Memory Scents (15 page)

              Waves of panic washed over her and she cried and cried.

              She managed to lie on her side and pull her knees up to her chest in an attempt at comforting herself. She wept for her mother and father who’d be wondering where she was. The tide of panic set in again, and she knew they’d never find her. When the tide went out Alice prayed someone would rescue her, but this tiny glimmer of optimism was short lived and after a few hours Alice began to pray again for Death. He was the only being that was going to save her from this horrific nightmare. But there would be no standing at the crossroads deciding whether to turn right or left. Not once he’d lifted her from the box; his path would take her down a dead end. But right now that pathway held the hope of comfort and eternal sleep.

              She slipped in and out of consciousness only to repeat the nightmare of realising where she was over and over again.

              Eventually, Death came to collect her. And Alice died, imagining she had fallen asleep safe and warm in her mother’s arms, with the necklace that her father had bought her for her birthday in the palm of her hand.

CHAPTER ELEVEN                                                                

Norfolk 1998

              Chrissie and Sarah had searched most of the small coastal village. There were plenty of familiar areas, but not the place that was in Chrissie’s subconscious. She felt like she was hitting a brick wall at every turn. She’d called her mother before she’d left the house but she wasn’t there, so Chrissie had left a message. She had no luck with either of her sisters, they were out too. She wanted to talk to them about her session with Sarah to see if there was any light they could shine on it. It was mainly to satisfy Sarah’s theory of it all, and their absence only further proved to Chrissie that this wasn’t the path she needed to follow.

              “I’m a great believer in finding things when you’re not looking for them, and we seem to be going around in circles.” Sarah pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands as a chilly wind began to whistle down the street. “Why don’t we stop in that lovely café we just passed and have a coffee?”

              “Ok, but can we just try that track again? The one where we turned right, but could have turned left as well?” Chrissie wanted to explore every little area before she gave in; a foible that was every part of her nature and one that sometimes infuriated her friends.

              “But doesn’t that way take us back towards your house? Why don’t we do that after we’ve had a coffee, via the beach? Come on Chrissie, I’m gasping here!”

              Sarah grabbed Chrissie’s arm to stop her striding so she could show her friend that she meant it.

              Chrissie shrugged and sighed.

              “Ok, you’re right. We need a break. It can’t hurt to stop for a few minutes. Come on.”

              Sarah watched her stride towards the café, slightly worried Chrissie was letting this whole thing take over. Once they were nicely ensconced in the seaside café, and Sarah could slip her shoes off and discover her feet again, she decided it was time for a little chat.

              “Do you think it might be better to just wait until all this unfolds naturally?” Sarah made an attempt at diplomacy, not something she was used to.

              “You think I’m becoming obsessed with it, don’t you?” Chrissie said, adding more sugar to her cup.

              “No….but I think you could be in danger of becoming so. I don’t disbelieve what you’re saying about the activity in the house, and maybe someone is trying to tell you something, but surely it would be a clearer message if there was one?”

              “But maybe the message is clear and I’m just not getting it – and what about the therapy session?”

              “Well, you know my thoughts on that. I really do think you need to speak to your mother.”

              “Look, you’ve always told me to go with my gut feeling and I really feel that someone is trying to show me something. I suppose it has become somewhat all consuming, because there’s been so much going on in the house.” Chrissie suddenly seemed to come back to reality for the first time in weeks. It was as if she’d woken up from a very long sleep.

              Sarah read her mind.

              “Have you done much writing lately?”

              “Do you know you’ve just made me realise how much I’ve allowed this whole thing to dominate my thoughts. I’ve written bits and pieces, but I’ve been unable to concentrate for any length of time and I’m so tired. It’s a good thing I don’t have a deadline at the moment. I’m supposed to use this time to settle into my new surroundings, which is exactly what I haven’t done much of either.”

              “I didn’t make you realise anything, you did that by yourself, which isn’t a bad thing. Most of us spend time consumed by various matters, living in the past or the future instead of concentrating on the present. So now you’ve come to this realisation, why don’t we go and do some of that ‘settling’ in together? You need to familiarise me with the area anyway, seeing as I’m moving here as soon as I’ve found somewhere to buy.”

              There was a long pause before Chrissie answered, she was unsure if she’d heard her properly. “You’re moving here?”

              “Yes. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and you being here made up my mind. I need a change. I only moved to London because of work. Now that I’m setting up on my own, I can go where ever I want. I like it here actually, it has a nice energy. And let’s face it, if I still want to move here after the ghoulish tales you’ve told me, there must be something enchanting about it!”

              “That’s brilliant news! Bloody hell! How long ago was it when we lived so near each other?”

              “Far too long, and you obviously need someone here to keep you on the path of sanity, and obviously I’m the best person for the job.”

              “Ha, ha, very funny! But you’re right − this place does hold some sort of enchantment, even though it freaks me out most of the time!” Chrissie laughed, standing up and putting her chair in. She felt much more light hearted. It had done her the world of good coming into the café. It wasn’t just the change of scenery; it was the atmosphere there as well. The café was nothing special to look at, but it had an ambience that most places lacked. It could have been passed off as a 1930’s railway café, with its steamy windows, metal teapots and wafts of homemade soup and pastries.

