‘I have to be practical, I have a toddler.’ I tidied my shirt. ‘Come on.’
We tiptoed back out of the house and into the squalling rain, which I’d nearly forgotten about as it had been drowned out by the blood pounding in my ears while Ross had kissed me. So the violence of the storm came as a surprise all over again.
‘This way,’ he pulled me towards the almost invisible path through the woods.
‘Shouldn’t we drive?’ I looked over my shoulder to my car.
‘The road is flooded further up. We can’t get through in a car.’
I stared at him. ‘How did you get here then? Is your car up at the office?’
I got an almost pitying look before the wind threw his hair into his eyes and he had to blink and scrape it back. ‘I come in the other way.’
So maybe I wasn’t as practical as all that, I thought, as we began stepping our way single file along the tiny crushed-twig path. Ross stopped now and then to smile at me over his shoulder and the smiles had the twinkle of someone who is actually enjoying themselves, which made me wonder about any masochistic tendencies he may have, because this wasdreadful. Branches pinged and fired water streams up into our faces or down our legs, any spare water came at us from above and although the darkness was giving way to a filtered grey sort of light, this wasn’t helping in the illumination stakes. It was like wading through wet gauze. There were still no birds. Nothing sang or tweeted; no cloud of black skirled overhead or flapped up from trees. Not one single ‘kaa-kaa’ intruded on the sound of snapping twigs, squelching mud and occasional swearing.
My mind was wandering all over the place while my body was trying to go in a straight line.That was a hell of a kiss. I hope Tilly isn’t driving Tia mad. Is David going to pop up out of the woodwork and appear in front of me like some Marian apparition? Where is Isobel? Are we going to be confronted by a shed bulging with birds? I hope Tilly has eaten her breakfast. Maybe I should have sent her with an apple? Why does Ross look sexier now than he did before? What the HELL did I just step in?The mental processes were almost more exhausting than the walk and I was relieved to arrive at the far side of the wood. The rain was dragging a veil of cloud over the distant fields and the horses were standing in the shelter of the hedge, their backs to the wind. Here on the edge, the wind had got more of a hold and was flittering the branches like a solid force.
‘I can’t see her.’ Ross squelched towards the site office.
‘She might be asleep,’ I pointed out. ‘It is ridiculously early.’
‘She might have come over last night. I told her the place would be left open for her and we didn’t make definite plans. I was coming over today to help her pack up and get her stuff moved but she might have decided to do it herself when the storm hit. To have a non-leaking roof and electricity and everything.’
We stared at the site-office-cum-shed. Its two smallish windows weren’t covered with feathers and the walls weren’t notably bulging with the presence of a flock of hell birds.
‘She might also have sent the birds into cover.’ I held a hand in front of my face to try to stop the rain getting in my eyes. ‘I suppose they can’t fly very well in this wind.’
Slowly, as though we feared the shed might rise up onto a pair of crow’s feet and run off to hide in the wood, we advanced and Ross knocked on the door. ‘Hello? Isobel? Are you in there?’
The knocks sounded hollowly through the structure and the lack of movement continued.
‘I’m going to come in, if that’s all right.’ Ross went on monologuing to the resolute silence and I followed closely behind him as he opened the door.
Isobel was not in the shed. Ross and I stared at one another.
‘Where the hell is she?’ I stepped inside as though I couldn’t quite believe that Isobel wasn’t hiding under the little table that Ross had left, with the kettle and a packet of biscuits on it. Then, as I turned around, I saw something tucked into one corner. ‘She’s been here. Look, that’s her tin box.’
We both stood and looked at the box as the grey dawn light edged past us to brighten the interior of the shed.
‘Why would she leave that here?’ Ross went over and picked it up. ‘Unless she’s just popped out for a minute.’
‘To where?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe she… No, you’re right. She knows we’re going to be looking for her.’ Cautiously, as though there might be a sudden explosion, Ross lifted the lid of the box. ‘Teabags, biscuits… Oh.’
I crept in closer and looked over his shoulder but couldn’t see whatever it was that had made him stop and go very still. ‘Ross?’
Slowly he turned, holding out the small box which held sugar lumps. ‘This has got your name on it.’
‘What? An old box?’ I took it from him. ‘What should I do with it?’
‘Open it?’
We stared at each other again. ‘I’m a bit afraid to,’ I confessed.
‘Well, I don’t think there’s a body in there.’ Ross looked at the box, about ten centimetres to each side. ‘Unless it’s a bodypart.’
‘Don’t.’ Cautious again I gently levered off the lid. Inside was the velvet bag of Tilly’s ‘balls’ and a folded piece of paper with my name on one side. I unfolded the paper and inside was a smaller piece folded into four with Ross’s name in large, heavy letters written on it. I handed it to him and tilted my sheet towards the window to have enough light to read it.
