As she had guessed, the three holiday lets in Cottonwood were vacant. Emily found all three on the Airbnb website and booked the middle one. It was overpriced, she thought, but it wasn’t like she had any worries about money. She reserved for the next two weeks, comprising the full Christmas period. Then, after a quick stop for petrol and a few toiletries, she headed for her holiday home.
It was fully dark when she arrived, parking in a space outside the church she saw now was reserved for the lets. The residences on either side were still dark and unoccupied, but a downstairs light was on inside the one she had reserved.
Pulling her small suitcase through the potholes behind her, she walked up the cobblestone path to the door and knocked.
She had expected an old woman, or at least someo
