Two Years After ; Friends Who Lie ; No More Secrets

by Paul J. Teague

  Katy replaced the photos in her bag, holding one back for reference. She walked up to the abandoned construction to see if it was safe to walk inside. There weren’t any builder’s signs, no nods to health and safety, it was completely open. Besides, who would even know it was there from the road?

  Katy walked through what should have been the front entrance. It had a wooden frame loosely attached to the brickwork, but no door. The concrete floor was covered with lichen. Nature was trying its best to claim the building as its own. It would have made a nice holiday lodge once completed. It was quite a size, as their wooden structure had been: a bungalow with three bedrooms as far as she could tell. There was even a bath in one of the rooms, still packed in cardboard and plastic, and resting upright against the wall.

  She wandered into what would have been the kitchen. The units had been delivered and left there, still wrapped up in polythene. Katy tried to date them from their design. They weren’t modern, that was for sure. Then an unexpected sight. Somebody had been using the stacked units as a table. Resting on top was a half-smoked cigarette, a can of coke, not fully drunk, and a packet of crisps. These must have been left recently, very recently in fact. Coke would evaporate, surely? How long for crisps to rot? These looked fresh to her. A closer look at the packet showed that the sell-by date was still current.

  Suddenly Katy felt vulnerable. She had that same uncertainty she’d experienced when she thought she was being watched at the crofter’s cottage. She reached into her pocket for the Nokia. Could she get a signal out there? No, of course not.

  She looked around. She was alone, she was sure of that. There was no sign of any vehicle, but somebody had been there. A tramp perhaps? But who would even know the bungalow existed? This was Louis again, screwing with her head. It was probably the owner. Why couldn’t it be a simple explanation like that? Louis was making her paranoid.

  She’d have to be careful. Buchanan would think she was some crazy lady if she started reading things into everyday situations. Take Olly, for instance. He was a nice guy, but within twenty-four hours of sleeping with him, she was convinced he was a stalker. She’d have to watch herself. This is how men like Louis kept their power.

  There was a mechanical sound in the distance. At first she thought it was a chainsaw, but it persisted and it was getting closer. Katy stepped outside the half-built house to see if she could figure out where it was coming from. This might be her explanation for the coke can and crisps.

  It was a motorcycle. Quite a powerful one at that, but not running at speed. It was coming up the track, the revs were low, but it was definitely a motorcycle. Katy didn’t know what to do. She was an adult, for God’s sake. There was no need to hide. She had a perfectly good reason for being there and if it was the owner they’d understand.

  As the powerful black bike emerged at the end of the track, she decided to conceal herself anyway. The rider was tall and rode with confidence, covered from top to toe in black leathers. Katy ducked behind a stack of bricks at the side of the house and watched as the rider stopped the engine and climbed off the bike.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The rider seemed as interested in the site as Katy was. It was difficult to get a clear look at his face. It seemed he hadn’t decided whether to stay: he’d kept his helmet on, just lifting the visor. He took in the scene while Katy remained hidden behind the bricks – she’d have to stay out of sight. She’d look ridiculous if she stepped out now.

  Then he took his helmet off, but since he was wearing a black fabric helmet liner underneath, it was still impossible to have a good look at his face. He walked around where only minutes earlier Katy had been examining her photo. Then, as if resolving to stay a while, he removed the helmet liner, strolled back over to the bike and placed it inside the helmet.

  ‘Turn around, you bugger. Let’s get a good look at you,’ Katy whispered under her breath. The rider was teasing her. He walked to the side of the half-built structure, up to the door, and then around the other side, close to where Katy was hiding. She came up with her excuse. If she was caught, she’d say she’d been exploring the woodland area that surrounded the clearing and got lost. He was only a couple of metres away from her now. If he would only turn around, she could finally see him close-up.

  When he did, Katy let out a shriek. She knocked a brick from the stack she was hiding behind and he jumped back, startled. Only it wasn’t a he. It was a she. And it was somebody that Katy knew, somebody she knew very well.

  ‘Izzy? Is that you?’

