Her gaze wandered over the aged stones that made up the cottage walls. Judging by their appearance, the cottage was old. She would guess at least three hundred years, probably more. The leafy green ivy that climbed the trellis fence on either side of the front door, made the place feel welcoming and quaint. It was likely the only warm welcome she would receive.
Callie smoothed down her coat and licked her dry lips. She resisted the urge to check her appearance for the umpteenth time in the small mirror she carried in her bag. It was stupid. Sandra wouldn’t care. She was more likely to burst a blood vessel because her daughter had shown up unannounced than be concerned about Callie’s appearance. Besides, there was only so much she could do to cover all her bruises.
Callie gathered her tattered courage around her. There was no use putting off the inevitable. She slowly made her way down the paved pathway that led to the front door. The sound of her heels tapping on the paving stones filled her ears. The image of her walking towards a firing squad flashed through her mind. She pushed it away. Nothing would deter her from her mission.
Callie pressed the small round button at the side of the front door. The sound of a loud chime rang out inside. She clutched at her bag handle as if it could keep her from falling to pieces. Footsteps approached from inside. She heard a chain being pulled back and a lock turned. Finally, the door swung open. Callie’s heart launched itself into her throat, and just as quickly hit her stomach. It wasn’t Sandra. Disappointment surged through her and tears pricked her eyes.
A young girl stared out at her. She ran her gaze over Callie. Hostile was the word that sprang to Callie’s mind when confronted with the barbed expression on the frowning face before her. The girl’s mouth thinned out.
“What do you want? You selling something?”
Callie cleared her throat. “No. I’m here to see Sandra. Is she in?”
The girl shook her head. Her eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. All traces of hostility faded away as if Callie had simply imagined them. It was replaced by a friendlier, if somewhat calculating countenance. Callie wondered if she ought to be worried.
“You’re Callie, right? I should have realised straight away, what with your red hair and all.”
Callie nodded. “That’s me.”
“I’m Fay, Jason’s sister.” She grinned cheekily. Warning bells rang in Callie’s head. This young lady was a world of trouble, if she wasn’t mistaken. “Man, I owe you big time for getting rid of Lucinda for me. What a result! Come on in.”
She didn’t wait for Callie to reply. She simply left the door open and headed back into the cottage. Callie hesitated, then followed. There was no hallway to speak off. The stairs faced the front door and the living room was simply there. It was a snug, cosy space with a fireplace, sofa and chairs, a small coffee table, and a rug. Somehow, it seemed too warm and homey for her prickly mother. She’d expected cold, modern lines and cacti everywhere.
Fay stomped to the sofa and sank down. She pointed a remote at the TV set and switched it off. She casually threw the remote beside her and regarded Callie with a frown.
“Are you going to stand there all night? Might get a bit uncomfortable.” Fay stuck a piece of chocolate in her mouth from a wrapper that lay open on the arm of her seat. She shoved her feet on the wooden table in front of her and slouched down into the cushions surrounding her. “There’s plenty of places to park it. Choose one. They won’t bite you.”
Callie slipped her coat off and gingerly sat in a chair opposite the girl. “I didn’t realise Jason had any siblings. It’s nice to meet you, Fay.”
The girl snorted. “I doubt that. Most people can’t stand me.”
Callie stared at the girl in surprise. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
Fay shrugged. “It is, but I don’t really care. I can’t stand them either.”
Callie laughed, she simply couldn’t help it. Fay was refreshingly honest. “Not a people person then?”
“Hardly” Fay rolled her eyes. “If it wasn’t for Jason and my best mate, I think I’d become a hermit.”
“You sound like my best mate, Jade. She’s not really a people person either.” Callie’s eyes stung. “In fact, I think I’m the only person she actually likes in the whole world.”
The image of her friend’s beloved face rose in her mind’s eye. She missed Jade so much it actually hurt. How she wished she could talk things over with her flatmate, but she didn’t want to drag Jade into this. Her friend had more than enough on her own plate, without Callie adding to it.
