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‘You just have to accept your fate with a smile. What else are you going to do? Get all bitter and twisted like Ada?’
As I walked on, I thought about what Blossom had said. She had a point. Life wasn’t fair, and Ada had drummed that message into us from being tiny. I’d never thought of it before. But perhaps Blossom’s sunny outlook on life was somehow a reaction to the confusion, chaos and occasional darkness we’d experienced at home as children?
A noise behind me made me start.
It had sounded like a car door closing, but when I turned around to look, there was no vehicle in sight. The buildings around me on the industrial estate were dark and deserted. I shivered and quickened my step. It was almost seven and the office-workers had gone home. Up ahead, I could see the lights of the village, but I was still a five-minute walk away from civilisation.
Then I heard footsteps behind me and my heart lurched.
I looked around and thought I glimpsed a figure disappearing into the shadows... behind a pillar at the entrance to the deserted car showroom I’d just walked past.
Now I was scared.
If there really was someone following me, I needed to get to the high street, where there would be people about...
Breaking into a run, I raced along, my handbag bouncing awkwardly at my shoulder. It was dark and I knew that thepavement beneath my feet was uneven, but I couldn’t afford to slow down. Running up a side alley, I burst onto the high street, horrified to find that it was dark and deserted, too.
Now what?
If I ran across the village green, I was asking for trouble. It was pitch black and what if I didn’t make it home? What if my stalker caught up with me and dragged me into the trees beside the duck pond? Would anyone hear me scream?
There were lights on in the properties circling the green, so I crossed the road and kept running, until I got to the residential area. A woman was bringing her bin out for collection day and we said ‘hi’ and I slowed right down, feeling safe at last but panting painfully.
Almost home!
Turning, I was half-expecting to see someone following me, but the street was empty and as I walked backwards a few paces, still scanning the hedges and parked cars for moving shadows, a feeling of relief surged through me. There was no one there. Had it been my imagination working overtime again?
Next moment, though, still walking backwards, I felt a shock as my back collided sharply with something rigid and solid. Knocked off balance, I half-turned, grasping for something to keep me from falling. But all I managed to do was topple the dustbin I’d bumped into. It went flying to the ground, taking me with it, and disgorging its smelly contents all over me.
And as I struggled to a sitting position – my hand landing on something stomach-churningly squidgy on the pavement – a tall figure appeared, looming over me in the semi-darkness...
CHAPTER TEN
I sat there, panting, frozen to the spot.
The man, who to my relief wasn’t Nash, uttered an expletive and moved towards me and I flinched backwards, scrabbling around on the pavement in a panic for something with which to defend myself.
‘Come any nearer and you’ll be sorry!’ I shouted, brandishing the first item I touched. It was a long thing with a handle. It felt like it was made of plastic, so not the most robust of weapons, but it would have to do...
‘It’s okay. Look, give me your hand and I’ll help you up,’ he barked, steely blue eyes boring into me. He pointed. ‘You’ve got a bit of lettuce on your head.’
Still, I hesitated. I didn’t know this man from Adam. Had he been following me? I tightened my grip on the object in my hand. ‘Just go away,’ I muttered in what I hoped was a threatening tone. Feeling for the lettuce with my free hand, I finally located it lodged behind my left ear.
The man sighed, long legs in dark jeans planted firmly on the pavement in front of me.
‘This is my house and that’s my bin you’ve just knocked over. So I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Oh.’ This confused me. But then I thought:Does he really live here?Maybe he’s bluffing. Maybe it’s just a ruse to lure me into a false sense of security before he goes in for the kill?
He stepped closer and held out his hand again, and I caught a glint of amusement in his arresting blue eyes.
‘I would seriously think about laying down your weapon,’ he murmured. ‘That thing’s probably been to places you really wouldn’t want to go.’
‘What?’ For the first time, I glanced at what I was holding. ‘Ugh!’ I dropped it in horror. The thing I’d been hoping to fight him off with was actually anoldloo brush?
A smile softened his features, making him look almost human. Quite a handsome human, truth be told. ‘Not mine, by the way.’ He shrugged. ‘It was in the downstairs toilet when I moved in and I’ve just got rid of it.’
He held out his hand and I was about to grasp it, then I changed hands at the last minute to spare him germs from the old loo brush, and he hauled me to my feet. But the brisk movement must have disturbed the air because the sickly scent of rotting rubbish intensified and I almost gagged and had to turn away for a moment. When I glanced back, my rescuer was hunkered down, scooping up black bags and throwing them into the mouth of the bin, which was still lying open on its side. ‘Jeez. That’s some stink.’
