The Guardian of Twin Oaks
by Valeriya Salt
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Table of Contents parts: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
part 1
That’s what happens when you’re dealing with high-profile stubborn morons who are always full of themselves but have no clue what they’re talking about. You’re missing your last train from London. Elsse shot an annoyed look in the front mirror.
Her Nissan Qashqai had been cruising along the M1 motorway for the last two hours, heading from London to Leeds where she hoped to get at least a few good hours’ sleep after the pointless meeting with the bosses of her local counterparts.
At this rate, we’ll be building the northern section for the next ten years. She sighed, recalling one of the technical directors’ objections against her latest report. He doesn’t take me seriously or what? He can’t believe a woman could work as a Leading Land Surveyor and doesn’t trust my evaluation or what?
Today was one of those days. Today, everything went out of control. The negotiations, concerning the next stage of the high-speed train line connecting Euston to Manchester and Leeds and, potentially, all the way to the north of Scotland, had lasted for the whole day. As a result, Elsse had no choice but to drive to Leeds late at night to get ready for her next meeting in the morning.
Dark and dull, endless fields stretched to eternity on both sides of the motorway. The winds were still blowing arctic frost from the North Sea. Not as cold as in her native Norway and yet... Elsse didn’t complain about the weather; her main concern was about the people she worked with: slow, unorganised but, in most cases, just lazy. She wondered how they managed to build such a massive railway network at all.
After today’s meeting, she started to think she had made a huge mistake, agreeing to extend her contract for the next two years, but... Where would she go? Back to Norway? What a joke! Even Rasmus, her loyal fluffy friend, lived with her parents now. She smiled to herself. The warm memories of his loud purring and elegant coat always made her smile.
She swallowed her emotions back as another memory, this time desperate and painful, emerged in her mind. Eric. No. He should’ve been forgotten. Rasmus deserved more memories than this man.
What the hell is this idiot doing?! The next second, her attention switched to a large white Land Rover, fishtailing behind her. Is he drunk or what? ‘Okay. Let this moron pass by.’ she murmured.
She started to brake, but her Qashqai jerked, the dashboard blinked. She pulled to the shoulder, but the car didn’t want to obey her commands, stalling and speeding up chaotically.
The next moment, the white Land Rover caught up with her, ready to overtake. She shot an angry look at the driver. What was that?
A mask with long bunny rabbit ears grinned at her from the darkness of the car. The vision lasted only a couple of seconds. She had no time to think it over; as the bunny’s Land Rover speeded up, her car jerked again. The dashboard went dead. Elsse squeezed the steering wheel in horror. The car swung, a loud bang ripped through the night. She met the darkness.
* * *
She must’ve hit her head and fallen unconscious. When she opened her eyes, the car looked fine, but the batteries were completely empty. Elsse rubbed her eyes and had a look at the front mirror. A huge bruise had been growing rapidly on her forehead, and she wondered if she was still alive and in one piece. She shot a glance around. What the hell? What am I doing here?
Her Qashqai stood on a kerb of some unknown road, which looked like a rural path. The motorway, the street lights, everything disappeared.
She rubbed her eyes again, making sure she was fully awake. Her watch had stopped about an hour ago. She opened the door and breathed in the cool spring air, still unable to believe she left the M1 somehow. She left the car and circled it. I heard a hit. The car must’ve met the fence, but now... there’s not a scratch on it.
The only way to resolve the situation she couldn’t even explain was to call the recovery service, but she didn’t even know where she was. Fields, a small wood in a distance, a group of trees transforming the road into a dark tunnel... the place was unknown to her. She pulled her mobile phone out of the pocket. Online maps should help.
The phone’s battery appeared to be as dead as the car’s. Elsse swore in Norwegian, staring at the black screen. ‘Now what?’ she whispered to herself, but she already knew she had no choice but to walk along the road in a futile attempt to find civilization.
Her head was still a bit achy, but there was nobody to listen to her complaints. She pulled the suitcase out of the boot, and carried on walking along the shadowy road. Just a few dozens of metres away from her dead car, she noticed a signpost, lurking behind still naked branches: Twin Oaks ½ mile.
Where can it be? She squinted. The name of the place didn’t sound familiar.
Straight under the signpost, a smaller hand-made sign advised: Twin Oaks Guesthouse ¼ mile.
It seems I don’t have much choice but to stick in this Twin Oaks for the rest of the night. She sighed, heading to the guesthouse.
* * *
‘The rooms are not ready for the season, luv.’ Mrs. May, the elderly hostess, fussed at the tiny reception area. All her body language showed she was unhappy to serve the one and the only guest at one o’clock in the morning.
‘Do you have other accommodation nearby?’ Elsse asked. ‘I can walk there, if it’s not too far.’
‘Oh, luv... Twin Oaks is a tiny village. There’re not many tourists here now. It’s not a high season yet. As for hikers, most of them are locals. They don’t need accommodation.’ Mrs. May shrugged. ‘The nearest hotel must be in Bolsover.’
‘Bolsover? In Derbyshire?’
‘We’re in Derbyshire, dear. And there is only one Bolsover in the country. I suppose you wouldn’t know that.’
Elsse rolled her eyes. ‘Okay. Do you have a phone here? I need to call my recovery service.’
‘Oh, the line is switched off, luv. I don’t use it during the low season.’
‘I’ll stay. All I need is a bed and a socket to charge my phone.’
Mrs. May nodded to her forehead. ‘All you need is a doctor to look at your bruise.’
