Sara Foster - Beneath the Shadows

She went to see him out, leaving Millie in her high chair banging her spoon repeatedly against her Weetabix with a dull thwack. At the door, Mike turned and the colour was high in his cheeks again.

‘I remember your Adam,’ he said. ‘He played for Skeldale cricket team for a time, he was a crackin’ spin bowler. I was right sorry -’

‘Thanks,’ Grace cut in, her unease as acute as his. ‘I’ll be in touch,’ she said, then closed the door smartly to escape her discomfort; but not before she caught one last sight of Mike Muir’s forlorn face looking back at her from the doorstep.

There was only one shop in Skeldale, one of the small villages between Roseby and the coast. It was just a terraced house really, no different to its dozen or so neighbours on the narrow lane, except for the sign outside, and notices Blu-Tacked against the glass of the bay windows. No one else was in sight as Grace hovered in the doorway, casting her eye along the advertisements. She couldn’t see what she was searching for.

A cowbell clanged loudly as she pushed open the heavy wooden door. Inside it was dingy, the scant space crammed with paraphernalia. Boxes of fruit lined the shelves to one side of her, precarious towers of tins stacked in the gaps. On the other side an eclectic mix of items were piled in disordered groups – among them, stationery, candles, postcards and packet noodles. More boxes spilled their assorted contents onto the uneven stone-flagged floor, and in one corner were what looked like a group of witches’ broomsticks. Grace peered into some plastic pots as she went past, to see they contained honeycombs, oozing golden liquid from their tiny pores.

The countertop was almost hidden by boxes of confectionery, and Millie reached out. Grace pulled her away, as an old woman shuffled into view from a door behind the counter. Her dress strained against its seams, and the loose skin hanging in folds under her chin quivered as she swayed towards the desk. ‘Now then, lass, what can I do for yer?’ she rasped.

The shop certainly hadn’t been organised with children in mind, and almost everything was within Millie’s grasp. The little girl leaned backwards and grabbed a box of matches, which Grace extricated from her and returned to the shelf. The woman watched them impassively.

‘I’m after some milk?’ Grace asked, unable to see a fridge anywhere.

The shopkeeper pulled a thick grey cardigan tighter around her and disappeared through the doorway again. Grace struggled to keep Millie’s eager fingers away from everything until the woman reappeared, a small carton of full-cream milk in one swollen hand. As she placed it on the counter, Grace wondered about asking for semi-skimmed, but decided it was simplest to hand over a five pound note. The shopkeeper took it, rummaged in a drawer behind her desk, and brought out some change. As she held out the coins, the cowbell chimed again, and the woman glanced over Grace’s shoulder. Grace thought she saw recognition in her eyes – suspicion even – but the shopkeeper said nothing.

Grace turned to leave, reminding herself to stock up on her trips to town, so she didn’t have to come here too often. As she moved, the man behind her stepped aside to let her pass, and Grace looked up briefly in thanks, registering a face similar in age to her own. She was about to open the door when she remembered her other reason for venturing out. She doubted the woman would be of much help, but since she was here she might as well ask anyway.

‘Excuse me, but I’m thinking about doing some renovations on my cottage. Do you know anyone local who might be interested in that kind of work?’

The shopkeeper considered her, until Grace thought that the very question must have been some kind of faux pas around these parts, but apparently she was deep in thought, as after an extended silence she said, ‘Can’t think of anyone offhand, like, but I’ll put word out. Where’s thou at?’

‘Roseby,’ Grace replied after a beat, struggling to decipher the woman’s thick accent.

It was as though a key had unlocked the woman’s demeanour. Her whole body trembled into alertness as she straightened, and she broke into a grin. ‘Roseby, are yer now? In ’awthorn Cottage for a guess?’

Grace’s heart sank, sure that Adam’s name was about to come up again, but, thankfully, the woman kept to the subject at hand.

‘Well, like I say, I’ll put word out for yer.’

‘Thank you.’ Grace smiled courteously. ‘Shall I give you my number?’

‘Don’t bother, if I thinks of anyone I’ll send ’em round. Yer do right gettin’ on with it before the snow comes.’

‘Okay, thanks.’ Grace turned to discover the man behind her was studying her. ‘Excuse me,’ she said, discomfited by his scrutiny. He said nothing but pulled the door open for her, the bell jangling again at her exit.

There was a low stone wall in front of the shop, and a large black dog lay on the ground in front of it, impervious to the cold, wet pavement. The dog had been resting its head on its paws, but at the sound of Grace’s footsteps its ears twitched and its head swung around, two coal-black eyes regarding her solemnly.

Grace usually loved dogs, but this one troubled her, reminding her too much of the black hound of her recent nightmare. Before she could move on, the dog sprang to its feet in excitement and began to nose around her legs, then jumped up to try to sniff Millie’s shoes. Grace expected Millie to squirm and turn away, but instead she bent over to peer curiously down at the creature. Grace was trying to ward the dog off with one hand, hissing, ‘No! Down!’, when she heard the cowbell ring again.

‘Bess, away!’ came a stern male command, and the dog instantly obeyed.

Grace took a deep breath in an attempt to recompose herself. The man from the shop was bending over, picking up the dog’s lead, then he straightened. He was tall and lean, with features that were chiselled to the point of hollowed. Grace was sure she had never seen him before in her life – but at the same time there was something slightly familiar about him. As their eyes locked, the intensity of his stare left her unsteady for a moment, and she took a small step backwards to regain her balance. His eyes were a deep brown, a few tired lines cutting thin grooves from each corner, before they were absorbed into the paleness of his face.

He ran a hand over his short dark hair. ‘You’re looking for a handyman?’

Grace almost started. His voice was surprisingly soft and low, with just a hint of a northern accent – a similar cadence to Adam’s.

‘I’ve done quite a bit of that kind of work,’ he continued. ‘I might be interested in the job.’

‘Okay,’ Grace replied, thinking fast. He had taken her by surprise, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. ‘Well then… if you’re free on Sunday, perhaps you could come over and I’ll show you what I’m thinking of, and we can have a chat about it. I’m open to suggestions, to be honest.’

‘Great,’ he replied, though his expression remained serious. ‘What time?’

‘Around one?’ she asked. ‘Millie takes a nap then,’ she indicated her daughter, who had begun to squirm in her arms, ‘so we’ll have a proper chance to talk.’

‘Fine. I’m Ben, by the way.’ He held out a hand.

‘Grace.’ She met his grasp, finding his skin warm despite the chill of the morning. ‘Do you have a number I can call you on if I need to change the time?’

‘Sure.’ He watched as she got out her mobile phone, then pulled his own from his pocket. ‘What’s your number?’ he asked. As she reeled it off, he dialled it, and the little screen on Grace’s phone lit up. ‘There you go,’ he said.