Halton Cray (Shadows of the World Book 1) (17 page)

Frances followed me downstairs where Stacey
proceeded in claiming her attention, too. The windows were under attack from
bucketful’s of rain, wind and bushes hitting them left right and centre, like
the building was going through a carwash. Dan went to close the front door.

‘Don’t shut that!’ barked Mrs Evans. ‘People will
start arriving soon and they’ll want to get inside quickly!’

Dan lifted his blonde eyebrows and pulled the
front door halfway, securing it with a wedge. The wind whistled up the sides of
the building, just as I’d once imagined on my bedroom windowsill.

By half past seven, plenty of wet coats hung on a
rail under the great oak staircase. Their owners were in the Great Hall
overcoming a journey through torrential rain. A vast selection of booze and
food helped them along, not to mention a background of lively Christmas music.
Despite it playing at a low volume, Dan had – within half a bottle of beer –
made his way to a makeshift dance area with his wife, Melissa. It appeared they
were well suited in that nothing embarrassed either of them, including each
other. She was petit and vibrant with short black hair that she’d slicked back.
They danced blissfully beneath the Minstrels’ Gallery.

I’d changed into my dress, which was knee-length, fitted
and black with large white and red printed roses. I’d chosen it especially for
the party. Although it went well with my red hair, I shifted nervously in it,
and longed for comfortable jeans and black cardigan. Glad though that I wore my
favourite perfume; the bittersweet scent of citrus fruit undernoted by jasmine
and patchouli.

A twelve-foot Christmas tree screened a door to
the north courtyard, flanked by huge bay windows. It opposed the largest
fireplace in the house (the one that had growled earlier), whereby several of
the Cray’s employees mingled. Some of these were people I didn’t see regularly
enough to know well. They’d brought partners and I learnt their names as they
came in.

The estate manager, Rhoda, who vowed to stay for
an hour at most, presently talked with Frances and her husband, Terry. He
matched his wife in height and had what I heard Frances describe as ‘salt and
pepper’ hair. Hovering nearby was Geoffrey and his wife, Jan. They spoke with
the Head Gardener, Mike and his fiancée, Amy.

Sitting nearby at a circular table, amongst faces
I didn’t recognise, Mrs Evans picked a mince pie to pieces with her long
fingernails. I overheard her telling Su that someone she’d invited couldn’t
make it due to the weather, and she hoped others didn’t have the same trouble. This
might have annoyed me if my attention didn’t fix elsewhere immediately.

My heart sank as I turned my eyes on the doorway to
watch Carla-Louise enter. What she was doing here I didn’t want to imagine. She
wore a lobster-red halter neck dress with a side split. It flattered her slim
but shapely figure in every way. Thom closely followed her and I endured a
burning sensation in my stomach. She looked back to him with a huge smile
painted in shiny red lipstick, before eagerly grasping his arm. I felt almost
dizzy with nausea. I waited for his black orbs to seek and discover me, as they
were so accustomed to doing, but they did not. He didn’t look into the room at
all, because Carla-Louise occupied his gaze fully – her and anyone who
approached them to say hello.

It was a blow, and I had nobody to lean on.

Poor excuses to leave early bombarded my mind. I
couldn’t think of one believable pretext. Though the idea of allowing anyone to
drive me away had me finding reasons to stick it out. I celebrated my
self-restraint by finishing the wine in my glass before heading for the
inevitable refill. However, I selected a soft drink instead, as giving spirit
to my present feelings could only humiliate me.

Dan and his wife, Melissa, signalled for me join
them on the dance floor. Their timing couldn’t have been more off. I contrived
a smile and waved once, pretending this was all I understood of their gestures.
My stomach, shrivelling to the size of a nut, ached as my eyes regularly drew
over to Thom, despite my efforts not to look.

Dan and Melissa didn’t buy my pretence, but moved
my way.

‘You look like you could do with a good dance,
Alex.’

‘I’m fine, thanks, Dan.’

They each laid an officious hand on my arms and
began pulling at me.

‘Oh, come on,’ urged Mel, ‘it’s much more fun on
the dance floor!’

‘Maybe later.’

‘You know you want to!’ added Dan.

‘Really, I’m not in the mood right now.’ I smiled
and pulled back. ‘Maybe later,’ I repeated, hoping my voice didn’t break.

Dan sighed, ready to give up.

‘Oh look, Danny,’ said his wife. ‘Isn’t that your
boss, Thom? He looks a bit friendlier with a woman on his arm. Wow, she’s
stunning! Let’s ask him and his girlfriend to dance!’

