The Darkest Summer Read online

  Not wishing to give him an opportunity to change his mind, I hurried away. ‘I will,’ I said, feeling mean for snapping at him earlier. ‘I’m sure he’ll be grateful to have your support.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ Leo laughed, his arm still around Dee’s shaking shoulders.

  ‘You’re probably right,’ I shouted, running up the stairs to the kitchen door, grabbing my keys as I ran through the hallway.

  * * *

  I hurried to the farm, racing through the stone pillars and pulled up in front of the lilac and apple trees causing a small dust cloud to rise around my car. There were voices coming from the direction of the barn. As I neared the ruins I noticed a white van parked on the other side of the hedge with two people dressed in white paper suits. I presumed they must be the forensics team, so stopped and watched them for a few minutes hoping Henri was about somewhere and would come over and speak to me.

  When he didn’t appear, I decided to go and find him. I checked around the back of his house, spotting the old weathered tree trunk that I realised had probably acted as a makeshift seat since Hazel’s time. Then, retracing my steps to the front, I hurried up the porch stairs. I knocked a couple of times on the frame of the open doorway and called his name. Nothing.

  Determined not to leave without checking he was okay, I went through to the kitchen giving Patti and the puppies a quick cuddle, and hurried down the long dark passageway to the back of the house where I remembered Hazel used to have a small snug room. I pulled open the door.

  My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him standing by a bookcase wearing nothing but shorts, as he flicked through the pages of an open book. Livid red welts covered the right side of his muscled back, down his flank and over most of his right leg. I had assumed the damage to his leg that I’d seen when we’d gone swimming was the only scarring apart from the slightly puckered skin on his right cheek. I had no idea his body had been this badly damaged.

  He turned, horror in his eyes to discover me standing there. Neither of us spoke. I tried not to react, but didn’t know whether to state the obvious, or not. ‘I came to see if you were all right,’ I stammered.

  He sighed and held his hands out as if to say, this is me. He looked away from me, slamming the book closed and replacing it onto the bookcase shelf.

  I stepped back to let him pass, unable to help staring at his retreating figure. The broad, muscular back so cruelly damaged. Why the hell hadn’t I thought to knock on this door before barging in? Stupid, stupid idiot.

  I went outside to wait for him in the shade of the porch, recalling how pretty the area had always been with Hazel’s beloved geraniums lining the steps up to the porch. He was back downstairs before I had time to clear my head and figure out what to say next. I chewed the skin around one of my thumbnails.

  Furious with myself for being so tongue-tied, I grimaced. ‘Sorry.’ How could I have made him feel so awkward? ‘It was rude of me to barge in without knocking.’

  ‘It is okay,’ he said, but it clearly wasn’t.

  I struggled to think of something else to say then remembered why I’d hurried over here in the first place. Relieved to have something to focus on, I said, ‘I heard they’ve found a body.’

  He looked troubled as he glanced in the direction of the barn. ‘I don’t know how no one saw it there before. How could I have missed it?’

  He sounded so guilty, as if it was his fault somehow. ‘How were you to know there was a body in there? Could it have been the person who started the fire, do you think?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, this poor soul has been there for a long time. It was in a shallow grave and barely covered.’

  ‘You spotted it?’

  ‘Yes,’ he sighed. ‘This morning.’ He lowered himself painfully to sit on a low wall next to me. ‘The insurance assessors confirmed this morning that they have now finished working at the barn. I wanted to tidy up and began moving charred planks of wood that fell from the walls and ceiling.’ He shook his head. ‘I put my hand into the soil to pull up what I thought was a piece of wood; it was a charred bone from a finger.’

  I shivered. ‘How horrible.’

  ‘I have seen much worse, but not at my own home, of course.’

  I couldn’t imagine where. I was about to ask when it occurred to me that maybe he was referring to the incident where he had received his scars, so said nothing.

  He stared over at the remains of the collapsed barn. ‘I admit I was shocked. I called the police and the forensics team have been here for hours.’

