‘I couldn’t get the door open.’
He raised his eyebrows, waiting for more.
‘So, I came around the back. But I couldn’t get to the door. And it’s nearly dark, everything I’m wearing is sopping wet. And the taxi driver stole my money…’ I took a long, deep breath. I would not cry in front of this man. I had vowed never to let a man think I was a pushover again.Come on, Jenny, buck up.
‘Tezza’s Taxis?’
I nodded, wiping a raindrop off my nose.
He sighed. ‘The front door won’t open from the outside. I’ll hack a path to the back and you can at least get out of the rain. Call round in the morning and I’ll give you the name of a decent taxi firm before you go.’
‘Go where?’
‘Back to wherever you came from.’
I gaped at him for a moment, vaguely registering that the rain had begun to ease, the background percussion replaced with the slow plop of water dripping off leaves, and the hiss of steam escaping both my ears.
‘I’m not going anywhere. I live here now.’
He looked me up and down. ‘Trust me. You’ll be leaving in the morning. If you last that long.’ He nodded towards a brick outbuilding tucked under an oak tree. ‘I’ll get hacking. But if the rain starts again I’m stopping to board up my window.’
‘Actually, it’s fine. Thank you. I can do my own hacking. I apologise about your window. Do send me the bill. Good day.’
I marched as best I could back around the house, only losing my shoe once in the mud.
‘Okay, Fairy Godmother. I reckon right about now would be a perfect time for you to show up.’ I scanned the woods, struggling to make out anything in the deepening gloom. After a good ten minutes pulling branches aside, stamping them out of the way and ripping my hands to shreds in the process, I found a shed.
It took only a few tries to smash the wood, encircling the lock, to bits using a thick branch and the force of my anger. Nicely warmed up, somewhat exhilarated by my discovery, I stepped inside. Maybe a teensy bit unnerved by my neighbour’s comments about only lasting a night, I decided to put off investigating the house until morning. In front of me appeared to be an excellent place to unroll my sleeping bag and seek a very welcome oblivion.
2
I awoke to the sound of scuffling. Something brushed against my cheek. Even with my eyes closed, I could sense the presence of somethingother. Fumbling for my glasses, I heard another scratching, skittering noise. Blood pounding in my skull, I carefully put my glasses on, and snapped my eyes open.
Aaaarghh!
Rat!
Rats!
MORE RATS!
It was not easy to scramble away from a swarm of giant, rabid, red-eyed rats while locked inside a Mini Cooper. Some flailing, screeching, howling and a lot of garbled gibberish accompanied my desperate attempt to find the unlock button, push past the rat on the seat next to me, fall out onto the concrete shed floor, entangle myself in a sea of cobwebs, trip over my suitcase, fling open the shed door, fight my way through the bushes that had magically sprung back during the night, rip out a sizeable chunk of hair on a branch, and collapse on the frozen earth.
Three seconds later a rat sprinted four inches past my face and disappeared into the shadows.
Thirty seconds later, I was still wheezing like broken bagpipes when my world turned dark as something loomed in front of me, blocking out the early morning sun.
And no prizes for guessing what – or who – that was, considering there were only two human beings to be found for several square miles.
I couldn’t see his face, having lost my glasses once more, but could hear his irritation. ‘Do you need help?’
I pulled myself upright, tugging down the three jumpers I’d worn to avoid freezing to death while sleeping in a car. Smoothing my hair off my face, I dislodged a twig, a couple of oak leaves and a massive beetle. Summoning up my last reserves of strength, I managed not to squeal again, merely gasping like a fish a few times while shaking my head to check nothing else lurked up there.
‘I’m fine, thank you. I… slipped in a puddle. I couldn’t see it, because I’d lost my glasses.’
As I finished speaking, he handed them to me for the second time.
Placing them firmly on my nose, I straightened my spine, daring him to disbelieve me.
