I found myself a small alcove down a hallway, outside of another door where I thought the meeting was being held. I was hidden enough that if anyone entered from the direction I’d come from, they wouldn’t notice me. It wasn’t ideal, but there wasn’t anywhere else I could go where I could still hear what was going on.
I held my breath, worried I might be heard because my heart was beating so hard and fast, but the chatter and laughter from behind the door was so loud, I needn’t have feared. Some of the voices I recognised.
Diane Bevan. Her laughter could be heard from a mile away. Unmistakably her.
William Davies. The local butcher who always added an extra sausage into the bag whenever I bought some for dad to cook for dinner. He was also the guy who’d given me a fright that evening at the tree. Strange how on one hand he could be so nice towards me, and then scare me half to death while attempting to deliver a message. I wondered what the message was about and whether it had anything to do with the note my dad had read, and then drunk himself into a coma over.
I strained to hear any other voices, but they blended together too much for me to pick them out. I didn’t think there were any more people. Just the three of them. But above them all was my dad’s voice. Commanding. Direct.
‘Thank you all for coming. Let’s sit.’
‘Hang on,’ said William Davies. ‘Where’s our fourth?’
‘She’s on her way,’ replied my dad. Ah, so they were expecting someone else.
‘Is everything ready?’ asked Diane.
A long silence followed.
‘You know it needs to be done,’ William finally said.
‘She’s just a kid.’
‘She may be, but she’s the only one who can finally break the curse. Don’t forget, Frank, it can only be a member of the Hammel family. Unless you’d like to volunteer?’
‘I know but …’
I didn’t hear anything else because a shadow loomed over me and I stared up at the face of the woman I assumed they were waiting for. Their fourth. Holy shit. It was Ceri Griffiths.
‘You’re not supposed to be here, young lady,’ she said.
I stood up, acting much braver than I felt. ‘I was just …’
‘Never mind. It looks like we’ll have to bring our plans forward.’
My eyes widened as she lunged forward and grabbed hold of my hair, tugging me towards the door. She shoved it open, then pushed me through it. I shrieked as I tumbled to the floor in front of my dad, who froze on the spot.
‘I tried to warn you,Cariad,’ he said as tearsfilled his eyes.
Chapter 40
STEPHEN
Detective Williams lowers Stephen onto a kitchen chair, checks to ensure he’s not about to topple off it, and then turns to fetch a tea towel from a nearby drawer. He runs it under the tap, squeezes out the excess water and hands it over.
‘Your nose is bleeding,’ he says.
Stephen holds the towel against his nose. His pale shirt is stained with blood too, droplets that landed there during his trip back from the village in the back of the barman’s car. Frank had offered to drive him, but he’d already had too much to drink, so had helped him into the car instead, chuckling that it was never a good idea to try and keep up with him while out drinking. Stephen bit his lip to stop his reply spilling from his lips. Frank had been the one who’d plied him with drinks in the first place! But little did Frank know that Stephen’s dizzy spell had nothing to do with the alcohol he’d ingested. Not entirely, anyway.
Stephen doesn’t say a word for a moment while Detective Williams makes them each a cup of coffee. For Stephen, it’s too late for caffeine, but hopefully it will ease the pain and confusion in his head. Anything to be able to see and think straight.
Stephen waits until Detective Williams places a cup in front of each of them and sits down. ‘So … care to explain why your nose is bleeding?’
‘I hit my head.’
‘Your nose is not your head, Mr Mallow.’
Stephen pulls the towel away and looks at the bright red blood soaking into the pattern. ‘Sorry about your towel,’ he says. ‘I spoke to Frank. I drank four fingers of whisky quicker than normal, but I wasn’t feeling quite right even before that.’
