After the Fire (21 page)

He rounded the island and came up on the cove. The small jetty on the left, tucked neatly into the headland, would keep the boat out of direct line of sight. Someone would have to stand right on the cliffs to see it. He glanced over his shoulder towards the stairs.

“Freddie, can you tie the ropes off for me?”

“Sure.” She went down on deck and leapt lightly onto the dock with the rope to fasten it off.

Jason dropped the anchor and then threw her the other rope. While she tied that off, he went below and picked up the picnic basket, blanket, and camera. Putting the camera in the basket, he went on deck, locking the cabin door behind him.

Freddie took the basket and blanket, smiling as he leapt down to join her. She linked her arm though his. “Have I told you how that shirt matches your eyes?”

“Does it now?”

“Oh yeah. Clashes terribly with your tee shirt and shorts—” She broke off laughing.

“You’ve lost me. What are you doing?”

“Making it look as if we’re on a date, just in case anyone is watching. Clear?”

“Clear as mud.” He kissed her cheek, walking with her towards the beach. “You do realize, that bimbos are dense, and you’re as far from dense as you can get.” He pulled her into his arms. “You’re a great actress, Freddie, but definitely not a bimbo. I am so glad you’re on my side here.”

“So am I. I can’t believe I ever thought you’d be a part of this.” She hugged him back.

“Remind me never to do anything illegal that would warrant you searching for me. I wouldn’t stand a chance.” He moved his hand slowly down through her hair to cup her face, his thumb running over her lips. Warmth ran down his fingers with an almost electrical tingle.

“Should we make this look good? Just in case there are people watching us right now?” Freddie held his gaze, leaning into his touch.

Jason caught his breath. Did she want to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her? “I think so.”

He bent his head, catching her lips with his, kissing her gently. Her response took him by surprise, and he willingly deepened the kiss. Finally he broke off, leaning his forehead against hers. “That took me back a few years,” he whispered. “Freddie, I—”

He broke off as she initiated another kiss. Fifteen years of need grew within him and time stood still until they broke apart, breathless.

“I love you, Jason. I always have. I’m really sorry for everything I did to hurt you and push you away and—”

“It wasn’t just you. I didn’t give you the chance to explain and I should have.”

Her fingers slid down his face, sending ripples of heat rushing through him. Her voice was low and soft and her eyes sparkled. “It’s in the past. Can we just—you know, see how things go and—”

Jason silenced her by kissing her again, this time taking control, letting his emotions take over, no longer playing a part.

She loved him. She’d forgiven him.

Nothing else mattered for this moment in time.

Freddie finally broke off and put her fingers on his lips. “As much as I’d like to stand here all day, we need to go do some work. You know what they say about all play and no work?”

He kissed her fingers. “Yes I do. So let’s go do some work, shall we?”

“First you need to undo that shirt and wear it like a jacket over your tee shirt.” She laid the blanket out on the sand and put the basket on top of it.

“Like this?” Jason did as she asked.

“That’s much better. Walk?” She handed him the camera.

He slung the camera around his neck. “Sure. Where are we going?”

“I thought maybe there and back again to see how far it is.”

“Sounds good to me.” Jason took her hand, relishing the warmth of it and the way it fitted exactly into his.

Setting off towards the tree line he tried to pin it down. There was something different about her. Something had changed since yesterday. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but there was a light in her eyes, where before there had only been shadows and darkness. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Why?”

“You just seem, I don’t know, different. But different in a good way.”

Her smile widened, and Jason tilted his head. His mind made fantastic leaps.
It couldn’t be, could it? Do I ask outright? No, she’ll tell me when she’s ready
.

“Jace, something changed last night. I found God…He was waiting for me just like you said He would be.”

“Praise God! That’s wonderful.”
Thank you. Lord.
He hugged her tightly.

She hugged him back. “And everything seems so right today. It feels like I could tackle anything. Kind of.”

“With God’s help we can.” Joy filled him and bubbled over into laughter. “You had your bouncy castle moment.”

“My what?”

