A Stone's Throw

4

4

Exhilarated, Nathan strolled along the narrow path that meandered through the woods as he headed slowly back to the hotel. For just short of two hours he had lain motionless in the undergrowth, Floyd Mantle at his side, until finally not one but two of the ocelots had shown up, stalking silently down to the stream to slake their thirst.

Less than twenty feet had separated him from the wildcats — the female and one of the males, according to Floyd, not that Nathan could tell them apart, even with Floyd pointing out the differences between them in a whisper. He had been close enough to get more than a minute of video as well as several good quality photographs.

If someone had told him before he arrived in Donningford that he would get that close to a pair of wildcats, he never would have believed them.

“...go on much longer.”

Nathan stopped the moment he heard the voice — male, angry and fearful. He didn’t want to intrude on a private conversation, nor did he want to stay in a place where he could, however unwillingly, overhear one. Unfortunately, he had few options, and none of them were good: he couldn’t stay where he was, because that would leave him able to hear the conversation, and he couldn’t turn and head back the way he had come, because that would put him farther from the hotel, without knowing of an alternative route he could take to get there.

The only option that seemed practical was for him to continue to the hotel and ignore the conversation as best he could. He hoped that once whoever was out there realised they were not alone they would stop talking until he was gone.

“If you don’t leave him soon, he’s going to kill you.”

“It’s not as bad as that.” A female voice that time, one that tried and failed to sound confident. “He was sorry the moment he hit me. It’s my fault for making him angry. I should know better by now. Anyway, he said it won’t happen again.”

“How many times has he said that?” the male voice asked, its owner fighting, and only just succeeding, to remain calm. “It’s always the same. He gets angry over something stupid, lashes out at you, apologises and swears it’ll never happen again, and then he manages to make you feel responsible for it all. He’s put you in hospital twice, Tracey, and broken God knows how many bones over the years; then there’s all the bruises and other injuries. Honestly, it’s a miracle he hasn’t done you permanent harm. It’s only a matter of time ‘til he does, and you know I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.

“What’s that?” the man said suddenly.

Nathan was doing his best not to listen to the conversation taking place around the bend in the path, but it simply wasn’t possible to block the voices out completely, especially with his innate curiosity about everything that happened around him. What made it harder to block out and ignore was the familiarity of the conversation; the situation being described was one he had heard far too often — it was a tale of domestic abuse and he knew all the possible outcomes.

“Do you think there could be someone out here?”

Nathan heard the alarm in the man’s voice mirrored in the woman’s and hastened his pace. It didn’t surprise him that she was concerned about the possibility of there being someone else out there. Based on the small amount he had heard, she was probably terrified that her husband or partner was out there, spying on her. The sooner he caught up to them, the sooner he could allay the woman’s worries.

“It’s probably just an animal, a badger or a fox,” the man responded, his initial concern fading rapidly as common-sense took over.

“You’d better go,” the woman told him, urgency in her voice. “It might be...”

The man cut her off. “What would he be doing out here? He never comes out here, that’s why you picked the spot, because he isn’t likely to find us.”

“Still,” she said uncertainly. “You’d better go, just in case. If it is David, and he finds us together...” Her voice tailed off and the silence that followed held more meaning than anything she might have said.

Nathan rounded the bend in the path in time to see the back of the conversation’s male participant disappear into the gloom up ahead. The man was too far away to be recognised, assuming he was someone he had encountered during his holiday, but Nathan had no such difficulty when it came to the conversation’s female participant, she stood in the middle of the path as though she wanted to be seen.

Since he was practically on top of her the moment he came around the bend, Nathan easily recognised the woman as Tracey Pierson, the wife of the owner of The Moor’s Edge hotel. The beginning of a bruise was visible under her right eye and across her cheek and Nathan was sure that come morning she was going to need plenty of makeup to conceal it.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologised when she jumped at his sudden appearance. Her surprise was mixed with relief, which he could understand if she had been afraid that he was her husband, and she was about to be caught in the middle of a secret conversation with someone she wasn’t supposed to be seeing.

“That’s okay, Mr Stone,” Tracey Pierson said with forced calm and a smile that was a bit too shaky to be as pleasant and welcoming as it was meant to be. “You caught me by surprise, that’s all. I didn’t expect to come across anyone out here, especially not a guest. I was getting some air; I like to wind down after a busy day with a stroll.”

The story might have been more convincing, Nathan thought, if she hadn’t been looking around nervously as she delivered it. When her eyes did stop, they fixed tellingly on where the path disappeared into the gloom on its way back to the village, on the spot where Nathan had last seen the retreating back of the man Tracey Pierson had brought to such an out of the way place to hold a conversation with.

“You certainly picked a nice spot to get some air,” Nathan said casually, looking around admiringly at the scenery. “I was doing something similar myself. Jennifer’s friend, Floyd, showed me a spot, it’s a bit of a walk from here, where I was able to get closer than I would have believed possible to a pair of the wildcats that seem to have made a home for themselves around here.”

A wan smile touched Tracey Pierson’s lips. “I imagine he was thrilled,” she said. “As excited as he gets about those creatures, you’d think they were his pets. There are times when I think he likes them more than he likes Jenny, and the two of them have been friends since they were little kids.”

“Are you heading back to the hotel?” Nathan asked after a moment, when it became clear that there was nothing else for the two of them to talk about. “I’d be happy to walk with you if you want some company.”

Tracey shook her head. “No, my...” She quickly stopped herself before she could finish what she was about to say and started again. “No, thank you, I like the peace and quiet at this time of the night. Besides, if you don’t get back soon, you’re likely to find yourself locked out, assuming David hasn’t locked the door already, which he probably has. He usually locks up around midnight and goes to bed.”

“As pleasant as it is out here, I wouldn’t want to spend the night in the open air,” Nathan said. “At least not without an opportunity to plan for it. Enjoy your walk.” With that he hurried away as quickly as his legs would carry him and his eyes could make out the path.

It hadn’t occurred to him that by staying out so late he might find himself in the position of being locked out of the hotel. He was sure he would be able to get someone to open up and let him in, nonetheless he hoped the doors were still open, so he didn’t have to disturb anyone.