Cast a Long Shadow by Katherine Stansfield

Author:Katherine Stansfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Honno Press
Published: 2022-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sheep. For the last dozen miles all she has seen is sheep.

‘They’ve got a lot of sheep there,’ Nick told her. ‘That’s about all I know about it. Oh, and they play rugby. And parts of it are supposed to be quite cool. The coast. The mountains.’

He was right about that. After she had left the motorway and passed through the old coal and steel towns, the slopes changed to smooth green hills. Lakes glided by, a wide river seethed to her right. Trees. So many trees…

He was right about the sheep, too. They were everywhere. Playing ‘king of the castle’ on the rocks. Chomping at the side of the road. Looking at her as she passed. But what she wanted now was a human being. Someone to tell her the way.

The last person she’d spoken to was the teenage girl in the garage just outside a town that looked as if it were carved from the mountain it sheltered beneath. Grey slate from grey slate – the last sign of civilisation before she reached her destination. She had filled the car up, then gone into the shop to pay. The girl was sitting behind the counter, watching her with round, glazed eyes, but saying nothing.

She took her map out, asked if the route she had inked there was right. A slight movement of the girl’s head. Did it mean yes or no? Perhaps the girl didn’t speak English. This was Welsh-speaking country up here, apparently. But still, surely they all had to learn both languages?

She turned and headed back out.

‘They don’t welcome strangers there,’ the girl called after her. ‘They like to be left alone. In peace. But yes, you’re on the right road.’

But was she still? After that last turning? She seemed to be heading into… Nowhere.

A ‘nowhere’ place, in the middle of nowhere. What else?

‘Do you really think that’s where Ailsa is?’ Nick had asked. He had offered to go with her, but the trip would have to wait a few weeks, when he could have time off work. It had been too long, already. ‘I mean, you know what Ailsa’s like…’

Yes, she did know. She knew more than anyone.

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