“Bouncy castle moment. The point when everything suddenly makes sense. I call it that because mine came while I was watching Debs playing on a bouncy castle. I had the head knowledge and just standing there all of a sudden it hit me, and I was just filled with God’s love and presence and…”

Freddie beamed. “That’s it exactly. Bouncy castle moment…love it. Describes the feeling perfectly.” She paused. “So let’s go do this and then we can go back and tell your sister and brother-in-law.”

“Tell them you love me? Sure.”

“Sure, we can tell them that too. But I meant about the bouncy castle moment.”

Jason hugged her again, and then looked at her seriously. “The village should be about a mile away. Have you got your inhaler?”

“I have, and it works. I checked it before I got on the boat. I even brought the spare one just in case.”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

22

Walking slowly along the tree lined path, Jason’s warm, firm hand in hers, Freddie could almost forget how much danger they were in for a while. It was like the fifteen years they lost had never existed. Even his kisses were the same, sparking the same feelings within her.

The trees gave way to a clearing and the sandy path intersected an asphalt road. She climbed over the gate and took the basket from Jason while he followed suit. He still looked bruised and battered, but the arnica cream Debs had put on the bruises was helping them heal. Freddie smiled. Not even a black eye could disfigure his good looks. He shone with an inner, secret beauty. The secret was God. “So, which way?”

He looked both ways, then pointed. “That way.”

“Sounds good.” She took his hand again and noticed the huge grin on his face. “What?”

“Just not sure who’s enjoying this more…me, or you?” He swung her hand.

“Ummm…depends on how much acting we’re doing, I guess.”

He raised her hand and kissed it. “Who said anything about acting?”

“Not me. Think it was you, down on the beach.” Freddie paused and looked at him, praying it wasn’t all acting. There was a look of love in his eyes and hope sparked within her. Perhaps this time things would be different.

“Come on. Or we’ll never get there.” He kissed her fingers again.

“That’s not going to encourage me to work, mister, or to walk any faster,” she teased.

Twenty minutes later, they entered the village. Freddie took a good look at the houses as they passed. “You know, for an abandoned village, it’s in surprisingly good shape. There’s no flaking paint, no broken windows or torn curtains. In fact, every house has curtains. Some even have kid’s toys in the garden and furniture on the porch. Don’t people take stuff with them when they move?”

“Just because you would, doesn’t mean everyone does.”

Freddie paused, taking a deep breath. “Is that coffee?”

“I can’t smell anything.”

“I can. It’s like coffee and baking cakes.” She crossed to the general store and peered through the window. “This place is shut, and it’s got today’s papers on the news stand.”

“Hmmm. Maybe it’s closed for lunch or something.”

“I guess so.” They crossed the street to the pub and Freddie tried the door. “Shut. The whole place is deserted.” She peered through the dirty windows. “There are glasses and food on the table.” Turning to face him, she rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t get it. The village is meant to be abandoned, yet shows every indication of life. But there aren’t any people.”

Jason whistled the Twilight Zone theme. “Spooky. Perhaps, they’ve all been abducted by aliens.”

“Uh-huh. It’s far more likely they saw you coming and ran for the hills.” She grinned at him. “Oh well. Take some photos, anyway. I’ll pose by the market cross for you. We may as well do the tourist thing properly.”

“Every bit.” Jason pulled the camera out of the case and turned it on.

Freddie stood in various silly poses for him, her eye taking in all the buildings around the square. She put a hand over her eyes and squinted up at one of the houses, standing on one leg to disguise what she was doing. “Jason, there’s someone at the window over there. No, don’t look. Just do a three sixty turn and snap randomly. It’s the house with the red roof and green door. Upstairs left hand window as you look at it.”

Jason turned slowly, the camera whirring in the quiet square. “I see him. Old guy, grey hair, glasses, at first glance looks a lot like Edwin, but isn’t. This guy has better taste in glasses.”

“I know neither of us wants to believe this, but the evidence points to the boss being in it up to his neck.” She took a deep breath and then raised her voice. “So, can we go find the church? I love looking at really old churches.”