  ‘You frightened the life out of me! I can’t believe it – Katy Wild! You’ve barely changed. What are you doing here?’

  Of course, Isobel knew the answer to that question. It would be the same reason she was there. She was paying a visit to the ghosts of the past.

  Isobel and Katy hadn’t seen each other since graduation day in 2001. They’d kept loosely in touch, exchanging Christmas cards every year, but it was Emma who was the sociable one, making connections on Facebook, sustaining the flimsy communications over the years. There was a moment of awkwardness before they moved towards each other for a hug.

  ‘What brought you down here?’ Katy asked. ‘Have you been back since the accident?’

  ‘I’ve been to the end of the track a couple of times, but not up to where the lodge was. I could never bring myself to do it. I came here today to prepare myself for Inverness at the weekend. It seemed like the right time to do it.’

  ‘I can’t believe we met like this,’ Katy replied, ‘though I guess it’s not that weird. It’s pretty well the first place any of us would head if we were back in the area. Are you still living in the same village? What is it, half an hour from here?’

  ‘Even less on the bike,’ Izzy smiled. ‘Remember that old moped I used to ride? This thing goes about four times the speed. It’s my day off today and I thought I’d head over here. I wanted to see it again before we all met up. Actually, if I’m honest, I wanted to see it before I met you.’

  Katy looked at Isobel. As a student, she’d been tense and uptight. To be fair, they probably all were at that age. She had relaxed and her face had lost the hostility of her younger years. Izzy appeared to be a lot more comfortable in her own skin now. What she said was fair enough. Katy had lost her boyfriend, and it had been a horrible time for all of them. They would all have a lot of thinking to do before they met up again.

  ‘You look good, Izzy,’ Katy said, and she meant it. ‘How are things with you?’

  ‘Did you know I got married last year?’

  ‘No, I didn’t know. That’s something Emma didn’t tell me.’

  ‘She probably didn’t know. I made the photos restricted on Facebook. It wasn’t a big deal.’

  ‘Who’s the lucky guy?’ The minute the words left her mouth, Katy knew she’d fucked up.

  ‘Lady. The lucky lady. You must know I’m gay. Hadn’t you figured it out back then?’

  Katy back-pedalled and made an even bigger mess of it.

  ‘I didn’t know. I do now though. I mean, I just figured it out. Not this minute … Jesus, Katy, shut your mouth. Look, Isobel, I didn’t know back then, I do now and I’m so happy for you. I really am.’

  She meant it too. It was no wonder Izzy had been so uptight if she’d felt she had to hide something as big as that from them.

  ‘Actually, I’m not sure I even knew when we were at uni,’ Isobel said, deciding to put Katy out of her misery. ‘It’s funny. It was when we came here that I really began to doubt myself. Emma must have told you what happened.’

  Katy nodded.

  ‘They were different times back then,’ she continued, the severity that Katy remembered returning to her face. ‘Mum was still alive, and she’d never have forgiven me. She wouldn’t have understood. Later I had to keep my relationship with Nancy under wraps for five years right under Mum’s nose – she was the one who’d employed her to work in the shop. We run it together now, and we’re married, and nobody gives a
shit anymore. But I wish I could have told Mum before she died.’

  Katy squeezed her arm. She wondered whether Izzy’s mum had known all along.

  ‘Are you staying for a while?’ Isobel asked. ‘Now we’re here, we may as well have a catch-up.’

  ‘I’d love to,’ Katy said, relieved to find a friend. She hadn’t been sure how things would be with Isobel, but it felt good to see her again. What had she been so afraid of?

  ‘How about we go to that Little Chef we used to go to? It’s reopened as a café.’

  ‘That would be perfect. Shall I meet you there? I’ll have to walk. I haven’t got any transport.’

  ‘Sod that!’ Izzy laughed. ‘You’re coming on the back of the bike, if you’re willing to take a chance of being caught without a helmet on. I won’t go fast. Moped speed, I promise.’

