The Girls in the Woods Read online

  ‘I bloody well hope not. Look, he’s dead. We know he’s dead – I even went to his post mortem. I didn’t tell you because I was still in hospital and you had more than enough to worry about, but Matt sent Stu to come for me. I watched as Matt sliced his body open and removed his internal organs. To be honest I was surprised the man had a heart inside there, but he did. They all got shoved in a plastic bag and sewn back up inside him. Then I watched as he was cremated. I had to make sure he wasn’t coming back to get you, to get us. Henry Smith is definitely dead. I promise you, it’s over with him for good.

  ‘Why did you not tell me about any of this before?’

  ‘I let you down, Annie. Twice that man got the better of me and twice you almost died. I wasn’t going to wait on the sidelines and pretend it was all okay. I had to make sure it was over, to make sure that I didn’t let it happen a third time.’

  She reached over and stroked his arm, feeling terrible that he blamed himself when the only person to blame was finally dead and out of their lives.

  ‘None of it was your fault, but thank you, Will. I didn’t want to go back to reality just yet – we’ve only been in England for an hour and boom, back in the room. Thanks a lot, Lisa.’

  ‘I’m afraid so. Never mind, don’t worry about her – let her sort her own mess out for a change. How many missed calls have you got off Jake?’

  ‘None. He knew we needed that holiday and a break. For once he hasn’t had any dramas that he couldn’t cope with himself. I’m beginning to feel a bit redundant.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry about that too much. You know as well as I do Jake will be on fine form. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t waiting for us to get back to the cottage.’

  She smiled. She missed Jake – although not quite as much now that she had Will – but her best friend was funny, fiercely loyal and a complete drama queen. She was looking forward to catching up with him, his equally-as-handsome husband, Alex, and their gorgeous little girl, Alice. In fact she was going to invite them up to have a meal and stay over, although she’d better clear it with Will first seeing as how he was the gourmet cook. Her burnt pizza was legend amongst her circle of close friends. They could invite Kav, who was more like her dad than a boss and had been the one to give her away at her wedding, and Cathy. They were now in a steady relationship, thanks to Annie throwing them together. They had even gone public, much to her and Jake’s delight. If it hadn’t been for all of their friendship she and Will might not have been here to tell the tale of what happened at the Lake House six months ago.

  ‘Penny for them?’

  ‘Sorry, I was thinking about… you know… everything that happened. It was easier to block it out when we were lying under the tropical sun. It was so far away from here.’

  Will reached out, squeezing her fingers.

  ‘I know, it was much easier to forget the whole nightmare ever happened. Now we’re back here it seems as if it was only yesterday. We need to push it to the back of our minds. It’s over and done, that bloody man is dead and hopefully he went straight to hell because even that place is far too good for him.’

  She squeezed his fingers back.

  ‘Yes, you’re right. It is far too good for him. I agree – no more thinking about him or talking about him. Let’s concentrate on us and the baby. We need to think of names. It can’t come out and be called baby It.’

  Will began to chuckle.

  ‘I’m easy, as long as you don’t want to call it Horatio or Ermentrude – whatever you like, I’m sure that I will.’

  ‘Don’t you like Horatio? I thought it had a nice ring to it. Horatio Ashworth.’

  She began to giggle and Will smiled. It was his favourite sound in the world. The turn off for Newby Bridge came into sight; they were almost home. Twenty minutes of some of the most beautiful, lush, green scenery and then they would reach the small lane which led to Apple Tree Cottage. Annie loved her home. She had dreamt about living in a house like it since she was a small child and knew that she was very fortunate that her dream had come true.

  ‘I can’t wait to show your dad and Lily the photographs. She’ll definitely want to go when she sees how perfect it was.’

  ‘I bet she’s already made him book the flights.’

  ‘I bet she has. Your dad marrying Lily was better than any fountain of youth. She keeps him young, a bit like me and you. I’m much younger than you. I hope I have the same effect.’

