Angel Kiss - Laura Jane Cassidy [52]
‘Find anything interesting?’ said Peter.
‘Sorry?’
‘In your garden. Mary was saying there were all sorts of things buried under there. Did you find anything interesting?’
‘No,’ I said, perhaps a little too abruptly. ‘Nothing at all. You don’t want to get too close to it anyway – it really smells.’ I felt dizzy again and my headache was coming back. I tried my best to ignore it, looking out the window as we sped past the fields.
Peter pulled up right to the door. I could see into the sitting room – there were lots of girls already there. Colin and I thanked Peter for the lift, then I grabbed my rucksack and stepped out into the rain.
‘Well now, let me see …’ said Emily’s dad, Henry. He was a small man with a balding head and huge glasses. ‘There have been five murders recorded in these parts since 1960. Kathleen Brogan, suffocated by her husband, Charles. Mary Hughes, hit over the head by a burglar, died instantly. Francis Quinn, shot in the back of the head while out hunting, and Poppy Gilleece, stabbed by her half-sister in a jealous rage. I explore all these murders in more detail in my book. There has been only one unsolved case – the murder of Beth Cullen.’ My heart sank as he continued. ‘I’m afraid, Colin, that an investigative project entitled Unsolved Murders in Avarna would leave you examining only one incident. Five is actually quite a high number of murders for a village area. There must be something in the water,’ he joked.
Emily dropped the remainder of a packet of marshmallows into a giant bowl and started to pour out ten mugs of hot chocolate. ‘Let’s hope not,’ she said.
‘I’ll have to advise you to pick another topic for your school history project,’ added Henry.
Colin nodded. ‘I think you’re right, thanks.’
‘Why are you talking about school?’ asked Emily.
‘I like to get started during the summer,’ said Colin. ‘I just can’t get enough of schoolwork!’ He sounded so convincing I almost believed him.
‘Hear that, Emily?’ said Henry. ‘Maybe you should put down those novels of yours and start doing your history project!’
‘Colin, I didn’t know you chose hist–’
‘I’ll help you with those,’ said Colin, taking the tray of mugs and signalling for her to keep quiet.
‘You are so strange,’ she muttered.
Emily’s friends were all very nice. I tried to memorize their names and join in the chatter, only occasionally letting my mind wander back to Nick. I wondered what he was doing tonight. Probably trying to figure out how he’d ever fancied such a complete nutter. He could think whatever he liked now though, I didn’t care. Well, I tried to convince myself that I didn’t.
By the end of the night I was no closer to finding out who Jane was, but, on the upside, I had got to know Emily’s friends. We stayed up until four o’clock, watching Gossip Girl reruns and eating chocolate ice cream. One of Emily’s best friends played drums, and she was thinking of getting a band together. School was just a few weeks away, but now it didn’t seem like such a major deal. The girls had advised me who to befriend and who to avoid, and told me which teachers were all right and which ones to watch out for. I wished that school was the only thing I had to worry about.
I had thought that perhaps sleeping in a different house would mean I’d be spared the nightmare. On the contrary, it had been exactly the same. The next morning, just like every morning, I woke up feeling as if I’d been in a fistfight, my head thumping and my body aching. I’d dreamed of the body pushing down on me, shoving my head into the cold ground, and bits of bark digging into my bare legs.
Back in the caravan, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the bathroom mirror and winced. I looked pale, not a stunning pale like Lydia, but a sickly pale. My face was drained. I picked up Mum’s blusher and dusted it on to my cheeks, giving them an artificial rosy glow. My eyeliner helped distract