The Mercer's House (Northern Gothic Book 1) (11 page)

‘Not at the expense of a sick old man, no,’ she said. ‘And there’s no point, anyway. If he hasn’t told his own brother, then he’s hardly likely to tell us, is he? Please don’t, Garrett.’

‘All right then, I won’t,’ he said. ‘But you’re not helping yourself, you know.’

‘It doesn’t matter. If the only way to find her is to stir things up, I’d rather she stayed hidden.’

‘Perhaps some things are best left buried,’ said Alison.

It was an odd choice of word in the circumstances, and Zanna wondered whether it was a coincidence.

‘Well, the whole thing is a mystery to me,’ said Garrett. ‘But it couldn’t have happened in a better place. A mysterious disappearance in a haunted house. What more could you want?’

‘Have you been to the Mercer’s House?’ said Alison to Zanna, who nodded.

‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘It has beautiful views.’

‘It does, doesn’t it? It’s a nice old place, but it always looks to me as though it’s brooding over something. I expect that’s because of its history.’

‘Oh, yes,’ said Zanna. ‘I gather there’s a ghost story attached to it. People hear the voices of the dead woman on the beach.’

‘So they say,’ said Alison. ‘Although I’ve never heard anything myself. There’s been quite a lot written about it—mainly in books of local history. Have a look in the library if you’re interested. Or ask Alexander. Helen was fascinated by the story, incidentally.’

‘That sounds like her,’ said Garrett.

‘Did she hear voices?’ said Zanna, although she already knew the answer. Again, Alison looked away.

‘Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘I think she did.’

1st May, 1989

I
LEFT
the boys with Corbin and went to see Alison today, as I needed to get away from the Mercer’s House for a little while. Will is starting to frighten me. He seems to be trying to avoid me—he sneaks about quietly when I’m there, as if he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself—but then all of a sudden I’ll catch him staring at me with an expression on his face that I can’t read at all. He seems to be trying to read me, in fact, and it’s unnerving, because each time I see him do it I’m scared I’m about to hear that terrible voice again, threatening me, telling me Rowan and I are in danger. It’s happened four times now, and each time it does Will goes back to whatever he was doing as though nothing had happened. There’s something or someone lurking inside him, I’m convinced of it. Something has possessed him, and I suspect it’s Jonas Humble, although I daren’t tell anyone, as I know they’d only laugh at me.

I went to the library last week and read some of the local history books on the Sarah Humble story, although they didn’t tell me much more than I’d already got from Alex, who’s an expert on it by now. Jonas wasn’t a nice man, that much is certain. He was cruel to his wife, and then he killed her and her lover in cold blood when all she wanted to do was find a little happiness. His personality certainly fits my theory, at any rate. After that I went to the section on Ghosts and the Supernatural, to see if I could find out anything about possession, and all of it seemed to point the same way. I had no idea there were so many examples of people being possessed by the spirits of the dead, but the stories go back to the earliest times, and continue right up to the modern day. There’s no scientific proof, but so many people have witnessed this sort of thing that it must exist, surely? I can’t prove what’s happening, but I know what I heard, and I don’t see how it can be anything else. But why is he threatening me and Rowan? What have we done to offend him? Is it because we don’t fully belong to the house? Jonas built it, and perhaps he doesn’t want us there any more and is trying to frighten us off. I simply don’t know.

That’s why I had to get away for a little while. I thought if I talked to Alison in her own home she might be able to help, but I should have known it would be useless, as how could I bring it up? What could I say? ‘Listen, Alison, I think my stepson is possessed by the ghost of a man who murdered his wife two hundred years ago?’ She didn’t hear what I heard, so it would have sounded ridiculous. In the end all I could do was to hint at it. I said I thought Will was jealous of Rowan—so jealous that I’d caught him trying to hurt him a couple of times, and it was almost like he was possessed. She didn’t catch my hint, and just said that since Will is only seven this sort of thing is to be expected. I sensed something cold about her manner as she said it, and I half-wondered whether Will had got to her first. If he has, then I’m not likely to get any joy out of her. It’s a pity, as I used to think Alison was on my side. I always thought I could trust her to keep secrets, but now I’m not so sure, and I’m trying to remember what she knows about me. Could she use it against me?

Everybody is the same. They’re all so kind and friendly at first, but gradually they take against me and it all begins again. There must be something terrible in me that makes people this way. Or at least, that’s what I used to think. But then I remembered something I’d read years ago—I can’t remember where—about people who are born victims. Apparently there’s a type of person who can’t help attracting other people who want to hurt them. Perhaps I’m one of those people. I could never understand why Mum and Dad hurt me so badly. And after them, Jonathan started. They knew just where to hit so I wouldn’t bruise, so nobody would believe me if I tried to tell them. Oh, they knew exactly what they were doing, all right. That’s why I had to escape as soon as I got the opportunity—run as far as I could, away from them, away from my past. To start afresh.

And I thought I had started afresh. We were happy to begin with, I’m sure of it. But if I am a natural victim, that means I’ll never be able to settle down. One by one, everyone will turn against me and I’ll have to run away again. But I won’t leave Rowan. Rowan, who makes me so happy. He’s the only thing I have that’s truly mine. I’ll hold him close and never let him go. Whatever happens, we’ll always be together.

