Page 33
My interest sharpens. Twilight is a strange time for ghosts. It’s like the whole world goes a bit hazy then, and things happen that are outside the usual paranormal rules. Maybe because the light is fading and things that like the dark are stirring.
She carries on. “Anyway, I was in a rush that day, so I took a shortcut through the woods. I wish I hadn’t.”
“Oh dear. That doesn’t sound good,” Levi murmurs.
“It was my imagination.” Her smile twists. “I know that. But I still saw him.”
“Saw who?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“The man. The shadow man.”
A chill runs down my spine.
“Who’s that?” Levi asks.
“He’s a legend in the village. Mums always tell their children not to go in the wood because of the shadow man.”
“Isn’t that just the way mums work to stop their kids doing something dangerous?” Levi asks.
It’s not a question I’d have thought to ask. My mum was usually the one leading us headlong into dangerous situations, blithely claiming that everything would be okay.
She starts to wash the counter, her movements jerky. “Maybe, but I saw him clear as day silhouetted against a tree. It’s a big tree right in the centre of the woods. At first, I thought I was imagining it.” She looks at me, as if suddenly understanding that I know the world that she touched upon. “Sometimes I still think that, but—”
“But you know differently,” I say quietly.
“Yes. I walked around him. I got quite close, in fact. Close enough to see him, but the funny thing is that I still couldn’t see his face or any detail of his appearance. Just this darkness.” She shudders. “I don’t mind admitting that I ran all the way home and didn’t look back.” She shakes her head and attempts a smile. “God, what a silly story. You’ll think I’ve been day drinking. It must be the closeness to Halloween with all the spooky stories that go around. Anyway, that’s why I take the main roads now on my way home.”
“I think that’s wise,” I say firmly. “I think you should always stick to that resolution.”
She looks at me and the fear is evident in her eyes. I’m not sure whether it’s of the shadow man or of me.
Levi gives her his sweet smile. “Thank you for telling us.”
We go to walk away, but she puts out her hand, grabbing my wrist and I jerk to a stop. Her eyes are blank, the blue eclipsed entirely by her pupils. “Do not walk through those woods,” she says slowly, her voice no longer tinged by a Cornish accent. “They are not good for people such as you.”
“People like me?” I look at Levi who is already moving closer to me.
His protectiveness always sends a startled warmth though my chest. I doubt I’ll ever get entirely used to it. Maybe I don’t want to. Things like love are rare enough never to be taken for granted.
She blinks and her eyes are once more a sunny blue. “What the hell?” she murmurs. She looks down at her hand on my arm and immediately blanches. “Oh my god. Sorry. Did I grab you?”
“It’s fine,” I say immediately. She looks scared and I get the sense she has no idea what she just said. “No harm done. I think we’ll get Frank home now, though.”
After attaching the lead to Frank’s collar, we step outside the café, and the wind gusts around us. The tide is in and the spray from the waves mists my skin. The air smells of salt and brine, and I stagger back a bit at the force of the wind.
“So, what did you make of that?” Levi asks, stroking Frank’s head. The dog seems perfectly happy to walk with two complete strangers.
I shrug, turning up the collar on my jacket. “That I need to honeymoon in the Caribbean next time.”
His eyes twinkle. “Next time? How many husbands are you going to have?”
“More than one, definitely. My first husband was dreadfully nosy and had an irritating knack of getting us into trouble.”
He laughs and throws his arm over my shoulder, kissing my cheek and nuzzling against my ear. “You don’t mean that.”
“I really don’t,” I say softly. “But just to be on the safe side, we’ll keep to the main roads today.”
“What did she mean when she said people like you?”