  She winked at Will who began to laugh.

  ‘I wish I could say you were, Annie, but somehow you seem to be having the opposite effect on me. Have you seen the grey hairs that have come through, and the worry lines across my forehead? You, my little cupcake, are the complete opposite. But I wouldn’t have you any other way.’

  Chapter 5

  It was dusky when Jo opened her eyes. The light had faded fast and she was surprised she’d slept that long, not to mention shocked because she hadn’t made Heath’s tea. Crap, he would go mad with her all over again. He’d made the sandwiches at dinner time; if he had to cook his own tea she’d know about it. Her head felt a little better but her eye was sore. Throwing back the covers and sitting up she waited a moment, listening to see if she could hear where he was, but there was no noise. The house was completely silent – it was strange; he must still be working. She looked at the clock and almost had a full-blown panic attack. It was quarter to nine; she’d been asleep since two o’clock. She was never going to sleep tonight – that was if he let her off with staying in bed so long in the first place. Jumping up, she ran to the bathroom then downstairs, relief that the house was in darkness flooding through her. Thank God for small mercies. Whatever he was working on was keeping him busy and for that she was eternally grateful.

  She began to pull some pots and pans from the rack and thought about earlier when they’d all been moving on their own. Don’t be stupid, he knocked you out cold – it was just a figment of your imagination, concussion. She carried on chopping onions, garlic, chilli and peppers; she would make his favourite chilli and rice for tea – that would hopefully keep him in a good mood. Before long, the mince was frying and she tossed in everything else whilst waiting for the pan of water to boil. At least it would be almost ready by the time he came back in, so he wouldn’t be mad because he was hungry. Her own stomach started groaning. She hadn’t eaten much apart from nibbling on the sandwich earlier and for once he hadn’t even moaned about her leaving most of that.

  Whilst the tea was cooking she went into the living room and switched the television on to his favourite programme. She didn’t understand why but she still loved him, even though he hurt her, and she wanted him to be happy – because when he was happy he didn’t get as violent. Therefore, as much as possible, she would do things to make him smile. He was so much fun when he was happy; they used to have such good times when they first met. It was just a shame that the anger seemed to be a much bigger part of him now than the love and laughter he rarely showed.

  As she turned to walk out of the room the television, which she had just turned on, switched off. She turned around and stared at the black screen which seconds ago had had Sky News plastered across it. Thinking that she hadn’t pressed the on button right in, she walked back and pressed it again – the newsreader filled the screen. This time she got as far as the hallway when she heard the click of the power button being pressed in to turn the screen off; whipping her head around, the screen was black once more. Jo frowned, wondering if the television was broken – that was all she needed. Apart from taking photographs, the television was his life and he would be in a foul mood if it wasn’t working. No doubt he would blame her and then her life wouldn’t be worth living.

  She strode back in, this time using the control to turn the damn thing on. It came on but this time it was on a completely different channel. It was on one of the documentary channels and there was what looked like a dead body laid out on a steel mortuary table. Jo shivered; she hated these sorts of programmes
. A small voice whispered in her head… I’ll tell you why you hate them. It’s because one day you’re going to end up on one if you don’t get away from him. She shook her head, blocking the whispering out that was echoing inside her brain. She pressed the remote to put the news back on but it wouldn’t turn over; it was stuck. She shook it then slammed it against the palm of her hand, but nothing. She took the batteries out and reinserted them… still it wouldn’t move off the damn autopsy programme. Angry now, she bent down and switched the socket off, so finally the television turned off. Cursing it, she was walking out of the room towards the kitchen to check on the chilli when a loud noise filled the entire house. It was so loud she put her hands across her ears. It was coming from the living room. Her heart raced; she didn’t want to go back in there but if he came in and saw that she’d broken the television she would pay for it. Making herself go back into the living room, she stepped into the doorway and shivered – it now felt like the inside of an ice box in there, when moments ago it had been warm. She stared at the black and white fuzzy screen which was emitting white noise so loud she couldn’t hear herself think. Goose bumps broke out all over her arms; as she forced herself to walk toward the television, she heard a voice call her name. It wasn’t his voice. This was a woman’s voice and it was coming from inside the television. Her feet did not want to move any nearer to it, but she didn’t have much choice; if he heard the racket he would come storming in and go mental with her. Running the last few steps she yanked the plug from the socket and the room was silent once more. Her hands shaking, she heard the door from the workshop which led into the kitchen slam shut.

