Peter Grist - Flashback

“So you actually found her, Grace I mean?”

“Well I found someone, I hope it’s Grace”.

“And you have never had anything like this happen to you before?” she asked. He shook his head slowly. Eventually, he said “I should go, I knew you would think I was a nutcase but I wanted to tell you the truth. Thanks for the meal”. He began to rise from the chair but she put her hand up to him.

“No! Stop! I do believe you, I believe every word. Sit down, please”. He dropped back down in the comfy seat.

“How can you believe a crazy story like that, even I don’t believe it, and I was there!”

“Well if it hadn’t been for what happened at the library this morning I doubt that I would have believed you”. He looked at her astonished.

“What do you mean? I just flaked out is all.”

“No Ed, you didn’t. When you were lying on the floor in front of me, you were moaning and kicking out like you were in a bad dream, but that’s not it. It’s the cuts, on your arms and face. When you fell through the door you didn’t have them. When I was kneeling beside you, they just… well, I saw them appear… from nowhere. They just came! It was like, oh what do Christians call it?”

“Stigmata?”

“Yes! That’s it, just like stigmata!”

“Will you find your way back okay?” They were standing on the front porch, the only light coming from inside the house, silhouetting Linda in the doorway and giving her an angelic look. They had talked for another hour about what to do about the missing girl and the strange dreams. They could think of no logical conclusions, especially for the small tears in Ed’s skin that Linda had seen appear. Linda would make some subtle enquiries about the disappearance while he finished the last of his meetings in the morning, then they would get together at lunchtime to see what she had uncovered.

“Yes, I’ll be fine. I’m pretty good with directions and I’ve got a map if I get really lost. Well… good night then, and thank you again”.

Reluctantly he turned to go.

“Ed?”

He turned back around towards her and as he did, she leant forwards, put both arms around his neck and kissed him, ever so briefly on the lips. “Be careful”, she said then turned and went inside, closing the door behind her. He stood there, quite stunned, the stupidest of smiles painted on his face. He almost floated back to his car, the Sable’s built-in security approach lamps illuminating the ground around the Mercury. He leant heavily against the hood of the car, looked back at the farmhouse then lifted his eyes up to the clear night sky. He took in a deep pine-scented breath of fresh country air. He had hoped that she liked him, as he liked her, but he had never expected that. Wow! Looking up at the star-filled night he pondered at how minute his place was in the cosmos, but more importantly how quickly he had gathered feelings for Linda; being with her tonight seemed so natural and comfortable as if he had known her for years. A trio of shooting stars sped across the vast heavens and he wondered if he should make a wish on them. He smiled to himself, unlocked the car and slipped inside. Ed started the engine and drove back down the track, the missing girl far from his thoughts, and blissfully unaware of the furious eyes watching him from the shadows.

What on earth was she doing? She leant heavily against the old oak door, listening to Ed start his car and driving away. She hadn’t looked at another man, let alone kissed one since Ben had died, and now, after meeting this strange man only two days ago, she was bringing him home and cooking for him, even kissed him for heaven’s sake. What on earth was going on? But she felt something already for him, she couldn’t deny that and she couldn’t help that kiss either. She had felt something in that brief contact that had gone straight through her body like a bolt of lightning, a feeling she hadn’t felt for many years, something she never imagined she would ever feel again. Did he feel it too she wondered? The pessimistic devil in her head started to wonder if there was any point to any of this, there was no future to be had; he was a travelling salesman for Christ sake. She stopped the negative thought almost as soon as it had formed. Still, the moment had passed, she returned to her normal practical self. Although she rarely locked the doors on her house, all the talk of graves and murder had unnerved her some so she wandered around the ground floor, latching and locking doors and windows. When she felt that everything was secure she quietly took the stairs, stopping at Joshua’s room to make sure he was sound asleep. His Buzz Lightyear side light was still on. She pulled the covers up, kissed him on the forehead and doused the light. She stared at him for a while longer in the half-light offered from the landing. He was so much like his father in many ways; his looks, the way he spoke, even some of his mannerisms; like the way he twitched his eyes when he was really tired, little things, but maybe that was why she hadn’t looked at another man since Ben’s death, he was still very much here. She left Joshua’s door partly open then carried on down the hall to her own room. As she lay under her covers looking out of her window at the dark sky, she thought about Grace Benjamin, laying out there somewhere in the forest and wondered how she could help find the little girl’s body. She finally drifted off to sleep with images of Ed Saunders tending crops behind the farm and Josh playing in the yard while she fed corn to the chickens. She had no way of knowing that this would be the last sweet dream she would have for a while.

The intruder saw the lights go off one by one in the librarian’s house, first on the ground floor then he watched her work her way upstairs, the lights extinguishing as she moved nearer to her own bedroom. He pondered his next move. He would just love to burst in there right this second and take the bitch while he slowly throttled the life from her, but he was a patient man, and until he knew what those two love birds were up to and how much they knew he could keep his cool. He turned away from the now dark dwelling, reached into a breast pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He slipped a cigarette between his lips, struck a match and sucked deeply on the nicotine. He blew out the match, snapped it almost in half and flicked it into the night. He walked purposefully away from the house back to the pick-up truck parked hidden in the treeline, a cold smile broadening across his face.

For the first time in months, Ed woke with a true sense of purpose. He felt rested after a nightmare-free sleep and happy about how last night had finished, the feel of Linda’s full soft lips still causing an uncontrollable grin on his face. He sprung out of bed and ran through his morning routine, showered, shaved and dressed for the day in his normal work clothes; cream stay-press pants, a plain long-sleeved khaki cotton shirt and chocolate brown suede shoes. He had his laptop bag over his shoulder and was heading out of his room by 7.45. As he bustled out of the door he stumbled straight into the path of the motel owner, Sam Ryan who looked like he was on his way to another room with a stack of fresh linen.

“Whoa, easy fella!” he said, deftly keeping hold of the pile of sheets like a well-trained waiter.

“Oh sorry Mr Ryan, didn’t see you coming” Ed quickly apologised.

“Well, you’re a busy man I can tell,” Ryan replied. “Guess you’ll be checking out today, huh?”

“Well, no actually, things are going a little slower than I figured, I might be here a couple of days longer to tie up some loose ends. That’s not a problem… with the room, is it?”