‘A message for me?’ I asked her warily. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes. It’s from Grandma Rosemary.’
With a feeling of dread, I took the phone from her and listened.
‘I saw what you did to that poor woman. You knocked herdown. If you don’t bring Poppy back, I’ll have no choice but to report you tothe police.’
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
I went to bed that night, trying to brush offRosemary’s message as an empty threat. After all, my car hadn’t even touchedMaggie, but it must have looked as if it had to Rosemary.
Should I have phoned the police? Maggie had seemed allright, and Agnes had backed this up, saying it hadn’t been my fault. But maybe,to be on the safe side, I should have called the emergency services andexplained what had happened?
Should I go to the local police station now, to report it?
I lay there, trying to think. But exhaustion was takingover. Shattered after the stress of the day, I could feel myself fallingasleep, powerless to resist...
*****
I felt groggy when I woke. Struggling up to look at thetime, I was astonished to see that it was after nine. The cottage was quiet,which suggested that even Poppy was still in bed.
At once all the nightmarish events of the previous daystarted parading through my mind like a horror movie, culminating in Rosemary’sthreat.
If you don’t bring Poppy back, I’ll have no choice but toreport you to the police.
I told myself she was probably just bluffing. And even ifshe wasn’t, Poppy and Rachel werenotgoing back there. Getting up, I tooka quick shower and pulled on jeans and a jumper, before leaving Rachel andPoppy still sleeping and going down to the kitchen to make some tea.
We’d eaten the breakfast croissants when we’d arrived thenight before, and there was no other food in the cottage. Deciding we couldn’tplan our next move on an empty stomach, I grabbed my coat and texted Rachel tolet her know I’d gone out for groceries.
There were shops in the village, a mile and a half backalong the road we’d travelled the day before, and when I arrived, I managed topark on the main street right outside the village store. I quickly loaded abasket with bacon, eggs, fresh bread, butter, orange juice and milk, then Iheaded for the tills, before doubling back and adding a jar of Poppy’sfavourite strawberry jam to my basket. We were booked in the cottage for threenights, so we’d need to do a proper food shop at a local supermarket at somepoint. But this would do for now.
As I stepped out onto the street, I dialled work and toldJanet, my colleague, that I wanted to take the holiday I’d accrued. We weren’tbusy and I knew the boss would be fine about me taking the time off.
But there must have been a give-away tension in my voicebecause she asked me if I was okay, sounding worried.
‘Oh, yes. Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit of an emergency, butnothing serious.’
‘Oh, good. You do realise you’ll miss the team meeting onWednesday, you lucky thing. Last time, I was so bored, I think I actually fellasleep and woke myself up with a snort.’ She chattered on but my attention hadbeen diverted by a board outside the local newsagent’s.
Local Woman Dies after Road Incident.
A bolt of shock surged through me.
No!
The words seemed to swim in front of my eyes.
No, no, no, no, no!
I stood there, staring at the board in a daze.She couldn’thave died. She’d seemed fine. I’d watched her walk back to the cottage with Agnes.
‘Mackenzie? Are you still there?’
Suddenly realising Janet was still talking to me, I blamedthe bad line and quickly ended the call. Then I slumped down on a nearby bench,my legs as weak as water, my heart heavy with sorrow.
That poor woman.
Maggie’s face rose up before me once more...her look of surprise just before she fell to the ground in front of the car.
