Devil's Lair

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘It’s taken seriously? Even now?’

  ‘That’s why we’re the Weirdo Waldrons,’ Paisley said with a smirk.

  ‘And these symbols on the walls?’

  ‘Hexafoils are supposed to trap bad spirits by confusing them. They’re drawn to following the lines and the lines are continual, so they just go around and around forever and get trapped in there.’ At Callie’s sceptical look, Paisley shrugged. ‘They’ve been here forever. I don’t know who put them up.’

  Callie picked up another box and hefted it onto the table. ‘So if I told you I think I heard chanting one night?’

  Paisley smiled reassuringly. ‘I’d tell you it was music from boats echoing off the river. It comes up the hill distorted. Trust me, I grew up here.’

  ‘Right,’ she said, feeling better. She had enough to worry about without century-old singing ghosts. However … ‘Paisley, speaking of … strange things. There’s something else. Can we go over to the cottage?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Let me say goodbye to Dad.’

  They walked back to the cottage and Callie took Paisley into her room to show her the doll. ‘That,’ she said. ‘It just turned up.’

  Paisley’s face lit up. ‘You found her! Where was she?’

  ‘She found me, and honestly, I’m not comfortable about it. She was sitting on the lounge chair one night after the power went off.’

  ‘Really? She’s been missing forever. Did you ask Ned or Dad if they’d found her and dropped her over? Callie, are you all right?’

  ‘Yeah, sure. Except if they did, they snuck in through a locked door while I was sleeping.’

  ‘Oh, they’d both have keys,’ Paisley said dismissively as though it was no big deal.

  But it was. The idea Ned might have been in the cottage watching her sleep straight out gave Callie the creeps. And she intended on ramming that point home just as soon as Paisley got over her initial distraction of finding the doll. That reminded her. ‘Who was Ava?’

  Paisley slowly lowered the doll. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘Ava. I was wondering who she was.’

  Paisley put the doll back on the shelf and walked out to the kitchen to pour herself a generous glass of wine. She threw back most of it before speaking. ‘Ava was my little sister. She died.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry. You never mentioned her.’

  Paisley poured another large glass, took another deep drink. ‘Because it was my fault. It ruined our whole family.’

  Callie hoped Paisley would share, but her friend put a forced smile on her face and walked to the fireplace.

  ‘Let’s not worry about Ava or strange women or over-the-top brothers and let me tell you what I have planned for the next couple of days. I was hoping you might come with me.’

  CHAPTER

  20

  Callie woke up to the sun shining brightly through her window. She’d slept later than usual, which probably had something to do with the wine she’d had, mostly to stop Paisley demolishing it all herself. She supposed that could also be responsible for why she still felt tired. If there was anything reliable about Paisley, it was that she’d deal with stress by drinking herself into the ground. She yawned, blinked and caught an image in her mind of pretty china dolls twirling to music. Ava’s stone. A giant wind that roared and blew them all away, replaced them with darkness. Okay … too much wine. Too much talk of dead children and mysterious dolls.

  Paisley’s hushed voice floated in but Callie couldn’t make out the murmuring so she got up, draped her dressing gown around herself and walked out. Paisley was sitting at the table sipping coffee, phone to her ear and a scowl on her face. On the table in front of her was a music box.

  She must have made a noise, because Paisley looked around and smiled. After muttering something into the phone she ended the call.

  ‘Morning!’

  ‘Morning. What’s this?’ Callie moved to the table and picked up the music box. It was ornately designed, circular, decorated in purple and gold carousel images. A little gold plaque on the lid read Ava. When she opened it a familiar yet unnameable melody flowed as a ballerina twirled. ‘I’ve heard this before.’

  ‘It’s Mozart’s Lullaby. You haven’t seen this?’

  Callie studied it carefully. ‘I don’t think so … I know the tune, I just didn’t know what it was called. Why?’

  ‘I thought you must have left it here.’

  ‘Me?’ Then another thought had her heart skipping a beat. ‘Did it turn up during the night? Because that’s what happened with the doll.’

