The Forgotten Cottage

by Helen Phifer

  ‘I will, thanks, Jake.’

  She walked them to the door, too exhausted to go down the steps and walk them to the police car. She waited until they both got in and then waved them goodbye. Tears began to fall down her cheeks and she let out a sob which racked her whole body. What a mess this was. She sat down on the top step and buried her head in her arms. A warm hand touched her shoulder and she turned to see Tom.

  ‘I’m sorry, Annie, I really am.’

  Wiping her tears with her sleeve, she smiled. ‘It’s not your fault, it really isn’t.’

  He sat down next to her so that he could hold her hand. ‘You’re too kind, but if I hadn’t had an affair all those years ago this would never have happened. I used to watch Will go from one relationship to another and it broke my heart. I wanted to tell him that he would never be happy living like that, but how could I? He’d want to know how come I was the expert all of a sudden.’

  ‘You can’t blame yourself; how were you to know that there was a daughter out there who knew about you? If it’s anyone’s fault it’s her mother’s for not telling you all those years ago. I’m pretty sure you would have been in the doghouse but not for long. What if Amelia – if that’s even her name – isn’t your daughter and it’s just a lie that she was told from an early age? Would her mother really not contact you and tell you? Surely she’d have wanted money from you?’

  ‘Back then I didn’t have much money; the business was only just beginning to take off. I worked day and night to turn it into the success it was before I sold it. So I had a little bit of money but not a lot because I kept investing most of it back into the business. It was years later that I was finally able to sit back and reap the rewards and by that time Sarah had died and it was just me and Will. I was so lucky when Lily came along; she didn’t give a damn about money. In fact she thought I was the gardener here and was more than happy enough to go out with me so I knew that she was the one. I meant what I said to those detectives; I would give this all up in an instant to know that Will was safe and back in your arms.’

  His arm went around her shoulder and he pulled her close to him. Annie leant her head against him, trying her best not to cry onto his checked shirt. They stayed like that until Lily came looking for them. She nodded at Tom and smiled then went back inside.

  Annie was the one to pull away first. ‘Sorry, I never cry but since I met Will I’ve turned into a right softie. In fact I never used to get upset about much; I’d bottle it all up and keep it inside. Now I’m a gibbering wreck. I’m also really tired. Would you mind if I went for a lie-down?’

  ‘I should think so; after everything you’ve been through, no wonder you’re an emotional wreck. Yes, I was going to suggest you have a rest; even if you can’t sleep, it might make you feel a bit better. How are you feeling physically? Lily phoned my doctor to come and give me a once-over; I’d like him to give you a check-up because I know that you didn’t get discharged from the hospital this morning. The staff nurse I spoke to when I phoned told me that you practically ripped the drip out of your arm and left in a hospital gown and bare feet.’

  Tom arched one eyebrow at her but he grinned at the same time.

  ‘Ah, you heard about that. Do you know the security guard thought I’d escaped from the Mental Health unit and was going to take me back? I did look a state but I think I’m okay.’

  ‘My son is incredibly lucky to have found you, Annie; you are both made of the same tough stuff. Please put an old man’s mind at rest and let the doctor take a look. Then I won’t mind so much when you go rushing off to rescue Will.’

  She laughed and stood up, holding out a hand to pull Tom up. ‘If it makes you feel any better, I will.’

  ‘Good, now go and have a rest or a bath or whatever it is you need. Lily has plenty of clothes that would keep a women’s refuge going for a year.’

  ‘I’m good, thanks; I left some stuff here the last time we stayed.’

  She waited for Tom to go back inside and then she followed and shut the door behind her. She went upstairs to the guest room that was Will’s old bedroom and he went off to find Lily.

  Inside the bedroom that Annie and Will used whenever they stayed over, Annie slipped off her shoes and threw herself onto the bed, sinking down into the mattress. She couldn’t possibly sleep but she was so tired and her chest ached, but she didn’t know if that was because of the operation to repair her punctured lung or whether it was aching for Will. Her head was hurting and her eyes wanted to shut tight and block out the nightmare.