“She sounds cool. You must miss her.” Fay popped another piece of chocolate into her mouth, her eyes never leaving Callie’s face.
“She is and I do.” Callie laughed shakily. “Is Sandra likely to be long?”
“No idea. She never tells me her plans.” Fay picked up her phone from the empty seat beside her. She stuck her lip between her teeth; a gold stud glinted in the light. Her fingers flew over the screen as she tapped out a text.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to wait here?” Callie sat back in the easy chair and draped her coat over the plump arm. She stuck her bag on the floor by her feet.
Fay glanced up from her phone, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Why ask? You were counting on a surprise attack, weren’t you?”
Callie laughed and held her hands up. This girl was shrewd! “Okay, you rumbled me. I haven’t had much luck with Sandra so far. I thought if I just turned up, she might have more trouble fobbing me off.”
“Good plan. Lucky for you I’m home and she isn’t. This way, you can really stick it to her. She can’t exactly shut the door in your face, if you’re already in the house.” Fay resumed her texting.
“Thanks. I appreciate the help.” Callie regarded the girl, her curiosity pricked. “I have to ask, why are you helping me? You don’t even know me.”
Fay shrugged. “Lots of reasons. First, you got shot of Lucinda the witch. I owe you for freeing my brother from her black web, if nothing else. Second, I can’t resist winding up Sandra. She gets on my nerves.” Her phone dropped to her knee, her face suddenly serious. She hesitated a moment before continuing. “Third, I know how it feels to be abandoned. I would want answers to questions too, if I didn’t already know what had happened.”
Callie sucked in a deep breath. Sadness squeezed her chest as she gazed into the young girl’s tortured eyes. “Who abandoned you? If you don’t mind me asking. I assumed your family were all around here. I know your dad is with Sandra, but doesn’t your mother live nearby?”
Fay’s face hardened and her mouth hung down at the corners. She fiddled with the phone in her lap. “No. Mum walked out when she and Dad split up. She’s living in France now. She has a whole new life, which she’s made clear doesn’t include me. Believe me, I know how it feels to have a mother that couldn’t care less if you were dead.” Her intense stare bored through Callie, as if she could see right into Callie’s soul and understood her pain. “Nobody can know how much that hurts, unless they’ve gone through it.”
Callie held herself in her seat. She longed to comfort Fay, but she knew the girl wouldn’t welcome it. She had hardened herself behind a shell of defences and Callie didn’t want to puncture that without invitation. Fay reminded her of Jade. Callie knew Jade always came out fighting if people attempted to breach her walls without her consent.
“Thank you,” she said instead. “You are the first person that has truly understood how I feel, and why I had to come here for the answers that I need. It makes a nice change. Kind of feels good to meet a kindred spirit.”
Fay wiped her nose with the sleeve of her jumper. Her eyes shone suspiciously bright. “You want to see Sandra’s family album? I know where she hides it. Maybe it will help you to see some of your relatives.”
Callie knew a diversion when she saw one. Fay obviously wanted to change the subject. She couldn’t blame her and Fay had chosen her subject matter well. Callie curled her fingers into her palms. Her hands practi
cally itched to get hold of that album. She longed to gaze upon her roots. The desire was so intense that she ached inside, but she couldn’t land Fay in hot water because of it.
“I’d better not. I wouldn’t want to get you into trouble,” she told the girl hesitantly.
“I don’t care. Sandra can scream and yell all she likes. She’s not my mother.” Fay jumped out of her seat. “Wait here. I won’t be a minute.”
She thumped up the stairs. Callie could hear her loud footsteps as Fay entered a room above her head. The girl sounded like she was going to come through the ceiling. Callie smiled. She couldn’t help but like Fay immensely. It was refreshing to be with someone that spoke her mind, without all the games and secrecy. Fay understood Callie and it warmed her heart. Shortly, the sound of Fay exiting the room met Callie’s ears.
