The Weekend Escape, page 6
‘My mum would never let me go camping with the Girl Guides,’ Bobbie said. She was toying with her food, and hadn’t eaten more than a few mouthfuls. After the one glass of Baileys, she’d switched back to water, refilling her bottle from the stash of mineral water they’d all brought. ‘All my friends went, but I wasn’t allowed. I don’t even know why I kicked up a fuss. I would’ve hated sleeping on the ground, and sharing a tent with people, and all that other stuff.’
‘Well, you’re here now, Bobs.’ Juliet smiled at her. ‘Our adventure group was better than the Girl Guides, anyway.’
Sonia was at last coming down the ladder from her bunk. She drained her glass then topped it off from the bottle before wandering into the kitchen. ‘I got kicked out of my Brownie troop,’ she said.
‘Of course you did.’ Lyndsey chuckled. ‘That’s incredibly on-brand for you.’
Sonia shrugged, but she was hiding a smile. ‘It all felt a bit sinister, anyway. Getting kids dressed up in uniform and making them swear oaths… It gave me the heebie-jeebies.’
‘Again, exactly what we’d expect from you,’ Lyndsey said. ‘Reading evil intentions into benign institutions.’
‘They weren’t benign, they tried to make me sing.’ Sonia stifled a yawn as she picked up her plate from the counter. ‘This one mine? Cool.’
‘You’re welcome,’ Juliet said. ‘Hey, if we wanna tell ghost stories, I reckon I can remember the ones we used to tell.’
Val hooted with laughter. ‘You can’t.’
‘Of course I can. We must’ve heard you tell that daft tale about the haunted cellar a dozen times.’
‘That wasn’t a story; it genuinely happened.’
Lyndsey was laughing as well now. ‘And it got more and more exaggerated every time you told it,’ she remembered. ‘By the end there was … what was it, a ghost dog? And pools of blood on the floor?’
‘True story,’ Val insisted. ‘Every word of it.’
Then Bobbie said, ‘There’s someone at the window.’
Everyone looked up. From where Lyndsey was sitting, she had a clear view through the window. She could see nothing more than the fields, the trees, and the iron-grey sky.
‘Where?’ Lyndsey asked. She hopped to her feet and peered right and left through the grubby panes at the empty garden. ‘I can’t see anyone.’
Juliet opened the front door. A gust of frigid air blew through the bunkhouse. ‘Nope,’ she reported, ‘no one.’
‘Who did you see, Bobs?’ Lyndsey asked.
Bobbie had gone quiet. She was chewing her lip.
‘Bobs?’
Slowly, Bobbie shook her head. ‘I must’ve imagined it,’ she said. ‘Sorry.’
Juliet shut the door. As an afterthought, she locked it.
‘Maybe it was Marne,’ Sonia suggested. ‘She looks the type to go creeping around, peering into windows.’
‘What’re you basing that on?’ Lyndsey asked. It’d always annoyed her when Sonia made snap decisions about people.
‘She voluntarily lives on a tiny island by herself,’ Sonia said with a shrug. Her words were slightly slurred. How much had she drunk? ‘Textbook weirdo.’
Bobbie shook her head. ‘It wasn’t her.’
‘How do you know?’ Sonia asked. ‘You’ve not met Marne. You don’t know what she looks like.’
‘It was… For a second, I thought…’ Bobbie trailed off. She shook her head again. ‘Never mind. I already sound crazy.’
‘No crazier than normal,’ Juliet said with a smile that was meant to be affectionate but looked distracted.
There were no curtains in the bunkhouse; no way to cover the windows. The fact hadn’t bothered Lyndsey before. After all, it wasn’t like there were bright streetlights outside, or nosy neighbours. Now, from the corners of her eyes, Lyndsey kept imagining faces pressed against the glass.
‘What time is it?’ Sonia asked.
‘Almost four o’clock,’ Juliet said, then muttered, ‘Waste of a whole bloody day.’
Sonia gave her a look. ‘What would you rather we were doing?’
‘Ideally? Any of the activities on our itinerary. That would’ve been good.’
‘You and your bloody itinerary. I bet you’re really upset at us for disrupting your plans.’