  Rolling over onto Will’s side of the bed, she curled up into a ball and began to concentrate really hard to see if there were any of her spirit friends around that could maybe help and give her a clue to where he was being held. She emptied her mind and tried to think of nothing, which was hard because an image of Will was always there, hovering in the corner of her mind. She began to breathe deeply, concentrating on asking for help. Occasionally, Sophie, the nine-year-old girl she’d helped escape from the Shadow Man last year, would come and say hello but not very often; now she was with her mum she wasn’t earthbound like before. Annie tried to summon her; for a nine-year-old girl she was very wise and knew a lot about everything, but she couldn’t quite reach her, it was if something was blocking Annie from connecting with anyone. She felt herself drifting off, unable to stop herself, and she let her whole body relax.

  The sound of fingernails being scraped along a glass windowpane made Annie open her eyes. She was unsure where she was but it was dark and very cold. The room was pitch-black and the noise made her shudder. The bed felt hard; there was no way this was the same mattress that she had first lain down on. There was a blanket wrapped around her but it was rough and not the goosedown duvet she had pulled over her not that long ago.

  Annie’s heart began to race. She knew it was a dream but all the same she was scared. Sitting up, she waited whilst her eyes adjusted to the gloom. Movement in one corner made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. There was someone in the room with her and she had no idea who it was or where they were. Annie squinted, focusing on the corner, and watched, terrified, as her eyes fixed on the outline of the woman she’d seen standing in the middle of the road before her accident. Her head was bent forward so her long dark hair hung over her face. The woman in the corner was dressed in a long white cotton gown and had bare feet. The gown was tattered and torn as if she’d been running through brambles and when Annie looked at her feet she could see the scratches and bruises that covered them.

  ‘Who are you?’

  The woman didn’t answer but lifted her head up until the hair fell away and Annie could see the white face and crystal-blue eyes. She stared straight at Annie, not breaking her gaze, and Annie, for the first time in months, felt threatened, that her life might be in danger. Whoever she was, didn’t want to pass a message on to her family because, judging by what she was wearing, her family had probably all died at least two hundred years ago. Annie didn’t break her gaze, too afraid to be the one to look away first. She had to let her know that she wasn’t going to be intimidated by her, even if her insides had all turned to slush.

  ‘I asked you who you are and what do you want.’

  The woman grinned at her. Her skin, stretching over her teeth, looked as if it was about to crack open and fester.

  ‘Who am I? I should be asking you the same question. What right have you to come in and wreck my house? It doesn’t belong to you; it belongs to me, just like it always has.’

  ‘Your house? I hate to disappoint you, but it was your house a long time ago. It isn’t any more and it’s time that you left it and moved into the light. Why are you still here and what are you doing trying to scare everyone who goes inside?’

  ‘Let me tell you, there is no light for me. They would not have me in the light; that is not the place for women who like to kill for pleasure. Are you worried about your man? Do you know where they have taken him?’

  Annie shook her hea
d.

  ‘No, I thought not.’

  ‘Please, if you know where he is, tell me.’

  ‘Why should I tell you anything? I quite like your man, though; he reminds me of my Joss, although I haven’t seen him for a very long time.’

  From somewhere came the sound of knocking on the door. Annie turned to see where the door was and the woman disappeared. Annie felt as if she were falling through the blackness towards the knocking and landed onto the soft mattress that she’d first lain down on. The knocking on the bedroom door got louder and she heard Lily calling her name. She had to close her eyes; the room was so light compared to the one she’d just been in.

  ‘Come in.’

  Lily ushered the doctor in, who smiled at her. ‘Officer Graham, I’m glad to see you. I heard about your accident and I’ve been worried. It’s nice to see you all in one piece.’

