Lakeview House: An absolutely addictive and pulse-pounding thriller by Phifer Helen

Author:Phifer, Helen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803144061
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2022-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

FORTY-THREE

Maddy walked behind Alfie, who kept slowing down so she could keep up with him. Her ankle wasn’t brilliant. It hurt when she put excess weight on it, but it wasn’t as serious as she’d feared, and she had no choice but to carry on walking to the village. Hopefully she would get a lift back.

After what seemed like hours, they arrived at a small playpark on the outskirts of the main street. Alfie turned to her and grinned. ‘This is my second favourite place. I hide here a lot. Especially when my mum is mad with me.’

He pointed to a grassy mound that had a tunnel running through the middle of it. Bending down, she looked inside and shuddered; it was creepy. Like one of the storm tunnels that run under Derry, Maine, in the book It by Stephen King. Maddy had been reading horror books since her teenage years and that was her particular favourite, though it had scared the shit out of her back then. She’d never really liked clowns and reading about Pennywise had taken her dislike to a whole new level.

‘Wow, you hide in there?’

‘Yep, all the time. The lake people don’t know about it, so it’s safe, and my mum can’t get inside it. She has a bad back and can’t crawl.’

‘Do you have to hide in there much?’

He nodded. ‘Yep. Sometimes the other kids are mean to me. Sometimes I do stuff that makes my mum mad at me.’

Maddy felt sorry for the boy. He was obviously a nice lad. He’d scared her earlier, but not on purpose, and he’d shown her the shortcut to the village.

‘Well, I think you’ve been very kind to me today, so I’d like to buy you something as a thank you. Do you like books, magazines?’

She hoped he wouldn’t ask her for the latest copy of Playboy; how would she explain that to his mum? He was staring at her, smiling. ‘Don’t read much, but I like chocolate and fizzy pop. Cake I like a lot.’

‘Well, you show me where to buy cake and pop from, and I’ll buy you some.’

As he led her round the corner onto the main street, Maddy’s stomach lurched violently at the ambulance, police car, and crowd of villagers gathered outside Seth’s pub.

Immediately, Alfie ran off to see what was happening, leaving her to limp after him. Whatever it was, it didn’t look good. She watched as Alfie pushed his way past the copper and paramedic who were chatting outside. Neither of them took a bit of notice of him, which Maddy reckoned was good. At least it couldn’t be serious.

A car drove up and parked behind the ambulance, and she saw Seth and a man get out. The man stuck his thumb up at Seth and crossed to where her car was parked. Relief flooded through her. He was okay, and whatever had gone on had nothing to do with him.

She waved at him, but he didn’t even look in her direction.

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