  Paisley raked her fingers through her hair. ‘I’ll ask Dad and Ned. But I don’t know how they would have found them.’

  ‘There is a big clean-up going on.’

  ‘Yeah but … Mum used to run a support group here for mentally ill outpatients and their families. While the meetings were on, the kids would play around—we’d just be left to entertain ourselves. One of the teenage boys used to enjoy teasing Ava. He was horrible, would break all her toys, used to think it was funny. So she took to hiding her most treasured possessions whenever there was a meeting coming up. She called them her secret spots. When she died, we couldn’t find them. We searched everywhere.’ She took the music box and set it carefully back on the table. ‘The doll and the music box were two of them.’

  ‘How old was she?’

  ‘Not quite five. God …’ Paisley drew in a deep breath and it trembled back out. ‘It’s like someone’s trying to punish me, to remind me.’

  ‘Paisley.’ Callie sat and smiled with sympathy. ‘What happened?’

  ‘She drowned. I was supposed to be watching her on one of those meeting nights and I fell asleep. She went down to find the other kids and ended up in the river.’

  ‘How old were you?’

  ‘Twelve.’

  ‘You were only a child yourself.’

  ‘I stopped being a child when I dragged her out of the river.’

  ‘You found her? Oh, Paisley, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.’

  Paisley shrugged. ‘It was a long time ago. It’s just seeing her things has brought it all back.’ She got up and walked into the kitchen. ‘Anyway, why don’t you have some breakfast? Then we’ll get moving.’

  They went into Hobart to look at a retirement community for Cliff, then Paisley shouted Callie lunch at a cute little café called Ginger Browns, just down the road from the facility. They ate focaccias and drank coffee, and with the normality of it all, some of the tension of the morning faded.

  ‘How’s the coffee?’ Paisley asked.

  ‘Good,’ Callie said. ‘So’s the food.’

  ‘You’re off in Callie land though. Why?’

  ‘I don’t want to bring it back up, but we haven’t actually figured out who’s leaving Ava’s things in the cottage.’

  ‘I haven’t asked Dad yet. If it wasn’t him, it might be possible there’s another key or two floating around. Dad used to lease the cottage out for extra income after Mum and I left. I can’t figure out why any of them would have Ava’s toys, or feel the need to return them, but just to cover all the bases and make you feel better, maybe we should change the deadlock on the front and back doors.’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ Callie said with relief.

  Paisley studied her over the rim of her mug. ‘If you’re really worried, why don’t you consider staying in Hobart—at least until I get back? Have a bit of a holiday. You can café and restaurant it all you want. Be around people.’

  ‘And do what? The only time I actually feel normal is when I’m working at Calico Mountain.’

  ‘And you want to keep that up?’

  ‘Of course. But is it safe? I promised Connor I’d call, but I don’t know what to tell him. He probably thinks I’ve already bolted.’

  ‘There’s been no sign of any media at the cottage and Connor would have let you know if anyone had turned up out there, right? Callie, you were proven innocent. You need to be able to live your l
ife. I really think you should stay. I’ve got Adelaide chasing down your mystery woman. Give it a few more days.’

  Callie took a sip of her coffee and nodded. ‘Okay.’

  ‘Oh, and I talked to Ned.’ Paisley put down her cup and folded her hands together. ‘He said he’d initially only spoken to you to check how you were going when he was bringing firewood or doing the lawns—both of which I asked him to do. But calling him when you’re frightened because the power is off, having drinks with him after work, offering to make him dinner … that’s kind of encouraging him, don’t you think? It’s difficult for me to tell him to leave you alone when it sounds as though you’ve instigated as much of the contact as he has.’

  ‘None of that’s anything like he made it sound!’ Callie replied, her temper immediately skyrocketing. ‘I spoke to Ned because your dad told me to talk to him about the electricity. I wanted to ask if I could call out an electrician. I told him I’d have a drink because he kept at me and at me over a dinner I’d said no to and he didn’t want to take no for an answer. Connor and Tess and Logan all joined in so I wouldn’t have to sit with him alone. Connor even pretended at one point to be interested in me as a clear signal to back off and still Ned came back acting as though we were just having some little lovers’ tiff because I’d told him loud and clear to back the hell off!’

