The Visitors(76)

Josh went on his way and Holly sat staring out of the window, scanning each passer-by. She couldn’t do this all day long or it would draw attention. She’d have to tear herself away from her desk at some point.

It was interesting that Josh had said Emily would invent a new life for herself.

Perhaps she and Holly were more alike than Holly had first thought.



* * *



She had no way of telling how long she’d been unconscious after the dinner that night.

She remembered resting her head back on soft leather and closing her eyes. The next thing she knew, she’d snapped awake, sat bolt upright, now in her own bed, and promptly vomited all over the quilt.

When she’d stopped being sick, she had a compulsion to shield her eyes from the daylight with a shaking forearm.

‘Let’s get you out of bed,’ a voice had said. It sounded far away at first, and then too close and too loud in her ears. ‘Patricia, could you change the bed, please, while I sponge Holly down?’

Holly had squinted at Geraldine and registered Patricia’s unimpressed scowl as the housekeeper began to unceremoniously pull the soiled sheet from under her.

‘She had far too much to drink last night, I’m afraid, Patricia,’ Geraldine had said in a disapproving tone. ‘Won’t listen to advice, will they, young people? They don’t know when to stop.’

Had she been drinking last night?

Holly sensed powerful negative memories and had a strong sense of foreboding. Yet she couldn’t quite grasp the pictures that floated around inside her head like strings of fog. She couldn’t remember any detail at all.

Foolishly, she’d tried to stand up briefly and immediately swooned, before Geraldine caught her and helped Patricia to lower her onto the dressing table stool.

‘Holly. Tell me, sweetie, how are you feeling?’ Geraldine had gripped her shoulders and spoken very softly and slowly, pressing her face too close for comfort.

Holly had retched again and Geraldine had grabbed some kind of container, held it under her chin.

More yellowish-looking bile had spewed out, burning her mouth and throat.

Geraldine had mopped her mouth with tissues.

‘Better out than in,’ she had said pleasantly.



* * *



The bus journey home from work had quickly become Holly’s thinking time.

Not that thinking was always useful. Particularly the awful memories she’d dredged up lately, reliving the horror that had happened at Medlock Hall.

She supposed it was inevitable that her old life would take the opportunity to creep up when it could and cosh her with the memories she’d tried so hard to bury alive. They were always going to push back until Holly had put things right.

Most days, she looked forward to getting back home. While Cora prepared tea, Holly often took a relaxing bath to help prepare her for the ear-aching hour or so during which the older woman, having been alone for most of the day, would regale her with any gossip she’d overheard at the local shop or, more likely, more endless anecdotes from her past.

Holly had managed to dodge the last few sessions, but she knew that she’d do well to remind herself that she felt safe living with Cora. And that meant doing what was required to cement her place there.





Chapter Sixty-One





Holly





‘Cora has gone to the spring fayre at the village hall and is going to be a little while,’ Holly said when David popped round to finish off a few DIY jobs on Sunday.

She handed him a mug of tea. ‘I’ve been thinking about what I can do to show my appreciation to her for letting me stay here.’

‘That’s nice of you,’ David said blandly. In the time since she’d seen him last, he seemed to have developed a tic in his left eye, and it occurred to her he seemed rather distracted.

‘This house is lovely, but in my opinion, it’s well overdue for a little TLC,’ Holly said, looking around the room.

‘TLC?’

‘Tender loving care?’ She stared at him. How did he get to be so consistently clueless?

‘Oh yes. I see now.’ David sipped his tea and his bony knuckles shone white with the force of his grip. He seemed to be making a great effort to act normally, but it was clearly proving a challenge. Holly wasn’t at all sure David really knew what acting normally actually was.

Still, she pretended not to notice and carried on chatting, thereby avoiding any difficult silences.

‘Cora’s bedroom is a little tired now, and I thought it would be nice to pep it up a bit without changing anything major. I think she’d like that.’

David nodded.

‘I wondered if you’d just help me measure a couple of things while she’s out?’

‘Of course,’ David said, putting down his mug. ‘I’d be happy to help.’

Holly grabbed the tape measure from the kitchen drawer and David followed her upstairs. He lingered awkwardly at the door of Cora’s bedroom.

‘I do hope Mrs Barrett won’t mind us coming in here without her permission,’ he said doubtfully. ‘It feels a bit… underhanded.’

‘Don’t be silly.’ Holly rolled her eyes, pulling the curtains back as far as they’d go. ‘It’s for her benefit, and I know you think a lot of her.’ She pressed her index finger to her chin and looked around. ‘I’m thinking some new bedding and soft furnishings and… a new headboard.’ She tossed him the tape measure. ‘Can you do the honours and measure that, please, David? I’ll record the figures.’