I’m halfway across the car park when I catch sight of my Ford Galaxy. There’s a jagged silver line across the paintwork, stretching the length of the car. The two tyres I can see are flat, and there’s something orange lying behind one of the wheels. I swing around, breathing hard, expecting to see a red Alfa Romeo, but the only other cars in the visitors’ car park are three BMWs, two Land Rovers, a green VW Golf and a silver Audi.
I move closer. The orange lump is a ginger cat. Dead. Its eyes are open, in a head that’s no longer attached to its body. There’s a red mess where its neck should be. A rectangle of brown parcel tape has been stuck over its mouth. I bend double, retching, but nothing comes up; there’s nothing in my body apart from sharp fear. Dark spots form on the insides of my eyes.
This is when it hits me: someone wants to harm me. Oh, God, oh, God. Boiling-hot panic courses through me. Someone is trying to kill me and they can’t, they absolutely can’t because I’ve got two young children. After a few seconds I come down from the wave of high-pitched terror and feel only numb disbelief.
I need water. I fumble for my car keys, realise I forgot to lock the damn thing and drop them back in my bag. Keeping my head turned so that I don’t have to see the cat, I struggle to open the driver door. My arms and hands have no strength; it takes me three tries. Once I’ve done it, I look under the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat for my bottle of water. It’s not there. I’m about to slam the door when I notice it sitting upright on the passenger seat. I blink, half expecting it to disappear. Thankfully it doesn’t. Standing with my head tilted back, I pour what’s left of the water into my mouth, glugging it down, spilling some on my neck and shirt. Then I lock up the car and, without looking back at the cat, start to run towards the centre of town.
Brown parcel tape over its mouth. A warning to me to say nothing. What else could it mean?
I run until I get to Mario’s, Spilling’s only remaining cheap and cheerful café. Its owner, who has two-tone black and white hair like a skunk, sings opera arias at the top of her voice all day long and thinks she’s being ‘a character’. Usually this makes me want to demand a discount, but today I’m grateful for her tuneless outpourings. I force a smile in her direction as I walk in, order a can of Coke so that she’ll leave me alone, and find a table that’s not visible from the street.
First things first: phone nursery to check Zoe and Jake are all right. I am barely able to sit still as I listen to the ringing. Eventually one of the girls answers and tells me my children are fine-why wouldn’t they be? I almost ask her to check the street outside for dead cats, but I manage to restrain myself.
I’m not scared of you, you bastard.
I open my Coke and take several big gulps that fill my stomach with uncomfortable air. Then I pull two pages out of my notebook and start to write another letter to the police. I write quickly, automatically, without allowing myself to stop and think. I’ve got to get it all down on paper before the dizziness at the edges of my mind gets any worse. I grip the edge of the table, a pins and needles sensation prickling the skin all over my body. I really ought to eat something. Instead, I write and write, everything I think the police need to know, until I can no longer ignore the twitching in my throat. I’m going to be sick. I grab my letter and my bag and run to the ladies’ toilet, where all the Coke I’ve drunk comes back up. Once my stomach is empty, I close the toilet lid, sit down and lean my head against the partition wall. It occurs to me that I could collect Zoe and Jake early today. I’m not working; I could go and collect them now.
My letter isn’t finished. I wanted to write more, but I can’t remember what. Strange, dark shapes move in front of my eyes, blurring my vision. I open my bag and pull out a white envelope that has been in there for at least a year. It’s addressed to Crucial Trading, the carpet company. I was supposed to fill in a customer satisfaction questionnaire and return it to them. Nick and I spent seven thousand pounds on new wool carpets and leather and sisal rugs for our lovely old house, before we went mad and decided we needed to move next door to Monk Barn Primary School. This makes me cry. Then I realise I can’t collect Zoe and Jake because my car tyres have been slashed, and cry harder.
I pull the uncompleted questionnaire out of the envelope, put my letter in, cross out Crucial Trading’s name and address, and write ‘POLICE’ in capital letters. I can’t manage any more than that one word. Stumbling back to my table, sweating, I admit to myself that I am seriously unwell. It must be the shock. I should pick up the kids and get home before I start to feel worse. ‘I need a taxi,’ I say to skunk-opera woman.
She eyes me with suspicion. ‘Rank is outside health shop,’ she says. ‘You no eat?’
‘Sally?’ A deep, male voice comes from behind me. I turn and see Fergus Land, my next-door neighbour. He beams at me, jolly as ever, and I feel even weaker. ‘I can give you a lift,’ he says. ‘Are you going home? Not working today?’
‘No. Thanks,’ I force myself to say. ‘Thanks, but… I’d rather get a taxi.’
‘Are you all right? Gosh, you’re a bit off-colour. Been overindulging? Celebration last night, was it?’
He looks so kind, so concerned. If he offered to drive me to nursery and then home in silence, I’d gladly accept, but I can’t face the prospect of making conversation.
‘Did you tell Nick I’ve got his driver’s licence? He hasn’t-’
‘Fergus.’ I grab his hand and press the envelope into it. ‘Will you do me a favour? It’s important. Post this for me. Don’t say anything to Nick, or anyone, and don’t read it. Just post it. Please?’
‘The police?’ He says it in a loud whisper, as if they’re a controversial secret society, unmentionable in polite company.
‘I can’t explain now. Please,’ I say, on my way out of the door.
‘Sally, I’m not sure. I…’
I run out on to the street, thinking that if I can only get to Nick’s work, everything will be all right. I need to speak to him. I need to tell him someone is leaving headless animals next to my car. I walk as quickly as I can to the taxi rank outside the health food shop, looking behind me every few seconds to check I’m not being followed, and pretending I can’t hear Fergus, who is standing outside Mario’s shouting, ‘Sally! Sally, come back!’
I stagger along the pavement. My legs feel as if they’re made of wool. No red Alfa Romeo that I can see. Other red cars, though-their brightness hurts my eyes. And one green VW Golf that’s driving behind me, just an inch or two behind. In the pedestrianised, access-only part of the street. I stop walking, turn back towards Mario’s. Fergus has gone.
The green VW stops and the driver door opens. ‘Sally.’ I hear relief. ‘Are you okay?’
It’s as if I’m looking at him through running water, but I’m still sure: it’s the man from Seddon Hall.
‘Mark,’ I say faintly. The street spins.
‘Sally, you look terrible. Get in.’
He hasn’t changed at all. His face is round and unlined, a mischievous schoolboy’s face. Like Tintin. Worried, though.
‘Sally, you’re… I’ve got to talk to you. You’re in danger.’
‘You’re not Mark Bretherick.’ I blink to straighten out my vision, but it doesn’t work. Everything’s wobbly.
‘Look, we can’t talk now, like this. What’s the matter? Are you ill?’
He gets out of the car. The scene in front of me is going grey around the edges; all the shops are shaking, distorted. I’m vaguely aware-as if it’s a dream I’m watching through a gauze veil, someone else’s dream-of looking up at Mark Bretherick, of his arms supporting me. Not the real Mark Bretherick. My Mark Bretherick. I’ve got to get away from him. I can’t move. It must be him-the cat, the bus, everything. It must be.