‘I can’t see him saying yes, pumpkin,’ Dan
replied.

‘But she might, and he’ll have to join in if he
wants to keep her happy!’

‘I reckon that’s his objective.’ He giggled.

Having spied a chair to one side of the aggressive
fireplace, I moved that way in order to keep out of Dan and Mel’s reach. Only
on passing groups of chatting people, Geoffrey asked to introduce me properly
to his wife, Jan. She was an odd lady and not shy to get festive. She wore a
green dress, plastic elf ears, and bells on her shoes. Although the woman gave
real meaning to that term
skin and bone
, I overheard Carla-Louise spitefully
deem her ‘A scrag end of lamb’ in a whisper.

Hoping the woman hadn’t caught it, I asked her if
she’d been to Halton Cray before.

‘What was that, dear?’ She leant a pointy ear
towards me.

‘You’ll have to speak up,’ said Geoffrey, winking.
‘She’s a bit deaf.’

‘I’m not deaf!’ She widened her eyes at him. ‘I
just choose not to hear
you
sometimes.’

Geoffrey hid a smile behind his gin and tonic as
he took a sip. I would have repeated my question, but Mike began complimenting
Jan on her outfit. I chatted meanwhile with his fiancée, Amy. She was polite
and not far off my own age. It would be easy, I thought, to pass the time with
these people. Anything to distract me from Thom and that awful woman people
termed his girlfriend.

‘Well,’ said Amy, ‘it’s a pity to leave when the
party’s just getting started, but we can’t risk driving back with the weather
getting worse.’

‘Rubbish!’ said Jan. ‘A bit of rain won’t stop you
getting home in an hour or two. You can’t desert us just yet.’

‘Well, maybe another half-hour,’ Mike conceded.

I instinctively turned my head at the sound of
Thom’s voice telling Dan he wasn’t inclined to dance.

‘How could anyone,’ scoffed Carla-Louise, ‘to such
horrific music!’

‘It’s not that bad,’ said Mel.

‘Not if you’re tone deaf,’ she returned, flicking
her dark sleek hair back to reveal perfectly bronzed shoulders.

‘It’s just a bit of fun,’ added Dan. ‘If anyone
can get Zorro here on the dance floor, it’s you, señorita! Or is it señora?’ He
frowned. ‘I forget!’

‘Oh, good God!’ she huffed, turning her strong
coffee-coloured eyes on her date.

At this point Thom shot Dan a look of complete annoyance,
which made Carla-Louise edge back. I was very familiar with the sudden flash of
alarm in her eyes. I’d witnessed strangers react in the same way to him;
something they saw that I believe I was blind to. She tried to forcibly overcome
the feeling, I thought, by behaving almost desperate to please him. Her eyes
though told me a different story, and soon she excused herself a moment.

‘Hey, come on,’ said Dan, smiling and holding his
hands up. ‘It’s just a bit of fun.’

‘I’ve told you before, Dan, not to interfere.’
Thom shifted awkwardly and caught sight of me standing nearby. Our eyes locked
momentarily and then divided.

‘You’re ruining my chances,’ he muttered, ‘not
improving them!’

‘Ruining them?’ repeated Dan. ‘She’s here, falling
all over you, isn’t she?’

‘Yes, Dan, I suppose she is.’

‘So, are you going to make things official?’

Thom didn’t answer, to my knowledge – I heard
nothing before Carla-Louise re-entered the room looking immaculate as when
she’d left. She seemed to have recovered from the passing panic, or found she
could better manage it, and again groped for Thom’s arm, which he gave freely.

I moved farther off, though my eyes would wander
back to him. When anyone spoke to me I found it difficult to keep eye contact,
much less reply coherently. Therefore, the question most commonly put to me was
–

‘Is anything the matter?’

‘No, Frances, I’m fine.’

‘You don’t look it. There’s a raincloud over your
head.’

I instinctively looked up, and realised just how
distracted I was.

She laughed.

Unless Thom kissed Carla-Louise right there in
front of me, it certainly couldn’t get any worse. – Strike that. – Stacey
entered the Hall at that moment leading a small group of people, one of whom
was Mark! His eyes sought me immediately and on finding me, he bobbed his head
in a friendly but dubious
hello
.

I recognised Stacey’s boyfriend, Darren. The other
couple I didn’t know. Stacey towed her friends over to me with Mark hanging
back.

‘Stace,’ I whispered, ‘you brought four guests!’