  Katy laughed too. This was nothing like the Isobel that she remembered. She was chilled out, relaxed. She was even a law-breaker. Katy wasn’t sure if she was up for a ride without a helmet – it seemed to be a bit on the wild side, but she’d take a chance. It wasn’t as if the cops were on every corner, and it was only a few miles.

  ‘You want to take a look around first? I was in the middle of it when you arrived. I thought you might be the owner. I’m ashamed to say that I was hiding from you.’

  ‘It’s good to see that you haven’t completely grown up, Katy. I always wanted to have more fun back then. I had a broomstick stuck up my arse in those days.’

  They walked through the house. It was a fairly pointless exercise. There was nothing left of the previous structure, and the layout was completely different. It was only when they came to the back door that they spotted something that was familiar to them both.

  ‘Bloody hell! Look, that old patio is still there.’

  Isobel was pointing, but Katy had less reason to recall it than Izzy.

  ‘When I think of the time I spent out here smoking like a chimney. I’ve stopped now. I met Nancy, she didn’t like the smell and I stopped dead. Just like that. This brings back memories. You know this is where I was before the fire broke out?’

  She said this tentatively, as if she wasn’t sure how Katy would react to talk of the fire. She seemed keen to raise it, even though it was such a touchy subject.

  ‘No, I can’t remember who was where,’ Katy replied. ‘It doesn’t really matter now though, does it?’

  ‘It does to me,’ Isobel said, suddenly very serious. ‘This is where I started the fire. With a bloody cigarette!’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Katy climbed onto the back of the motorbike. She was still stunned by what Izzy had told her. It was such a simple fact, yet it had so much impact on what had happened.

  Isobel handled the machine with confidence and expertise. It felt huge to Katy, who was concerned that it would fall over.

  ‘Put your hands around my waist and move with me when I lean. Oh, and close your mouth or you’ll end up with it full of bugs.’

  She smiled at that one and started up the engine. Katy watched how she did it. She hadn’t got a clue how motorbikes worked, she’d never been on one and they were alien to her.

  ‘Ready?’ Isobel asked. ‘I promise I won’t go fast, and you make sure to let me know if you’re scared or want me to slow down. Okay? Here we go.’

  Katy watched as Izzy flicked through the gears with her foot and then pulled back the throttle. She rode steadily and slowly and it wasn’t too long before Katy was enjoying the experience. With such an expert handler in control of the ride, it was fine, nothing to worry about.

  They made it to what they’d known as the Little Chef without being spotted by the police. There was little chance of that in such a rural area, but as law-abiding citizens Isobel and Katy knew they were taking a calculated risk.

  The café wasn’t quite as Katy remembered. She’d been certain it fronted onto the river – that’s how she recalled its location. The river was nearby, but not so close that you could look out over it. Funny how memories get jumbled, she thought. She could have sworn that’s what it looked like.

  Although the building was no longer branded as a Little Chef, it was clear from the style of the building that’s what it had once been. Now it was a café, with a change of colour palette, some modern furniture and the kind of menu that makes you wonder why you don’t eat a fry-up for breakfast every morning. The Coco Pops had seemed like a good option at the time, but Katy was starving and a bacon and egg roll was exactly what she needed. Besides, what Izzy had told her made her mind race into overdrive. That was another day she hadn’t remembered correctly.

  With an order placed and a couple of comfy chairs secured, they continued their conversation. Katy had been glad of the time on the bike. It had given her an opportunity to think it all through.

  ‘Recovered from the ride?’ Izzy smiled.

  ‘You’ve certainly graduated from that moped of yours. Why do you still ride bikes rather than use a car?’

  ‘Nancy has a car, and we use it when we’re out together, but it’s not only middle-aged guys with beer guts who like the thrill of the open road. I’ve always loved it. It makes me feel alive. Driving a car is dreary in comparison.’

  Katy didn’t want to talk about bikes. She wanted to discuss the fire.

  ‘So, was that cigarette the official reason for the fire starting?’ she asked, pulling a handbrake turn on the topic of conversation.

  ‘Didn’t you read the report? Yes, and I’ve lived with it every day since.’

