Page 19 of Don't Believe A Word

‘There’s got to be at least another page,’ Connor declared, as if his determination could somehow make it appear.

On his screen Sadie grimaced helplessly.

‘OK,’ he said, ‘let’s go with what we have so far. Are you OK to read?’

Sadie nodded eagerly. ‘It’s so short I almost know it by heart.’

‘Excellent. There are a few rays of sunshine falling over your face, so if you could change angle slightly …’

As she adjusted, Cristy could tell that in spite of her bravado she was nervous, so she said gently, ‘Don’t worry if you stumble or lose your place, we can always do it again, just know that you have a great voice for podcasts.’

‘As opposed to face?’ Sadie quipped.

Cristy laughed. ‘The video’s only for the website, and we won’t use anything you’d rather we didn’t.’

Sadie nodded, and her eyes moved back to Connor as he released one ear from his headset and gave the thumbs up.

Before Cristy could speak Sadie said, ‘This is the first time I’ve actually seen you, Connor. Did anyone ever tell you you look like Clark Kent?’

As Cristy sniggered, Connor refrained from saying,Only about a million times, and peered meaningfully through his glasses. ‘Just don’t put me near a phone box,’ he cautioned.

‘Or he’ll get his knickers in a twist,’ Cristy explained.

Sadie burst out laughing and Cristy ducked as Connor aimed a pencil at her head.

‘OK, I’m going to disappear from the screen now,’ he told them, ‘it’s just you and Cristy, Sadie, and she’ll lead you in.’

After his habitual, though unnecessary, countdown Cristy began.

CRISTY: ‘So, Sadie, you’re going to read a third extract from what appears to be the same story, written by your aunt?’

SADIE: ‘That’s right. It’s another scene, or part of a chapter, set in the hillside house. It’s only a couple of pages that we found mixed in with other papers at the back of a drawer.’

To Connor, Cristy said, ‘We need to get some footage of Lottie’s rooms to put on the website so everyone can see just what a monumental task Sadie is facing. Is there any chance you can shoot that for us on your phone?’ she asked Sadie.

‘I should think so,’ Sadie agreed. ‘You might have to talk me through how to do it to make sure I get everything you need, but it shouldn’t be hard. Provided Mia isn’t watching.’

Cristy frowned at the reminder of what else she had to say during today’s call. ‘We’ll come on to that,’ she said. ‘For now let’s carry on with the reading. Are we still recording?’ she asked Connor.

He gave a nod and she said, ‘OK, in your own time, Sadie.’

SADIE: ‘It starts mid-sentence, and this is what it says: … when Mia came into the room and shook Lottie awake.“What time is it?” Lottie asked groggily, as she turned onto her back, blinking at the blaze of sunlight trying to stream through the curtains. “Just after seven,” Mia whispered. “Sadie’s still sleeping. Someone’s knocking at the door.”

‘Registering the words Lottie came suddenly awake. “Have you looked out to see who it is?” she asked worriedly.

‘“I didn’t want to risk being seen. No one ever comes here, apart from Mrs B and Pete, the gardener, and neither of them knock.”

‘Lottie reached for her robe. Her heartbeat was suddenly unnaturally fast, her limbs shaky, and she could see it was the same for Mia. Had someone come for Sadie? It had to be that, so what were they going to do? They should have left here already. What fools to have stayed this long.

‘They stood quietly in the semi-darkness, listening for more knocks and bracing themselves in case whoever it was refused to go away.

‘The silence ticked ominously on, smoothed by the distant wash of waves and haunting wail of seagulls.

‘“I think they might have gone,” Mia whispered.

‘Going out to the landing Lottie peered over the banister to the bottom of the stairs. No silhouette through the frosted pane in the front door, no muted crunch of footsteps on the gravel outside, or sound of a car engine. It was a long walk to get here on foot, but with the South West Coast Path not far away it was possible.

‘She glanced back at her sister, and went into the next room to check on Sadie. There was no reason to think anyone had broken in and taken her – Mia had already told her she was still sleeping – but Lottie just needed to see for herself.