‘T
HE PLOT thickens,’ said Garrett, as they walked down the High Street. The clouds had gathered, giving only the occasional glimpse of sunshine, and the temperature had dropped, and it looked as if the spell of hot weather had finally come to an end.

‘Are you talking about Corbin?’ said Zanna.

‘Can’t you see it? The eternal triangle. Two brothers fall in love with a beautiful young woman, but only one of them can win her. Then he goes away, leaving temptation in his brother’s path. Can our hero and heroine resist it? Tune in to next week’s exciting episode to find out!’

‘I don’t know,’ said Zanna. ‘They seemed so nice.’

‘Most people do when you meet them,’ he said. ‘But just because people are nice doesn’t mean they don’t do bad things. It’s a fallacy to think that evil comes dressed up for the occasion, complete with black cloak and dripping fangs. Generally speaking it wears jeans and a T-shirt, just like the rest of us.’

‘That’s very profound,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure my head can cope with it at the moment.’

‘Come for a drive,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen all there is to see around here. Let’s go up the coast and see if they’ll let us into Scotland without a passport. Come on,’ he said, as he saw her hesitate. ‘It’ll be good for you to get out of here for a few hours. You’re not selling your soul to this gallery woman till tomorrow, so what else are you going to do?’

‘It would be nice to get out for a bit, I suppose,’ she said.

‘Excellent,’ he said. ‘Go and get your jacket and I’ll see you in five at the car.’

In the end they headed away from the border and the sea, and spent what remained of the afternoon driving around the countryside of Northumberland. It was a relief to get away from all disturbing thoughts for an hour or two, and Garrett was an entertaining companion. He was nothing more than friendly that afternoon, but when they got back he turned the car engine off, and she saw that he was looking at her with an expression that was impossible to mistake. Her heart sank.

‘Garrett, please don’t,’ she said.

‘I can’t help it,’ he said. ‘I’m not annoying you, am I? I thought I was being pretty inoffensive.’

‘Of course you’re not offensive,’ she said. ‘But—’

‘Well, then, just let me get on with it. Pretend you haven’t noticed if you must—although I’d rather you just gave up now and saved us both some time.’

‘It’s not going to happen, Garrett.’

‘Oh, yes it is,’ he said. ‘You will be mine one day, by hook or by crook. By a process of attrition if necessary.’

‘I don’t even know what that means,’ said Zanna.

‘It means I’m going to wear you down,’ he said.

‘I’d much rather you didn’t. What sort of a way is that to win over a woman? Besides, I’m not what you need,’ she said. ‘I’m a mess. I’m in no condition to be conducting a relationship with anyone, least of all someone I care about as a friend.’

‘You’re exactly what I need. And yes, you’re a mess, and that’s why you need me too, whether you know it or not. Someone has to look after you.’

‘I can look after myself,’ she said. ‘Really, I can.’

She was starting to feel slightly alarmed at his persistence, and he must have seen it because the petulant look which had started to spread over his face disappeared, and he smiled.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Was I being a bit over-intense? It must be all the coffee I had this morning. Caffeine bad. Herbal tea good.’ He held up his hands. ‘OK, I’ll shut up. Look, this is me backing off. How far shall I go? I’ll leave if you like.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she said. ‘You know I’m happy for you to stay. Just as long as you toe the line.’

‘Consider it toed,’ he said. He gave her his most winning look. ‘Friends?’

‘Of course,’ she said, although inwardly she was sighing at her inability to get rid of him. She had agreed to his friendship, but she knew it was mainly out of guilt at how she’d treated him. He was kind and helpful and funny, but he made her feel uncomfortable, and in reality—even if she didn’t like to admit it to herself—she would have preferred not to see him again. And now she was beginning to feel crowded by him. It was difficult: if she was too friendly he took it as encouragement, but if she was cool he accused her of not taking the friendship seriously. She kicked herself for her cowardice in not telling him straight out that she wanted him to leave. Still, there was nothing that could be done about it now. Here they were thrown together, in a manner of speaking, but once they were back in London she would do her best to distance herself from him once and for all. It would be better for them both.

They got out of the car and walked down the High Street in the direction of the Coach and Horses.

‘Hang on,’ said Garrett, as they passed a newsagent. ‘I’m just going to get some chewing-gum and a scratchcard.’

It was a tiny shop, so Zanna stood outside while he went in. The clouds overhead were greyer now and the air was cooler, and the heatwave was evidently drawing to an end. Zanna was glad she had packed some warmer clothes, and made a mental note to change into them when she got back to the hotel. She had drifted a little way down the street, and was again looking in the window of the nautical souvenir shop when she glanced up and saw Will coming in her direction, pushing Corbin Devereux in a wheelchair. They stopped to say hello.

‘You’re looking a bit better,’ said Will, regarding her narrowly. ‘You looked like you were going to die this morning.’

He was obviously not a man for compliments, but Zanna took the remark in the spirit in which he presumably meant it.

‘Thanks. I felt better once I’d had some lunch,’ she said.

‘Have you been out?’ he said.

‘We went to Corbridge.’

‘Nice.’

‘Yes. We found a lovely shop there but I didn’t get the chance to browse, because Garrett just stood there tapping his foot and looking at his watch all the time, and it put me off.’

‘Never go shopping with a man,’ said Will with a smile.

‘No,’ she agreed. She wanted more than anything to let him know that she wasn’t sleeping with Garrett, but she couldn’t think of a way to say it without sounding obvious, and so she remained silent.