Page 3

‘Okay, time to make up some of that lost time,’ Bex said, pushing her foot down on the accelerator. After her flat, her car was her biggest purchase, and she had spent even longer choosing it. She had wanted something sporty and sleek, but which also had enough space to take all the girls, including Claire’s daughter, away for weekends. And so she had finally picked a four-door coupé that ticked all those boxes. Unfortunately, as she weaved down a gently sloping hill and saw a sign at the side of the road, she realised there was one criterion that she definitely hadn’t considered when choosing a car.

‘Someone somewhere is having a very big laugh at my expense,’ she said as she cut the engine, climbed out of the car and walked a little way down the road. Her stomach plummeted at the sight in front of her.

Of course, Bex had heard of fords before. She was an intelligent woman. She had probably driven through one or two of them with her parents when they had gone on holiday to the Cotswolds, but she had never driven through one herself and certainly not in her own car. Her own, expensive, low-to-the-ground car.

She looked at the body of water in front of her. It was slow flowing, but definitely flowing. A river, not a puddle, and probably around ten feet wide. Though it didn’t matter how wide it was; what mattered was how deep it was, and that wasn’t something she could tell.

‘Marvellous, just bloody marvellous,’ she said as she turned around, shaking her head. Back in the car, she checked the satnav to see if there were any other routes, and when one appeared, her chest lightened with relief until she noticed that it added another two hours to the journey.Two hours.And what if there was another ford on that route, too? She would find herself in exactly the same position. But then, if she flooded the car, she would be in even more trouble. What she needed was some way to work out exactly how deep the water was without risking the car. Which meant there was only one thing she could do.

4

‘You are going to pay for this, Nigel.’

Bex was talking to herself through gritted teeth, partially because of how angry she was, but mostly because the water was bloody freezing.

She had rolled up her jeans, grabbed a towel from her bag and walked over to the edge of the ford, at which point she had removed her shoes. She’d initially planned on only going halfway, reasoning that would give her the best indication of how deep it got, but then she also figured there could be some hidden pothole near the other side. It would be a far wiser approach to go all the way across on one side, then back on the other, hopefully gauging where the wheels would drive.

It may have been summer, but the water didn’t seem to know that, and every step was painfully cold. Still, she made it to the far side unscathed, before turning around and heading back. By the time she was at her car, drying off her feet, her entire body was covered in goosebumps – even though she had only got wet up to mid-calf. Which meant, thankfully, that the ford was shallow enough for the car to get through.

Even though she knew there should be no issues driving through the shallow water, it didn’t stop Bex from holding her breath the entire time. One way or another, she was going to find a way of billing this journey as extra expenses beyond the petrol. Never could she remember having a drive that had left her so fraught. And so much for thinking she was going to pop out for weekends and visit local places. If this was what it was like trying to get to Highland Hall, then she would stay there until the job was done.

Her details from Nigel had told her that Highland Hall was on the outskirts of a village called LochDarroch, about which Bex had done zero research. That wasn’t her normal style of things. Normally she liked to do as much research on one of her clients as she could, but normally, she wasn’t thrust into living with them, and she had enough to deal with, packing up and coming here, to bother scouting out all the tourist traps. She was a city girl through and through, and as such, LochDarroch, was not somewhere she could imagine liking. Still, as she drove past the little sign, with ‘LochDarroch’ written on the side, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter of guilt for already disliking a place she had never even been. Especially a place that was so unequivocally beautiful.

It could have had something to do with the way the sunlight was glinting off the white painted houses, or the contrast between the dark slate tiles and the pale sky. Or maybe it was the mix of stones that the buildings were made of which combined so perfectly with the rugged landscape and lush green grasses, but whatever the reason, as Bex drove slowly through the village, she found herself drinking it all in. The place that was to be her home for the next two months.

Relief billowed through her as she noticed two pubs, at least one café, and a restaurant too – although only one small shop. The chances of getting a supermarket delivery here seemed unlikely, but she could cope with eating out. She’d bill it to the firm anyway – after this journey, that was the least she deserved.

As she followed the directions on her satnav, she moved away from the village, passing through a stone lodge gate and onto a gravel driveway.

