh and I wonder why he had such a terrible fall? Maybe it was because he was trying to break into our home! So, what were you trying to achieve, little brother? Do tell, the suspense is surprisingly, like myself, wanting to kill you!”

  Leo smiled awkwardly.

  “It was nothing more than what I told you earlier. I arrived at the cottage, you weren’t there, so I tried to get in by opening the kitchen window.” Leo took a deep breath. “But it wouldn’t budge and somehow, I put my elbow through it, broke the glass…”

  “You must be super-strong, then. The window was double glazed!” Greta yelled.

  “Darling! Please! Think of the other patients!” Jeanne tried to speak.

  “Not now, mummy… please!” Greta tried to stay calm.

  “Well, it broke quite easily. Then when I climbed through, it was pitch black. I didn’t notice the hole in the floor and went headlong through it. Felt like I was pushed. Next thing I know, I am at the bottom of a pit.”

  “Isn’t that a shame?” Greta mocked. “Poor little Leo! My heart bleeds for you! Well, it serves you right for breaking in. You have your just reward. Hopeless! Talking of hopeless, where is Hardy?”

  Leo didn’t answer. Jeanne answered for him.

  “She had to go back home, darling. She is out of the country.”

  Greta thought for a while.

  “Have you phoned her to let her know what my stupid brother has done?”

  “Yes, I left a message on her phone. But I haven’t had a reply back. Apparently the signal is pretty terrible in Poland.”

  “I’m sure she will be beside herself when she hears the news!” Greta’s sarcasm was too much for Charles, who was sitting quietly at the other side of Leo’s bed.

  “Enough now, Greta. I think you have said enough,” he quietly but firmly concluded. “Leo is tired, he needs some sleep.”

  Leo acknowledged his father with a degree of relief on his face and Greta took the hint to leave. As she reached the door, she turned and pointed her finger at Leo.

  “I will get the truth out of you, no matter what it takes!” she warned and slammed the door behind her. “Heaven help you when I find out!”

  Jeanne sighed and plumped Leo’s pillow for the umpteenth tim
e. She reached across and offered him a drink from a plastic beaker. Leo obliged, closed his eyes and sipped the water.

  “We’ll come back and see you tomorrow, darling.” She kissed the top of Leo’s head. “Get some rest now. It will do you good,” she soothed.

  “Bye ma, bye dad,” Leo whispered and closed his eyes.

  As soon as his parents had left the room, Leo opened his eyes and blinked. He reached over to the bedside locker and took out his mobile phone. He checked it for messages. There was one from Ardi.

  Have they gone yet? it read.

  Leo replied with, yep.

  I am coming in, beeped the response.

  Leo swallowed and held his breath.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “You have really, really messed up!” Ardi was stood over Leo’s hospital bed. “A seemple task, Mr Mowbrie instructed you to do and you mess it up! Thees is not good, Leo, not good at all!” she snapped.

  “How was I to know how deep the bloody hole was?” Leo tried to reason.

  Ardi grabbed the suspended stirrup that held Leo’s plastered ankle and wrenched it hard so he was dangling from the bed in pain. She leant over until her head was level with his.

  “You’re so stupeed, Leo. I thought you could be trusted with this seemple task. Clearly not! This puts a much different light on things now!” Ardi swiftly let go of the winch and Leo flopped back on to the bed. He landed on his side.

  “What do you mean?” he whispered, trying to correct his position.

  “It means, my dearest, that we are in beeg trouble!” Ardi hissed. Her petite features were screwed up into a darkened frown.

  “We are?” Leo responded and held on to his leg for support. He tried to gain his composure but his ankle was throbbing.

  “I need to act very fast. Beefore it is way too late!”

  Ardi paced around the ward, her hands folded behind her back.

  “When you were in the passage, did you see anything?” she demanded.

  Leo shook his head. “No, it was too dark. I was in so much pain. It was as much as I could do to survive in that hellhole. Lucky I had a packet of sweets and my fags to keep me going.”

  “And has your sister bought your excuse?” Ardi peered sharply at him.

  “I’m not sure. She is pretty pissed with me about the whole situation. But I think I have convinced both her and the olds that you have gone back to Poland. So you are completely out of the picture.” Leo tried to humour Ardi, who was still deep in thought.

  “Hmm. So it will all be down to me to sort thees mess out!” she concluded.

  Leo nervously cackled.

  “You’re not serious?”

  Ardi stood upright and looked indignant. She placed her hands on her hips and flicked the collar of her black leather jacket so it stood to attention.

  “Why not? You made a beeg mess of things. It’s up to me now, right?”

  “But how are you going to do it? What if the same thing happens to you?”

  Ardi smiled knowingly as she spoke. “Because it won’t ‘appen to me. I am skilled, I have the courage.” She tapped her finger against her forehead.

  “Have you a plan?” Leo dared to ask.

  “Of course!” Ardi snapped. “Do you think I am that stupeed?”

  “No, no, I don’t.” Leo bit his lip.

  “I will go there tonight. When they have all gone. I will get the box.”

  “In heaven’s name, be careful, then. I can’t help you if things go wrong,” Leo tried to reason. “What happens if it’s not there?”

  “Don’t woray. I weel be just fine, course it weel be there; I am confident,” Ardi announced. “I will call you when I have result,” she added and planted a kiss on Leo’s cheek. “Get well soon, my dearest!” she whispered in his ear and took a harsh, swift bite of his lobe flesh. “Weesh me luck!”