‘Ah, I’ll just put something cold on it.’ Elsse waved.
‘Okay. Here’s the key. Your room is down the corridor on the ground floor.’
The room was with a low ceiling, criss-crossed by heavy wooden beams, small wide windows, and a bit worn-off furniture.
The owner hurried to bring her guest clean bedding and towels and wished her a good sleep.
I hope I’m able to sleep at all, Elsse mused when she was left alone and started to prepare her bed.
Soon, it became obvious that Mrs. May didn’t bother to switch the heating on for one random guest, and Elsse needed to wrap tightly in her quilt.
She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but the aching bruise on her forehead soon led to a headache, so she needed to put a cold wet towel on it. Tomorrow’s meeting in Leeds? Forget about it. She closed her eyes again in a fruitless attempt to get at least some rest. Tomorrow will be a new day. Tomorrow, I’ll have time to think it over. She closed her eyes just for a second and...
The endless bright sheet of the M1 disappeared beyond the dark horizon. She saw the white Land Rover again. The white head with long fluffy ears and the bottomless black eyes flashed in the dazzling light of her car. The second was enough, enough to distinguish every single whisker of the giant Bunny Man, every single hair on his snow-white fur.
Bang! A loud thud made her jump. Something dark had been lurking behind the window.
‘What the...? I’ve only just managed...’ Elsse grumbled.
The noise repeated and turned into weird scratching. It was growing and, finally, it surrounded the house.
Elsse rose from her bed. Her bare feet touched the wooden squeaky floor. She came to the window.
The dark mass flashed inaudibly, making her back down from the windowsill. No thuds, no scratches now. Only the vast, solemn fields of Derbyshire lay far beyond the still dark horizon.
Some kind of an animal. A badger or something. Elsse turned around ready to go back to bed when scratching started again.
The next second, a pair of enormous green eyes flashed in front of the window and disappeared in the thin fence of neatly trimmed yew trees.
She jerked, making one step back to the room, and... woke up.
* * *
Elsse opened her eyes. The sun glued to the clear blue sky. Heavy steps and loud voices sounded from the reception area.
A group of tourists? Here? She frowned, putting on her clothes and rushing to the bathroom. Why didn’t I ask Mrs. May to use her mobile phone? I needed it for an emergency call, after all. She splashed cold water on her face.
Fifteen minutes later, she stood at the reception, surrounded by the police and paramedics.
‘I hope you understand how serious this situation is, Ms. Moen.’ Detective Chief Inspector Elijah Lydgate studied her face for a second. ‘You’re the one and the only witness of Mrs. May’s murder. Unfortunately, being the only visitor of the guesthouse makes you the main suspect.’ He lowered his voice.
‘What?!’ This accusation made Elsse jump. ‘I told you, Inspector, I travelled from London to Leeds and lost my way. My car ran out of battery in the middle of the road, and I ended up here.’
‘Well, this is a rather unusual route to Leeds... via Twin Oaks.’ Inspector Lydgate shook his red head in disbelief.
‘I don’t travel to the north very often.’ Elsse shrugged, trying to sound as natural as possible.
The inspector’s deep green eyes challenged her, and she realised she couldn’t keep the secret anymore.
‘There was something else on the motorway.’ she exhaled. ‘Something that I believe made my car go out of control.’
‘And what was it?’ The policeman frowned.
‘A white Land Rover overtook my car and... the driver was... It was some kind of a joke or something. He wore some kind of a scary, bizarre rabbit mask.’
‘And?’
‘The next thing I remember is the dark rural road, leading to Twin Oaks.’ She knew he wouldn’t believe a word she was saying, but the inspector looked far more unimpressed than she expected.
‘You need to go to the hospital, if you suffer from a short-term memory loss.’ Inspector Lydgate made some notes in his notebook. ‘I’ll take you to Bolsover’s hospital and arrange service for your car.’
‘No. You don’t understand, Inspector. I need to go!’ Elsse almost shouted. ‘I’ve missed one important meeting already. I can’t afford to waste more time here.’ To herself: Damn! I’m not staying a minute more in this deadly place! A cold chill ran down her spine when she saw Mrs. May’s body on the floor, covered by a white sheet.
‘I think it’s you who don’t understand how serious this case is,’ the inspector interrupted her, his voice calm and quiet but convincing. ‘This lady...’ He pointed to the body. ‘Was suffocated a few hours after your arrival to the village. There’re numerous scratches and lacerated wounds on her face and body. You’re the only one who was present at the spot. This murder is the first criminal offence for the past eighty years in Twin Oaks. You’re a foreign citizen. So I need to ask you to stay here for the next few days until the police will confirm all the details of your testimony.’
‘Am I under arrest?’ Elsse’s hands trembled.
‘No. Not yet. There’s only circumstantial evidence against you... for now. We need to wait for the results from forensics. Until then, you need to stay in the village.’
Elsse wanted to say something, but the policeman continued, ‘I’ll arrange a new accommodation for you. We have a pub with a few rooms upstairs in the centre of the village. It can be a bit loud sometimes, but I’m afraid this is the only available option at the moment.’
‘I’ve been told the nearest hotel is in Bolsover,’ Elsse muttered annoyed.
‘True. The owners of The Pit pub are going through the renovation now, but I’m sure they’ll be ready to help me.’
After a couple of standard questions, a still deeply shocked Elsse was released to go and pack her suitcase.
* * *
Copyright © 2022 by Valeriya Salt