  ‘Connor Atherton?’ Paisley asked, curious.

  ‘Yes. My point is I’m not making this up or leading Ned on!’

  ‘Okay, okay, calm down,’ Paisley said. ‘I’ve told him to steer clear. Back to Connor—what did he do?’

  Still bristling a little, Callie told her, and Paisley laughed. It unwound some of the tension in Callie’s chest.

  ‘So you and Connor … no wonder you want to keep working out there.’

  ‘On that occasion he was simply trying to dissuade Ned.’

  Paisley nodded but her eyes were sparkling. ‘On that occasion? Why do I suspect there’s another occasion you’re not telling me about?’

  ‘Because there was,’ Callie admitted. ‘And on that occasion …’ Her smile broke free. ‘He most definitely was not pretending.’

  Paisley’s eyes were wide and interested. ‘Tell me all.’

  ‘There’s not much to tell.’ But when Callie finished her story, Paisley was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

  ‘He’s gorgeous and loaded and available. And so are you. So?’

  ‘I—well, okay. Yes, he is. But look how that turned out for me last time.’

  ‘Oh, don’t you dare use that excuse to back away. Honestly, from what you’ve told me, he has just as many reasons to be distrustful of relationships as you do, and he’s willing.’

  ‘And I didn’t say I wasn’t. I’m just not really … prepared.’

  ‘When is anyone, ever? This is good. Great. I thought you were sworn off men forever.’

  ‘So did I,’ Callie admitted with a heavy sigh. ‘Apparently one might have gotten under my skin a little bit.’

  ‘A little bit? With a kiss like you just described?’

  Callie grinned and pressed a hand to her stomach. ‘I didn’t think I could feel those kinds of sensations again. He only has to look at me a certain way and I—it’s almost embarrassing.’

  Paisley laughed. ‘It’s fantastic.’

  ‘It could be,’ Callie agreed, then changed the subject. ‘So what are we doing this afternoon?’

  ‘Packing boxes?’ Paisley asked hopefully.

  Callie groaned good-naturedly. ‘Right. Let’s get started.’

  CHAPTER

  21

  Callie flopped on the bed and rubbed her eyes. Following yesterday’s efforts, she’d again spent the morning with Paisley checking out the last couple of retirement options for Cliff, before having lunch and spending the time leading up to Paisley’s flight wandering the Salamanca Markets.

  It should have been a good day—was a good day—except her mind kept wandering back to her contract and what to do about her feelings for Connor. Was she going back? What if she went back, started something with Connor, and then had to leave after all? She groaned even as she smirked. Who was she kidding about starting something? It was already well underway. She was at least half in love with him and a lot of this current feeling of restless anxiousness was, if she was honest, because she hadn’t seen Connor for two days.

  Feeling a little bit pathetic, she got up, took some soup over for Cliff, then rekindled the fire and poured herself a glass of merlot. She should call Connor. And tell him what? She was going back tomorrow, or she wasn’t? She became at least partially engrossed in the end of a movie while she contemplated that. And then the power shut off.

  ‘Again?’ She dragged herself to her feet. She didn’t like her chances of Ned bothering to fix the power any time soon so she headed out into the cold and flicked it back on. It wasn’t raining, which left her wondering why it had shut off. Was it about to pack up altogether? The television had sprung back to life and she flicked through the channels, sitting through part of a game show, then caught the start of the local news. A story about a local woman feared drowned after a boating accident on the River Derwent appeared. A search was underway. The glass slipped from Callie’s fingers as she stared at the screen in shock. It was that woman! The one who had turned up in the garden and warned her to leave.

  She nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hey, Callie, it’s Tess. How are you?’

  Tess? Why was Tess calling? ‘Good question, actually,’ she answered, still watching the screen.