  Annie smiled back. ‘It’s nice to see you, Phil. It makes a change to be needing your assistance instead of meeting over some poor unfortunate dead body.’

  ‘It does indeed; funny how we’re always on shift when the good people of Windermere decide to die. Joking aside, how are you? Lily has told me everything and how you discharged yourself from the hospital.’

  Lily grimaced and mouthed ‘sorry’ to Annie then turned to leave the room, closing the door behind her.

  ‘I have to say I’ve been better. I’m worried sick about Will and I’m tired and my head and chest are hurting but I’m alive so I shouldn’t be complaining.’

  He walked over towards her. ‘Yes, amazingly, you are alive but if you don’t start looking after yourself a lot better I have no idea how long for.’ He arched his eyes at her and pulled a chair from the corner of the room towards her, and then he sat down.

  ‘I want to check your blood pressure, your head and some other bits and pieces; is that okay?’

  Annie nodded, knowing fine well it had to be okay because she didn’t want to collapse before they’d found Will. She answered all of the doctor’s questions, nodding and holding out her arm for him to wrap the bright blue cuff around. Twenty minutes later, after she had answered his questions and followed his fingers with her eyes, he declared her alive but told her to take it easy. No work for a while and plenty of rest, she had agreed with him. She wouldn’t be going to work until they had found Will and when they did she didn’t know if she wanted to go back then. She was fed up with all the drama and needed a break; she stood up to see him out.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll see myself out; you seriously need some sleep. You should really still be in the hospital. Look after yourself, Annie, because you only get one shot at this whole life thing and if you don’t take care of you, who will?’

  He closed the door behind him. Annie picked up the phone from the bedside table and rang Jake.

  ‘Hey, tell me something good. Have you found Will? Am I hallucinating this whole shitty mess?’

  ‘Ah, I wish that you were… Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but no, we’ve only just got back to the station. There was an accident on the A590. The good news is Kav is on a mission and the way he’s going, fingers crossed, Will be home by teatime. He’s been on the phone to the Serious Crime squad up at headquarters and two of them are on their way down as we speak to come and see Tom and Lily. Apparently they are shit-hot.’

  ‘Really, that’s great. Please tell Kav thanks. I don’t know what to do with myself, Jake. I feel like a spare part and I want to be involved. I hate it, not being able to help.’

  ‘I know you do, flower, but trust me, there’s nothing you can do. If we find anything, you know I’ll be in touch. What did the men in black say?’

  ‘Not a lot; I wish you were still here.’

  ‘Do you want me to come back? Because I will. I would give anything to be in that house. It’s amazing; they must be minted and I mean seriously minted.’

  Annie chuckled. ‘Yes, I suppose they are; I’ve never really thought about it since I got over my initial shock, but I told you, didn’t I, that I met them through work and didn’t even know they were related to Will.’

  ‘Yes, you did, and he never told anyone either. You’re both a pair of dark horses. I’ll ring you as soon as we know something. Bye.’

  ‘Bye.’

  She put the phone down and threw herself back onto the bed. This time she didn’t close her eyes, too afraid of the woman from her dreams. What did she want with her? She’d already almost killed her once; it had been the vision of her in the road which had made her swerve and lose control of her car. Annie didn’t want to admit to herself that she found the dead woman mildly disturbing; hell, that wasn’t the right word. What she found her was terrifying but she couldn’t admit that out loud; she didn’t want her to know. As if she had the time to be haunted by a scary woman from a few hundred years ago when Will had been kidnapped. She tried to remember if there was a time when her life had been simple but couldn’t, unless she counted being the chubby kid in junior school with the frizzy black curly hair, and that had been a nightmare because of one boy who’d made her life a misery until one day she’d really had enough and punched him so hard in the face he’d got a black eye. Her life was turning into a living nightmare and she was fed up with it all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Henry opened his eyes and for a moment had no idea where he was, then he heard a seagull’s loud cry and remembered. Although his room at the secure hospital was much bigger than the bedroom he was in now he was happy enough to be lying in a cramped single bed with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore to lull him to sleep. There had been no coverage in the local paper the last two nights except for a small side column about his escape. The police obviously didn’t think he was stupid enough to return back home; instead they would be thinking he was heading for somewhere he could remain anonymous, maybe London or Birmingham, one of the big cities. They probably didn’t want to panic the locals either, but he knew the police here would be on high alert and he would be on the top of their wanted list. They would all be on the lookout for him so it was highly unlikely he’d be leaving this caravan for a few weeks yet to venture anywhere. Never underestimate your opponent, and both Annie Graham and Will Ashworth had been truly worthy opponents.