‘Three really! Mark is for you.’ She grinned.
‘Anyway, no one’s gonna mind! I knew you wouldn’t bring anyone.’

‘I might have brought someone if Mrs Evans didn’t
specifically tell me I couldn’t. Yet everyone else I see has a partner.’

‘Well, now
you
do!’ She pointed to Mark,
who was talking with Darren, and occasionally looking over to me with a
penitent smile.

‘So this is my cousin, Courtney, and her
boyfriend, Lee.’ Stacey gestured as I said hello to her guests.

Mark hesitated and then walked my way. A certain
pair of dark eyes followed him to where he stopped in front of me.

‘I hope you don’t mind Stacey inviting me, Alex?’

‘I wasn’t prepared for it, but we’ll have to see.’

‘At least you’re honest. I’d still like to be
friends, and I can start by getting you a drink.’ He pointed to my empty glass.

‘That’s okay. I’m going over there anyway to
choose.’

‘So I’ll come with you and grab something, too.’

At the drinks table I overheard Frances’s husband,
Terry –

‘Are we going to get a tour of the house, or
what?’

‘You only had to ask,’ murmured Frances, nudging
him.

Others opted to tag along, too, until nearly
everyone headed for the door. Carla-Louise vowed she had no interest in the
house itself, only in some antiques it contained. Thom would undoubtedly stay
behind with her, and if I remained, Mark would probably choose to stand by me.
On the threat of that foursome, I moved eagerly with the rest.

‘Sorry to leave early,’ interrupted Amy, clinging
to Mike’s arm, ‘but we’re going to make a dash for our car, since the weather
is getting worse. But we hope you all have a great time!’

They went out the main door as the rest of us
headed upstairs. We heard car alarms going off just as the rain turned to hail.
In order to see the car park we moved straight for the landing window, which
most of us did – we were too curious. It had an excellent prospect of the path
and side gates to the car park. (I believe Thom had once watched me from here
getting into Mark’s car.) Pressing our faces to the freezing glass, we struggled
to see through the soggy air. Orange flashes from a couple of cars illuminated
the great stream of rainwater rushing along the edge of the car park. What
really seized our attention was immediately below on the gravel path.

The couple fleeing the dry safety of the house
braved the wildness of wind and hail. Amy screamed as ice pelted her. We could
just about hear her over the deafening beat of it against the house. With her
hair in her face, she struggled on by keeping one hand in her fiancé’s and the
other on her collar. Mike led the way, taking the brunt of the weather like a
man, though it forced him back several times. They were only halfway to the
gates and both were soaked through. One fatal gust swept in and knocked Amy so
violently to one side, she fell from the path onto the muddy grass and he went
down with her. The pair got back up and now painted brown, continued to the
gates. They disappeared round the corner and we wished them good luck, and no
doubt pined for some more of that kind of entertainment.

Melissa hugged closer to Dan. ‘We’re definitely
waiting out the storm.’

Dan nodded, as others vowed to do the same.

After a brief tour of the house, we all returned
to the Great Hall where Thom and Carla-Louise chatted. Lee and Darren headed
for the food table where they filled some plates and sat under one of the huge bay
windows. From here they could watch the hail – now rain again – and still be
next to a radiator. Not that these warmed the place. They were like the ones at
school: red-hot to the touch but didn’t seem to heat anything else.

The CD currently playing jumped repeatedly, and
Mrs Evans, who had organised the music, wouldn’t allow anyone near the stereo.
It then refused to play any CDs. She tried the radio, which did nothing but
blare mixed frequency noise.

‘Radio never works in this old place!’ she remarked.

‘Cool!’ said Lee, bobbing his head. ‘Like the
Bermuda Triangle.’

With no music and the storm as the only background
noise, a seriousness fell upon the room. Many of us took chairs and brought
them close to the bay windows where rain crashed against the glass. Mark
shadowed me closely.

Even Thom sat down, nearly opposite us, with
Carla-Louise at his side. He didn’t look at me once. Although I saw his fierce
glare shift regularly in Mark’s direction. When Mark noticed this he gulped
heavily and tried not to meet those dark eyes again. Stacey meanwhile whispered
something into Darren’s ear while practically pointing at Thom. Despite
upsetting me by bringing a date, I felt sorry for him. Carla-Louise continued flirting
with him, but she didn’t seem to possess any genuine affection for him, I
thought. There was something missing from her glances his way. Besides this,
most other guests, including many who worked at the Cray, avoided him like a
pandemic.