Page 31 of Echoes on the Wind (Borrowed Time #2)

Our first night at the new house was uncomfortable, to say the least. The whole extended family stayed until well after dark, and the topic of the body remained on everyone’s lips, despite how often Mair, Gwyn, Zack or myself had tried to change it. By the time we’d gone up to bed, we were all too exhausted to go over it again, but we knew that we’d have to make sure we got our stories straight.

And that’s exactly what we did the next morning over breakfast.

“There’s no way they can ever find out who it is,” Gwyn said as he put a bowl of eggs down on the table. “They’ve no way of identifying him or linking him to us.”

“And even if they can tell when he died, we’re all accounted for,” I added.

“I went to one of the neighbours,” Mair said as she poured a cup of tea for herself. “While you were all gone, I saw a light through the window of the woman across the road, so I ran over and asked for candles. I said ours were still in boxes, and I introduced myself. I kept her talking for a while, so she’ll be able to vouch for me, and I told her that Zack was inside with Iris.”

“Then we’ve got nothing to worry about,” Gwyn said as he returned with a plate of toast and finally took a seat. “The best thing we can do is act normal. There’s a thousand people in this town, and no reason to think we have anything to do with it. It’ll all blow over in a few days.”

“I hope you’re right,” Zack said, but he didn’t look convinced.

Of all of us, he was the one who seemed the most nervous, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when the letterbox flapped and a newspaper was pushed through it.

He rushed over and grabbed it from the mat, then set it down in front of Mair and looked at her anxiously. “What does it say?” he asked. “Is there anything in there about the body?”

Mair brushed the crumbs off her hands, then licked her finger and began to turn each page, scanning for news of our crime.

“Here,” she said, pointing to a tiny enclosed box on page 5.

Zack leaned down over her shoulder and nervously stared at the page. “Well? What does it say?”

“ Body on Tracks ” she began, reading the header. “ The remains of an unidentified man were found on the tracks between Bryncoed and Treorchy yesterday, 26th. Investigations are ongoing. Coroner's report to be submitted Tuesday week. Those with information should present themselves to Bryncoed Police Station at the earliest opportunity . ”

“Is that all?” he asked, turning to her for confirmation.

“That’s all,” she replied. “The next article is about some escaped sheep. It doesn’t say anything else about what happened.”

He slumped down in the chair next to her and let out a long breath, a look of relief on his face, and Gwyn turned the paper around and looked it over.

“She’s right,” he said, tapping Zack on the shoulder. “You can take it easy.”

“Are you all set for today?” Mair asked, changing the subject and turning to me.

“I am,” I replied, smiling excitedly.

I’d set the day aside to make a start on the new shop, hoping that with some industrial-level cleaning products from the hardware store, I might be able to get rid of the horrible smell that permeated the walls and hung heavy in the air.

“As soon as I’m done with work, I’ll come and help you,” Gwyn said as he chewed his way through some toast. “And I’ll call up on my lunch to see how you’re getting on.”

“Do you want me to make some food to bring down to you?” Mair asked, and I looked up at her, horrified by the idea.

“No,” I said, probably a little too quickly, and she leaned back, crossing her arms as she pursed her lips at me. “I’ll get something in town,” I added, playing it off. “I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”

“Of course you don’t,” she replied, and Gwyn let out a snigger .

“I should actually be making a move,” he said, rising to his feet. “I don’t want to be late. You can walk down with me.”

I followed him out into the yard for him to collect his lamp and axe, and we took the back lane up to the main road. There was no sign of any constables, but the throng of men making their way to the mine made the road overly crowded. Thankfully, with the move to the top of town, it took less than five minutes until we were standing in the doorway of the new shop.

“Are you excited?” Gwyn asked.

“You know, I really am,” I replied as I peered through the glass into the empty building. Despite everything else that was going on, I had a really good feeling that it was going to be the start of something amazing for us, and with a bit of luck, I could have it open in just a few weeks.