In her mind, she had created a very loose image of Highland Hall. Given that the village was called LochDarroch, it felt likely that the house would have a view out over the water, and if it had room for her to stay there, it was probably fairly sizeable, but beyond that, she wasn’t sure what else to expect. As strange as it might have sounded to Daisy or Claire, she hadn’t wanted to look it up. She had been feeling bad enough about having to do this move as it was. The last thing she needed was to see the grey and sombre building she was going to be trapped in for the next eight weeks.

Yet, as the driveway continued, with thick cedar trees marking either side of the route, her nervousness flickered up a notch. This wasn’t the driveway of an average house. Or even a larger-than-average house. In fact, she had visited stately homes that had smaller driveways than this. But maybe it was just a Scottish thing. Maybe having all this land meant people liked to spread out more. That was what Bex was thinking when the trees finally gave way to a wide-open driveway. The moment she looked up, one of her hands flew up to her mouth and the nerves in her stomach gave way to a full-on somersault.

‘It’s a castle,’ she said, struggling to take in the building in front of her. ‘It’s an actual castle.’

5

The car crawled so slowly forward it was barely moving, but Bex didn’t want to go any faster; she wanted to take it all in. It was difficult to tell exactly how many turrets the castle had. Maybe four or five, but it also had a moat, round walls, and a wooden door so large you could have fit an elephant through it. But as phenomenal as the building was, so were the grounds. From the angle Bex was sitting at, she couldn’t see any sign of the water, but trees and flowers of all shapes, sizes and colours filled the landscape.

Bex had never really been into her flora and fauna growing up, though over recent years, she had spent a substantial amount of time at Wildflower Lock, and Daisy’s enthusiasm for all the blooms that grew around her had started to spread. As soon as she got out of the car, she’d need to get photos of these, she thought, and send them to Daisy. Though no sooner had the thought formed than her eyes scrunched closed, and she let out a long yawn.

Why was driving so damn tiring? She had overslept that morning, because the five hours on the road yesterday had taken it out of her. Today was even longer. What she needed was to get a very early night. But before she could do that, she would need to find someone called Fergus. Nigel had told her that Fergus would be her go-to for everything at Highland Hall, though he hadn’t actually explained to Bex what his job was. A groundsman? Another accountant? In a castle like this, he could well be the butler. As soon as she had got her things, she would hunt him down.

There was only one car in front of the house. A large forest-green Land Rover, covered in mud. There had to be another place to park, Bex thought as she drew her car up next to it. After all, a place this size had to be home to a blooming big family, and then there were the staff you’d need to look after everything. She would find where the rest of them parked tomorrow. For now, she just wanted to get in, find this Fergus and get to bed.

Deciding to leave her large suitcase where it was, she got out of the car. Bex had been to Edinburgh before, and given that the trip had been in August, she’d packed for summer weather back then – strappy dresses, denim shorts, flip-flops and sandals. That type of thing. What she’d faced was biting, ferocious winds and a complete lack of any suitable outfits. She hadn’t made that mistake this time. Although all she carried with her now was a small bag with a clean change of clothes, pyjamas, washbag and her computer.

She approached the door, fist raised, ready to knock – yet before she could move her hand, a thundering sound caused her to turn her head. Her stomach flipped at the sight.

Five dogs were racing towards her, sprinting with such speed it was like they were a pack about to attack. She turned around, searching for some way to escape them, but there was nowhere to go. And there was no mistaking it now. They were heading straight for her. Did they think she had trespassed on their land? Were they guard dogs trained to attack any intruder? If that was the case, what were they going to do to her?

‘Don’t let them know you’re afraid,’ she whispered to herself. ‘They mustn’t know you’re afraid.’

She had heard that dogs sensed fear, but telling herself not to be scared and actually not being scared were very different things. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing against the pain she was sure was about to strike. But when a sensation finally reached her, it wasn’t teeth at all, but a wet, slobbering tongue.

She opened her eyes, only to be knocked back as one of the largest dogs jumped up at her, licking her chin. In seconds, she was surrounded by wagging tails and slobbering jaws.

With relief flooding through her, she straightened up and finally saw behind the wall of dogs, to the old man walking towards her. He was dressed to camouflage perfectly into the scenery – a wax jacket, green flat cap and wooden walking stick.