  ‘I wonder who it could be?’ I sat next to him and thought back to the elderly couple who took on the farm after Hazel’s departure. ‘I can’t imagine it would have anything to do with the old people who lived here for the past fifteen years,’ I said. ‘I never took much notice of them, but they seemed very ordinary and not the sort of people you’d imagine burying a body on their farm.’ Then again, what did murderers look like? ‘This place lay empty for about a year after Leo and Dee’s family disappeared. Maybe it happened when the house was empty?’

  ‘They don’t know yet,’ he said, his voice weary. ‘I hope they discover the person’s identity soon.’

  ‘Hmm, me too.’ I imagined he had a family somewhere who must be waiting for news of him.

  He turned to look at me. ‘How did you hear about this? In the village?’

  I nodded. ‘Naturally. Leo went in to town buy breakfast and they were gossiping about the body.’

  He shook his head slowly. After a few seconds he asked, ‘What did they waste their time discussing before I moved here?’

  ‘No idea.’ I rocked to one side and nudged him lightly. ‘Don’t take any notice, it’s only because you’re new and rather mysterious.’

  He pulled a puzzled expression. ‘I cannot imagine what is so mysterious about me.’

  I could see he was lying, but didn’t push the point. I was as curious as the villagers about him, but now was not the time for answers about his past. It was none of my business where he’d come from and why he was so determined to guard his privacy.

  ‘If you want company, you’re more than welcome to join the rest of us for dinner at Mum’s house. Katie would love to see you again.’

  He smiled. ‘She is a sweet child. Thank you, but I’ll stay here at the farm. The animals remain nervous after the fire. I still don’t know how it started…’

  ‘That’s fine, I understand.’ I wished I could stay with him and be some sort of support. It must be hard to be so alone, especially at an uncertain time like this. I checked my watch. ‘I should get home. Leo said to offer his support to you, though.’

  ‘That is kind,’ he said quietly, his tone sounding suspicious.

  I sighed, wanting to keep him company for a little longer. ‘I left Katie with Leo. I think they’ve had enough of Dee’s hysteria, so I’d better get back.’

  ‘She is upset? Why?’ He frowned. I imagined he must think my friends very odd and over-emotional.

  ‘I’m not sure. It could be because they grew up here, maybe?’

  ‘Perhaps she is sickened at the thought of playing in the barn as a child when a body could have been lying below her feet. Some people have a problem with death that way. Spirits worry them.’

  I hadn’t considered that. Dee and I had spent hours terrifying each other at night by telling ghost stories, when all the while a real grisly event had taken place here.

  I studied his face. I might have only met him a few times, but I could sense that we both needed someone to confide in. Being here with Henri was a welcome respite from all the secrets and hysteria I’d been coping with at home.

  ‘Maybe, but I think there’s more to it where Dee’s concerned. Something happened to her recently to make her this frail, but I can’t seem to discover exactly what.’

  ‘She has her child and her family,’ he scowled. ‘To me she’s self-indulgent.’

  To me, too, I thought. ‘We don’t know what’s
happened to her. Maybe she’s got a good reason to be like this?’

  And maybe she is being self-indulgent, I reasoned, but refrained from agreeing. I thought back to what I’d learned about him just before. ‘Everyone is different. Some people cope with tragedy better than others.’

  He stared at me silently for a moment weighing up whether to say something. ‘And you, Sera?’

  ‘Sorry?’ My heart pounded in anticipation of what he was about to say next.

  ‘Your husband’s death – how did you cope with it?’

  I blinked, shocked by his comment. ‘Badly,’ I admitted. ‘For a long time, it was as if my life had ended, which the life I’d enjoyed with him certainly had.’

  He moved to place his hand on my wrist but lowered his hand instead. ‘I should not ask. It is cruel.’

  ‘It’s okay. You have your own demons, I assume,’ I said averting my gaze from him and staring up at the apple tree.

  ‘You mean after my accident.’ He stared at the barn. ‘I wish you hadn’t seen my scars.’

  I wasn’t sure whether or not to continue the conversation, but decided I had nothing to lose by not asking him. ‘The only thing that bothers me about them is thinking how you suffered when you got them.’

