Promises Beyond The Veil Of Light ( PT 44 )

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Part Forty Four

 

 

 

Lanes leading down from the Shepherd's farm were becoming deep with snow, Kendrick knew Emma's dad would need to use his tractor to reach any sort of civilization tomorrow. Driving back to Evie's was treacherous, it was only due to the fact he had a four by four that he was lucky enough to make the journey. Once on the main road the gritters had been out. The deluge of heavy rain mixed with freezing temperatures had caused cracks to appear in the road, Kendrick knew it wasn't one of those nights for anyone to be driving like a lunatic but he knew they often did.

 

Arriving back at Evie's, looking from the outside the house was still in darkness, Mina crooked her neck to gaze at other houses and flats that still had their lights on. It was 9.15pm, there was no way Evie would be asleep, Mina knew she never went to bed much before ten. “Dad!” She nudged him.

 

“What is it butterfly?” Kendrick was really concerned, but hadn't said a word until now about having not been able to contact Evie all day.

 

“I'm sure something's not right. Why would the flat be so gloomy at this hour?” She was eager to get inside and check out if Evie was in bed.

 

“Let me just park up butterfly, it's so hazardous out here I need to concentrate.” Kendrick was stalling as he found a space in the road opposite the flat. “Be extra careful when you get out butterfly, it's very slippery.”

 

As Kendrick stopped the engine, Mina undid her seat belt and carefully stepped out of the car feeling the slippery wet surface on her boots. “Whoa! You're right dad.” She held onto the door trying to get a footing.”

 

“Hang on butterfly I'll come around and you can take my arm.” Mina thought it had been a lot safer up at the farm with the thick snow that hadn't been disturbed as yet. She didn't like the fact that people cleared snow away, in her world behind the veil of light snow wasn't ever a problem, her mum had never shoveled away any of the white stuff that fell, not even when it came right up to the door.

 

Kendrick had problems standing up himself, he was afraid of falling and pulling Mina down with him, but he had his staff which came in useful, releasing its magic the bottom stuck to the surface, bonding with the ice, each step engaging, attaching itself like a magnet. The two figures crossed the road and made their way up the path to the front door.

 

Mina got the key from her bag and put it in the lock, there was an eerie silence as the door opened, it was so quiet in the darkness it sounded deafening, like nothing Mina had felt before. Turning on lights Mina walked from room to room, calling out, but still no sound. She joined her father in the kitchen. “Dad! This is becoming scary, there's no way Evie would be gone this long without leaving some sort of note.”

 

Kendrick now expressed his feelings of woe to Mina. “I have a nasty suspicion that you could be right butterfly. Think we'd better phone the police, find out if she's been reported missing.” Kendrick went to the phone and found four messages on the machine he'd not noticed before, quickly he began playing them.

 

“Hi Evie, it's Margaret from work, where are you? Give me a ring.”

 

“Margaret again. It's now midday, I'm getting worried, it's unlike you not to turn up for work. Please call me.”

 

There was one more message from Margaret and one from a cold caller. Kendrick dialed 999 and gave a rundown on how they'd discovered the empty flat after being away for Christmas. The police officer asked how old Evie was, but neither Kendrick or Mina had any idea of her exact age, only that she was in her fifties.

 

The police officer spoke. “I'll write out a missing person's report, but you'll need to come down to the station with a photo so we can identify her.” The officer paused. “Mean while it would help if you tried to contact family members or friends to see if maybe she's with them...after all this snow has probably stopped a lot of people from traveling.”

 

Kendrick knew Evie would have phoned if that were the case, but thought better than to argue with the officer, so just replied. “Okay if she's not back by the morning, then I'll come down to the station.” Kendrick felt annoyed at the fact he needed to get back to his caravan, but now he'd be spending another night at the flat.

 

Putting the receiver down, he told Mina what the officer said. “You need to go to bed now and not worry too much butterfly, get some sleep and I'll drive you to school in the morning.”

 

Mina needed a good wash after being up at the farm, so heading straight to the bathroom she got undressed, turned on the shower, collecting shampoo from the cabinet and some shower gel Evie had on the shelf. Mina loved the power shower as the water hit her body, it massaged her shoulders and left her clean and fresh. Her hair now hung down dripping wet as she stepped out of the shower grabbing a towel off the rail as she went.

 

Heading for the bedroom and toweling her hair down, Mina brushed the strands vigorously removing tangles, this was the first decent shower she'd had since leaving Evie's. In Cornwall they'd only had a bath, not that Mina minded but a bath wasn't as quick as a shower and Mina was so tired.

 

It would take quite a while for Mina's hair to dry it was so long, so she decided to use Evie's hair drier. Mina hated sleeping with wet hair, it was okay in Summer but in Winter it felt cold and uncomfortable.

 

Kendrick realized he'd not eaten and felt peckish as he went through the fridge and cupboards looking for something to eat. There was very little apart from some eggs and cheese. Half a loaf sat in the bread bin, so he decided to use the cheese on a couple of slices of toast, not exactly what he had in mind, but it was better than nothing. As he ate, Kendrick thought about his fridge back at the caravan, he'd filled it up that day with all his favorite foods. “How ironic that there's Chinese and curries back at the caravan, yet here I am tucking into cheese on toast!” He uttered to himself.

 

That night Mina slept well, but Kendrick found it hard to get off to sleep with all the tossing and turning, due to the many thoughts that went through his head. Finally dreams of Nina and the forest came, easing his apprehensions.

 

To be continued...