Page 62 of A Snowy Seaside Christmas
‘Hello?’ Lark took a tentative step into Crayke’s Cottage, goosebumps pinging up all over her skin. ‘Hello?’ she called again.
An icy breath whispered over her neck, and she turned sharply, her heart thumping, her ears whooshing, but there was no one there.It’s only a draught, that’s all. Nothing more.
Her chest heaving, she stepped further into the darkness of the room, every fibre of her body on high alert. She had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.
The door slammed shut behind her, making her shriek. ‘Oh my God!’ Her breathing was jagged, her chest tight.
There was a loud crash from the room at the back and Bobby came hurtling back into the room, his ears flat to his head.
‘S’okay, lad.’ She reached down and smoothed her hand over his head, the feeling that she was being watched from every quarter making her pulse race even faster.
‘Hello?’ She headed towards the back room, a draught rushing at her. Another slam had her jumping out of her skin. She felt nausea swirl in her stomach. What was she doing here on her own? She had the urge to leave, but found she was unableto do anything about it. It felt as if the house was drawing her in, tugging at her arms.
In the back room, the door to the yard was standing open. She tiptoed towards it, tentatively peering out to see the snow had been recently disturbed and was covered in an array of footprints. Had Nate been here?
Nate! Was he the reason Bobby had brought her here? Nate must’ve had the last check around and brought the Labrador with him. Maybe Bobby sneaked off and Nate had gone looking for him.
Lark checked her phone once more, her heart sinking as she saw there’d been no replies from Nate and her text message remained unread.
She closed the back door and slid the bolt across, making sure it was firmly driven home. Bobby started scraping at the floorboards and his whining started up again. He then rushed over to the oak-panelled wall by the stairs, sniffing and whimpering.
‘What is it, lad?’ She started pressing at the panels frantically, working across them as fast as she could. She was about to give up when a small door popped open, the smell of the sea rushing at them. Bobby nudged it wider with his head before disappearing through it.
Lark would’ve preferred not to have to venture through a door that led to who knew where when she was on her own and nobody knew she was there, but a groan made her ears prick and she knew she had no choice.
Turning on her phone light she braced herself as she stepped inside, her hand shaking and her heart pounding.
It didn’t take long for her to realise she was in a tunnel, the rough, uneven floor sloping downwards. The groan came again, sending fear spiking through her.
‘Bobby! Where are you?’ She shone the torch around but there was no sign of him. ‘Hello? Nate?’
‘Lark?’ a voice replied weakly.
THIRTY-NINE
Lark’s stomach clenched. Though the voice was weak, she knew who it belonged to in an instant.
‘Nate!’ Panic surged through her. ‘Nate! Where are you?’
Her question was met with a groan.
She stumbled her way over the rough ground until the torch light found a figure slumped on the floor. Bobby was standing over it, whimpering. Her heart froze in fear.
‘Nate!’ Lark rushed forward, falling onto her knee, pain searing through her but she pulled herself up and kept on until she reached him.
‘Oh my God, Nate!’ She pressed her hand against his forehead and was concerned to find he felt almost icy to the touch.
She took a moment. A deep breath. Fear was causing chaos in her mind; she needed to get her thoughts straight so she could do what needed to be done. Never mind why Nate was down here, she had no idea how long he’d been there but he felt cold so there was every chance he could be suffering from hypothermia. Panic flared again and tears stung her eyes. Then there was the possibility he could have an injury that wasn’t obvious to her. She checked her phone for a signal, but there were no bars.Acting quickly, she took off her coat and laid it over Nate, putting her gloves over his hands, making a pillow from her scarf.
‘Stay with me, Nate. Bobby’s here, but I need to go back into the house to call for an ambulance, okay? Please,pleasehang on,’ she said, her voice thick with emotion.
She scrambled back up to the house, panic and fear making her uncoordinated. Racing to the living room, four bars appeared on her phone. She called for an ambulance, doing all she could not to break down in tears as she gave them details and directions. That done, she called her dad’s phone, knowing paramedics would need to have someone at the end of the lane to guide them here; Crayke’s Cottage would be impossible to find to people who didn’t know Old Micklewick.
‘Hello, Lark sweetheart.’ Her dad’s voice was full of cheer, so at odds with the distress that held her in its grip.
‘Dad! Dad! It’s Nate! I need your help.’ She almost crumbled on hearing her father’s voice and fought hard to get her words out. She needed to make sure he could understand what she was saying. But the panic in her voice was enough to have both Silas and Louisa scrambling to help.
‘Stay calm, my love. We’ll be there as fast as we can. You go back to Nate; keep talking to him,’ Silas said calmly.