  ‘You have seen them though.’ He sounded utterly miserable. ‘I worry that to some people these scars define who I am.’

  ‘Do you want to tell me what happened? You don’t have to.’

  He raked his hands back through his short black hair. ‘I hate it, it’s true. These… burns have ruined my life.’

  ‘It must have been incredibly painful.’

  He swallowed. ‘Agony, for a time. The hardest part was no longer being able to do the job I loved.’ He stood up and began walking up the stairs back into the house.

  ‘Which was?’ I followed him into the kitchen where he took two bottles of cider from the fridge and held them up. I took one and opened it. ‘I shouldn’t, I really do have to get back.’

  ‘This, and that.’ He opened one bottle, lifting it to his lips and taking a mouthful of the cool liquid. ‘I lived in Paris.’

  I noticed he had avoided answering my question. ‘But why couldn’t you carry on doing your job?’

  ‘Because my leg was so badly burnt it pulled the skin and I now limp. You’ve seen how slowly I move sometimes.’ He stared at me. ‘Do not feel pity for me. That gives me more pain than my damaged skin.’

  ‘I don’t pity you,’ I lied. ‘I’m just sad it happened, that’s all.’

  He shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Thank you, so am I.’

  We stood in silence, both drinking every now and then from our bottles, enjoying the refreshing cider and the fact that he seemed to be relaxing a little. I stared out of the back window in the direction of the wood.

  ‘You want to know how it happened,’ he said. It was a statement rather than a question, his matter-of-fact tone filling the silence.

  I chewed my lower lip sensing that this was probably the only time he’d offer the information. ‘Only if you want to tell me,’ I said, not wanting him to feel forced into confiding in me despite my desperation to learn the facts.

  ‘I will tell you.’ His embarrassment forgotten, or at least well hidden, he said, ‘It was Bastille Day and the people in Paris were celebrating.’ He glanced up at the kitchen clock and frowned. ‘You said you needed to hurry home.’

  ‘Bugger,’ I said noticing the time, the responsibility of returning to Katie tugging at my need to know his story.

  He gave me a crooked smile that, just for a moment, lit up his scarred face. ‘You must wait then.’

  I frowned, not bothering to hide my irritation. ‘You did that on purpose.’ I didn’t blame him, I supposed. I understood his reluctance to share with me. He wasn’t the only one with secrets.

  Chapter Fifteen

  2018 – Oakwold, New Forest

  Sera

  I wasn’t looking forward to going home and wondered if Leo had managed to calm Dee. It would have been nice to be able to tell her something more definite about the body.

  I found them out in the garden drinking coffee.

  ‘Did you find anything out at the farm?’

  ‘Not really.’

  She burst into tears. ‘Oh, Leo.’

  He put his arm around her narrow shoulders. ‘Shush, calm down.’ He pulled an apologetic face at me. ‘Sorry, Sera. It’s upsetting for Dee right now.’

  I could understand why. The discovery of the dead body had unsettled us all. ‘I thought the same thing. It’s a little unnerving, isn’t it?’

  ‘I’m just finding this a bit much, I’m afraid,’ Dee said sniffing. Leo handed her a tissue and she blew her nose. ‘Sorry.’

  It was enough having to deal with Mum’s annoyance having them in the house, but I wasn’t prepared to worry about mentioning the farm in front of them.

  ‘Maybe you should go back to France,’ I suggested, willing her to agree. ‘The gossip and intrigue is only going to get worse over the coming days and probably weeks. The investigation might not be solved for some time.’ I could only guess, but it made sense to me. ‘I think it might be traumatic for you to be so close at hand.’

  She pushed Leo roughly away and glared at me. ‘You. It’s always all about you and what you think, isn’t it, Sera? It always has been.’

  I couldn’t believe the viciousness of her accusations. ‘What do you mean?’ As far as I could remember, Dee had always been the bossy, dramatic one out of us two. Had I remembered things so differently to her?

  ‘Hey, that’s enough,’ Leo snapped. ‘Cut it out. Sera has been a good friend to you. To us both.’

