No. Despite the feeling that another panic attack might swallow her up at any second, she wasn’t going anywhere. She was going to see this through. It was time to get the answers she could no longer avoid.
‘What’s the time?’ she asked Ben.
‘Coming up for half five.’
She nodded. Only an hour now. She could hear the seconds counting down, ticking loudly inside her head. They walked up the gatehouse that led onto the island and, with the absence of anything else to do, decided to go and look around the castle to kill some time. Anything was better than standing around just waiting.
The inside of the building was just what you’d expect – suits of armour by the dozen, spears on the wall, tapestries, and hefty oak four-poster beds, one of which Henry VIII was supposed to have slept in. Alice was happy to allow herself to be distracted by it all, but then they entered a long, panelled gallery at the far side of the castle. It had a vast stone fireplace and tall windows that looked out over the moat, which was as still as a sheet of glass, the only imperfection the V-shaped ripples trailing out from behind a pair of black swans.
It was easily one of the most picturesque rooms in the castle, but Alice went cold all over. ‘Now, this is one of the locations in the castle where we hold weddings,’ a guide directing a tour began to say. ‘It can seat up to—’
And, just like that, Alice was striding away. She walked out of the banqueting hall, down the corridor and out onto the neat lawn catching the last glowing rays of the setting sun.A few moments later, Ben appeared beside her.
‘Just … needed some fresh air,’ she said, still not sure if that had been the reason for her swift exit, but she was awfully glad to feel the chill of the February breeze.
He nodded, and she knew he understood why she had the jitters. ‘It’s almost six. Do you want to cut the hanging around and go and stake out the barn?’
‘That’s a good plan,’ she replied. ‘People might arrive early, and the sooner we find someone, the better.’
They made their way off the castle island and, following the guidance of a signpost, took a path up the hill behind the castle. ‘There it is,’ Alice said when they’d rounded a wooded area. She could see the rough, dark-stained wood of the Tithe Barn just opposite a cluster of stone buildings. While it looked pretty ancient at first glance, when they got closer, it became clear this was a modern structure built with traditional techniques. It had a high, vaulted roof, and a whole side of the building was constructed of timber and glass instead of overlapping wooden planks.
‘There’s someone inside,’ Alice said, as they reached the large glazed doors. ‘Looks like a member of staff.’ The woman wore a skirt and waistcoat the same shade of burgundy as the banner on the castle brochure, and she seemed to be inspecting the layout of tables and chairs.
Alice pulled her coat tighter around her neck. ‘Shall we ask if we can wait inside?’ Now the sun had set, the temperature had dropped considerably. ‘I have the invitation with me – I can show them the note about the rehearsal. I wouldn’t have that if I wasn’t supposed to be here, would I? And, look …’she pulled the brochure out of her bag. ‘Hadsborough Castle – the home of chivalry and beauty.That’s got to count for something, hasn’t it?’
Sadly, it turned out to mean nothing.
‘Nope,’ the woman inside said when Alice began her story and waved the crumpled wedding invitation at her. ‘No one attends out-of-hours events except with the proper email confirmation. We can’t have Tom, Dick and Harry running around the castle grounds of an evening, doing what they like.’
‘But … You don’t understand! I know the bride and groom. I might evenbethe bride. We phoned up yesterday, and the woman on the phone told us the bride had gone missing – that’s me!’
The starchy looking middle-aged woman, her hair still stuck in the nineties, by the looks of the amount of hairspray on it, gave Alice a disbelieving look. ‘Well, if you were the bride, madam, you’d have one of them emails, wouldn’t you?’
Alice shot a look at Ben then launched into the entire story of the last week, starting with the bus stop in Invergarrig and ending up with arriving at the castle, and the longer she talked, the more sceptical the woman’s expression became. ‘Nice try,’ she said when Alice finally ground to a halt, then she unhooked a walkie-talkie from her waist. ‘Security?’ she said, ‘Is that Mason …? Can you come to the Tithe Barn? I’ve got a situation …’
Ben looked across at Alice. He could just about make out her face in the moonlight. She pressed a finger to her lips. ‘Shh …’
They both went still. Yew twigs dug into his face as he hunkered down in a corner of the castle’s maze. Alice had been distraught when a bald-headed pit bull of a security guard had escorted them away from the Tithe Barn. What was she going to do if she couldn’t get answers tonight? she’d said. She had no home, no family … Not even a full name of her own. It had to be now.
After looking at the map of the castle grounds, Ben had a pretty good idea of the layout in his head, so he’d managed to convince ‘officer’ Mason they wouldn’t need an escort all the way to Car Park C. Once they were right on top of it, the security guard had glowered at them and had turned back, at which point, instead of making their way to their fake car and fake driving off, they’d ducked into the maze next door.
Had they come far enough inside not to be discovered? He hoped so. The plan was to wait here until just before six-thirty, then they’d make their way back to the barn. Hopefully, they’d spot someone who could vouch for Alice before they ran into another security guard.
Just as he was starting to relax, there was the sound of boots on gravel, and they heard low, gruff voices getting closer. A torch beam swung through the air somewhere near the entrance to the maze. Alice looked at him with wide eyes and pressed herself further into the corner of the hedge. There was a clank of metal, and then the footsteps retreated, and it was quiet again.
‘That was close,’ Alice whispered when enough time had passed. ‘I thought they were going to come inside.’
Ben breathed out. ‘Me too.’
Once they were sure the security patrol had gone, they stood up.‘We could probably find our way all the way to the centre if we wanted to, even in the dark,’ Alice said, glancing in the direction of a high mound with a view over the maze – the reward for anyone that reached the middle. ‘Did you know that you can solve a maze by keeping one hand on the hedge at all times, either left or right, it doesn’t matter which, and then you just follow it around until you find the centre?’
Ben’s chest tightened. ‘Yes,’ he said, his words sounding a little strained, ‘I did hear that somewhere.’
‘Strange the things you remember, isn’t it?’ Alice said with a gentle chuckle. ‘I can’t remember where I live or if have any brothers and sisters, but I know that. I wonder where I learned it?’
All Ben could manage in return was a tight smile. While it warmed him to know that she’d remembered what he’d told her – more evidence that their time together hadn’t been completely erased from her mind – there wasn’t any point in mentioning it now.
But he couldn’t help thinking about the last time they’d been in a maze, how she’d walked up to him and kissed him. No fear in her eyes, no doubt in her heart. It was at that exact moment that he’d known he wasn’t going to fly off, never to see her again, that he’d find a way back to her. He sighed. If only history could repeat itself.
