Echoes of the Past (5 page)

Patrick
looked up.

“Yeah,
how’d you know that? You spoke to old John haven’t you?” Tom did not respond. “Well, don’t pay him any mind, he's poison. Him and his son. Yeah, Sam and I had a fling, but that was all it was. When Angela found out I had dated her friend first and got her pregnant she didn’t want any part of me. That’s why I went up there to try and change her mind.”

“Did
it work?”

“I
wish to God it had, she would be here now. But no. She sent me packing and I never saw her again. That was the Friday. On the Monday, the police put my door in just about. Wanting to know what I had done with her. And I told them what I told you, I done nothin.” Patrick paused as if waiting for Tom’s response. “I tell you this. She didn’t run away.”

“How
can you be so sure.”

“If
she had she would have taken her car for one thing. And another, Angela never ran from anything in her life.”

As
Tom was leaving, he looked over at the pigs that Patrick had been feeding when he arrived. “How long have you had pigs up here, Patrick?”

“We’ve
always had pigs.”

“It’s
a big farm for one man to run.”

“Ma
two boys are in the barn with the cows. They live in the village with their witch of a mother. Any thing else you need?”

Tom
shook his hand and climbed into his Jeep and headed back to Coppersfield.

*****

The lunch hall vibrated with the hum of constant chatter. Gemma and Jess had finished eating and had walked outside. The winter sun was bright but it was still cold. Much colder than it should have been in March. The chill cut through Jess as they walked around the small school to the benches on the far side. The school only had around 300 students, between Coppersfield and a couple of other small villages dotted around the hills.

“Tell
you what, Jess; you really need to think about fake tan, or a sun bed. I’ve seen sheep darker than you.”

Jess
laughed at Gemma. Her similes were always unusual and colourful. Jess knew she was looking more and more tired. Her sleep was constantly being disturbed. If it wasn’t bad dreams, it was the sensation of someone being there with her in the room. The idea of moving up here was to put the past behind them, yet, more and more it felt as thought it was catching up with them.

“How
long has your Dad got before he retires?”

“I
don’t know yet, I don’t think it’s all been sorted out. he’ll never last not working, he gets bored too easy. He’s looking in to some cold cases just now. I heard him talking about someone called Harrison.”

“The
Harrison murder. Is your Dad opening that up?”

“Don’t
know. Why? You heard of it?”

Gemma
laughed. “Anyone from Coppersfield has. Supposedly, she was the prettiest girl in school; her boyfriend went mad with jealousy, killed her and fed her to the pigs on Goyl farm.”

“Gemma,
that’s awful.”

“Just
telling you what everyone thinks. Supposedly she haunts the village waiting for revenge.” Gemma waved her hands spookily in front of Jess’s face. Jess laughed and pushed her away.

“There
are no such things as ghosts.” Jess said.

“Oh
yeah, then why does your Aunt Lee have a Ouija board?”

“Aunt
Lee? No chance.”

“Telling
you. You know my big cousin that worked at the tearoom. Well, she was engaged to the policeman that used to be up here, when he died, she got hold of your aunt to see if there was an after life, and more importantly, if he was in it.”

“I
thought the policeman that was here before my Dad was just old.”

“He
was a bit, my cousin was in her thirties, I think he was about forty.”

“What
happened to him?”

“His
car went off the hill side road on his way back up here from Arrochar. It was a shame. We had all been wondering were he was, we thought he was on the skive. It was a week later they found him one hundred feet down the hillside, at Miner’s Drop. Then we all felt really bad about it.”

“God,
Gemma, I thought he was old, retiring age you know, and just dropped you know, with a stroke or something.”

“Well,
I suppose he did drop, just not the way you thought.”

“Don’t
be so flippant, Gemma, that must have been awful for your cousin.”

“Yeah,
that’s why she went to your Aunt, apparently she really helped her come to terms with it, but we still don’t talk about it. Your farm house is supposed to be haunted you know, that’s what got your Aunt into it.”

Jess
was not finding the conversation so funny anymore. She began to think about the dreams and the feelings she had been having in the house. If it was haunted, maybe it was not Olivia after all. She could feel a chill run through her.

“Are
you all right, Jess?” Gemma was concerned. She didn’t think it was possible to get any paler but Jess seemed to be doing it.

“Yes.
You know, Gemma. I’ve never really told you why we moved here. You’re my closest friend.”

“Hey,
I thought I was your best friend. I know I’m your only friend.” Gemma said laughing. “Anyway. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Jess
thought for a moment how could she explain to Gemma the closeness of her friendship with Olivia. They were more like sisters than friends. Constantly staying over at each other’s house. Going everywhere together, telling each other everything, every secret. Olivia’s mother had filled some of the gap when Jess’s own mother had died. And Olivia had gone through it all with her. Friends since the first day at nursery. Jess had been so quiet and shy, and Olivia, so out going and confident. And as they grew up, Jess was more reserved, Olivia was vibrant and so full of life. Jess had not only felt guilty at her loss, but she felt as though she had lost part of herself, the fun part, the outgoing part, the nice part.