  ‘But it was an accident. I can’t believe how much wood there was in that cabin. That must have been a fire hazard, a disaster waiting to happen.’

  Isobel shrugged.

  ‘I know there were a lot of other factors involved in Elijah’s death, but I was patient zero. I thought you knew that?’

  ‘I never read the report – I was too upset. My dad did a Reader’s Digest job on it and told me the main details, so I knew they thought it was a cigarette that had started the fire. But I seem to recall that they weren’t completely sure, and I did think it was unusual that it was in the room Elijah was in. He never smoked, he hated it.’

  ‘I was outside the window, remember? I was on the patio of doom sulking about something or other and Elijah and Nathan were chatting in the bedroom. Everything suddenly went a bit tense in there, and the next thing they were fighting. I stubbed my cigarette out on the bench and flicked it away, but it must have gone through the bedroom window. I didn’t realise what I’d done, of course. They pieced it together after the fire.’

  ‘God, Izzy. That’s a terrible thing to live with. It’s a good thing I didn’t hear this back then – I’m not sure I’d have been so understanding when I was younger. But that can’t be the whole story. The cigarette might have started the fire, but the rest of us got out. Elijah died because he got stuck in that room. For some reason, he didn’t manage to escape. That was what was always the mystery to me. Why didn’t he just walk away like the rest of us?’

  ‘And I never really understood how that cigarette could have started any fire. You know what we were like back then: poor students who smoked their cigarettes until there was no tobacco left. I was certain it was out, but they reckoned that it must have smouldered and fired back up again.’

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, mulling it over. The tea and butties arrived. They were a useful distraction.

  ‘I know about you and Emma, by the way. That’s something else I only just found out. I don’t care, and I wouldn’t have cared then. Emma can be a bit flighty at times – it gets her into trouble with men too. She lines them up and then lets them down. Sounds like that’s what she did to you.’

  Izzy nodded slowly, as if the memory was a painful one.

  ‘I wasn’t entirely sure I was gay. Don’t forget this was before the internet. You couldn’t read it up on Google and check out other people’s experiences. It involved a lot more introspection and self-loathing back then. Emma was a cow.
I still think she was a cow. It was a bit of fun to her, a summer fling, but it was more than that to me. When she ended it like that, I was hurt and angry. I still think she behaved really badly.’

  ‘I agree,’ Katy replied. ‘She doesn’t mean it, but she doesn’t think. That was horrible what she did to you. We were all shitty back then. I guess we were all young and stupid.’

  ‘Agreed. Now we’re old and stupid!’

  ‘Well, you did alright. You’ve got Nancy. Look at me and Ems. Still getting sloshed on Prosecco on a Friday nights and not a husband in sight. These eggs won’t last forever, you know. They’ll be past their sell-by date soon.’

  ‘Emma told me about your bloke when we connected on Facebook. Nobody deserves a wanker like that. He didn’t hit you, did he?’

  ‘No. Only once. It was psychological. I let it run on too long, and I should have ended it way before I did. But you know the drill – I was scared and hoped he’d stop it. I was stupid. Anyway, it’s over now, although I’m not sure Louis has got the message.’

  ‘He’s still bothering you? The little shit!’

  Izzy looked really angry at that. Katy calmed her down.

  ‘No, no, he’s out of my life now. Why do you think I’m hiding up here? He won’t bother me again. He doesn’t know where I am.’

  She decided to change the subject. A dollop of egg ran along the side of her roll and narrowly missed her legs. She wiped it with a paper napkin.

  ‘How are Sarah and Nathan? Do you see them?’

  ‘Why does everybody assume that we all know each other in Scotland? They’re miles away. Aberdeen is still a hefty drive from here. It’s a hefty drive from anywhere! It’s almost two hundred miles from my place. But no. To answer your question, I don’t see them. You know there wasn’t much love lost between me and Sarah. She was so militant at college. And I’ll never know why she and Nathan ended up together. You must know he’s gay.’

  Katy almost spat out the bacon that she was chewing.