Page 42 of The Haunting of Paynes Hollow
I nod mutely.
“He carved that,” Ben says. “Austin.”
“I know.”
Ben crosses his arms. “It’s you, isn’t it.”
“I… I don’t know.”
“It is. It’s you holding flowers.”
I blink and look at the carving again. I see what he does—a girl seeming to hold something to her chest, vestiges of red paint around the knife seeming like flowers.
“He liked you,” Ben says. “Liked you a lot.”
I stiffen so fast it’s almost a convulsion. Then I turn, and I do what I tried to do with Austin all those years ago. I walk away.
Unlike Austin, Ben doesn’t come after me. He doesn’t say a word. He just lets me leave, and once I’m out of his sight, I run all the way back to the cottage.
Thirteen
Josie comes for coffee, and we finish the pie. Gail doesn’t join us. She’d been out for a walk earlier, and then something urgent came up, and she’s been in her room ever since, working.
While Josie and I eat, I tell her about the break-in at my grandparents’ cottage. I make it clear that I’m not reporting it to her—it happened years ago. But I suspect she’ll find the removed floorboards more interesting than Ben had. I’m right. She’s all over that, and we eat the pie while joking about all the things that someone might have been looking for.
“So, are you going to check out the crawl space?” she says.
“I plan to. I shouldn’t do it alone, for safety. Ben obviously wasn’t interested.” I hook my thumb at Gail’s closed door and raise my voice. “And my darling aunt recoiled in horror at the thought of crawling through a window.”
I wait for Gail’s rejoinder, but she must have her headphones on, because nothing comes.
“Are you hinting for law-enforcement backup?” Josie says, waggling her brows.
“Nah. Well, maybe. Kind of. Mostly just someone to make sure I don’t fall through the hatch and get trapped there. But only if you’d be interested. Honestly, I’m sure I’m exaggerating the danger. I coulddo it myself. Gail would happily stay outside, within shouting distance.”
“No, Iwantto do it. Check out an old crawl space? One that could hold whatever those intruders were searching for? Hell, yeah. Even if it’s just old camp stuff, it’d be a treasure hunt.”
“Okay. Good. Maybe on the weekend then?”
“Why not now?” She pauses. “Right. You have work. This is just a break.”
“I could do it now if you can. Like I said, my work schedule is flexible.”
She rises from the kitchen table. “Great. First thing we need is flashlights. I have a good one in the car. Strong light plus a stealth baton for fighting off the invading mice and squirrels.”
I get up. “I’ll clear these while you grab—”
Her phone buzzes. She takes it out and curses under her breath. “My dad.” She pulls a face. “I mean, the sheriff. Technically, I’m on shift, and he needs me to follow up on a call.”
“Tomorrow then?”
She lights up. “Yes. Tomorrow. I’m off, and free all day. I’ll give you time to work, come by for our coffee break, and then we’ll check out the crawl space.”
“Perfect.”
I walk Josie out. Then I prepare the bonfire for tonight. We’re out of kindling, so I drag in a fallen branch to chop up, only to realize the hatchet isn’t where I left it.
I look around, in case I’d put it somewhere else. I haven’t.