“Sure, we can.” He put the camera away and took her hand.

Heading down the path, a huge manor house grabbed Freddie’s attention. “Jason, look. You suppose that’s the house Rafferty mentioned in the journal? I can hear the sea, and it’s a huge family home.” She dashed down the path and peered through the windows. The furniture covered in dustsheets sat forlorn and unused.

It didn’t look as if it had been lived in for years. Freddie moved to another window, her attention caught by something on the floor in the corner. It seemed out of place. If only she could get in there and check it out. She ran her fingers around the window, testing to see if it was open. It gave slightly under her fingertips.

“Freddie.” Jason’s voice was tinged with a mix of exasperation and resignation.

“Sorry.” She turned and apologized. “It has to be the house. Not only is the furniture covered, but look over in the far corner there and tell me what you see.”

“You can tell me about it as we walk away. You may not have noticed, but we’re being tailed, so if you don’t mind heading to the church with no more details or detours, I’d appreciate it.”

Her eyes widened as her heart rate increased. “Followed? But we’re alone.”

“Curtains are twitching. This is getting spookier by the minute. Come on. You can describe what you saw as we walk.”

He took firm hold of her hand, and Freddie walked with him back down the path. Her steps, heavier than usual, showed her annoyance.

“That window was open. I could have climbed in, checked out that corner of the room and—”

“—Got yourself arrested for breaking and entering. That wouldn’t be a good idea. For one thing I don’t have the funds on hand to bail you out, and for another—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get the message.” She forced a smile. “There was a packing crate in the far corner. Not unusual in a house with dustsheets I admit, but this one had black paint markings on it. Not to mention what looked like some kind of residue on the wall behind it.”

“What kind of residue?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I wanted to go in and check. A dark splatter on the wall.” She paused. “A couple of things spring to mind, ranging from blood through gunpowder, to just a bad housekeeper not cleaning up after the kids.”

“It could also be paint splashes,” Jason pointed out as they took the path down to the church. “But like I said, breaking and entering isn’t going to happen. Not today, at any rate.”

“All right.” Freddie didn’t agree, but she wasn’t going to argue. Jason was the boss and this was a team effort.

She looked up at the church. Standing in the midst of a graveyard, the tall square steeple and stained glass windows added to the atmosphere of mistrust and loneliness the whole village had. She half expected to find the door locked, but it stood open. She went inside, wrinkling her nose at the stale, cold, and decidedly unwelcoming smell.

Shivering, she turned, Jason’s heels clicked on the tiled floor, while the slate absorbed the soft steps from her sneakers. “It feels, oh, I don’t know, doesn’t feel like a church should do. Does that make sense?” Her voice echoed, caught in the high vaulted ceiling.

“Yeah.” He pointed to the windows and pulled out the camera, snapping away. “That’s pretty.”

“You and your stained glass windows.” Freddie left him to his photo taking and continued down the aisle until she reached a door to the left of the altar. She pushed against it, her heart leaping as it opened with a long drawn out creak. Light shone from the crack.

“Freddie, don’t go down there.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “There’s a light.” She turned back and pushed the door open fully, wincing as it howled in protest. “Jason, there’s someone here.”

“Don’t be silly. Wait for—” Jason’s voice echoed and faded as Freddie went through the door and down the narrow stone stairs.

The walls were damp and water dripped onto her hand as she reached the bottom of the stairs. A huge wooden door blocked her path, a shaft of light coming from around it. She reached out and opened it, jumping when a hand closed over hers. Her cry of shock was muffled by the hand clamped over her mouth.

“I told you to wait.” Jason’s quiet voice hissed his displeasure in her ear. He turned her around. “There is a time to rush in where angels fear to tread and a time to hold back and do as you’re told. And this is the time to—”

“Can I help you?” The loud voice made them both freeze.

Freddie looked up over Jason’s shoulder. A man in a clerical collar and grey vestments stood there. It was the man from the window. Her heart thumped in her chest, but she said nothing. An older man in a brown corduroy jacket, cloth cap and a spade stood next to him. Neither man looked pleased to see them.