  “Uh, good luck,” Leo mumbled. He held on to his ear and rubbed it. A small speck of blood stained his pillow.

  Ardi strode across the hospital car park and mounted a waiting black motorbike. She tapped the driver on the helmet and they sped out on to the open road.

  Greta and her parents arrived at Greenacres in their respective cars. They walked across the driveway.

  “Mummy, I know that for a fact Leo is lying.” Greta’s voice was raised as she spoke. “I know him inside out. He’s not telling us the truth! I could tell by his expression. You don’t realise how devious he is.”

  “Well, it seems feasible that he would do a stupid prank to try to frighten you. Probably spider related. As it is still fresh in his mind, you know, the wedding…”

  “Yes!” Greta interrupted. “You don’t need to remind me, mummy.” She shook her head in frustration.

  “He has a girlfriend. They rent a nice flat together. He has a good job. Do you think he is jealous of Max and me?”

  “I don’t know, darling. I can’t think of any reason for him to be jealous. As you know, the father and I have always treated you both equally.”

  “I know; but does he really appreciate that fact? There’s absolutely nothing to stop him buying his own place with Ardi. He probably doesn’t want to commit to anything, knowing him. He’s always been a bit of a free spirit, hasn’t he?”

  “Run the poor boy some slack, old girl,” Charles muttered. “He’s had an accident. It has probably shaken him up enough already.”

  “Yes, okay, daddy,” Greta rolled her eyes. “But there is something odd about the whole affair and I can’t place my finger on it. Anyway, let’s see how things are shaping up here.”

  She led the way into the kitchen.

  “Max! Max? Are you here?” Greta called. She could hear the occasional tapping noise made from a mallet coming from upstairs.

  “Hi, yes, will be down in a tick,” Max’s voice returned. He joined Greta and her parents in the dining room.

  “Hi darling, Jeanne, Charles. Well, things are going very well. The fitters have laid the carpets in the top rooms. They are just finishing off the ensuite bathroom’s tiled floor. It’s really beginning to take shape now. They are off in a moment, so you can inspect their handiwork!” He kissed Greta on the cheek. “How’s Leo?”

  “Hmmph! Still alive!” Greta sulkily replied.

  “Greta!” Jeanne was shocked and decided to carry on the conversation. “He is comfortable, thank you, Maxim, for asking. I think he will be in hospital for a few days. It was a particularly nasty break.”

  “Luckily!” Greta mumbled.

  Charles glared at her. Greta decided not to continue her verbal attack.

  “Did he say what he was doing at Greenacres?” Max was interested in the excuse.

  “Only that he was trying to find Greta, but when she wasn’t in he accidentally broke the window, to get in. Thought he could open it without damaging it. Then he got in, fell down the well hole or rather he says he was pushed and, well the rest is history.”

  “Right…” Max looked at Greta’s disbelieving mouthing of no he didn’t and her hand, slanted sideways, making a cutting sign beneath her neck. He looked towards the stairs. “Ah, the fitters are coming downstairs. Come on, have a look at what they’ve done. It’s superb! I’ll see you guys in the morning!”

  “Right, boss. We will finish the next floor tomorrow, nice easy job!” the fitters waved their goodbyes.

  Max led Jeanne and Charles upstairs. Greta followed.

  “Max,” Greta called after him. “Where is Nonie?”

  Max thought before he spoke.

  “Umm, she arrived here earlier. She had a bit of an accident.”

  “What sort of accident?” Greta was concerned. Nonie’s track record of accidents wasn’t good.

  “She broke a mirror,” Max replied through Jeanne and Charles as they climbed the stairs.

  “Where?”

  “In the drawing room.”

  “Oh no,” Greta wailed. “Is she all right? Where is she now?”

  “Here, Greta,” Nonie appeared, ashen
-faced, from behind the bathroom door.

  “Oh Nonie! What happened? You look terrible!” Greta held on to Nonie’s small frame. “What happened to your face? You have cuts all down the side of it!” She inspected Nonie’s wounds.

  “I’ll be fine. It’s superficial,” she bravely announced and managed a smile.

  “You ought to go to hospital; really you should.”

  “No! I’m fine, seriously. I can’t leave.”

  “This way!” Max ushered Jeanne and Charles to the second floor of bedrooms. “Greta!”

  “I’ll be up in a moment,” she replied, still holding on to Nonie’s shoulders. “Tell me what happened, now!” Greta insisted.

  “It was Barnabas. I saw the mirror in the drawing room. I took hold of it and I thought it was Willow’s reflection I could see, then it morphed into a man’s face, pure evil. All of a sudden, the mirror was taken from me. It must have been him. He threw it up into the air and it smashed on the floor, then bits of glass were flying around everywhere. I got hit by a few pieces, on my face, my arms.” She pointed at her other wounds. “Max helped me get the shards out. I think most of them are gone now. But it was really frightening. He is definitely still here, Greta. I don’t know what else I can do.”

  “You must help us!” Greta shook Nonie as she spoke. “We have to get him out of this place. He can’t remain here. It will be terrible.”

  “I know, but I am running out of energy with him. He is so powerful.”

  “What about a séance?” Greta suggested.

  Nonie looked at Greta in surprise.

  “Absolutely no way! Don’t even think about carrying out a séance. You would most certainly be inviting trouble, not only from Barnabas but also from other spirits. Open one of those ouija boards and heaven help you. No, don’t let it cross your mind Greta. It would be very bad news.”

  Greta made a face and held up her hands.

  “Okay, point made. It was only a suggestion.”