Page 38 of Fiendish Delights
Otis glared at Hester. ‘Don’t be mean to Daisy.’
‘Only telling like it is.’
I raised my hands. ‘Enough!’
Slim stared at his phone again. ‘There’s something else,’ he said. He paused, reading what was on his screen, then alarm flickered in his eyes and he shut off the phone. ‘Never mind. It’s not important.’
Miriam squinted. ‘What was it?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Go on, Slim,’ Becky urged.
His expression shifted and he scratched his neck. Hugo gestured towards him with his fork. ‘Go ahead. How bad can it be?’
‘It’s only a silly rumour. It’s not worth mentioning.’
‘Tell us!’
Slim coughed. ‘Fine!’ He rolled his eyes. ‘For fuck’s sake.There’s a rumour on some message boards that Hugo is undergoing some medical issues.’
‘What sort of medical issues? I’m perfectly fine.’
I felt a tickle of foreboding.
‘It says that you have a fungal infection. That’s all.’
Oh no. I started shovelling the last of the food into my mouth; I needed to eat quickly and retreat to the safety of my tent as quickly as possible.
‘Like athlete’s foot?’
‘Sure,’ Slim said. ‘Like athlete’s foot.’ His gaze slid away.
Becky finished her meal, placed her plate on the ground and dug into her pocket for her phone. I was already on my feet, collecting up the plates so I could scurry away to wash the dishes before pleading exhaustion so I could bed down for the night.
‘Ohhhh.’ Becky smirked. ‘Notlike athlete’s foot.’
‘You have to tell us all what it says now,’ Miriam told her.
‘Apparently poor old Hugo has a groin infection. There’s mould. And it’s green. He’s in terrible pain and hasn’t been able to have intimate relations for months.’
I definitely hadn’t said anything about that last part.
‘What?’ Hugo sounded more astonished than offended. ‘How do people think up this sort of horseshit?’
I coughed and took his plate. If I started whistling casually, would that look suspect? I avoided looking anyone in the eye, but I did stare pointedly at Hester and Otis to warn them to stay quiet. Frankly, it was a miracle that they did.
I grimaced guiltily and took off at high speed with the pile of dirty crockery. I’d already said far more than would ever be necessary.
Oops.
If anyone suspected my culpability in the rumour about Hugo, they didn’t say anything. I sneaked off to my tent, snuggled into my sleeping bag and fell asleep almost immediately.
Given the day I’d had, I’d expected to be out for the count until morning, but when I woke up I knew instinctively that it was the middle of the night and dawn was many hours away.
Hester and Otis lay curled up together, snoring gently in tandem. I frowned and turned around to get comfortable again, but when I closed my eyes I heard a twig snap outside my tent, followed by a long, low guttural moan. In an instant, I was completely, one hundred percent awake.
At first I didn’t move; it was possible that one of the others had gotten up half-asleep for a midnight stumble to the loo. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to work out that wasn’t the case because there was another moan and some strange huffing noises. I could hear them in stereo on either side of the thin canvas tent walls. Either a flock of nocturnal sheep suffering from a nasty cold had wandered onto the campsite or there was something else out there. I was betting on something else.
