Unrest by Michelle Harrison

Author:Michelle Harrison [Harrison, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857070913
Google: suGdYgEACAAJ
Amazon: B007IL5CA2
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

Exposed

The voice was low. The figure lunged forward and once more I felt the stabbing sensation in my foot.

‘Hey!’ I sat up, one hand clasping the horse coat tightly to preserve what little remained of my dignity. The other I used to shield my eyes from the light. I wished I hadn’t. Ophelia stood over me, brandishing a pitchfork.

‘Elliott?’

‘Did you just stick that in my foot?’ I asked furiously.

‘I’ll stick it somewhere else in a minute – and it won’t be your foot. Get up.’

I hurried to my feet. Every part of me ached. This cannot get any worse.

‘Did he hurt you, darling?’ she murmured, glancing at the horse.

‘Hurt her? Of course not. Why would you think that?’

Ophelia’s head snapped up. ‘Let’s see. It’s seven-thirty a.m. and you’re holed up in a stable. It’s obvious you’ve been here all night – and oh yes! You’re not just semi-naked, you’re wearing a horse coat!’

For the first time, I looked down at myself. Then I looked from my saggy pyjama bottoms hanging up nearby, to the horse. Finally, I looked at Ophelia.

‘I can explain.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Yeah? You’ve got exactly thirty seconds. Depending on what I hear I’ll then call Hodge and get you kicked out. Or I’ll beat the crap out of you, then I’ll call Hodge and the police and get you kicked out.’

‘Oh, come on. I’ve seen you fight—’

She raised her arms. ‘Twenty-six seconds.’

‘All right, all right! Look – remember what I said the other night? About the out-of-body experiences I have?’

She frowned. ‘Yes. So?’

‘I had one last night. And . . .’ I trawled my mind for something, anything that I could give her that was remotely plausible – which I guessed discounted the truth. In the end all I could think of was my own first assumption when I’d discovered my body was gone. ‘At some point I sleepwalked. I don’t know how – it’s never happened before.’

Her glare softened. ‘And you just happened to wake up here?’

‘I . . . no.’ I wished she’d turn away. Her gaze was dissolving me like salt would a slug. Plus it was difficult to keep the horse coat wrapped around everything. God, this was humiliating.

‘I woke up on the Plain, drenched with rain and all I had on was what I went to bed in. I couldn’t get back into the Swan – I’d locked myself out.’ I gestured to my pyjama bottoms. ‘I just thought if I could wait it out until the Old Barn opened I could sneak in and get some clothes and no one would know.’

‘Why didn’t you just call for help? There are phones all over the place.’

‘I was hoping to save myself the embarrassment of anyone finding out.’ I scowled, rubbing my temple. I could feel a headache coming on. ‘Least of all you.’

Ophelia’s lips twitched. I thought she was about to swear at me, but then a gasp of laughter bubbled out of her. She dropped the pitchfork and clapped her hands over her mouth, shaking silently.

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