Twelve Days by Paul Williams

Author:Paul Williams [Williams, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781913419127
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
Published: 2019-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

There was a reason I did not insist that Reverend James and his wife follow. I wanted to test a hypothesis. I watched them as the other women prepared to brave the weather. Emily had pushed Alison’s suitcase behind the door.

The Reverend did not show any fear. Anger, betrayal, self-righteousness, yes, but no fear. Either he was truly a man of great faith, or he had no need to be afraid because… well, he was the killer.

Suzanne peered back at the couple in the living room. ‘I can’t believe they’re going to stay behind.’

I shrugged my shoulders. ‘We can’t force them.’

I opened the front door, steeled myself against the cold and took the lead. My plan was to follow where I believed the road lay, all the way down the mountain, stop for rests, keep everyone warm and get to the village. But as soon as I stepped outside, I knew it was a mistake, that we would never make it. The weather had deteriorated again. The wind gusted sideways, and a sudden squall of sleet reduced visibility to almost zero. The road I wanted to naïvely follow was gone – a blanket of grey and white amorphous landscape. Snow in the courtyard had banked up and in corners the drifts looked deep. As a test, I crunched onto the frozen pathway from the front entrance towards the road. My leg sank into an icy drift that threatened to swallow me.

‘Hang on,’ I yelled to the women behind me.

Alison waded past me. ‘I’m going.’

‘Be careful!’ Emily edged forward.

Alison took one step past me, slipped and disappeared in the whiteness.

‘Shit!’ I waded after her, pulled her up. ‘You okay?’

She shook me off. ‘Don’t touch me!’ She tried to go forward again. ‘You were not meant to come.’

Mist swirled up from the valley, sleet attacked us, wind roared in my ears. My face was already numb. I watched her fall again. Reaching forward, I pulled her up and we stumbled back to the entrance.

‘Leave me alone!’ She wriggled out of my grasp.

‘No way we can make the journey,’ I told the others.

Suzanne peered over the edge. ‘Is there any other way down?’

Alison brushed the snow off her and glared at me. ‘You don’t want us to go. You want us all killed. You’re the one who wants us dead. I know it.’ She thrust her finger in my face. ‘You and your heathen friend Emily always whispering together, sneering at us, undermining our faith. You just came here to mock us.’

Emily tried to put an arm around her, but she violently pushed her away. ‘Calm down, Ali, you’re hysterical.’

But she let Suzanne embrace her. ‘Let’s go back to the castle. You’re freezing.’

‘I’m not going back in there with him.’ She pointed at me, covered her face, and began sobbing and convulsing. ‘Just keep him away from me.’

Suzanne led her away. ‘Come.’

She let Suzanne support her as she stood and stumbled back towards the front door.

Emily and I watched them open the door. My nose and mouth were numb, my sinuses crackling, a headache pulsing in my right temple.

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