Jess
drew in a deep breath. “The night before Olivia disappeared she had been at my house. My Dad had a party for his birthday, just a couple of friends round, nothing fancy. Olivia had to go home that night, but we arranged to meet the next morning at the bus stop to do some Christmas shopping. It was a Saturday and we planned to get the early bus in to the city centre. Olivia didn’t want to go because it had been snowing and it was freezing. She hated the cold. But she did it for me. I left the house to meet her, when I got to the bus stop Olivia wasn’t there. I waited.”

Jess
went on to tell her how she had called her house and before long it was established that Olivia was missing. Most of it from there on was blurry to Jess. She recalled her Dad being questioned over and over, not being allowed on the case because he knew her. She knew he had looked into it himself, unofficially. But he had no more luck than the officers investigating it. Olivia had simply disappeared off the face of the earth.

Gemma
put her arm around her; comforting her friend. She had heard things about Jess, but she did not know the full story until now. Now Jess was telling her that she felt her friend was here with her in Coppersfield.

No
wonder
she’s
looking
so
pale
and
tired
, Gemma thought.

“Do
you really think that Olivia is in your house?”

“Well,
I did, until you said it was already haunted, before I came here.”

Gemma
waved a hand at her. “That’s just stories; you always get them in places like this. We have nothing better to do with our time.” Gemma thought for a moment. “You know, Jess, if you think it is Olivia, why don’t we ask it?”

“What,
are you joking?”

“No,
why not ask your Aunt for the Ouija board?”

“No,
she wouldn’t, my Dad would go mad, he doesn’t believe in any of that stuff.”

“What
if I said I could get a hold of one?”

Jess
thought for a moment contemplating what it would mean if she could contact Olivia; get the answers she so desperately needed. Tell her how sorry she was for making her go in to town that day. Then, she could hear her Dad’s voice, telling her there was no such thing as ghosts, or they would all solve there own crimes. If there is no such thing then there was nothing to be afraid of, if there was, then just maybe, she could speak to her friend.

“Can
you?”

“I
can by Tomorrow, can you get the morning off school? I could come round after your Dad goes to work.”

“He
should be gone before 9am, come round just after that.” Jess smiled and hugged her. “Thanks, Gemma.”

*****

Jenny could feel the throbbing in her mouth. She gently slid her tongue over the raw socket that once held her back molars. She winced with the pain. Her tears felt warm on her cold skin as they ran down her face. She flicked her eyes around the darkened room, her head strapped too tightly for her to move it. She could not hear him; she could not sense him in the room. But she knew he would be back, he would come and go at irregular times making it impossible for her to measure how long she had been down here. She pulled weakly at the restraints on her wrist.

The
panic in her stomach began to rise as she heard the footsteps fall on the stairs. He was coming back.

Don’t
cry, don’t cry, she thought. He likes it when you cry. Go to a happy place. Don’t give him the satisfaction.

He
had broken her, but a little spark of her determined nature, still remained. Deep down Jenny knew how this would end. She was only terrified of what pain he might inflict on her before then.

*****

Lee was just beginning to stir with the bright light flooding her bedroom. Her dreams were fading; just disjointed thoughts and an awful feeling of dread and hopelessness was all that remained. She reached over to turn the clock round.

“Good
God. I’ve slept in.” Lee jumped out of bed and stopped suddenly. Her head was pounding, she felt positively sick.

She
made a futile attempt at getting ready and then decided she would phone the tearoom and tell Elsie she was ill. She felt as though she had drunk a litre of wine. Her stomach was churning, her head banging. She could feel sweat breaking out on her forehead and neck as she tried to move around. A bottle of water and back to bed she thought. She gripped tight to the banister as she descended the stairs. The cold flagstone of the kitchen floor, for some reason improved her condition. She sat in the kitchen with the cool water for a moment her elbows bent and her forehead resting in her hands.

She
had the sensation of being watched. She looked around her. Lee stood up and opened the back door. She stepped outside; the chill instantly cleared her head. The fresh crisp air seemed to stop the sweats. The longer she stood outside, the better she began to feel. She knew she couldn’t stand here all day, she went back inside and closed the door. A loud bang came from the kitchen. She looked around unable to see where it had come from. An uneasiness had settled over the still kitchen putting Lee on edge. She quickly walked through the kitchen and back upstairs. She would make work after all today.

*****

Lee arrived at the tearoom a little later than she was supposed to.

“Good
morning, Elsie, is the boss in?”

“No,
love. When is she ever in.” Elsie practically ran the tearoom. Opening up, closing up. Hiring and firing of staff. Sue Goyl, the owner, only came round to cash up and check the takings.

“Sorry,
I left you to it.”

“Well,
you’re here now, so don’t give it another thought.”

Elsie
was at least pushing seventy. Lee always felt bad if she was left to deal with things on her own. Luckily, the tearoom had been just about deserted all morning.

“Make
you a cuppa and you can have a rest from cleaning those shelves, Elsie. That’s not your job; you should tell her lady ship to get a cleaner in to do that sort of thing.”

“The
devil makes work for idle hands, my love.”

Lee
walked round and poured a cup of green for herself and decaf for Elsie. Elsie walked over to one of the freshly set tables and sat down.

“Oh,
your right, it’s good to get off your feet. So what was wrong, were you ill this morning?”

“Thought
I was.” Lee carried the cups over and picked up a couple of biscuits. “But it turned out to be nothing.”

“Didn’t
sound like nothing when you called. No like you to sleep in.”