  ‘Jo…’

  She was afraid to tell him what had just happened because he would think she was lying, and if he thought she was lying it didn’t bear thinking about what he’d do. Instead she pushed the last five minutes to the back of her mind and ran to the kitchen where she greeted him with a huge smile.

  ‘Are you hungry? Tea is almost ready. Sorry I fell asleep for so long.’

  He hadn’t answered straight away. ‘Have I got time for a quick shower?’

  ‘Yes, I think so. No, you have, you definitely have. I’ll just turn the rice down.’

  He’d walked past her and gone upstairs for a shower and she’d breathed out a sigh of relief that he wasn’t angry with her for a change. When he came back down they’d eaten in silence and when he’d told her he was tired and going to bed she’d followed him upstairs, afraid to be alone downstairs even though she wasn’t tired and didn’t want to be with him. She had no choice, because she didn’t know what was going on and she was terrified of her own house.

  Jo didn’t sleep all night. She tossed and turned – afraid that if she did doze off the woman from the mirror or the voice from the television would haunt her dreams. Finally, when it was light enough and she couldn’t stand listening to him any longer, she crept from the bed and went downstairs; he was still snoring. She picked up the phone with hands that were shaking so much she couldn’t press the buttons on the keypad and had to redial twice. There was something wrong with her – ever since he’d pushed her to the floor and she’d hit her head on the concrete yesterday lunchtime, things had been happening to her that had never happened before. She would make an appointment with the doctor and tell him that she’d fallen off her ladders whilst cleaning the windows. That should be enough to ward off any awkward questions. All she wanted was reassurance that she wasn’t losing her mind. Pots didn’t shake and televisions didn’t turn on of their own accord – well, they didn’t before he made her lose consciousness, and she wanted to know why they were now. The receptionist was surprisingly helpful which threw her off course; usually the woman had a brusque manner that made grown men quake in their shoes when they were speaking to her at the desk in the surgery. She couldn’t tell Heath she had a doctor’s appointment – he would go mad – so she would have to say she needed to nip into the village for some more coffee and milk. Opening the fridge door she poured some of the milk down the sink, leaving enough for his cereal but nothing more – at least now she had a good excuse to leave the house, even if she did have to wear sunglasses.

  ***

  Mrs Bates turned to the rowdy group of teenagers, lifting her hands in the air.

  ‘Now I know you are all quite capable of walking through the woods without getting lost; at least I hope you are. I also know that you lot make more noise than a gaggle of geese so if you do get separated from each other we’re bound to hear you. But – and this is a big but – look out for each other. This is part of your exam so let’s do it right. I hate walking, and if you mess it up and we have to come back and do all this again I’m going to not be very happy with you all. Understood?’

  They all nodded and chorused.

  ‘Yes, Miss Bates.’

  ‘Good, now let’s get going. The sooner we start the sooner it will be dinnertime. Scott, I’m watching you and Becky – if you think it’s a good idea to have a crafty fag behind a tree and I won’t know about it, you’re wrong. So don’t go sneaking off for one and setting the woods on fire with your dog ends.’

  Scott, Becky and Jessica all giggled.

  ‘As if we would, Miss. You know we wouldn’t do anything like that.’

