‘Because she thought you might pull something like this’ said Seb, exasperated. ‘And she was right, wasn’t she? Laura was the one who got you the job at the stables, you know.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘It is true. Gabe told me. He didn’t want you around every day, but Laura felt sorry for you.’
‘That’s a lie!’ said Logan.
Seb knew he was hurting her but he didn’t care. It was true, and besides, she didn’t care how much she hurt him.
‘She’s so fucking kind to you,’ he went on. ‘And what do you do to repay her? Abuse her trust and spend every waking hour trying to get her husband into bed.’
‘I don’t have to try to get men into bed,’ said Logan, blushing scarlet at Seb’s accusation. ‘It’s easy.’
Seb looked at her, stricken. How could he have fallen so in love with such a horrible, selfish person?
‘Go back to your friends, Logan,’ he said sadly. ‘I’m going home.’
Laura drove through the deserted lanes, blinded by tears of anger and frustration.
How had they managed to have a row, tonight of all nights? And over something so stupid, too.
Up until dinner tonight, her romantic minibreak with Gabe had been going perfectly. They’d slept and cuddled – after so many miscarriages they were both too scared to have sex while she was pregnant – and gone for long country walks along the river. They’d talked about the farm, and her idea for a new TV series, and their future together as a family. But then, this evening, the conversation had turned randomly to education. Gabe had mentioned something about boarding school; Laura had said she didn’t like the idea of their son being sent away from home – a son who hadn’t even been born yet, never mind expressed his educational preferences! – and before they knew it things had descended into a vicious, knockdown drag-out fight. Gabe had accused Laura of everything from snobbery to trying to turn their child gay. In response, Laura had branded Gabe a sexist and a moron, and it had all gone downhill from there. Gabe paid the bill and they returned to their room, but the fight raged on. In the end Laura got so angry she packed a bag, grabbed the car keys and drove off into the night back to Fittlescombe. Fucking Gabe could get a fucking taxi in the morning on his own. She hoped it cost him a fortune.
She first saw the smoke from about a mile away, as she rounded the top of the hill that wound down into the valley at Brockhurst. Odd time for a bonfire, she thought. And no one burns stubble in July. It was only as she drew nearer to the village that she saw the flames leaping into the night sky and realized with horror that the fire was coming from their farm.
Pulling up outside, she jumped out of the car and was immediately hit by a wall of hot air that made her gasp. Thick black smoke poured out of the hay barn. The two stables nearest to the barn were also on fire. Within minutes it would reach the house.
Instinctively Laura ran into the stable yard to check the horses, but all the stalls were empty. Thank God. Logan must have taken them out to the paddock already. That meant she would have called the fire brigade as well. But where the hell were they? Running back to the car, Laura pulled out her mobile and dialled 999.
‘Fire!’ she panted. ‘At Wraggsbottom Farm in Fittlescombe.’
The operator assured her a crew was already on its way. They’d had two calls from neighbours, apparently. Laura hung up and ran into the house. Grabbing the fire extinguisher in the kitchen, she shouted upstairs for Logan, but there was no reply. Perhaps she was still out in the field, dealing with the horses?
Running back out as fast as she could with her pregnant belly, she heard the sirens of the fire engines coming down the hill from the main road. They would be here in moments, but the fire seemed to be intensifying and spreading with each passing second. Getting as close to the front door of the barn as she dared, Laura pulled the pin on the extinguisher and began to spray white foam at the entrance. The flames immediately receded, replaced by black smoke so thick it almost felt solid, like a deathly, choking cloth.
That was when she heard it. A scream, loud, shrill and terrified.
‘Logan!’ Laura yelled back into the blackness. Still spraying foam in front of her, and with a hand clasped over her mouth, she moved into the doorway of the barn. ‘Logan! Are you in there?’
No words, just another scream. This one louder than before and blood-curdling. The sound came from somewhere very close, only feet away. But both the heat and smoke were utterly disorienting. On instinct, Laura moved to the right, coughing violently as she tried to hold the extinguisher aloft. She heard the sirens behind her, very loud now. Were they here?