‘A man?’ Maddie’s eyes widen.
I cough, clearing my throat. ‘I think so,’ I go on, as the kettle rumbles behind me. ‘Though I can’t be sure. They were wearing a mask.’ My stomach tips as I recall the eerie sight. ‘The same mask we saw on the statue.’
‘This is far too freaky,’ Thomas says, running his hand over his beard.
I turn back to the kitchen, leaving them with my revelation, my thumb stinging like crazy, and move closer to the window. Outside, trees are almost masked by the heavy snowfall, and I lift onto my toes and lean over the counter, my nose touching the glass. I see faces everywhere; faces I know aren’t there, but still scare me. I drag down the blind, my whole body trembling.
It takes a while before I’m still, and calm enough to make hot drinks. But once I’ve managed it, I bring the tray through to the lounge with a bowl of sugar and a jug of milk, and place it on the coffee table. And as everyone thanks me, I kneel down on the floor close to the burner.
We sip our drinks in silence, all deep in our own thoughts, until the shrill sound of a phone ringing pierces the quiet. It’s coming from Rosamund’s pocket. She pulls it out, eyes wide with shock as she looks at the screen. ‘It’s Neil,’ she whispers. ‘How the hell have I got a signal?’ She presses the phone to her ear, and takes a breath. ‘Neil?’ A beat. ‘Calm down, please, we’ll find her, I know we will.’
‘Put him on speaker,’ Dad says, his tone assertive, and Rosamund does as he says, and places her phone on the table.
‘The police said you’re stuck up there,’ Neil is saying through a crackle on the line, talking fast, his voice tense.
My mind darts back to just before Mum died, when she gave me a letter to post to him, but the thought evaporates as he goes on.
‘They said Elise is missing, and Ruth’s been murdered.’ We all stare down at the phone, and even though we can barely make out his words, I hear he’s close to tears.
‘We’ll find her, Neil,’ Rosamund says. ‘We think she could be hiding …’
Silence drags on the line for a moment, before he continues. ‘What are you doing in the highlands of Scotland, anyway, Rosamund? Elise should be at school. Christ!’
Rosamund leans forward, her arm embracing her stomach, tears rolling down her face. ‘I had to come, Neil. And I didn’t tell you, because I knew you wouldn’t understand. But Elise did. She said she wanted to come too.’
‘But she loves school, Rosamund.’ The line buzzes and crackles. ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me?’
‘I don’t know. I’m so sorry.’
‘I can’t hear you – speak up,’ he says, raising his voice. ‘The line’s dreadful.’
‘Elise understood I wanted closure, Neil.’ Rosamund turns, her eyes meeting mine, as she dashes tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. ‘She knew I needed to see Robert and Amelia and Thomas. How I needed their forgiveness.’
‘Neil,’ Dad cuts in. ‘Robert Taylor here. Listen, what are the cops going to do? Are they coming up here anytime soon?’
‘Robert.’ Neil sounds wrong-footed, and I suspect he hadn’t realised he was on speakerphone – that others could hear the conversation. ‘Inspector Beynon said they are having difficulty reaching you. The roads are treacherous, but the ploughs are out, and the coastland rescue helicopter will be heading up there once it’s stopped snowing.’
‘They need to get up here as soon as possible.’ Dad’s voice is calm, but his eyes are red, his knees bouncing.
‘Don’t you think I know that?’ Neil yells.
‘All right, mate. Calm down.’
‘Yeah, that’s easy for you to say, your daughter isn’t missing.’
Dad lowers his head, and covers his mouth, as though holding in the words he wants to say.
‘Christ,’ Neil says. ‘Sorry, Robert, I didn’t think, it’s just—’
‘Every second is important when a child goes missing,’ Dad goes on, and I know he’s struggling. ‘Get on to Inspector Beynon again. Get help, Neil. We’re depending on you.’
The line goes dead, and Rosamund picks up her phone, looks at the screen. ‘I’ve got a text as well,’ she says, furrowing her forehead as she presses the screen. ‘Oh God.’
‘What?’ I ask, and she hands me the phone:
I told you you shouldn’t have brought Elise to Drummondale House, but you didn’t listen.
*
After a long spell of quiet, Rosamund rises, and places her empty cup on the table. ‘I don’t really want to go back to my cottage,’ she says. ‘But I need to collect my holdall. I’m lost without it.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ I say, rising too. Any excuse to get away from the confines of this overcrowded lounge.
‘Me too.’ Maddie is up and putting on her ski suit before we can say anything. But I’m pleased she’s coming. I want to trust Rosamund, trust everyone here, but one of them could be a killer.
The three of us walk across the untrodden snow towards Honeysuckle Cottage, and as we get closer, the thought of going back inside seems like a dreadful idea.
‘Are you sure you can’t get by without your holdall?’ I say to Rosamund, who is ahead now, taking long strides.
She glances back. ‘I need my iron tablets, and my moisturising cream for my stomach – I dread getting stretch marks.’
I’m taken aback that she can even think about stretch marks at a time like this, but I stay quiet.
Once inside the cottage, Rosamund heads up the stairs at quite a speed, as though she’s forgotten about the blood, about what happened up there.
Maddie and I stay near the door. ‘Is there a lot of blood?’ she says, her eyes skittering around the room.
‘A fair bit, yes. It’s OK, there’s none down here.’
‘It’s so awful isn’t it?’ Her
