‘Wow — look at that!’ murmured Nettie. ‘CRACKERS! Come over to me NOW. Come and see this!’
Ellie was grateful that Nettie had stayed calm and teacherly. She was feeling quite unsettled herself. Even though the cliff fall was small and a good half a kilometre away from them, it was still startling to see it happen.
‘SNAPPERS!’ she shouted. ‘Everyone to me! Come and see what’s happened!’
The kids all mobbed them, agog to see the last bit of the cliff slide.
‘Does anyone know what causes the cliffs around here to slide sometimes?’ asked Nettie. A sea of hands went up.
‘It’s coastal erosion,’ said a boy in the CRACKERS.
‘That’s right,’ said Nettie. ‘The sea keeps pummelling these beaches and over time it makes the cliffs unstable, so sometimes they fall down.’
‘Will they fall down on us?’ asked one worried child, huddling close to Ellie.
‘No, we’re fine,’ said Ellie, giving her a reassuring head pat. ‘As long as we stay on the Buntin’s part of the beach, between the two Buntin’s flags, we’re quite safe. And you know — it’s quite exciting, isn’t it, to see a bit of coastal erosion happening right in front of our eyes!’
The subsidence had ended now, leaving just a drifting cloud of sand dust in the air.
‘It’s time to count the lucky stones!’ called Nettie. 'And see who’s won!’
It wasn’t until the stones were counted, the CRACKERS were declared winners, and they were all heading back up to the holiday village, that Ellie remembered what little Chloe had said.
‘The man’s making the cliff fall down.’ She peered back along the cliff top but couldn’t see any man - or anyone at all. When they reached the Buntin’s Children’s Theatre and everyone was safely counted back inside, she sought out the little girl.
‘Chloe,’ she asked, quietly. ‘What did you mean when you said the man was making the cliff fall down?’
Chloe was distracted by Uncle Bobby stepping onto the stage with a section of colourful props. ‘He was hitting it with a pipe,’ she said. ‘And he was jumping up and down. He was silly.’
‘Did you see who it was?’ Ellie asked, feeling a prickling sensation across her shoulders.
Chloe shrugged. ‘It was just a man.’
‘Was it a Buntin’s Bluecoat?’
‘I don’t know. It was a man,’ she said and then ran to join her friends.
It was only when Ellie went back to the chalet to change her T-shirt that she began to make a connection about the identity of the jumping man. She had seen someone jumping by the cliffs before, hadn’t she? Backflip Barney, working through his routines in the grassy field above the beach. Often with batons or a unicycle and sometimes a pole, which he used for balance when he rope-walked. She felt a surge of worry. What if he’d fallen down with the landslip? What if he was lying there now? Oh god… not another death!
But as soon as she’d flung the chalet door open to see if he was around, she spotted him heading off up the path towards the pavilion. She breathed out. He wasn’t dead then. She felt the relief pass quickly, though. Right now Nettie was telling the police her suspicions about Barney.
And for all she knew, Nettie was right to do that. She followed Barney at a distance and decided not to talk to him. She wouldn’t be able to keep the guilt off her face.
A frog hopped across the path in front of her. She blinked and shook her head. This was such a weird day.
22
‘You’re good all along the north-eastern stretch of the river,’ Lucas said.
‘That is just what I was hoping you’d tell me,’ said Grace, peering at the map he’d marked, and then along the river bank as it meandered in a picturesque fashion between verdant — but, crucially, not soggy — meadows.
‘I’m nearly done,’ said Lucas. ‘I can probably finish mapping the rest before the end of the day… or just stop now if you have all you need to know about siting your lodges.’
‘Oh no — I think we should have your complete mapping,’ said Grace, quickly. Lucas caught the look Grant threw him. The project manager was no fool and hadn’t missed the way her ladyship had stroked the dowser’s arm. Lucas was careful not to meet his eye.
He was keen to get away, though. As much as he’d enjoyed his time with Grace last night, he didn’t want to repeat it. There was something more urgent he needed to do and that was to get back to the holiday village and speak to Kate.
‘I am going to need to get away soon,’ he said. ‘There’s someone I have to see in Suffolk around lunch time.’
‘Oh,’ said Grace, cottoning on immediately. ‘You must definitely do that. Just come back afterwards, yes? For an update..?’ She winked at him, clearly agog.
‘Thanks… I will,’ he said, folding his annotated map away and putting it into his backpack along with the rods. He felt a tremble in both the rods and Sid, around his neck, as he did so. It made him freeze for a moment and turn abruptly to the south east.
‘What’s up?’ asked Grace, still eyeing him closely.
‘Um… something just… shifted,’ he said, frowning as a knot began to tie itself somewhere in his belly.
‘Oh lord — don’t tell me it’s another sinkhole!’ groaned Grant. ‘There’s only so many swimming pools we can put in!’
‘No,’ Lucas forced a smile across his face as he shook his head. ‘No… it’s further off than that. I’m just picking up something remote… like an aftershock. It’s a good distance away… on the coast, I think.’
‘You are sooo spooky,’ said Grace, tucking her arm through his. ‘Can you read minds too..?
‘No,’ he laughed. ‘Well, not unless you’re thinking something really obvious.’ The look on her face was enough for anyone to read, dowser or not.
‘I’ll get back to the