I unlocked the door, making the bell jingle as I went inside, and I was immediately hit by the smell of rotting fish again. “I’m going to have to prop this open and air the place out.”

“Jesus, it’s so awful,” Gwyn said, bringing his hand to his face before he’d even made it through the door. “Let’s hope it smells better by the time I come back. I’ll see you at lunchtime.”

He dipped his hat and smiled, then disappeared out into the crowd, leaving me to get to work.

The day passed by quickly as I got stuck into the cleaning. I opened every door and window in the building, hoping some fresh air would help, then as soon as I spotted that the hardware store had opened, I ran down to buy as many cleaning materials as I could. I came back with brooms and mops, detergent, cloths, bleach and a host of other items that Mr Croft had insisted I would need to get rid of the smell and make the place look shiny.

The back room, once used for gutting and preparing fish, smelled worst of all, and that’s where I did the most work. The floors and walls were almost completely tiled, and I didn’t want to even try to guess what some of the stains were, so with a bucket of diluted bleach, I got down on my hands and knees and began to scrub away.

The bleach wasn’t like any I’d ever used before, and whilst it smelled better than the fish, it was making my eyes water and my nose run. I had to change the bucket three times because the grime kept turning the water brown, but every time I did, the fumes became more overwhelming.

For over two hours, I worked backwards from the farthest corner. By the time I reached the door to the front room, I was absolutely knackered and glad to put some distance between my face and the floor.

For a few moments, I just stood there in the doorway between the two rooms, admiring my hard work. I only looked away again when I heard footsteps coming into the shop from behind me. I’d propped the door open to air the room out, so the bell wasn’t ringing to let me know of anyone’s presence, but the sound of someone coming in was unmistakable.

“I didn’t think you were ever going to finish.” I recognised Ellis’ voice immediately, and felt my whole body tense up as I turned to him. “You were really putting your back into that.”

“You’ve been watching me?” I asked, feeling furious and more than a little creeped out .

“I came in once or twice,” he admitted. “You seemed busy, though.”

“I know the place isn’t open yet,” I said, stepping towards him, “but you’re barred. So leave.”

“We both know you don’t want that,” he responded. He folded his arms across his chest and smiled at me. “Can we stop playing these games now, please?”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, done with his nonsense. “I’m not kidding, Ellis,” I said. I moved to grab him so that I could throw him out, but he stepped back quickly, out of my reach.

I lunged again, this time gripping hold of his collar, and began dragging him towards the door, but he just seemed to find the whole thing amusing.

“I saw you, you know?” he said, and he started to laugh as I pulled at him. “Out in the woods with Gwyn and that other man.”

I immediately froze and stared at him, his collar still bunched in my fist. “I don’t know what you’re on about.”

“You do,” he said smugly, as he pulled himself out of my grasp. “We both know you do. So I suppose you’ll be wanting me to keep your secret?”

I looked at him, disgusted, trying to read his face for any sign that he was lying, but deep down, I already knew he wasn’t. How could he pluck something like that out of thin air? More importantly, how could I have been so stupid as to overlook the fact that he’d been following me around, watching my every move for months? If I’d have had any sense, I would have gone in the opposite direction that night, away from anything that Ellis could see that might incriminate us .

“You’ve lost your mind,” I said, trying for an air of confidence to play his words off. “There’s no secret. You saw nothing. Now get out.”

“No!” he shouted, his body tense as his face reddened. “I won’t have this, Tom. Not after everything I’ve done for you.” His eyes went wide, and he stepped towards me again, thumping at his chest with his fist, making me take an instinctive step back away from him. “You can’t just use me and then toss me aside when you’re done with me. Not for him. He doesn’t know you like I do. It’s about time you showed me some respect.”

Earlier in the day, I’d blotted out the windows with a glass cream so that I could work on the stains and stop people from staring inside. Now, as I took another step back from him, I was desperately trying to move myself in front of the open door in the hope that he would behave better in a spot where he could be easily seen.

