Ash, who’d been staring at his phone, shook his head. “According to Google maps, this is the only property round here.”
“How the hell did they get down there?” Arthur said. “Look, that path has fallen into the sea.”
At that moment, a terrified human shriek sounded from the cottage below.
“Nova!” Arthur and Ash cried together.
“We need to find a way of getting there!” Arthur said.
“I’ve got some rope in my car, one of us could abseil down.” Dan rushed to the back of his car and pulled open his boot.
“Good idea. We should tie it round the car to anchor it.”
Dan pulled the rope out and hurried back to Arthur. Together they began to untangle it, Arthur’s heart pounding in his chest.
“Wait, where’s Ash?” Dan said.
Arthur looked up, but there was no sign of the boy. He ran back to the edge of the cliff and then let out a cry of his own. The teenager was halfway down to the cottage and had reached the point where the path disappeared. He turned to face the cliff and began to edge his way across the gap, using tiny crags in the rock as footholds.
“Jesus, he’s going to kill himself!” Arthur groaned.
Dan had already taken off after Ash, almost slipping in his haste. Arthur began to follow them, taking it slower. He’d always been nimble; a lifetime spent working around cows taught you to stay light on your feet. But he was eighty-one now, with creaking hips and dodgy knees, and he’d never had a head for heights. Still, like Anthony Bridgerton chasing after Kate Sheffield’s out-of-control carriage, he had to get to that cottage and save Nova and Phyllis from danger.
“Here, Arthur, take my hand.” Dan had reached the other side of the destroyed path, and clinging onto the rock face, he stretched out his arm toward Arthur. “You’re tall enough that you should be able to jump across.”
Arthur clasped hold of the teenager’s hand and, muttering a prayer of love to Esi, he leaped across the gap. For a second his foot met with nothing but air, and he felt his stomach drop as he started to tilt forward. But Dan had a tight grasp on his hand, and he pulled Arthur back until he was on the far side of the path.
“Thanks,” Arthur gasped, his voice shaking. “Now get down there and help Ash.”
Dan scrambled on. Up ahead, Arthur could see that Ash had reached the flat rock by the cottage and was running toward the front door. But before he got there, the door burst open, and Michael Watkins came staggering out.
The man was almost unrecognizable from the last time Arthur had seen him at the book club. His clothes were tatty and he’d visibly lost weight, although he was still broader than Ash and could easily overpower him. Arthur held his breath, waiting for the moment Michael saw Ash and flattened him. But Michael seemed momentarily disorientated, squinting in the bright sunlight, and hadn’t yet spotted the teenager. Ash had spotted him though, and Arthur watched as the teenager pulled back his right arm and threw a clumsy punch at Michael’s head. The older man let out a shout of surprise and fell to the ground as Ash leaped on top of him. For a moment the two of them struggled, then Dan rushed to join Ash, dropping to his knees and pinning Michael’s legs down. The man clearly realized he was defeated as he stopped struggling and went still.
Arthur felt his way down the last few meters of path and hurried over to the boys.
“Get inside and find them,” Ash shouted, and Arthur rushed past them into the cottage. It was dark in here, the air much cooler than outside, and there was a strong smell of salty rot.
“Nova! Phyllis!”
“Arthur?” Nova shouted back.
He followed the sound of her voice through the small kitchen and up a narrow flight of stairs to the top floor. A bedroom door was open, and he rushed inside, dreading what he was about to see.
Nova was kneeling on the floor, Craddock next to her. They were both leaning over a body.
Phyllis’s body.
“Oh my God, no!” Arthur staggered and felt tears spring to his eyes. “We tried to get here in time. I’m so sorry we’re too—”
“For goodness’ sake, what are you waffling on about?”
Phyllis’s distinctive voice emerged from the body, and Arthur gasped.
“You’re alive!”
“Of course I’m alive, you daft bugger. Now help me up, both of you.”
“I don’t think you should move yet, you had a nasty fall,” Nova said, but the old woman waved her arms in the air until Arthur and Nova helped her up.
