The Back Road

45

The narrow sandy track that led to Haslett’s farm was deeply rutted and was slowly disappearing under the tenacious invasion of brambles and knotweed. Sean knew the farmhouse was derelict. It had been falling apart for years, but nobody would buy it to renovate because the ground underneath wasn’t stable enough, as evidenced by the foot wide cracks in the top storey. The whole place had been boarded up, and there didn’t appear to be any way of getting inside. Old pieces of guttering were hanging off, and some kind of weed like creeper was climbing up the stone walls and wrapping itself round drainpipes.

Ellie didn’t seem to be here yet; at least, there was no sign of her car. Parking at the side of the track, Sean stepped out and looked around. There was almost total silence, although if he listened hard he could just make out the hum of traffic on the trunk road in the distance.

He made his way quietly round the back of the farmhouse, as if he were trying hard not to disturb a soul in this isolated spot. Fifty feet away from the main building stood an old barn with a rusted but largely intact corrugated iron roof. Perhaps Ellie would be waiting there.

He was eager to see her, and so pleased that she had agreed to meet him this evening. He knew they were going to have to break the news of their relationship very soon, but it would be good to be with her for a while before the storm came crashing over their heads.

Since the day he’d met her, he had thought Ellie was the perfect woman. Warm, friendly, beautiful, and a wonderful mother to her twins. He had found every excuse possible to touch her warm flesh - her arms, her cheek, even her leg once when he bent to pick up something from the floor. Just a brush with his fingers, when it didn’t seem too obvious that he was practically salivating at the thought of caressing that same spot with his lips. A brief stroke of the arm as he leaned in for a polite peck on the cheek when greeting her, or a slight touch of hands when passing cups of tea. One day she had lifted her arms to take something from a shelf and he had seen a two inch gap of flawless flesh between her T-shirt and jeans. He didn’t know how he had prevented himself from reaching out and gently rubbing his thumb over her skin.

And then that day, three weeks ago now, when he saw the look in her eyes. The look that said she wanted him too.

But she wouldn’t be his Ellie if she didn’t have a conscience. She’d stopped him at the last moment. Not before he’d had the chance to kiss the velvet skin of her stomach, and stroke those beautiful naked breasts, though. He understood why she had stopped. They had to end their marriages before they would be free, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Tonight they would make their plans, and difficult as it would be, finally they could be together.

As he made his way round to the barn, the dying sun caught a reflection of something metallic and he could barely make out the tail light of a car through a small gap. She must already be here. He felt his heart rate increase.

The huge vaulted barn had double doors at both ends, hanging limply from their old hinges. He could see piles of ancient, corroded farm equipment on the ground, and some half chewed bales of hay were stacked roughly on one side. The summer sun hadn’t yet set, but it was low in the sky, and the barn was full of shadowy depths where she could be waiting.

‘Ellie? Are you there? It’s me. Where are you, darling?’

There was no answer, but he thought he heard some scuffling from the hayloft, too big to be a mouse or a rat. He smiled to himself. Perhaps she’d brought a blanket. Perhaps she was up there waiting for him.

He made his way to the ladder, stepping over the detritus spread across the old cracked concrete floor, and started to climb. It was darker up here. There were no windows, and the only light came from below, through the half open doors.

He could see a figure at the other end of the barn, and he knew immediately it wasn’t Ellie.

‘Hello?’ he said. ‘What’s going on?’

The person stepped farther back into the shadows, and Sean knew that for some reason he’d been set up. But he had no idea why.

‘Where’s Ellie? Who are you and what are you doing here?’

For a moment, there was silence. The voice, when it came, was little more than a hoarse whisper.

‘Why has she sent you? I told her to send the other one - her lover. The piece of shit that dragged a child to the side of the road and left her for dead.’ There was a trace of panic in the tone, but he still couldn’t see the face.

‘Her lover? What the hell are you talking about? Tell me what you’ve done with Ellie. Tell me where she is.’

Sean started to advance across the floor of the hayloft. This was a voice he’d heard before, but for a moment he couldn’t place it. Whoever it was, he would strangle the truth out of the bastard if anything had happened to Ellie.

He kept his eyes fixed on the figure who was retreating towards the back of the barn, as if drawing him forward. A stray beam of sunlight pierced the dusty gloom and he saw there was another ladder at the far end, descending from the hayloft and providing an escape route. Nobody was leaving until he knew what had happened to Ellie. He had to get there first. He had to cut off the escape. He started to run across the hay strewn floor.

His feet pounded on the thin board of the loft as the figure disappeared further into the shadows ahead of him. But he was gaining on the bastard who’d taken Ellie. His heart lurched as his right foot landed hard and met with no resistance. There was nothing beneath him. His leg disappeared into a void, and his momentum drove him forward. With arms flailing uselessly in the air, he couldn’t stop himself as his left foot followed his right into nothingness. He lunged sideways to try to reach a solid piece of floor, but there was only hay covered cardboard. He caught one final glimpse of sunlight illuminating the triumphant smile on a face that he recognised as his body crashed through the opening.