  ‘What’s up? You sound strange.’

  ‘I’m pretty sure I know who the woman that bailed me up out at your place was.’

  ‘Oh? Who?’

  ‘The same woman who was just on the news. They think she’s drowned.’

  ‘Really? Give me a sec.’ True to her word, she was back on the line fast. ‘We’re coming over.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Indy and I.’

  ‘Now? Really? Why?’

  ‘Because Indy said we are,’ Tess replied.

  ‘Then I’ll see you soon,’ Callie said, curious but grateful. She went to her laptop to pull up the story so she could show Indy when they arrived. She studied the picture of the woman on her screen. It was just coincidence. What else could it be?

  She yelped when the electricity clicked off again. Twice in one night. Maybe the wires really were caving in. She walked into the bedroom and saw Cliff’s light on. It was definitely just the cottage power supply playing up again.

  The window went dark as a silhouette blacked out most of it.

  Callie fell back from the window.

  Then the silhouette was gone.

  Her breath trembled out and she sucked another back in. Listened. A step in the leaf litter on the patio outside had her spinning. Then the door handle rattled. Her eyes went to the fireplace, to the poker.

  The lights sprang to life just as three sharp bangs on the door shook her.

  ‘You there, Callie?’

  Ned! Her breath came out in a rush. ‘Yeah, coming.’

  She opened the door halfway. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Just wanted to tell you I’d been up in your roof earlier. Think I know how to fix the power, just need a few bits and pieces.’

  ‘I appreciate that,’ she said coolly. ‘It’s been off twice tonight and it’s not raining.’

  He dragged a hand along the back of his neck. ‘Guess I might have stirred things up a bit playing around. Sorry about that.’

  ‘No worries,’ she said. ‘Goodnight, Ned.’

  ‘And I also need to apologise for my behaviour last time we spoke. Didn’t mean to upset you.’

  It surprised her that he actually looked as though he meant it. Paisley must have gotten through.

  ‘I just think you’re a special person. Was hoping to spend time with you. But I realise I shouldn’t have gotten cross because you prefer Connor to me. I’d li
ke it if we could get back to just being friendly.’

  Oh, hell. The guy was grovelling. And this version of Ned was just pathetic enough to have her feeling silly and guilty at the same time. ‘That’s okay. Sure.’

  ‘Something smells good. Dad said you made him some soup. I haven’t had a chance to eat anything tonight.’

  She wrestled with her manners. This might smooth over the awkwardness … and give her a chance to get some answers. Besides, Tess and Indy would be here soon. ‘I can heat you some up to take back?’

  ‘That’s really nice of you. Wouldn’t say no.’

  She walked into the kitchen, pulled the leftovers from the fridge and put a bowl in the microwave. The heating time amounted to a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence—for her. Ned seemed right at home.

  ‘Paisley said you looked at some places for Dad.’

  ‘Yes. One in particular was very nice.’

  ‘So Paisley said. Gardens look good out at Calico Mountain.’ He paused. ‘Made quite the impression on Connor, haven’t you? He’s not right for you though.’

  ‘I’m enjoying the gardens,’ she said. ‘It’s a lovely place to work.’ She took out the bowl and got some foil to cover it.

  ‘Don’t worry about that,’ Ned said, taking the bowl from her hands. ‘Only take me a minute to eat. Got a spoon?’

  She gritted her teeth and retrieved one from the drawer.

  He swallowed a mouthful, made a happy noise. ‘This is good. You know what would go well with it? A nice glass of red wine. You want me to top up the fire for you?’

  ‘Ah … no. Thanks. I’m afraid I don’t have any wine.’

  ‘Dad’s got a few bottles lying around. I could—’

  ‘No, really. I don’t drink much.’

  He frowned. ‘Paisley says you own a vineyard.’

  ‘Yes, at least I did. But it was more my husband’s side of the business. I ran the bed and breakfast.’

  ‘Right.’ Ned ate more soup. ‘You want to know why Connor’s no good for you?’