Hearthstone Cottage by Frazer Lee

Author:Frazer Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Published: 2019-08-14T13:02:08+00:00

Part Three

Under dark, dark skies

There are dark, dark mountains

And beneath the dark, dark mountains

Is a dark, dark road.

On the dark, dark road

There is a dark, dark turn

And beyond the dark, dark turn

Is a dark, dark cottage.

In the dark, dark cottage

Is a dark, dark window

And through the dark, dark window

Is a dark, dark room.

Chapter Twelve

Mike trudged wearily back toward Hearthstone Cottage, feeling numb from the day’s many traumas. He had found the path that led to lower ground only when the fog lifted. He had been wandering, lost, for over an hour since being separated from Alex and the others. His friend’s words hung over him, heavy as a rain cloud, and he wanted – or, rather badly, needed – a drink. The constant, pervasive mist had worked its way into his bones, making his limbs feel leaden. He felt something close to elation when he spied the old codgers’ Land Rover. It was still parked up where they had begun their ill-advised adventure a few hours earlier.

“Here he is, the city boy straggler.”

Mike heard Edward’s muffled voice before seeing his ruddy face reflected in the wing mirror of the passenger door. Mike circled the vehicle and found both Jamie and Edward were sitting up front, sharing a pack of thick-cut sandwiches that lay open between them atop the handbrake column. He licked his lips involuntarily at the sight of the food and heard his stomach gurgle in pained hunger. He then watched in dismay as Jamie claimed the last of the sandwiches, the thick, rustic bread filled with what looked like corned beef. His stomach made a pathetic whining sound as he watched Jamie chew, then swallow and wipe a streak of mustard from the corner of his mouth.

“Have you seen Alex?” Mike asked.

Jamie chuckled though his sandwich, and Mike saw him elbow Edward, giving him cause to chuckle too.

“Aye, about an hour ago!” Edward chortled.

Mike wondered how long it had been, exactly, since his terrifying encounter in the fog, first with the dog-murdering hag and then with the business end of his friend’s shotgun jabbed into his spine.

It must have been Alex.

Mike could almost hear the bastard’s voice ringing in his ears, even now.

“Where’d he go?” Mike asked dumbly, peering around the side of the Land Rover. He almost expected Alex to leap out from behind it as a finale to his performance up on the high ground.

“Back to that old cottage of his,” Edward said, wiping his greasy hands on the lapels of his already rather grimy hunting jacket.

Mike stood back as Edward opened the passenger door and, with a slight groan when his knees audibly clicked, climbed down to stand before Mike.

“Better catch up with him, laddie,” Jamie advised sagely. “He bagged a lovely grouse for your table tonight. Said he might let you taste some, if you help him pluck it first.”

Jamie’s eyes twinkled in Edward’s direction, and his friend picked up the thread Jamie had started.

“You look like a plucker and no mistake,” Edward chortled.

“Aye, a right little plucker,” Jamie added for good measure.

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