  She stood up, knocking her coffee all over her flowered skirt. ‘Now look what you made me do.’ She marched over to me, stopping almost nose to nose with me. ‘We all know why he’s so fucking defensive of you, don’t we, Sera?’ Her right shoulder crashed into mine as she slammed past me and stormed into the house.

  Shocked by what had just happened, I rubbed the point of impact, trying to make sense of her reaction. ‘I didn’t realise she resented me like that.’ I turned to Leo. ‘Is it why she’s been so surly since she arrived? Have you forced her to come and stay here?’

  ‘Not at all,’ he said, looking mortified at the suggestion. ‘I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. You’ve only done as I’ve asked. You’ve been a good friend. Please don’t take any notice of her outbursts.’

  It was easier in theory, but by the look on her face she really had an issue with me. I knew she relied heavily on him for most of her emotional support. But I couldn’t understand her feeling threatened by me. Could it be because she and I had always been the inseparable ones and now the balance of our relationship had altered? I decided I needed to be careful to stay out of her odd relationship with Leo and remember that I was an outsider here, not her.

  ‘It’s fine,’ I said, wanting to make him feel better. ‘I’ll try to be more sensitive towards her.’ I lowered my voice, conscious that if I didn’t she would be able to hear me from her attic bedroom. ‘We both should.’

  He stood up and came over to me. ‘No. I won’t have her ruining our friendship.’ He faltered momentarily. ‘Meeting up with you has been the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. As much as I love my sister, I’m not going to allow her insecurities to come between us.’

  ‘However things seem now, Leo,’ I said, ‘ultimately my loyalty, and yours, has always been to Dee. Now isn’t the time to change that. It’s pretty obvious she needs us both. We can’t let her feel pushed out, it would be cruel.’

  He didn’t reply, but stared into space, looking at something only he could see. I checked over my shoulder to ensure she wasn’t nearby, before carrying on talking, willing him to understand.

  ‘I don’t think she can take much more right now.’ Was he even listening to me? I tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Leo, did you hear what I said?’

  He snapped out of his reverie, looking stunne
d as if he hadn’t even realised I was there, never mind speaking to him. ‘What? Sorry.’

  I closed my eyes to concentrate all my efforts on not losing my temper. ‘I don’t want to have to face the consequences of what Dee might do in her present emotional state.’

  I hoped he was getting the message that if he did harbour feelings for me that they couldn’t go any further. I had realised that day at the pool that there was something about Henri that attracted me to him. I didn’t like the thought of having to admit my feelings to Leo and chance hurting his feelings. Having Dee upset with me was bad enough.

  ‘I’m going to talk to her,’ he said. Without waiting for me to answer, he went inside the house.

  ‘Bugger.’ Sitting on the wooden seat, I closed my eyes. I really should think before speaking. Mum was always telling me not to react instantly to things but to consider what I wanted to say before opening my mouth. It was about time I started following this particular nugget of advice, I mused.

  Mum poked her head out of the back door. ‘They’re leaving,’ she shouted, looking rather pleased about it. She went back in and immediately after, I heard the front door slamming. ‘They’ve gone,’ Mum said, rubbing her hands together.

  ‘I wonder if they’re coming back?’ I said, almost to myself.

  ‘More than likely,’ Mum shouted from inside the kitchen. My mother had incredible hearing, when it suited her.

  I took Katie into the kitchen, gave her a biscuit and poured her a cool drink before running upstairs to the attic room where Dee had been sleeping. Stopping at the doorway, it wasn’t necessary to check if their clothes had been taken, every drawer was open, as were the wardrobe doors.

  ‘Bloody hell.’

  ‘Well?’ my mother shouted from the lower landing.

  I went to lean over the banisters to speak to her. ‘They’ve moved out.’

  ‘Thank heavens for that.’ I heard her walk into the bathroom and lock the door.

  I couldn’t help agreeing with her. Their sudden departure was a relief, unlike fifteen years before. I wondered if they would stay away as long this time, or if it was the last time I’d see any of them. A part of me hoped they wouldn’t return.