‘I’m not upset.’ Juliet picked up her plate and took it to the sink. ‘You asked me what I’d prefer to be doing, and I answered. I put a lot of effort into organising this weekend. You have no idea how difficult it was to get all of us here.’
‘Shall I wake Amanda up so she can apologise for falling off a lighthouse?’ There was a look in Sonia’s eyes that everyone recognised. Lyndsey felt a familiar sense of foreboding rising in her stomach. Sonia had drunk too much too quickly on an empty stomach, and now she wanted a fight. Apparently, that much hadn’t changed.
‘There’s no need to shout at me.’ Juliet gave her plate a quick rinse in the copper-coloured tap water. ‘I know the situation can’t be helped. I just wish things were different, that’s all. I really wanted this weekend to work out.’
Sonia shook her head in disgust. ‘It’s a write-off. Accept it. You’ll just have to try it again some other time.’
‘That’s the point though, isn’t it? We’ll never get another chance.’ Juliet grabbed a tea towel to dry her plate. She kept her voice calm and level. ‘As soon as National Heritage find out what happened, they’ll close off the lighthouse. They might close the whole island to climbers.’
‘Good.’ Sonia folded her arms. ‘They absolutely should. This might’ve escaped your notice, but Amanda could’ve died.’
‘It was an accident.’
‘It fucking wasn’t.’ Sonia took a step towards Juliet. ‘That rope was cut. We all saw it. And now we’re sitting around, eating and drinking and chatting, pretending nothing happened.’
‘What do you suggest we do differently?’ Juliet turned to face her at last. ‘We can’t contact the police until the radio is fixed. The absolute best thing we can do is stay calm and not start these petty arguments with each other. If you can think of something more productive, go ahead and do it.’
Sonia held Juliet’s gaze for a moment longer, then looked away. She muttered something inaudible.
‘Out of interest,’ Val said then, ‘did anyone ask the bird warden whether she was near the lighthouse this afternoon?’
Lyndsey frowned, although she was grateful for the interruption. ‘What’s that got to do with it?’
‘Just an idea.’ Val was still eating, chewing each mouthful thoughtfully. ‘If Sonia’s right and someone did cut Amanda’s rope, it was either one of us lot—’
‘It wasn’t.’ Juliet’s tone was sharp. ‘Don’t even suggest that.’
‘Or it was someone else,’ Val finished. ‘And there’s only one “someone else” on this island. Our resident bird warden.’
Juliet was already shaking her head. ‘No one cut the rope. It was an accident.’
Sonia opened her mouth to reply, but Lyndsey spoke over her, before another argument could start. ‘Why on earth would Marne do something like that?’
‘Why not? Some people are crazy.’ Val gestured with her fork. ‘Could be she likes being here by herself and resents tourists like us intruding on her peace. Wouldn’t she benefit if the island got cordoned off, like Juliet suggested? She’d have the place to herself.’
‘We don’t know her well enough to assume anything,’ Lyndsey said.
‘That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? She could be anyone.’ Val was warming to her topic. ‘Who knows how she feels about us being here?’
Sonia grabbed her red coat from the pegs by the door. ‘I’m gonna go ask her,’ she said.
‘Are you sure that’s a smart idea?’ Juliet asked.
‘Why the hell not? There’s no sense cowering in here, asking ourselves stupid questions, when we could get to the heart of the matter.’
She just wants to start a fight with someone else, Lyndsey knew. We should stop her. But she made no move to get up from the table.
Juliet must’ve guessed Sonia’s intentions as well, because she pulled a face. ‘I’ll come with you.’
‘Yippee.’ Sonia pulled on her double-bobble hat, tucking her bobbed hair behind her ears. ‘Let’s go, then.’
‘What about the rest of us?’ Lyndsey asked.
‘Stay here and keep an eye on Amanda,’ Juliet instructed. ‘And lock the door behind us.’ To Bobbie, she said, ‘It’ll be okay.’
Bobbie nodded but said nothing. She was chewing her lower lip again, and her eyes kept straying to the windows. Again, Lyndsey wished there were curtains to block out the view and give them some privacy.
