The Hidden Girl Read Free Page A

night, and the place was already dead.
    The uneasy feeling he’d had since this morning persisted.
    He dropped his head onto the steering wheel.
    What the fuck had he done?
    The car clock changed. 7.11 p.m.
    Forcing himself out of the car, Will ducked under the low doorway of the thatched pub. It must be eighteen years since he’d been in here, but the smell was depressingly familiar: horse leather and wood smoke. A fire roared at the far end, and a few faces looked up. The only noticeable change was the introduction of a blackboard, which offered ‘red’ or ‘white’ wine.
    A woman turned round at the bar and held out a half-pint of lager. ‘Thought I was going to have to send out a search party.’
    He hugged her through layers of fleece, and took it. ‘Cheers.’
    He still never recognized her straight away. It was the extra weight, the glasses and the short-back-and-sides, which he suspected was the village hairdresser’s idea of a bob. Even though it was only eight months since Nan Riley’s funeral, he still expected to see teenage Laurie, with her long, shiny hair, skin-tight black jeans and coatings of purple eyeliner.
    ‘Some signposts would help.’
    ‘Yeah, then the place would be full of your lot. Bloody Londoners.’
    A barman handed Laurie her change and gave Will a curious look.
    ‘Chris!’ Laurie said. ‘Meet Will, my cousin – your new regular. He’s just moved into Tornley Hall.’
    ‘Have you now? Hello!’ Chris said, shaking Will’s hand. ‘That explains it. My wife Gemma does your post. She was wondering why there were lights on in the old place.’
    Laurie frowned at Will and shook her head. ‘No, they just moved in today, Chris.’
    ‘Is that right? Oh, don’t tell Gemma that – she’ll think she’s seeing ghosts!’ he laughed.
    ‘That’ll just be the estate agent getting it ready,’ Laurie said. ‘Getting the electric back on and stuff, won’t it, Will?’
    Will sipped his beer. It tasted good. ‘Maybe.’
    He didn’t know and he didn’t care.
    He and Laurie found a booth, by the window. Will clinked his cousin’s glass. ‘Cheers for sorting out the keys this morning, missus.’
    ‘You’re welcome. So?’ She bounced on her seat. ‘Did you get my text?’
    He had. He’d read it in the service station on the way here, while Hannah was in the loo. ‘Yeah. What’s the big thing?’
    ‘I’ve been there before!’ Laurie squealed. ‘We both have!’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Tornley Hall!’
    Will sipped his beer. It was definitely taking the edge off. He shook his head. ‘I haven’t.’
    ‘You have!’ she said, her eyes widening behind her square black glasses. ‘I remembered as soon as I walked in. That massive hall with the black-and-white tiles. And the stained-glass window. Nan took us there!’ She waited for him to react. ‘We were about six or seven? Nan was probably collecting something for the WI – do you remember that we used to go round to people’s houses with her, around the villages, and get biscuits and juice?’
    ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
    ‘Will, you wet your pants in the hall.’
    ‘Fuck off, Lor.’
    She giggled. ‘You did.’
    To his surprise, a vague memory did return of warm pee running down his leg onto a red rug, and him looking to Nan, ashamed. And someone – a woman – giving him a toffee and telling him not to cry.
    Laurie watched him closely. ‘Do you remember?’
    ‘I don’t know. I remember Nan taking me into this freezing old toilet and wiping my leg . . . and you being there, being a pain in the arse. No idea where it was, though.’
    Laurie banged his arm. ‘Oh my God, you’re right! It was there – I remember that. An old toilet covered in blue flowers? I couldn’t reach the handle. Is it still there?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ Tornley Hall could have six toilets covered in blue flowers. He hadn’t noticed.
    ‘Isn’t that weird?’ Laurie babbled on. ‘Anyway, I can’t believe you’ve