‘This is actually a good thing,’ I said, ‘there’ll be less focus on me when I check in and if there is a lot of celebrating then maybe it will be easier to slip away.’
‘And there will be a lot of strangers in town,’ said Freya, ‘and a lot of movement after dark.’
‘There’s also a full moon tonight,’ said Jack, ‘a super-moon, so that should help too.’ He sat down at the table ‘what are you playing?’ he asked.
‘Rummy,’ I replied.
‘Oh I know this one,’ he said.
‘Of course you do,’ muttered Freya, as she re-dealt the cards.
At four we ate a snack and then got ready, I wanted to arrive at five to coincide with the start of the event so at ten minutes to, I picked up the suitcase and left the house. I wheeled the suitcase up to the front gates in as confident a manner as I could manage and smiled at the guard.
‘Hi,’ I said.
‘Name?’ was the curt reply; it looked like the guard wasn’t particularly happy to be on duty, but Jack said the gate guard left at seven-thirty, so I wasn’t worried about his unfriendly attitude.
‘Zara Ball,’ I answered. We had kept the fake name simple, so I could remember it.
He ticked his clipboard and, without saying anything, buzzed the gate open. ‘Thanks’ I said, as I stepped through the gap and walked across the tiny car park to the supersized door; the house was a regular size but had delusions of grandeur. Everything seemed magnified, huge door, massive bay windows, big stone doorstep. I rang the doorbell and then stepped back, rubbing my hands nervously on my jeans. After a good long pause, I could hear the door being unlocked and then it swung open revealing a young woman in her early twenties.
‘Hi,’ she said, ‘can I help you?’
‘My names Zara Ball,’ I said, ‘I’m staying here for the next few nights…’ I could feel my palms go clammy and hoped my nervousness wasn’t too obvious.
‘Oh yes, we were expecting you earlier when the train came in,’ she said.
‘Um, I had a late lunch with an old friend from Uni,’ I smiled, ‘it ran over, you know how it is…’
She laughed, ‘yes indeed, this is the day to meet people, I’m Tanya, come in and I’ll take you to your room, then I’ll show you around.’
I was in.
She turned back into the house and I stepped over the threshold into a high-ceilinged hallway, closing the door behind me. To the left was a wooden staircase and she headed towards the stairs and began to climb them.
‘The front door unlatches from the inside if you want to go out this evening,’ she said over her shoulder, ‘the gate entry code is 2024.’
I nodded as I followed her up. This was great; we had our way out.
‘I leave at 11pm so you need to be back by then so I can let you in, otherwise you’ll be locked out for the night.’
‘Okay,’ I said, as I lifted my suitcase up onto a spacious landing area.
There were two tall closed doors to the left, but she turned right and walked down a short hallway to the front of the house. There was a large window at the end of the corridor and either side were two rooms, both of which were open. We walked through the left doorway into a large room with a huge bay window. The room had been subdivided into four tiny cubicles to the left and a small seating area in the bay window. The cubicles were open at the front, with just a narrow single bed and bedside table inside. At the end of the room there was a shared bathroom. ‘Are there many people staying here tonight?’ I asked.
‘Yes, we’re fully booked, people from all over the country,’ she said, ‘they’re all at the equinox celebrations right now, ‘I’m surprised you aren’t there,’ she added.
I couldn’t think of anything to say so just smiled blandly.
She indicated to the cubicle beside the door. ‘This one is yours.’ I left my suitcase at the side of the bed and followed her downstairs again; walking back towards the front of the house and two doors that I had missed seeing earlier.
‘This is the lounge,’ she said, opening the door to a spacious front room on the right. She turned and crossed the hallway, ‘and here is the reading room.’ The room had desks scattered around and looked a bit like a library. ‘We get a lot of people staying here for work,’ she added. We walked along the hall past a small doorway under the stairs labelled ‘Toilet’, to the back of the house. She opened the door to the right, ‘This is the dining room, dinner is at six-thirty, we’re having a chicken casserole tonight,’ she said, as she stepped into a dark, wood panelled room with a table large enough to seat twelve. She turned and walked back out into the hallway, and towards the closed door opposite.
‘This is the kitchen,’ she said, ‘it’s staff only, I’m afraid, but I just need to introduce you to someone.’ She knocked twice and opened it. The kitchen was enormous, with steel work surfaces and sinks. There was a pot bubbling on the stove and, at a large blocky oak table, sat a man in black jeans and a black polo shirt. He looked up and smiled as we walked in.
‘Peter, this is Zara, our last guest for tonight’ said Tanya.
‘Hallo,’ he said, standing up and shaking hands, ‘I hope you have a lovely stay.’
‘Thanks,’ I said. If this was the guard then I was rather glad that my plan didn’t involve trying to overpower him with chloroform; he was at least six foot tall and looked both incredibly intimidating, but strangely, also rather friendly and open. Not what I had been expecting.
‘Do you work here?’ I asked.
‘Sort of,’ he replied, ‘I’m staying here a couple of nights this week, but mostly I’m up at the military base. This is a temporary placement.’
‘Peter is extra security for us,’ said Tanya, smiling up at him.
‘Yes,’ said Peter, ‘did you see two closed doors upstairs?’
I nodded.
‘Please don’t try and go into them.’ I looked at him enquiringly expecting him to go on, but he remained silent, looking at me, as if expecting an answer.
‘Okay,’ I said. I felt a bit confused; I got the feeling that this was no ordinary soldier, but he couldn’t be here for Ruth and the others, they were hardly that much of a threat.
‘I’ll ring a bell when dinner is ready,’ said Tanya turning to the stove.
‘Thank you,’ I said, ‘it smells delicious.’
I made my way back upstairs and sat on the bed. The guard was not what I had expected, and I didn’t think he would remain trapped behind the flimsy door of the toilet for very long, even if I could get him there. However, there was good news; once I got them out of their room, it would be easy for us to get out of the house using the front door and gate code. I looked through the suitcase at the clothes we had packed; someone had added some pyjamas, so I took them out and placed them on the bed. The open plan nature of the room would make it much harder to sneak out in the middle of the night, but hopefully the other guests would be heavy sleepers.
I stood quietly and padded out of the room to the back of the hallway. It looked like the house had undergone considerable reconfiguration over the years. All the rooms seemed to have their own en-suite and there was no family bathroom. The two locked doors faced each other, either side of the hallway, with a blank wall between. Probably the original bathroom had been behind that wall, but it had been split into two to serve the rooms either side and the original door removed. I stood looking at the door on the left. According to Jack and Freya, just behind this door were Ruth and the others. I stood closer and listened intently; through the thick wood, I could just about hear the murmur of voices. I searched quickly for the key. The light was dim but it was undeniable, the key wasn’t hanging next to the door. I would have to wait to see how Peter let them out. In the meantime I knocked very quietly, barely grazing my knuckles against the wood. Nothing. I knocked again slightly louder, and this time there was a hush from within. I heard the patter of feet and then silence.