The Flood

by Rachel Bennett

  But then the package. The questions it raised. Where had the money come from? What was it for? Why was it hidden? And Daniela had started wondering if Auryn’s problems were greater than she’d realised. What if, for example, alcoholism had twisted into drug abuse?

  For the first time in years, Daniela wished she could talk to her mother. She would’ve—

  Daniela crushed the thought. She couldn’t think about her mother just then.

  When Daniela was younger, she’d never questioned why their mother left. All too well Daniela understood the need to escape. She’d inherited their mother’s dark hair, narrow shoulders, and constant need to know where the exits were. It was only years later that Daniela started to ask the questions she should’ve asked a long time ago. To wonder if maybe Auryn had been right, and there was more to the story than she’d known.

  Daniela glanced up at the clock on the wall. Four o’clock. In another half hour or so it would be dark enough for her to make a move. She intended to head towards Hackett but then double back through the woods to the old house. The cover of night would hopefully hide her movements.

  She felt a momentary guilt at leaving Stephanie to deal with Auryn’s death alone. But Daniela’s natural instinct, whenever anything went wrong, was to run. Put some distance between herself and whatever was broken – usually because she’d done the breaking, but also because she couldn’t cope. Other people dealt. Dani Cain ran.

  ‘I thought maybe you’d skipped town already,’ Stephanie said from behind her.

  Daniela hadn’t heard her approach. It was unnerving that Stephanie had appeared at that exact moment, as if summoned by Daniela thinking about her.

  Daniela kept her gaze on the fire and pretended she hadn’t been about to pick up her boots. ‘Chris told you I was here, right?’

  ‘Margaret McKearney. Phoned me to say you were upset and wanted to know why.’ Stephanie pulled a chair closer to the fire and sat down. ‘Chris is the nearest thing to a soul of discretion around here – you should know that by now. He wouldn’t call anyone unless his own feet were on fire.’

  Daniela rubbed the side of her face. ‘What d’you want, Steph?’

  ‘Honestly? I want to be somewhere else right now. On a beach, maybe. There was this beach in Malta I found on holiday once. I’m sure every local there knows about it, but on that particular day, I was alone for seven hours. Waves and stones and me, that was it.’

  Daniela raised her head and looked at her sister properly. Had she ever heard Stephanie speak like that? ‘You went abroad? On your own?’

  ‘You reckon I’ve stayed in Stonecrop for the whole seven years you’ve been away? No time off, no recreation, nothing but my job?’

  Daniela laughed under her breath. ‘Yeah, pretty much. I figured you maybe plugged yourself into a wall socket to recharge every now and again, but that’s it.’

  Stephanie gazed out of the window at the gathering dark. Daniela sneaked glances at her. For the first time Daniela could remember, Stephanie looked exhausted. Her eyes were red. Daniela felt a pang of sympathy.

  ‘Can we go over what you saw at the house?’ Stephanie asked.

  ‘See what I mean?’ Daniela smiled. ‘Even now, you can’t shut down and be off duty.’

  ‘You’ll have to make a statement sooner or later. It’ll help if you talk things out with me beforehand.’ Stephanie leaned forwards, hands held out to the warmth of the flames. ‘So, what made you go to the house?’

  ‘I wanted to see it. Seven years is a long time and … a lot’s changed since then. Plus, honestly, I didn’t entirely believe what you’d said about the old place.’ She laughed quietly and shook her head. ‘I thought maybe it’d been sold and you were just feeding me a line to get rid of me.’

  ‘Why did you go inside?’

  Daniela stretched her feet and wiggled her toes. Her socks had dried at last, although they’d gone a little crunchy from the muddy water. Lovely.

  ‘Here’s a better question,’ Daniela said. ‘Why haven’t you been in there? You told me Auryn left town days ago – which we now know is a lie – and at some point in the last two days the place flooded. Why the hell weren’t you keeping a better eye on it?’

  ‘Auryn did leave. I drove her to the train station myself.’

  So why did she come back?