“Here it is,” Fay called out as she came back down to the living room. She held up a heavy, leather bound book in her small hands.
“I can’t tell you what this means to me.” Callie held her excitement in check. She carefully took the book from Fay, her heart galloping in her chest. “Would you be able to provide identities to anyone in here?”
“Not really. I recognise a couple of faces, like Mitch of course. Sandra never allows anyone to see her album. Don’t know why.” Fay pulled a face.
“She doesn’t know you’ve peeked in it then?” Callie laughed. Fay was outrageous.
“Are you kidding? She’d pitch a fit!” Fay covered her mouth with her hands, but her giggles spilled out from between her fingers. “I found it when I had to clean the bedroom as punishment for not doing my homework. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction to flick through it, just because I knew Sandra would hate it if she knew.”
Callie opened the front cover. She squelched down the part of her that insisted what she was doing was wrong. After all, this was her family too. She had a right to at least see their faces. If she left it to Sandra, she’d never have this chance.
Her gaze feasted on the photos. She drank in each image and tried to commit everything to memory. Callie carefully flipped the pages, recognising her grandmother in the younger version that graced many pictures. Her eyes filled with tears at the picture of her grandparents wedding day. It was the first time she’d ever laid eyes on her grandfather.
She sniffled, realising that she didn’t even know if her grandfather was still alive. Nobody had had the decency to tell her. The tall, good looking gentleman appeared to have a lighter disposition than his wife. Callie yearned to know him. She traced his face with her fingertips. Wouldn’t he want to see her too? From the photos, she imagined her grandfather was more like Uncle Max. Surely he would want to meet her as much as her uncle had!
Callie smiled as photos of her mother and Uncle Max as children began to appear on the pages. The years of history in each scene filled some of the empty spots inside her. There were many faces she didn’t know, but it hardly mattered in those precious moments. Tears fell from her eyes, but she didn’t take the time to swipe them away.
She turned the page once more and gasped. All the air left her lungs in one whoosh and for several moments, she couldn’t suck any back into her body. She stared in shock at the small face staring up at her. Her whole body went numb.
“Is something wrong?”
Fay’s concerned voice sounded like it was coming at her from a long tunnel. Callie could hear the girl’s worry, but she couldn’t answer her. A loud ringing filled her head and for a moment, she thought she might faint.
Right in front of her eyes was a face she never thought she’d see outside of her visions. Her little guardian girl smiled up at her from the photograph. Seated beside her was a much younger Sandra. They both looked so happy in each other’s company. Callie touched the child’s face with a shaking hand. What did this mean?
“What are you doing here?” Sandra’s shriek broke the spell. Callie’s head snapped up, and her gaze locked with her mother’s. She’d been so absorbed in the photos, she hadn’t heard Sandra’s key in the door.
Sandra threw her bag on the floor and glared at Callie before she could answer. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to come round here! Do you have any idea where I’ve been the last three hours because of you?”
Callie shook her head, struck dumb by the outpouring of anger from Sandra.
“Then let me tell you. The police station! With my mother no less! We were questioned like common criminals. All because you misinformed them that we meant you harm! How dare you!” Sandra raged.
“What did you expect me to do?” Callie yelled back. “I’ve been through hell because someone has it in for me. I told the police anyone I could think of that may be behind the problems I’ve been having. Any ideas mother?”
“Well, I’ve nothing to do with it and neither has my mother,” Sandra snarled.
Callie gripped the album in her hands tightly. Her mother caught the movement and she finally noticed it. Her face drained of blood so quickly, Callie was sure her mother would be the one to faint.
“What are you doing with that? How did you get it?” Sandra’s voice shook violently. Callie had to strain to understand her.
“I gave it to her.” Fay stuck her small chin out, one hand planted on her hip. Defiance poured out of her tiny frame, but Callie could see the slight trembling in Fay’s limbs.