              Chrissie stared at Sarah and smiled as she watched her friend carefully putting her coat on.

              “What? Have I got cheese scone stuck to my face?”

              “Not a chance of that, you looked like you hadn’t eaten for a week! No, I was just thinking how you have a miraculous way of knowing what other people need, even when they can’t see it themselves.”

              “Huh, not so good when it comes to analysing myself though.”

              “Oh, I don’t think you do a bad job. When you become aware you’re not learning anything from your current situation, you suddenly make a huge life changing decision, where most people would just stay in the same place. I love that about you.”

              “Coming from the woman who just made a massive move on her own after making the brave decision to get a divorce.”  Sarah linked her friend’s arm as they made their way towards the sea front.

              “Yes, and you’re now doing the same thing, only you’ve done it loads of times.”

              “It’s easier for me to make this move though, because I know I’m going to be near my best friend.”

              They squeezed one another’s arms and then both jumped as a car beeped and pulled up by the side of the road. Chrissie could see someone looking at her through the rear view mirror.

“Oh, it’s Grace!” Chrissie said, running over to the passenger side window which Grace had wound down.

              “Hello! How are you? You haven’t met my friend Sarah. Sarah this is Grace, Grace this is…” Chrissie stopped as she took in Grace’s pale face.

             
“My sister has had some really bad news…well, we all have really…. Hello Sarah, sorry, that was very rude of me.”

              “Not at all, you’re obviously in shock. Is there anything we can do?” said Sarah, pushing her head through the car window with Chrissie’s.

              “Whatever’s happened?”

              “My niece, Alice went missing ten years ago, and someone has just found her remains…the police say it’s her…”

              “Oh no, Grace that’s awful! Do they know what happened to her?”

              “No…no, not yet. The police suspected at the time it could have been to do with the other murders in the area, but…they’re not sure.”

              Chrissie felt a sensation like ice cold water trickle down her back.

              “Grace…that’s just…awful.”

              “Is there anything we can do? Where are you going now?” Sarah almost demanded, always the one to organise and help.

              “No, no, thank you. I’ve just been home to get food and clothes and I’m now making my way over to stay with my sister for a few days. Her husband just left her so it’s an especially…well you can imagine.” Grace said, gripping the steering wheel and checking her rear view mirror for traffic.

              “Well, that’s just…”

              “Anyway Grace,”said Chrissie, nudging Sarah and cutting her off mid-sentence, knowing exactly what she was going to say about Grace’s brother-in-law. Chrissie didn’t think that giving unasked for opinions was the way forward under the circumstances, “you must let us know if you need anything. Anything at all. And we are so sorry for your news.”

              “Thank you Chrissie, I’ll be in touch when I get home.”

              “Ok Grace.”

              They both waved her off and then stood there for a while, watching Grace’s car drift up the road.

              “You look perplexed, what are you thinking?” Sarah began walking again and after a few seconds Chrissie fell into step beside her.

              “Well there are two things, one much less significant than the other.”

              “What? That Grace’s insignificant brother-in-law buggered off and left her sister?”

             
“No, no, no, although that is awful, but we actually don’t know the circumstances of that situation. And anyway Missy, being a therapist you should know better than to judge when you have no background information. For all you know Grace’s sister could be a right cow.”

              “Yep, she could be, but it’s unlikely isn’t it?”

              “And how do you come to that very narrow minded conclusion?”

              “It’s not narrow minded, it’s logical. You really like Grace and speak highly of her, and so it’s very unlikely that her sister is going to be the complete opposite. Anyway, we digress, what were you going to say?”

              “Sometimes I really worry about your ‘logic’ mind. Well, firstly, and it isn’t anything to do with the situation, it’s just made me realise something about my therapy session.”

              Chrissie stopped, so she could give more thought to what she was about to say.

             
“There was a smell that lingered with me after my session, but I wasn’t really aware of it until now. It was the faint smell of menthol sweets. It was a bit like Fisherman’s Friends. Do you know what I mean?”

              “Yes. Lots of people get that. It’s because you’re exploring the subconscious, so you can carry something with you afterwards, such as a smell, and not be aware of it until later when that memory is triggered. You might find you remember more about the whole thing as time goes on. Your brain will fill bits and pieces in at various times; giving you a bigger picture. What has that got to do with Grace?”

              “What I actually meant was do you know the smell I’m talking about?”

              “Oh, yeah, yeah I know what Fisherman’s Friends smell like.”

              “Well, when I leaned in Grace’s car, I got a faint smell of them and realised the smell had been with me since my session. I had a flash of something as well, but I don’t know what that was. It was more a feeling.”

              “There’s obviously stuff that’s going to come out from your session. What was the other thing you were going to say?”

              Chrissie and Grace made their way down the sandy steps and onto the sparkling shell encrusted beach. The late summer sun was glowing orange and pink shades onto the clouds, making everything glisten.

              “Grace and I have had quite a few long discussions about the murders in this area….”