  ‘Put yourself in my shoes,’ Daniela said. ‘You tromp all the way back home and find your house is flooded because apparently your big sister is too busy sandbagging the rest of the town to keep tabs on her own family. What do you do? Do you, perhaps, go into said house to find out exactly how much damage has been done already?’

  Stephanie rubbed her hands, one then the other. Her expression had closed up again. ‘I don’t want you to leave Stonecrop until you’ve given a statement,’ she said.

  Daniela made an indelicate noise. ‘I’m just waiting till my boots are dry then I’m gone.’

  ‘Really? How’re you planning to get to Hackett?’

  ‘Same way I got in. Shanks’s pony.’

  ‘In the dark, with all the roads shut?’

  Daniela resisted the urge to roll her eyes. ‘Shut to any vehicle smaller than a hovercraft, sure. They can’t close the roads to people on foot.’

  ‘What’s the hurry?’

  Daniela looked away. ‘Even if I wanted to stay, I can’t. I don’t have anywhere to sleep tonight.’

  ‘Chris has got rooms to hire, right here in the building.’

  ‘That’s nice and all, but I can’t.’

  ‘Why not?’

  Daniela sighed. ‘You want me to come right out and say it, don’t you? I can’t afford it. All right? I have precisely enough money to get me back to Birmingham, with maybe enough left over for a sandwich if I’m lucky. I wasn’t kidding when I said I had no money. I literally have no money.’

  Stephanie nodded as if confirming something to herself. ‘I’ve already cleared it with Chris. He’ll put the room on my tab.’

  ‘You—?’ A tightness gathered itself in Daniela’s chest. Like a door swinging shut on her freedom. ‘You’ve already spoken to him?’

  Stephanie gave her a weary smile. ‘Like I say, I don’t want you leaving until I’ve heard the full story.’

  ‘I told you everything,’ Daniela said. Annoyance spiked inside her. ‘I can go through it again, if it’ll help, but seriously there’s nothing more than what I told you.’

  ‘No? What about the money?’

  Daniela blinked away her surprise. How had Stephanie known about the package in the hidey-hole? But it figured, really. Auryn was good at keeping secrets, but Stephanie was better at finding them out.

  ‘What money?’ Daniela asked.

  ‘I’m not in the mood, Dani. I know you searched the house. You found the money and you took it. How much do you want to bet that your fingerprints are all over the house?’

  Daniela hesitated. Was Stephanie fishing for info? Throwing out accusations and hoping she’d bite? Even if Daniela’s fingerprints were found, who’s to say they weren’t from seven years ago? How long did prints stay on a surface anyway?

  She’d been silent too long. ‘Listen,’ Stephanie said, ‘this is an awful situation. Give me the truth, okay?’

  ‘I don’t know anything about any money,’ Daniela said. It rang false even to her.

  Stephanie almost laughed. ‘I thought you would’ve learned to lie by now. Don’t they teach that in prison anymore?’

  Daniela pushed back in her chair. Her fists were clenched in her lap. ‘I don’t know about any money,’ she repeated.

  ‘Are you sure? A large amount of cash was hidden in the house. It’s not there now.’

  Be careful. Daniela forced herself to relax; to unfurl her hands. ‘Steph, I know this is how you cope when something horrendous happens. You throw yourself into your work. But right now, you shouldn’t be the one who deals with this. There’re other officers who can do it.’

  ‘Not right now there’s not.’

/>   ‘C’mon. You must be able to hand it off to whoever—’

  ‘There’s no one else. The road bridge to Hackett is underwater. And part of the cliff face above the Howstrake road came down so vehicles can’t get through that way either. No one can get here.’

  Daniela stared at her as that sank in. ‘What about … what about Auryn?’ Insomuch as she’d thought about it all, she’d assumed Auryn’s body would’ve been whisked away to the facilities in Hackett already.

  Stephanie had gone back to watching the flames. ‘They were hoping to bring the helicopter in but it’s grounded because of the wind. Chances are it won’t get here till tomorrow. And that’s if the weather doesn’t get any worse.’

  ‘So … where’s Auryn?’

  ‘Still at the house.’

