Page 47 of The Snow Witch

Jake flinched as he heard Violet say that with such surety. ‘Meggie? I don’t think so⁠—’

‘Why would you not think so?’ There was a challenge in Violet’s voice which made Jake flinch a little more. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything…

‘Look, just forget it,’ he said. ‘There was nothing there. There was no Meggie, no witch – and I dreamed of you because of seeing you at the Well anyway.’ But why had he seen her that first night? Why had he had the impression that they’d just made love? His very own words in that dream floated back into his mind… Just be with me. Be with me. Or let me be with you.

‘But I was standing upright,’ insisted Violet now. ‘I wasn’t crouching or anything. And you said it felt real.’

‘Well it was clearly not real, was it? Dreams can feel real, and that one did, so⁠—’

‘Oh God, look Jake, I’m sorry. I lied to you. I was at the Well when you called before,’ Violet interrupted. ‘And I got too close to the pool again⁠—’

‘Violet! Are you okay? You didn’t slip, did you?’ He was on his feet but realistically, what could he do about all that right now? And he was talking to her so she was clearly okay⁠—

‘No. I didn’t slip – but I… I saw stuff in the Well. Like pictures. Like a witch trial. Meggie’s witch trial. I kind of tried to reach out to her and my fingers touched the water and⁠—’

Jake heard himself make a strangled noise. So she had been bloody close to it then!

But Violet was continuing. ‘I swear she was asking me for help, and I couldn’t give it to her. I felt like I was there. Which is one of the reasons I wanted to ring you this morning. So you could convince me I was stupid and over-imaginative…’

Her voice trailed off and Jake closed his eyes briefly and sat heavily on the sofa in his van. ‘And I haven’t convinced you at all, have I?’

‘No.’ Violet’s voice was small now. ‘Are you really stuck on the site?’

‘For a bit.’

‘Okay.’ There was a sigh, then the strength came back into her voice. ‘All right. We’ll speak later. Take care, Jake. I’m going to take the opportunity to do some work while the weather is rubbish. I think I’m safer indoors right now. I don’t know what else I’ll imagine down there – because this literally cannot be real, can it? Any of it? No.’ He could imagine her nodding her head decisively. ‘I’m sticking to facts and figures and documented research.’

There was nothing he could say in response to that really, except a very bland, ‘Don’t blame you. Catch you later.’

‘Yep. Catch you later.’

Then the phone went dead as she hung up.

And Jake didn’t really feel much better at all – she had gone for a wintry wander to the Well after all – so had that dream meant more than it should have done, or was it all just a big coincidence?

And yes. One day, he might learn to read the room and say things that people really wanted to hear.

That day was, apparently, not today.

* * *

Ollie was in the breakfast room, making his second coffee last. His thoughts were that where there were people, and where conversations and normality were taking place, there was less headspace for him to focus on his own mind and what he had felt at that cottage and what he had seen in the Well.

A shadow fell over him as he raised the mug to his lips. ‘Hello Ollie. How’s things?’

He looked up and saw Violet standing over him, her face pale and huge dark circles under her eyes.

‘Let me guess, you didn’t sleep very well,’ he said, and then shook his head. ‘Sorry. Inappropriate. I shouldn’t…’ His voice petered off. He was making it worse.

‘I look like shit. I know I look like shit. You are correct in your assumptions. No need to apologise. May I?’ She indicated the seat opposite him and he nodded.

‘Yeah. Of course.’

‘Thanks.’

They stared at one another for a moment or two, and then Violet coloured.

‘Okay. This is going to sound mad, but I think you’re a safe person to tell.’