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‘Hello? Are you OK?’
She felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred and the light of the sun was painful. She squinted, and made out the shape of a woman.
The woman squatted next to her.
She was young, with dark hair in a layered modern cut. A wolf cut.
Mary flinched away.
It was her. The woman from Friday, the one who had also read the note. This could not be a coincidence.
It had been her all along, and now she was here to end this. To hurt Mary.
‘No,’ Mary said. ‘Please, no.’
The woman backed away.
‘It’s OK,’ she said. ‘Everything’s OK . I’m here to help.’
Mary looked at her again, ready to try to run, to flee. Maybe she had been drugged; perhaps there was something on the paper, something powerful and fast-acting, but she would try. She would give it her best shot. This was, after all, self-preservation.
The woman leaned forward and her face came into view. Her eyes were brown and her face was lined with age. Mary’s adrenaline faded, and she felt herself relax. It was not the woman from Friday; it was someone else, someone safe.
‘Are you OK?’ the woman said.
Mary shook her head. It was hard to get her words out. ‘I felt dizzy.’
‘Can I call someone?’
Mary nodded at her bag, which was on the ground next to her. ‘My phone.’
The woman reached in and took out her phone. ‘What’s the passcode?’
‘My face.’
The woman pressed the screen, then held it up to Mary’s face. ‘Who should I call?’
‘Ryan. In my most recent.’
The woman swiped the screen a few times, then lifted the phone to her ear.
‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Are you Ryan?’
There was a pause. ‘I’m with … I think, your wife? We’re on the green. She’s not doing too well. Can you come here?’
She put the phone down.
‘I’m Tanya,’ she said. ‘I spoke to your husband. He’ll be here any minute.’ She took a bottle of water from her bag. ‘Here. Have a drink.’
Mary recoiled, still uncertain of who this was, and mistrustful of the water.
‘It’s unopened,’ Tanya said. ‘Look.’
Mary took the bottle and twisted off the cap. She sipped the water. She could feel her panic receding, feel the strength returning to her muscles.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’m feeling a bit better.’
‘What happened?’ Tanya said.
