The Cottage by Lisa Stone

Author:Lisa Stone [Stone, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-05-10T17:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-THREE

Ruby topped up their glasses of red wine as Jan gathered together the plates and took them into the kitchen.

‘That was delicious, thank you,’ Ruby said. ‘But you shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble.’

‘No trouble. It was nice to cook for someone else for a change. When it’s just me it’s pasta or a jacket potato. We’ll have our pudding later, shall we?’

‘Oh yes, I’m full. Now come and sit down and tell me what’s been going on here. I understand from what you’ve said so far that Chris turned out to be a bit of a weirdo, but what’s wrong with the cottage? It seems idyllic if you want time out, although I think I’d prefer it in summer.’

Jan sat in the armchair opposite Ruby. Ruby was on the sofa, her legs curled under her, Tinder at her feet. Their conversation so far had been mainly catching up – about work, relationships, their families and mutual friends, and village life. Jan had wanted to leave the rest until after they’d eaten and she had a few drinks inside her. She’d mentioned Chris and their disastrous first date, and that she’d seen him with another woman the following day, but nothing about being stalked or the strange happenings around the cottage.

Now she needed to try to explain to Ruby what she’d seen without sounding hysterical.

‘It’s difficult to know where to begin,’ Jan said, taking another sip of her wine.

‘Start at the beginning – that’s what you always tell me when I have a problem,’ Ruby smiled.

Jan nodded thoughtfully. ‘OK. For the first few weeks here, everything seemed fine. I mean, living in the country took a bit of getting used to, but I enjoyed the peace after everything that had happened. It gave me time to think and I didn’t see or experience anything odd. Then something started coming into the garden after dark when the curtains were closed. I assumed it was an animal, out here in the middle of nowhere.’ Ruby nodded. ‘It came right up to the window. Tinder always knew when it was there. His hackles would rise and he would run to the back door, wanting to be let out to chase it. One night he disappeared completely and didn’t come back for hours. I was worried, thinking he’d got lost. When he did return he was so pleased to see me, as if something had frightened him.’

‘I would think just getting lost scared him,’ Ruby said sensibly.

‘Maybe, but then the next night he came back with food stuck in the fur by his mouth. It was cooked meat, possibly sausage. It hadn’t come from here and there are no other houses until you get to Merryless. So I began to worry that there could be someone living in the woods. This cottage backs onto the deepest part of Coleshaw Woods and you’d never know if there was someone in there.’

‘Couldn’t a bird have dropped the food?’ Ruby suggested.

‘I suppose so.’ Jan hesitated. How easy it was to explain away what was happening if you hadn’t been here.

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