  ‘Jesus, Steph. You left her—?’

  ‘We moved her out of the water.’ Stephanie ran a tired hand over her face. ‘Me and Leo carried her upstairs to her room.’ The crack in her voice revealed how traumatising it’d been. Daniela felt her eyes start to sting again. ‘We shouldn’t even have done that. Should’ve left her where she was.’

  Daniela’s mind recoiled from the idea. ‘What the hell for?’

  ‘SOCO are going to ask why we moved her.’

  ‘So, tell them. Seriously, what does it matter? It’s not like she was—’

  Daniela stopped in mid-sentence, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

  ‘Steph?’ she asked, her voice a lot quieter. ‘What happened to Auryn?’

  Stephanie studied her with those red-rimmed eyes. ‘It’s kind of telling that you’ve only just thought to ask that.’

  Daniela didn’t know how to answer.

  Her sister leaned forwards so there was very little distance between them. ‘She was murdered, Dani. Someone stuck a knife between her ribs.’

  It was like she’d sucked the air out of the room. Daniela tried to take a breath and got nothing but the stale taste of ash from the fire. And yet it was like she’d known already. She’d known, as soon as she’d found the package, that something wasn’t right in Auryn’s world.

  But it wasn’t drugs, or drink, or neglect. Someone had killed Auryn.

  Daniela felt the room wobble. She put her hands on her knees to steady herself.

  The worst thing, the absolute worst thing, was the way Stephanie was watching her. Watching to see her reaction. Daniela knew what her sister was thinking. It made her stomach knot.

  ‘It wasn’t me,’ Daniela said. It was the wrong thing to say.

  Stephanie let out a slow, controlled breath. Anyone who didn’t know her would’ve missed the tight anger that hid behind her mask-like expression. She got to her feet, a little too quick.

  ‘Have a think about what else you want to tell me,’ Stephanie suggested. ‘Your room is upstairs, at the end of the hall. I’m staying in the one right next door. In case you’re considering sneaking off during the night.’

  As Stephanie strode away, Daniela felt her chest constrict again. Trapped.

  12

  June 2010

  Daniela awoke early and slipped her trainers on. In this between-time, before the first survivors rolled out of bed, there were a few quiet noises – their father shifting in his sleep, the soft chatter of birds outside – but it was like a blanket had been pulled across the house, kept it sealed it in for the night, with only the swoosh of the windswept trees for company. There were no streetlights along the road to the old house, and therefore no light until dawn, and the attic bedroom windows faced away from the faint glow of Stonecrop.

  On the few occasions when Daniela had spent the night at Franklyn’s flat in Birmingham, it’d been unnerving to sleep with traffic noise and streetlights. How could anyone cope? The constant movement, constant sound, as if even in the depths of night the streets were alive. It was scary and exhilarating in equal parts. In contrast, Stonecrop felt like it died every night and was resurrected at dawn.

  That Sunday was a dull, damp day, the barely risen sun skulking behind thick clouds. Daniela pulled on a fleecy jumper as well as her leather jacket before venturing outside. She was tired and fuzzy-headed from the night before. She’d stayed up later and drunk more than intended, although she hadn’t been the last to bed, by any means. Franklyn and Stephanie had stayed up into the early hours, and Daniela had drifted off to the faint murmur of their voices filtering up through the house.

  The compulsion to get outside as soon as possible had little to do with the need for fresh air. Daniela tried to make it a habit to be out of the way before her father woke up. There was no guarantee what temper he’d be in.

  Sometimes, when the mood took her, Daniela would catch the bus into Hackett and spend the day walking the streets or loitering in shops, looking at items she’d no interest in buying. Other times she stayed in Stonecrop. If Margaret McKearney was in the Shoppe, she’d let Daniela browse the magazines for a half hour, Margaret’s tolerant smile tempered by her keen gaze. Daniela already had a reputation – undeserved, she felt, since she’d only been caught twice trying to lift stuff.