Sandra’s eyes narrowed. “You had no right to riffle through my things! You just wait until your father hears about this. Grounding will be too good for you! Devious little brat. Always stirring up trouble. You can’t help yourself, can you?” She sneered down her nose at Fay. “No wonder your mother left you. Probably couldn’t wait to get away from you.”
Callie half expected flames to leap out of Sandra’s head. She’d never seen anyone so angry before. Fay went deathly white, her small hands curled into fists at her side. Callie’s heart broke for the girl. There had been no need for Sandra to hit out with something so personal and painful. She couldn’t stand by and leave Fay to take the brunt of her mother’s wrath.
Callie shot to her feet, her hands clasped around the album. “You leave her alone. I talked her into it. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”
“Oh I am! Trust me!” her mother snapped. She advanced on Callie and held out her hands. “You had no right! Give it to me, now!”
“I will, but first I want to know something.” Callie didn’t know where she mustered the courage from, but the burning need to know propelled her on. She propped the book up on her forearm, ignoring the ache her injury caused her. “Who is this?”
She pointed to the child she’d come to know so well. She stared at Sandra for her reaction. Her mother’s complexion became instantly grey, her features drawn. Sandra’s face became guarded, almost as if shutters slapped down around her. Callie wondered why her mother was suddenly so defensive.
“Why would you ask me that? Of all the people in that book to ask me about, why her?” Sandra flung her hand in the picture’s general direction.
Callie couldn’t help but notice her mother refused to make eye contact with her. Sandra was obviously deeply upset. What was it about the child that had caused such a reaction in her mother? What was she hiding?
“Well?” her mother demanded.
Callie bit her lip and struggled for an answer. How could she explain seeing the child all this time? It would sound crazy to anyone else.
“Because when I looked at her, I felt a connection. I can’t explain it, but I have to know who she is.” It was as close to the truth as she dared to get. She just hoped her mother bought it. “I have to know where she is too. I’d like to meet her.”
“Impossible,” her mother breathed out. “Why are you poking your nose into things that are none of your business?”
“It is my business. Like it or not, I’m your daughter and these are my family too. I have the right to know.” Callie’s voice rose. Her mother wasn’t the only one who could be stubborn.
Sand
ra kept her eyes glued to the ground, her hands twisting in front of her. Silence reigned for several moments. Callie refused to give up. She stepped closer to her mother and shoved the picture into Sandra’s field of vision.
“Who is she and where can I find her? I have to meet her.” Her voice sounded shrill, even to her own ears.
Finally, Sandra met her gaze. Callie stepped back, shocked. Her mother’s eyes were so devoid of emotion, it was as though nobody stared back at her at all. Sandra drew herself up to her full height and her face hardened.
“The picture is of Sophie, my younger sister. You can’t meet her…….ever.” Sandra’s brittle words hung in the air like harbingers of doom.
“Why not?” But Callie knew, even before her mother said the words. She’d always known. She just hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself.
“Because Sophie is dead.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jason parked his van at the side of the road and applied his hand break. He picked up his phone from the cubby hole by his steering wheel and unclipped his seat belt. Whatever his sister wanted, he hoped it was important. She’d texted him some strange message that barely made sense. He couldn’t figure out if it was because he didn’t understand the teen text speak or if she was being purposely obscure.
Jason climbed out of the van and locked the door. He’d had to park a few feet from his father’s house, which was normal for this time of day. The street was always clogged with parked cars due to the close proximity of the neighbourhood to the town.
Jason ambled towards his family’s residence, wondering again why Fay had texted him to come over. He hated to think what kind of trouble his sister had landed herself in this time. He’d just turned onto the pathway leading to his father’s house, when the front door burst open. Fay tumbled out, her face full of panic.
“Jason! Thank goodness you’re finally here. Come quick!” She turned without further explanation and headed back inside.
Shadow of Suspicion (Haunted by the Past) Page 15