  Miss Bates rolled her eyes at them but smiled. There was something about the bad kids that she liked. She always had done. Some of the kids in this class had had the worst upbringings imaginable. Most of their parents were addicts, criminals, dealers, or just plain useless and didn’t care for their kids. Left to fend for themselves from an early age, at least the kids had one thing going for them – they were self-sufficient and streetwise. She found it far more rewarding working with these teenagers than with the ones in the private school where she’d worked previously, where the kids were rude, arrogant and selfish. These kids might have been dragged up but most of them were honest, polite, looked out for each other and generally did as she told them.

  The walk leader nodded and they all heaved their heavy backpacks on and set off walking. Becky – who had decided to wear her new trainers with a thick black heel, the ugliest shoes Miss Bates had ever seen – soon began to lag behind. The ground was soft and the heels kept sinking into the soil.

  ‘Trust you, Becky. Why didn’t you put your old skanky trainers on? You’re going to ruin them and we’re not going to get finished until teatime at the rate you’re walking.’

  ‘Fuck off with the others then, Scott. No one told you to wait for me. I didn’t think it would be like this, did I? I thought there would be a path like the one in our woods back home – not soil, mud and leaves for ever.’

  Jessica began to giggle.

  ‘Listen to you both, arguing like some married couple. I think it’s really sweet.’

  Scott gave her the finger and Becky grinned. They could see a house through the trees.

  ‘Do you think we should go there and ask if we can use the toilet?’

  ‘Are you serious, Becky? We’ve only just set off, and not only can you not walk, but you want to pee already.’

  The rest of the group was already quite some way ahead of them.

  ‘When you got to go, you got to go.’

  ‘What’s wrong with squatting behind a tree?’

  ‘Eugh, what’s right with squatting behind a tree. It’s all right for you lot; men can just whip it out and piss anywhere.’

  Scott stood shaking his head. As much as he fancied Becky she was a complete pain in the arse. Jessica, who thought the whole thing was hilarious, was still smiling.

  ‘Just go behind that big tree, Becky. I’ll stand guard and make sure Scott doesn’t try and perv on you. You don’t know who lives in that house; it might be some crazy cat lady or a creep.’

  Becky knew her friend was right; she broke away from them and began heading towards the tree. Scott was shouting something after her and she turned to give him the finger; missing her footing she fell forwards, landed on the soft ground and dislodged a moun
d of leaves. She began cursing, as the sound of her friends’ laughter filled the air around her. There was something white sticking out of the ground in front of her. She looked at it, trying to get her mind to process exactly what it was. When it finally decided that what it was seeing was real, she opened her mouth to scream and didn’t stop until Miss Bates and the others were standing next to her.

  ‘What on earth is the matter, Becky. Have you hurt yourself?’

  They were all too busy looking at her to notice the skeletal hand that was sticking up from the ground. She lifted her finger and pointed to it.

  ‘What is that?’

  Miss Bates looked down at it and felt her blood run cold. She looked at Scott.

  ‘Is this some kind of joke, Scott? Because if it is it’s not very funny.’

  He shook his head.

  ‘No miss, I swear down. She wanted a pee and was going behind that tree, I’ve been standing with Jessica the whole time.’

  Jess nodded in agreement with what her friend had just said. The man who was leading the walk bent down to take a closer look, prodding at the bones with a stick.

  ‘It seems real, but how would someone’s hand get out here?’

  Scott pulled Becky up from the floor and she grabbed onto him.

  ‘Miss, if there’s a hand – there might be an entire body under there.’

  ‘Yes, you’re right, Scott. There could well be. I think we need to move away now and I’ll phone the police. Before I do I’m asking you all one last time – do any of you know anything about this? I’m not angry, but if it’s some toy Halloween prop that you got at the pound shop then I need to know because I don’t want to look like an idiot and phone the police for nothing.’

  Nobody spoke. They all shook their heads at her. Most of them were still staring down at the hand with morbid fascination.

  ‘Right, then I’m trusting you on this – I’ll phone the police. I think you should all go over there and sit down. I have a feeling we might be here for a while yet.’