His Silence - Chapter 33

Callum and I don’t speak for most of the journey back to the house. I’m sure this isn’t how he would’ve wanted to have spent his four weeks leave; I’ll make it up to him somehow. When we’ve got all of this out of the way, I will treat him to a holiday somewhere. Somewhere exotic, I think we’re going to need it.

The white gates appear at the end of the dirt track, the sight of them makes me shudder. My parents fled this place along with me and my brother, and now here I am going back, agreeing to stay. The gates are already open, I texted Jeremiah last night to tell him we were coming today. I think of Emma and Michael, they’ll be thinking we’ll be in the airport by now. So far I haven’t had a text from either of them.

I grip the safety bar again like I did before as we head up the track. The car bumps along before Callum swings it into the space beside the mini bus. Jeremiah and Oliver are waiting for us outside the house. Their hands are clasped behind their backs; they both beam at us as we park up.

‘Here we go,’ Callum says, turning off the engine. He climbs out of the car.

‘Danielle, it’s so good to see you,’ Oliver says. ‘And Callum as well, welcome back, I’m really pleased you’ve both decided to stay with us.’

‘Thank you,’ I say, clutching the handle on my suit case tight. ‘I’ve been really looking forward to coming back.’ I think back to my conversation with Max last week, when he warned me, like Callum did, about coming here again. His revelations about being threatened filter through into my head. It must’ve been Oliver who threatened him, there can’t have been anyone else.

‘This way please,’ Oliver says. ‘Now, I hope you don’t mind, but since you said Callum wanted to stay as well, we’ve had to alter some of the sleeping arrangements, for the time being. Callum will be in the room you stayed in Danielle the other week, and Danielle, I hope you don’t mind, but I have a spare bed in the annexe for you. I think you’ll be very comfortable there. It’s in a separate room, of course, you won’t be staying with me.’

I think back to the spare bed there was in my room. Why won’t they let us share the room together?

‘That’s fine, thanks,’ I say. It’s best to go along with it for now, don’t try and be difficult.

‘I’ll show you to your room now,’ Oliver says. ‘Jeremiah, would you mind showing Callum where he’s staying?’

Why’s Oliver so keen to get me on my own? We enter the building, our feet creaking on the wooden floorboards. People are chatting in the living space where we ate dinner the other week. Before we reach the door, it’s pulled shut, the sound becomes more distant. What don’t they want us to hear?

‘I’ll take Callum up to his room,’ Jeremiah says, holding his hand out and directing Callum up the stairs. It looked like Callum was going to follow me for a second; it’s clear now Oliver and Jeremiah aren’t going to allow that to happen.

‘I’ll catch you later then, Danielle,’ Callum says a slight hint of concern in his voice.

I nod and follow Oliver into the kitchen, listening to the sound of both Callum and Jeremiah heading up the stairs. They don’t speak to each other. Callum will probably try and make conversation, but whether or not Jeremiah will reciprocate it I have no idea.

‘So, I take it you ended up speaking to your family about staying here?’ Oliver asks.

‘Um, yeah, they’re fine about it,’ I say. The lie feels thick in my throat, I’m sure Oliver will realise I’m lying. There’s something about his face that suggests nothing gets past him.

What’s going through Oliver’s mind? I shake the thought out of my head as we head out into the garden, my suitcase crunching along the pathway as I drag it behind me.

‘That’s good,’ he says, holding the door of the annexe open for me once we get to the bottom of the path. ‘Your room is just to the right here. Mine’s on the left.’

‘Thanks.’ My suitcase bounces in behind me. We’re standing in a small hallway with wooden floorboards. There are two pictures hanging from the wall on either side showing the marshes from above. I shiver, perhaps they’re there to remind people of the danger they pose. Oliver holds open my bedroom door. It’s a bigger room than the one I stayed in before. The bed is a king sized one by the looks of it. There are two bedside cabinets on either side with an empty photo frame, and a lamp on each. On the other side of the room is a large wardrobe. It’s almost like a hotel room. My eyes clap on the purple dress lying on the duvet. ‘What’s this?’

Oliver steps further into the room. ‘Ah, this dress belonged to your mother when she was living here. I thought you would like to have it and, it’s up to you, of course, but you might want to possibly wear it to dinner later.’

I take a tentative step closer to the bed, and feel the soft fabric of the dress; I imagine Mum wearing it years ago. I picture her wearing it and going out to dinner with Dad, hand in hand. Tears prick the corners of my eyes.

‘Why was it left here?’ I ask.

Oliver rubs his right eye. ‘When your parents left, they ended up leaving a few of their belongings behind; I’ll be very happy to give them to you.’

I nod. ‘Yes, please.’

Oliver beams. ‘I’ll get them sorted for you right away. So, lunch will be served in the dining room, where you ate the first night you stayed here at one thirty. There’ll be a meeting, which I would like both you and Callum to attend straight after lunch, and then dinner will be served at six thirty. Do you have any questions?’

‘Um, yes, where’s the bathroom here?’

‘Oh, of course, you have your own ensuite in this room,’ he says, walking over to a door and opening it. The smell of jasmine, coming from the diffuser on the sink hits me in the face. I stare at the pristine bath and shower. This is like a whole other world to the sleeping arrangements in the house. Does anyone else from the house ever come into the annexe? ‘I hope you’ll be very happy here. So, I’ll leave you to get settled and I’ll see you at lunch.’

‘Oh, sorry just one more thing, what’s the Wi-Fi code?’ I ask.

Oliver pauses in the doorway. He looks back over his shoulder at me, his forehead creasing. ‘We don’t actually have Wi-Fi up at the house, but we do have it here in the annexe; I can give you the code so long as you promise not to share it with anyone else.’

I stare at him. ‘Um, yeah, OK, that’s fine.’

‘I just need to check what the code is, and then I’ll give it to you.’  

He exits the room, shutting the door behind him. I sit on the bed and feel the dress again, rubbing it between my fingers. It seemed a bit odd that he suggested I should wear it tonight. I remind myself of the reason why I’m here. If I’m going to find out anything about what really happened the night my parents were killed, I need to keep Oliver onside. This won’t be for long, just until I get the answers I need, like I promised Callum.