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CHAPTER ELEVEN

An unexpected visitor

It was past ten o’clock at night when Tom finally left Susie in the little kitchen of Cynghordy House. She couldn’t stay in the hospital with Charlie so Tom had driven her back. ‘How kind and helpful Tom is,’ she thought. She sat down at the table and looked at the white walls, the cupboards, the table, the fridge. Nothing moved.

She felt strange in the thick quietness without Charlie. In London she didn’t mind being alone, but here, in this house, she was uncomfortable. She knew she was afraid.

Now Charlie was in hospital with a broken leg and a broken arm. He was lucky not to have a broken neck. Poor Charlie. They said he had to stay in hospital for at least a week.

‘Poor me, too,’ she thought. ‘What am I going to do now? I haven’t got a car. Whose idea was it to have a holiday, anyway? What a wonderful holiday this is. Here I am in this house by myself on a cold, wet Welsh mountain in the middle of nowhere. I can’t even walk to Llandafydd from here. There’s no-one near, and what if .

She stopped quickly before she could finish that thought.

‘Well, anyway, I’ve got my mobile phone and at least there’s Tom,’ she told herself. ‘He’s been very kind.’

Tom had told her that he lived on the other side of the hill. She could ring him any time if she needed anything. He would try to come the next morning to see her. But he had a lot to do and he wasn’t sure if he’d have time.

Anyway, she could call a taxi from Llandafydd to take her to the hospital.

She felt safer, thinking of Tom. She remembered the gun that she’d seen in his Land Rover. When he’d shown her the silver bullet, she hadn’t understood at first. Then she had remembered the stories her father used to tell her. Tom didn’t really think that a werewolf was killing his sheep. Did he?

She had asked him if he was joking. But he had just smiled and said, ‘You never know, do you? You can’t be sure,’ She couldn’t believe he was serious.

‘Where my father came from,’ she’d told him lightly, ‘they believe that when a werewolf dies, it turns into a vampire. You can’t kill them, you know. It’s impossible. They just change into something else.’

‘Do they really,’ Tom had said.

‘Of course, it’s stupid,’ she told herself now. ‘Vampires and werewolves are just stories.’ She got up to look at the fire in the sitting-room. She thought of the time on Brynmawr Hill, and the time at the zoo. But the danger wasn’t real. There was nothing out there. It was only in her head. And she must fight it. She wished Charlie was there.

‘Oh, no,’ she said, aloud. The fire had gone out. That meant no hot water, and the house was cold now, too. And, of course, there was no wood in the box either.

‘OK,’ she thought, ‘let’s see if I can do this by myself.’

She picked up the wood box and opened the front door. She left the door open so that she could see a little and went out to the garage.

When the wood box was full, she stood up again to go back inside. Just then, she suddenly realised that someone or something was near her and was moving towards her in the dark.

She screamed and dropped the box. Pieces of wood fell everywhere. She stood still and couldn’t move.

‘Oh, I’m terribly sorry,’ a friendly voice said. She knew the voice at once. It was Richard. The man from the pub.

‘I made you jump, didn’t I,’ he went on. ‘I just came to see if you were OK. I thought you might need something. Tom told me it was you two who were in the accident. I saw it on my way to the pub earlier tonight.’ He made it sound like a question.

‘Yes,’ Susie said. ‘I know. I saw it was you. It’s kind of you to come. I’m fine. But Charlie’s in hospital with a broken arm and a broken leg. Some holiday!’

‘I’m so sorry, Poor Charlie,’ Richard said. ‘Here, let me help you pick up the wood.’

‘Thanks,’ Susie said. She added, ‘I didn’t hear you drive up or anything.’

‘No, I walked the last bit,’ Richard answered. ‘The snow’s quite bad on this road and I didn’t want to have any trouble with the car. I haven’t got a Land Rover like the farmers round here.’

‘Well, would you like to come in,’ Susie said, unsure what to do. He could help her with the fire anyway. And it would be nice to talk to someone for a bit.

She made them both a cup of tea while Richard lit the fire. The room soon started to feel warmer. Susie found herself talking to Richard as if he was an old friend. She told him about her life in London, her father, her family in Slovenia, her work. While she talked, he smiled at her and listened. She’d never talked like this before to a man she didn’t know. He made her feel that everything she said was important and interesting.

She realised that he was very good-looking, in an unusual way. His blue eyes watched her while she spoke. It was strange how comfortable she felt. He was so easy to talk to. She might almost fall in love with him.

Suddenly, Susie realised what she was doing. Charlie was in hospital and here she was with a strange man in the house. How could she possibly be thinking of such a thing?

‘Er, I’m afraid I’ll have to go to bed now,’ Susie said.

‘Of course, I’m terribly sorry. How stupid of me, it’s late,’ Richard said. ‘You must be very tired. I’d better go. Look, if you like, I could take you in to the hospital to see Charlie tomorrow. I’ve got to go into town anyway.’

‘Oh well, that’s very kind, Yes, please,’ Susie said.

‘I’ll come and pick you up about twelve, then,’ Richard said.

‘That would be wonderful, Thanks very much, See you tomorrow,’ she replied.

When Susie got into bed, she realised that she was very tired. But in the night, the dreams started again. A voice called to her. ‘Come with me,’ it said. In the dream, she knew the voice but she couldn’t quite say whose it was.

Suddenly, she was awake. Outside, there was a kind of scream. ‘It must be an animal caught by something,’ Susie thought. It came again, and then again, a hopeless, deathly scream. She pulled the blankets over her head to shut out the noise.