  He took out the cheap pay-as-you-go phone that Megan had given to him yesterday and typed in 101. A voice on the other end informed him he was being transferred to Cumbria Police. His palms began to sweat and his pulse started to race. Finally, a voice on the other end asked if they could help.

  ‘Yes, I think so. I need to speak to PC Annie Graham; could you tell me when she’s next on duty?’

  There was a slight pause as the call handler began typing on the other end. ‘I’m sorry, according to the duties she’s not in work for the moment; she’s off on the sick. Would you like to speak to another member of the community team?’

  ‘No, it’s okay, thank you. It’s something that only she can deal with.’

  Henry ended the call and grinned to himself, hoping that whatever was wrong with her wasn’t serious. He could hear Megan moving around in the kitchen and smiled; she was sweet and a very good cook. She had promised to look after him and she was doing exactly that. The smell of frying bacon hit his nostrils and his stomach rumbled. He’d had no appetite in the hospital but here everything tasted so good.

  He got out of the bed and caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. He had lost weight but he had no muscles and looked like your average middle-aged man. His scalp and face were a mess but Megan had brought some special oil with her that was supposed to help heal scars and she tenderly rubbed it into them, never flinching, at least three times a day. Henry had never been vain but it did upset him to see one side of his face so puckered up. Megan had informed him that it made him look like a hardened criminal and he’d laughed at her. He certainly didn’t look like a male model. He pulled a T-shirt on and a pair of jogging pants. They were extremely comfy. That was another thing to thank her for, his introdu
ction to modern day sports clothing.

  Opening his bedroom door, he stood and watched her moving around. She was very graceful. She was only wearing a strappy vest top and the shortest of shorts and he admired the view very much from behind.

  She turned around and squealed. ‘Jesus, Henry, you gave me a fright.’

  ‘Sorry, Megan, I didn’t mean to.’

  ‘I’ll forgive you this time.’

  Then she turned around, picked up the frying pan and began arranging the bacon onto the slices of freshly sliced buttered bread. She handed him a plate and a mug of coffee.

  ‘So what do you want to do today? Should we go for a little drive around, or a walk so you can get some fresh air?’

  He pointed to his mouth as he chewed and she smiled.

  ‘Sorry.’

  Henry swallowed the mouthful of his sandwich. ‘Don’t be daft, it’s fine. You know you don’t need to be so nice to me all the time. I can take a bit of shit; God knows I put up with my mother’s griping for long enough.’

  ‘I wouldn’t dream of griping at you; I want you to be happy, not miserable. I don’t want you regretting escaping with me; we may not have much at the moment but we have our freedom and each other.’

  Henry paused. ‘Megan, if you’re worried that I’ll kill you when you start to get on my nerves then please don’t. I need you more than you could ever know; how would I survive if you weren’t around? I’m eternally grateful to you for everything and one day I will repay your kindness.’

  Henry wasn’t sure but he thought he saw her whole body relax as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. He put his plate down and walked over to hug her, pulling her close. His fingers brushed her long fringe, tucking it behind her ear.

  ‘You, Megan, are the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I promise you I won’t forget that. If there ever comes a time where I think that I may be losing control you must leave, take the car and drive as far away as possible from here. Do you understand?’