The Diary of Lies by Philip Miller

Author:Philip Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Birlinn

PART II

The Red Man

16

The village of Fleet Lanshome was silent.

Beyond the streetlamps buzzing in the damp air, black trees plunged into an uncertain distance.

Shona bent down and looked into Ned’s car. ‘I won’t be long with this guy – and then you can take me to the airport, right?’

Ned was looking at his gloved hands. Something had changed. He did not turn to her; he was looking straight ahead, into the distance, to the black road glittering with rainwater.

‘No, Shona, I can’t. I’m sorry. Actually, I need to go now,’ he said quietly.

Her heart clenched in her chest. ‘What are you on about, Ned? You said you’d take me to the air–’

‘Listen to me. I just can’t,’ he said. The engine was still running. ‘Something’s come up. Change of plan.’

‘What? You can’t . . . I’m in the middle of bloody nowhere.’

The car began to move. The passenger door was still open. Ned looked at Shona, shook his head and unclipped his seatbelt.

‘Goodbye, Shona,’ he said. Even in the dim light, she could see that his eyes were watery. He suddenly looked distraught. Then he leant across and pulled the passenger door shut.

Shona stood back, and the car pulled away. ‘Ned,’ she said quietly. She did not shout. She knew he wasn’t coming back – and that she would never see him again. The fingers of time and memory converged briefly into a pinch of pain. She pushed it away.

‘Fuck!’ she shouted.

‘Oi! Language, young lady,’ a voice said.

Shona turned to the small two-storey house behind her. ‘Oh, hi,’ she managed, as she limped up the path. She suddenly felt very weary.

An elderly woman in a grey tracksuit was standing in the lit doorway. Her long white hair was scraped back in a ponytail. A TV was chattering in the background.

‘Well, hello,’ the woman said, her eyelids heavy, arms tightly crossed about her body.

‘I’m here to see a Mr Loxley,’ Shona said, breathing heavily. She felt suddenly sore. Like she had been kicked down a flight of stairs.

‘Oh, really?’ the woman said, unmoving. ‘In the heart of winter, a traveller. A cold coming you’ve had of it.’

Shona looked behind her, into the darkness. Ned was gone. Her ride to the airport was gone. Her friend was gone. Not even the rear lights of his car could be seen. The darkness had fallen completely, black velvet over an unknown land. Where was she? Deepest England. To her, a mystery. Another country.

She turned to the woman. ‘I’m here . . .’ She was struggling to speak. She put a shaking hand to the cold, pebble-dashed wall of the house.

‘. . . to see Loxley,’ the woman said. ‘So you said. Who told you this Loxley lives here?’

‘Ranald Zawadzki. He’s worked with Loxley. He sent me here. I need some information.’

‘Don’t we all, darling?’ the woman said. ‘Was that your lift gone, then?’

Shona sighed. She momentarily thought of calling Ned. Somehow she knew it would do no good. He had sickened of her. Again. At least he’d got her this far, she thought.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.