The Shadow House(59)

‘I don’t know who this is,’ I said, pointing at the old woman, ‘but I’ve seen her hanging around the village and … I came out of the store and saw her with Amy, and she had her hand on her like this,’ I gripped Kit’s wrist, hard.

I swallowed. Everyone was listening, watching, staring at me.

‘So … so, I came to see what was going on and she – the woman, I mean – was saying all this crazy stuff, and I …’

Some part of me registered that I was talking too fast, but I couldn’t stop; the bubble of fear had risen too high and there was no pushing it back down again.

‘Look, I know it sounds insane, but there was someone in my house the other night, someone’s been sending me things, and I think it might’ve been her.’ I pointed again. ‘And then I went up to the farmhouse, and there was a letter, and it was for me, and …’

‘Farmhouse?’ Kit was frowning, his expression a mixture of pity and alarm.

Layla was staring at me as if I’d lost my mind. Bizarrely, she had her arm curled protectively around the witch’s shoulders.

I pressed my fingers to my temples. What the fuck is going on?

Kit inhaled then let his breath out slowly. ‘Alex,’ he said, gently, placing a hand on the old woman’s arm. ‘This is Bess Hassop. She’s one of our neighbours. She’s not very well – are you, Bess?’

‘Help,’ said Bess. ‘I need help.’

‘That’s right, you do,’ said Kit, loudly. ‘You like to wander, don’t you? But it’s alright, we’ll help you. I’ve just called Dom, he’s on his way.’

‘I need help.’ Bess was trembling. She was now looking a whole lot less like a witch and more like someone’s grandmother: small, forlorn and in need of protection from deranged people like me.

‘Alzheimer’s,’ Kit said to me in a low voice. ‘Very severe. She doesn’t know where she is half the time. Her son, Dom, he’s one of the local farmers, he says it’s been bad for years but the wandering is relatively new. We’ve found her down here a few times now. She walks all the way from right over the hill.’ He raised his voice again. ‘Don’t you, Bess?’

Bess nodded and smiled at the air in front of her.

‘She’s harmless, though. We just take her to the office, give her a cup of tea, call up Dom and he drives down to get her.’

‘Oh god.’ I covered my face. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I thought she was … she said …’ I stopped. There was no explanation that would make this okay.

At the end of the path, a battered silver ute pulled up and a man got out, dressed in shorts, work boots and a paint-spattered polo shirt. Kit waved his arm in the air. The man waved back and started walking towards us.

‘I know you,’ Bess said, waving a finger at me. Her gaze was so shaky, I couldn’t tell if she was looking at me or through me. Then she made a little noise, a small mournful cry, and her hands flew to her mouth. ‘Sorry, sorry, sorry. No one knows where he went. No one knows. Sorry.’

‘It’s alright, Bess,’ Kit said, kindly. ‘Look, Dom’s here. Let’s get you home, okay?’

He put out his arm to steer Bess away, but just as he did, she spun back to me and grabbed my hand. Her grip was strong. ‘There’s a monster.’ She pushed her face right into mine. ‘Here. In the woods. A monster.’

I recoiled. Bess’s breath was sour, her teeth crooked.

‘I remember it all,’ said Bess. ‘But then … I forget.’

‘Mum?’ Bess’s son Dom approached and stretched out his hand as if trying to tame a dragon. He touched her gently on her shoulder. ‘Mum, it’s me. Come on, time to go home now.’

‘Renee,’ Bess said to the air in front of her. ‘Where did you go?’

‘Mum?’

Bess blinked. And then she stepped forward and melted into Dom’s arms. He held her, patting her back. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said to no one in particular.

‘Don’t be,’ said Kit. ‘No harm done.’

The weight of Dom’s sadness crushed my own heart; I recognised it too sharply. I knew what it was to watch a parent disintegrate before your eyes, to have no control over their unravelling.

‘Come on,’ Dom said again, and Bess relented. Together, they began shuffling off down the path, back to the car.

‘I’ll give you a hand.’ Kit looked back at me. ‘Can we talk later, Alex? I’ll come see you?’

Feeling too much like I was yet again being hauled into the principal’s office, I didn’t reply.

Layla reached out for her daughter. ‘Amy, come with me please.’ Without another word, she turned away from me like I was a stranger in the street, one handing out lollies from the back of a transit van.

Amy seemed reluctant to follow. She threw me a sorrowful glance and I seized the opportunity. ‘I’m sorry, Amy,’ I said. ‘If I scared you. I made a mistake, a big one.’

Amy’s gaze bounced away and landed at her feet. ‘Ollie,’ she said, so quietly I almost missed it. ‘He’s been bad, hasn’t he?’

‘What?’ I felt my chest tighten. ‘What do you mean?