Sensing what I was doing, he lunged forward and grabbed hold of my shirt with such force that it tore from the collar down to the chest. I tried to pull free, but he yanked me towards him, out of sight of the doorway.

He kept the pressure on, edging me back towards the side wall, and as my back pressed against it, he closed his eyes and leaned his head in towards mine. I instinctively put my hand up and squeezed hold of his face as tightly as I could, digging my nails into his skin to keep his mouth away from mine. He yelled into my grip, but the surprise caused him to loosen his hold on me, and I pushed him with all the force I could muster, sending him flying against the window .

The rage in his eyes was clear as he regained himself, and as he lunged toward me again, I dodged out of the way and headed for the back room, trying to put a door between us.

I got there before he could get hold of me, but I completely missed the handle when I reached out for it, so in a moment of quick thinking, I tried to aim for the open backdoor instead.

I’d barely made it three steps across the room when my foot slid on the wet tiles, shooting backwards as my whole body lurched down. My head hit the floor with a sickening crack, just above my eyebrow, and my arm twisted awkwardly underneath me, pinned by my own body weight and jolting in agony.

The noise from the road outside suddenly faded, replaced by a loud ringing in my ears. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to stop the room from spinning, but they snapped open again as I felt Ellis pressing down on top of me.

I cried out in agony as his weight on my back crushed my arm underneath me, and he brought his head down close to mine. “This is all because of him,” he whispered angrily, then he pressed against my shoulders and lifted himself off me again.

I tried to move, to get my body off the floor, but the pain in my head was making me feel dizzy and sick, and there was no way that I could put any pressure on my arm. I couldn’t even shift my own weight off it.

For a few slow, agonising seconds, there was no sound, no movement, and I turned my head against the tile, trying to see what was going on. I didn’t have much of a view from my position, but I could see him in the doorway, staring down at me. As our eyes met, he smirked, then he rushed forward again, dropped to his knees beside me, and brought his face down to mine.

His hot breath stunk of cigarettes and whiskey, and I scrunched up my nose trying to avoid it. “He’s not better than me.”

“He is,” I spat back, with as much revulsion as I could muster, and he gripped my hair and smashed my face down into the tiles.

“We’ll see.”

He traced a finger gently along my neck, then began to stroke it down the centre of my back. He only came to a stop when the sound of laughter and chattering outside got louder, and it became clear that it had come inside the building.

“Guess who I found loitering in the street?” I heard Gwyn’s familiar voice call out.

“GWYN!” I shouted out with every ounce of energy in my body.

Ellis immediately bolted for the backdoor, and I could hear his shoes scuffing against the bricks as he hopped the wall into the alley. Less than a second later, Gwyn and Lee rushed into the back room, panicked by my call.

“Fuck, Tom,” I heard my brother say as he ran over and knelt beside me. He brushed my hair off my forehead, and I winced in pain. “His head is bleeding.”

Gwyn came around the other side, almost lying on the floor until his face was in line with mine, and he grabbed hold of my free hand. “Tom, cariad , what’s happened?”

“Ellis,” I whispered, fighting back tears from the pain in my arm. “He ran out the back. ”

He got back to his feet, and they lifted me into a sitting position. The pain in my arm shot from my shoulder to my wrist, and I clutched it against my chest as I leaned against the wall.

“I’m going to kill him,” Gwyn said, as angry as I’d ever seen him. “He can’t have gotten far. I’m going to kill him.”

He came and knelt between my legs, taking my face gently into his hands. “Will you be alright here on your own?” he asked, and when I nodded, he stood back up and grabbed my brother. I knew what his intentions were, and I didn’t care. After a brief glance back to check that I was ok, they ran off into the yard and jumped the wall to track down Ellis.

I sat there for about twenty minutes, dazed and in pain, staring at the small pool of blood on the tiles where I’d banged my head. I didn’t even want to consider what might have happened had Lee and Gwyn not shown up when they did, but every time I felt a throb of pain in my arm or my head, I couldn’t help but hope that they caught up to him and gave him the same in return.