Lyndsey went to the window so she could watch Juliet and Sonia head towards the warden’s house. Even though it wasn’t yet dinner time, the afternoon light was already fading. The two women were grey shadows against a monochrome background. Juliet had taken her headtorch with her, just in case it got darker while they were out. Always prepared. Through the glass, Lyndsey thought she heard Sonia aim another barbed comment at Juliet.
Irrationally, Lyndsey wanted to call them back inside and make them talk things through properly. Why had that argument even started between Juliet and Sonia? Couldn’t it have waited till they got home?
But Lyndsey knew the fight had been brewing all afternoon. The accident and the weather and the broken radio had put them all on edge. It’d only been a matter of time before Sonia said something.
Maybe if we hadn’t started drinking so early…
It felt wrong to lock the door with her friends outside, but Lyndsey did so anyway. ‘They won’t be long,’ she said, as much to herself as anyone else.
‘What’ll we do till they get back?’ Bobbie asked.
‘Take a nap,’ Val suggested. ‘I find that’s the answer to most problems in life.’ She stretched her arms. Her shoulders and back made a series of unpleasant clicking noises. ‘Do you reckon the weather’s going to improve overnight?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lyndsey said. She watched Juliet pause outside the door of the observatory. ‘Marne said the weather was going to get worse before it got better.’
‘Eh, that’s usually what weather does.’
Bobbie tore her gaze away from the windows. ‘What if the boat can’t get to us on Sunday?’
It was a question Lyndsey had been stewing over as well. She hadn’t wanted to raise it in front of Juliet, who would get defensive.
‘They’ll send a coastguard helicopter if they have to,’ Val said. ‘They won’t leave us stranded here.’
‘What if it gets so bad the helicopter can’t fly?’
‘Don’t worry. They’ve got a Sikorsky based in Anglesey.’
‘A Skir—?’
‘Sikorsky. It’s a big bugger of a rescue helicopter. If you’re interested, I’ve got a photo on my laptop.’
‘Of course you do.’
‘That beast can fly in anything short of a hurricane.’ Val looked around for her laptop. ‘We’re not due a hurricane. The weather report would’ve said so.’
Lyndsey resolutely turned her back to the dark windows. ‘What did the forecast say?’
‘I don’t know,’ Val said. ‘I didn’t check.’
‘You didn’t?’
‘Well, no. Did you?’
Lyndsey gave a half-hearted laugh. ‘I guess I took Juliet’s word for it. But you’re the research queen. When we went to Krakow for Juliet’s hen do, you knew everything about the city, down to the bus timetables. Didn’t you look into this place in the same way?’
Val made a face. ‘I did all my research four months ago, when we first booked this holiday. I didn’t think to update it.’
‘If there’d been a serious weather warning,’ Bobbie said, ‘Juliet would’ve told us. Right?’
‘What if—?’ Lyndsey hesitated, then asked, ‘What if she knew the weather was going to be bad, and she didn’t tell us?’
Val raised her eyebrows. ‘She would’ve said something. There’s no way she’d risk screwing up this weekend.’
Bobbie nodded slowly. ‘That’s true. It’s been her dream for years. Ever since she came here as a kid, she’s wanted to come back and share it with us.’ There was the faintest edge of bitterness in her voice. ‘It’s sometimes felt like we were doomed never to come here. Something’s always stopped us in the past.’
‘Sure,’ Lyndsey said, and let the matter drop.
But it still niggled her. Even if Juliet had known about the incoming storm, she might’ve decided to risk going ahead with the trip anyway. Juliet was always inclined to gamble. It’d been drummed into her by years of working in the financial sector. The rest of the group were more cautious. Certainly, if Lyndsey had known there was the slightest chance the weather might strand them on the island … well, it would’ve been the perfect excuse not to come. Some of the others might’ve felt the same.
I wish we hadn’t come, Lyndsey thought bitterly. She’d known from the outset that she should’ve refused. It would’ve been tough to argue with Juliet, especially given everything she’d been through recently, but Lyndsey should’ve tried harder. Reunions were always a terrible idea. What sort of person found it fun to relieve their teenage years? They’d all changed. None of them hung out regularly anymore. In fact, none of them would’ve had the slightest inclination to hang out if Juliet hadn’t pestered them, year on year, about doing this reunion trip.
