Sara Foster - Beneath the Shadows

‘Only if they see you!’ Ben replied. ‘And I don’t think anyone else is daft enough to be out here on Christmas Day – too busy stuffing themselves with turkey and drinking themselves under the table.’

His words conjured up the rich, spicy aroma of warm mulled wine, and this urged Grace onwards. She jumped down from the gate and found herself standing in a patch of sucking mud, deceptively slick. Ben grabbed her elbow, steadied her, and helped her to wade through the bog. Once clear, they all hurried across the field.

As they neared the next gate, Bess stopped and began barking, and Ben slowed beside her for a fraction of a second, turning to look behind them. Grace had kept her head down to keep the snow from getting in her eyes, but now she glanced up. Seeing Ben’s alarm, she automatically twisted round to follow his stare.

Through the snow she could make out a large, shaggy-haired creature with solid, curved horns. It was ambling towards them. As they watched, it quickened its pace, some distance away yet, but getting closer much too fast for Grace’s liking. Then it broke into a run.

Ben shouted, ‘Oh shit! Move, now!’ He lifted up Bess while she was still barking, and practically threw her over the gate. Then he was by Grace’s side, yelling, ‘You next, Grace, hurry !’

Her heartbeat charged into her ears like the thunderous thud of hooves. Ben’s body was now close against hers, his breath warm on the back of her neck as she gripped the top beam. He pushed her, propelling her upwards, and she swung her leg frantically over the top. In her panic, she leaped rather than climbed down, landing in another patch of slippery mud. It took her legs out from beneath her so that her gloved hands and unprotected face went slap straight into it.

She struggled up onto her hands and knees, panting and gasping. Looking behind her, she saw a pair of large round eyes glaring at them through a gap in the gate, the bull snorting air heavily. Bess barked frantically, crouched with her front paws low and her hindquarters high in the air.

‘Are you all right?’ Ben squatted beside her.

‘I’m fine. Just… filthy.’ She tried to wipe the hair from her eyes with her dirty gloves, knocking a big glob of muck from her nose as she did so.

She looked at Ben, expecting laughter, but instead saw concern. She didn’t know where her giggle came from, but it began to bubble out of her until she couldn’t stop. Ben looked surprised, then the creases around his eyes deepened as he joined in.

Grace surveyed her mud-splattered coat and jeans. ‘God, what a state,’ she exclaimed, wondering how it was that she was sitting in a field covered in dirt and snow, feeling the happiest she had been since she’d arrived.

‘You should see your face,’ Ben chuckled. He offered her a hand, and she took it, pulling herself upright. Their bodies came briefly together, and Ben stepped swiftly away, bending down to reattach Bess’s lead. ‘Come on, let’s go. I need to make a phone call, then I’ll come and join you for lunch.’

Grace trudged after him, her mood deflating. Now she was keen to get indoors.

Back at the cottage, Annabel’s jaw dropped and James began laughing when they saw her.

‘What the hell happened to you?’ Annabel asked. ‘Been rolling around in a pig sty?’

‘I got chased by a bull,’ Grace replied, then wished she hadn’t, as they both looked at her incredulously, and then at each other, before they dissolved into more streams of mirth. She didn’t know why she couldn’t join in when she’d found it funny herself at the time. Now she muttered, ‘Yes, it’s hilarious,’ and headed upstairs to get changed.

An hour later, the smell of roasting turkey wafted tantalisingly through the cottage. Grace was feeling much better after a bath and a change of clothes, and Millie had woken refreshed from her nap and was investigating more of her toys.

Annabel was up as soon as she heard the knock at the door. ‘I’ll get it.’ She disappeared into the hallway, then Grace heard her exclaim, ‘Ben!’, as though genuinely surprised to see him.

Ben caught Grace’s eye as he came in, and smiled at her.

‘Grace got chased by a bull this morning!’ Annabel told him merrily.

‘Really?’ He raised his eyebrows at Grace, but said nothing more.

She was keen to change the subject. ‘Dinner’s ready.’

‘I’ll give you a hand, Grace,’ James offered.

As they concentrated on dishing up, Ben sat down on the floor, murmuring softly to Millie as he admired her presents. Annabel joined them and began to tell him about the ball.

A few minutes later, Grace and James put four plates of steaming food on the table. Grace strapped Millie into her high chair in front of her own small offering.

They took their places and started to eat. James speared a brussel sprout as he said, ‘So, Ben, it’s been pretty handy for Grace that you’ve been able to help her get things moving here.’

James’s tone made Grace look at him sharply. Ben nodded. ‘Yes, lucky for her and for me – she’s kept me from being at a loose end.’

‘Annabel tells me that you’re house-sitting?’ James persisted. ‘How long will you be here for?’

‘Another few weeks,’ Ben replied as he poured gravy over his meal. ‘The owners are due back in early February.’

Grace wondered if she would have finished the renovations by then. She imagined living in the village without Ben nearby, and was alarmed at how downhearted she felt. ‘Where will you go then?’ she asked.

‘Back to Australia. Pick up where I left off.’

Annabel took the gravy boat from him. ‘And where was that?’

‘I work for a small architecture firm in Sydney. I’ve had some time off for long service, among other things, but it finishes at the end of February.’ He sat back, studying them in turn. His eyes fell on James. ‘So what do you do?’

‘I work for a Swiss bank.’ James straightened his shoulders as he spoke. ‘And spend most of my spare time on the ski slopes. I can’t get enough of it. Don’t suppose you have much chance to ski, living in Australia.’

‘Actually, there are some great spots in Victoria,’ Ben replied, his arm hooked casually around the back of his chair. ‘But I live close to Sydney and spend more of my time surfing. I’m lucky enough to have a place near the water. There’s something pretty magical about catching waves. I really miss it, actually.’

In the silence that followed, Annabel caught Grace’s eye, raising an eyebrow almost imperceptibly, before she said, ‘Don’t you have man-eating sharks in Australia?’

‘We do,’ Ben grinned. ‘But so far I’ve been lucky.’ He looked at James and Annabel. ‘So how long are you two staying?’

‘A few days,’ James said.

Grace could have sworn that Annabel tried to bat her eyelashes. ‘Until New Year.’

‘Are you keeping an eye on the weather?’ Ben asked. ‘Because it’s forecasting snow at any time. You do know this village can easily get cut off in the snow?’

‘Oh, I’m used to snow,’ James replied with a wave of his fork, before he turned to Grace. ‘Do you remember that year we stayed in the Cotswolds and it snowed the whole time? We made that snowman and put Annabel’s underwear on it.’

‘Yeah, I remember not talking to you both for the rest of the day,’ Annabel added. ‘That stuff cost a fortune.’

‘Ben has a good point, though,’ Grace interjected, trying to include him in the conversation. ‘I hope we’ve got everything we need.’

‘We bought plenty of food yesterday – we’ll be fine,’ James said confidently. ‘Anyway, we could get out if we really needed to.’

Ben took a sip of his beer. ‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that, mate. Don’t underestimate the weather around here – it can make things pretty hairy.’