Dark Observation by Catherine Cavendish

Author:Catherine Cavendish
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: horror; gothic fantasy; dark fantasy; flame tree press; creepy stories; dark suspense; horror fiction; historical mystery; historical horror
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Published: 2022-07-28T09:39:56+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Vi and Tilly stood in the empty kitchen. Vi touched the kettle. It was stone-cold. “This hasn’t been boiled all day. I don’t understand where she could have gone. Mrs. Sinclair’s the most punctual person – a stickler for timekeeping – but it’s nearly seven and there’s no sign of her.”

“You’d think she would have left a note,” Tilly said, “but there’s nothing. You don’t think she’s had an accident, do you?”

“I’m going outside,” Vi said. “The outdoor toilet and the wash house – maybe we can find some trace of Mrs. Sinclair there. If not, I suggest we try the neighbors. See if they’ve seen her at all today.”

“I’ll grab my shoes and join you.”

Vi opened the door and stepped out into the still-warm evening air. It was light enough to see without a flashlight, but she took one from the windowsill above the sink. The interiors of the outbuildings would be gloomy, and she didn’t want any dark shadowy corners this evening.

The catch on the wash house stuck as usual but a little persuasion and it unhooked. Vi stepped in. The lingering clean smell of laundry soap greeted her. She stepped onto the stone floor and shone her flashlight around.

Vi caught her breath at a sudden scurrying movement in the far corner. Too big for a mouse or even a rat.

“Who’s there?” she called.

From the kitchen doorway, Tilly called. “What is it? What’s going on?”

Vi turned back to the entrance and poked her head around the doorway. “I thought I saw something.”

Something warm and animallike – maybe even human – brushed up behind her. Vi shot out of the entrance and stood, panting, on the path.

Tilly rushed over to her. “What is it?”

“Something…someone…touched me.”

Tilly grabbed the flashlight and strode into the wash house. She shone the light around wildly, the beam dancing off the walls. “Come out, whoever you are. We’re not playing games here. This is private property and you have no business being here.”

“Oh, I think you’re wrong there.”

* * *

Alex’s voice was the last thing Vi heard until she woke up in bed the following morning to find Tilly stretching herself and yawning.

“Hello,” she said. “Sleep well?”

Vi shook her head, trying to clear the fog that seemed to have settled on her brain. “I don’t know. I…. Any sign of Mrs. Sinclair?”

“What?”

“Mrs. Sinclair. Has she come back?”

“Back from where?”

“What do you mean? She’s missing. The last thing I remember was going out into the backyard to see if I could find any trace of her. Then I heard Alex’s voice and I must have blacked out or something.”

“Vi, you’re not making much sense.”

What now? Was Tilly playing games with her?

“Don’t you remember telling me that you had seen Alex here when I was working nights last week? The same man who turned up at Mrs. Harris’s and who I also saw at the Treasury?”

Tilly scratched her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who’s Alex?”

“Alex. Sandrine’s friend, or partner in crime, or whatever he is.

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