Maybe the group had been best friends back at school, and maybe they’d shared a common interest in climbing up and down things, but why were they pretending nothing had changed between them?
Why do we pretend it’s fine that there are only six people in the group now, when there should still be seven?
Chapter Seven
FRIDAY
6:00pm
‘She says she was nowhere near the lighthouse this afternoon,’ Sonia said, slamming the door behind her with enough force to startle Lyndsey out of her doze.
‘You’re welcome,’ Val muttered. She’d been keeping an eye out through the kitchen window, and had got up to unlock the door for Sonia and Juliet. She grimaced and stepped out of the way as Sonia stomped the mud from her boots.
Lyndsey sat up. She’d climbed onto her bunk and burrowed into her sleeping bag while waiting for Sonia and Juliet to return. It’d given her a chance to be alone with her thoughts. And to refill her drink a couple of times. She’d given up on the Baileys and instead dug a bottle of vodka out of her backpack. She’d offered it round but no one had taken up her offer.
The bunkhouse had been nice and quiet. Amanda was asleep again, and Bobbie had curled up on her bunk, either asleep or just needing some peace. The only noise came from the steady tap-tap-tap of Val working away on her laptop at the kitchen table.
For a while, Lyndsey was annoyed about being stuck there, unable to do anything more than count the hours until rescue would arrive. But the more she thought about it, the less it bothered her. If she’d stayed at home that weekend, would she have been doing anything other than sitting alone, drinking? At least here, she couldn’t torment herself by doom-scrolling through social media, reading status updates of people living a better life than her.
There’s nowhere else you could be right now, she told herself, so you might as well enjoy it as best you can. You’re warm, you’re dry, and you’re surrounded by friends. Things could be worse.
Val seemed to have come to the same conclusion. She looked happy enough, working away on her laptop, occasionally frowning or pouting at her screen. She was visibly annoyed when Sonia and Juliet made their noisy entrance.
‘According to the warden, there’s no reason for her to go to the south of the island,’ Juliet said. She shrugged off her black jacket. Rainwater dripped from her sleeves, even though she’d only been outside for a short while. ‘All her bird traps are up on the hills to the north and east.’
Val lifted her eyebrows. ‘And do we believe her?’ she asked.
‘Why wouldn’t we?’ Juliet asked.
‘I can think of a bunch of reasons,’ Sonia said, sourly. ‘She’s still procrastinating about the radio, for a start.’
‘She’s doing her best,’ Juliet said. ‘We can’t ask anything more than that.’
Sonia clumped around the bunkroom in a foul temper, lifting her bag then flinging it back onto her bunk, muttering to herself. Juliet was doing something similar in the kitchen, noisily lighting the camping stove to make another cup of tea.
When Juliet came into the bunkroom, Lyndsey asked her, ‘What did you think of the warden?’
‘How d’you mean?’
‘Just interested in your impression of her. We thought she was a bit odd, didn’t we?’
Sonia grunted. ‘Odd is certainly one word for her,’ she muttered.
‘I think she’s telling the truth though,’ Juliet said firmly. ‘We hung around for a while because I wanted to keep her talking. She had no reason to go near the lighthouse today. It’s obvious she just wants to get on with her work.’
Lyndsey pulled her sleeping bag up around her shoulders so she could settle into it like a nest. She refilled her mug from the bottle. As Sonia went past, Lyndsey waved the bottle at her, and Sonia gratefully accepted. Juliet wrinkled her nose like Lyndsey was offering around a cup of poison.
Whenever something goes wrong, Juliet always takes it out on whoever’s closest. Lyndsey had somehow forgotten that about her. Really, she wanted to ask Juliet about the weather forecast, and if there actually was a storm incoming, but she didn’t have the energy to start another argument. She especially didn’t want to get Juliet and Sonia sniping at each other again.
With a yawn, Val got up from her chair. ‘I need to pee,’ she announced. ‘Can everyone sing loudly so you can’t hear me?’ They’d discovered that, as well as being cramped and drafty, the bathroom was poorly soundproofed.
‘We should make a rota for the morning,’ Juliet said. ‘Otherwise, we’ll all be trying to shower at the same time.’
‘I’m not into group showers,’ Val said as she disappeared into the bathroom.