  Today though, Daniela was restless. She didn’t want to cope with public transport or the thin crowds of Hackett. She also didn’t feel like making polite, strained conversation with Margaret McKearney, especially after Franklyn’s altercation with Henry yesterday. On days like this, Daniela realised with annoyance how pointless her life had become. It was like she was marking time for something more important. Weekdays were wasted, waiting on the clock and the weekend, and then weekends were squandered with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

  Daniela took out her phone and scrolled through the short, accumulated list of contacts. No one there could be classed as a close friend. She had no one she could text for a chat. Too many years had been spent staring inwards, turned away from people, until she’d lost the knack of interaction.

  She wondered whether Leo was awake yet.

  Leo had turned up late last night, tired and washed out from dealing with his family, and hung around awkwardly until going upstairs with Auryn to talk. He’d slept over, sharing the spare room with Auryn, the two of them jammed onto the futon, insisting it was comfortable.

  Daniela spent a few pleasant but pointless minutes kicking around the idea of returning home to talk to him. Hey, Leo, wanna ride the bus into Hackett and poke fun at the trendy kids outside HMV? I’ll buy you lunch. We can pretend like we’re best friends again.

  But she couldn’t think of any sensible way to talk to Leo without waking Auryn. That thought soured her mood. She needed to stop thinking about Leo all the goddamn time. What sort of person fixated on their sister’s boyfriend? Daniela knew it was wrong, she knew Leo was utterly uninterested in her, and – above all else – the last thing in the world she wanted to do was sabotage his relationship. Auryn had never been happier, for Chrissakes. But rational arguments had no effect on the reptile-centre of Daniela’s brain, which went into a spin-dive whenever Leo was near.

  Silently she cursed herself. Why couldn’t she be happy being friends with Leo? She remembered the good times they’d shared as kids – her and Auryn and Leo, the three of them charging through the woods together. Her and Leo urging Auryn up trees and down muddy hollows. The time they’d found a clearing so covered with autumn leaves they’d built a leaf-pile six feet high then dared each other to leap into it from a head-high tree branch.

  Why couldn’t she be content with that?

  She almost wished Leo hadn’t come over last night. But Daniela couldn’t blame him for not wanting to stay anywhere near Henry McKearney. Daniela’s hands shook every time she thought about the argument at the shop. Henry had been reaching for the knife. She knew it.

  With a grunt of irritation, Daniela veered from the path and set off cross-country through the woods. The ground was soft, even though there hadn’t been a heavy rain for a week, and she picked her way slowly along the easiest route, moving between the trees with an ease born of a lifetime scuffling abo
ut in those woods. She still had no direction in mind, but it felt better to be finding her own path.

  Inevitably though, she ran out of forest and ended up on the streets of Stonecrop. That summed up her life, didn’t it? She didn’t know what she was doing, so she did nothing but circle forever, unable to escape.

  She wandered aimlessly through the empty market square, which wasn’t so much a square as a broad junction with a mini-roundabout. A bakery wagon was delivering to the Corner Shoppe. The warm smell of new bread tugged at her stomach. There’d been nothing in the house for breakfast, so Daniela had gone without.

  As she followed the back street away from the square, walking with her head down, she became aware of someone watching her.

  Despite the village’s small size, there were always a few people on the streets during daylight hours, no matter the time. Dog-walkers mainly, heading for their morning stroll in the woods. But Daniela was immediately aware this wasn’t a random passer-by.

  The Cain Sense, Franklyn called it. She claimed everyone in the family had it – an awareness of their surroundings, a sensitivity for when something wasn’t right. Maybe nothing more than a heightened sense of self-preservation. Daniela was never wholly convinced it was real.

  Daniela turned, making the movement casual.

  Franklyn was leaning against the corner of a wall, her hand cupped around a cigarette. Her thin face tended to appear drawn and haggard, but today she was particularly pale, her eyes sunken. It looked like she might’ve fallen over if the wall hadn’t been supporting her.

  ‘Didn’t think anyone would be up this early,’ she said.

  Daniela came over. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Fine like the sunshine,’ Franklyn said with a lopsided smile. ‘What brings you out on this beautiful morning?’