For all her intention to make Olivia stay in the car, the moment that they pull into the woodland car park, screeching to a halt next to Edward’s motorbike, Olivia bolts, taking off up the misty woodland trail, leaving Rachel still wrestling with her seatbelt. ‘Wait, Olivia!’ she calls, setting out after her, but her voice, muffled by the fog, is met only by the eerie silence. She tries to keep pace with the girl, every so often catching a glimpse of her cream coat flashing ahead among the trees, but then she’s gone again, lost in the mist.
The path is slippery with mud and leaves, treacherous with rocks and sprawling tree roots. Near the top, Rachel staggers and trips, falls to her knees, then rises and presses on, ignoring her scrapes and grazes. Something about the deep silence stops her from calling out again. Nearer the crest of the escarpment now, she is afraid of alerting Edward to their approach, afraid of what he might do if he knows they are close.
Stumbling into the folly clearing, she sees Olivia standing beneath the tower, gazing up at its high stone walls. Rachel’s own gaze tracks upwards. She lets out a sharp gasp. Like a bird on a branch ready to take flight, Ellie is right there, poised at the edge of the opening, facing the sheer drop below. At her back looms Edward, tall and threatening. Any words of warning catch in her throat. All he’d have to do is stretch out a hand and shove. The thought chills her to her marrow.
Ellie has one hand on the edge of the opening and is staring down at Olivia, a startled look on her face. As Rachel steps out from the line of trees, she sees her daughter’s head shift, her gaze coming to land on her. ‘Mum?’ The word echoes down to her. ‘What’s going on?’
Rachel lifts her hands, as if she would push her daughter away from the high drop. ‘Ellie, move back from the edge.’
‘But what are you doing here?’
Rachel scans for Olivia, but the girl has disappeared, perhaps around the other side of the folly, or back into the line of trees flanking the clearing. She doesn’t have time to think about her, because a movement is pulling her attention back to the top of the folly. Edward has taken a determined step forward – closer to Ellie. ‘Stay away from her, Edward.’
Edward doesn’t listen. He takes another step to join Ellie at the ledge, peering down at her. ‘Rachel?’
‘I’m warning you, Edward, if anything happens to Ellie…’
He lifts his hands. In her mind’s eye she sees her daughter jerk forward, her arms reaching for something to grab onto, finding nothing before plunging over the edge, falling, falling, a replay of the nightmare she’d woken from earlier that morning.
‘No,’ Rachel screams, screwing her eyes shut, but there is no awful thump of impact, and when she opens her eyes again, Ellie is still there, staring down at her from the top of the folly.
‘What are you doing here?’ asks Edward, sounding genuinely alarmed.
‘Let her go, Edward.’
‘Who? Ellie?’
‘I’ve seen the messages, Edward. The photos. The painting. It’s over. Let Ellie come down and we’ll talk. Just the two of us. But first, let her come down, safely.’
Edward shakes his head. ‘What messages? What are you talking about?’
‘I know all about the grooming. The coercive control. The secret relationship.’
Edward peers down at her. ‘Rachel, are you OK? I have no idea what you’re on about.’
‘Mum?’ Ellie looks frightened. She grips the arched stone opening. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Edward, I saw them. The painting. The photos in your studio. The messages on Olivia’s phone.’
A flicker of shock crosses his face. ‘You saw the painting?’
She nods. ‘It’ll be better if you come down. Ellie first. Then you.’
Ellie is twisting to look at Edward.
‘I can explain,’ Edward protests. ‘The painting was a mistake. I never should’ve asked Olivia to model for me that afternoon. It was silly. I didn’t think it through. There was no way I could’ve known that the painting would somehow end up mirroring what happened to Sarah. It’s an eerie coincidence. Not a sign of guilt.’ He lifts his hands. ‘You know me. You know I’d never hurt anyone.’
He sounds smooth, convincing even, and Rachel sees how he has fooled them all for so long.
‘But it wasn’t just one afternoon, was it? You’ve been conducting a private relationship with Olivia for months now.’
‘No,’ insists Edward. ‘That’s not true.’
‘There’s no point lying. I’ve seen the messages. All those words. All those promises.’ He looks baffled, but she isn’t buying it.
‘Rachel, truly, I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing going on between us. Olivia is just a student to me. Nothing more.’
A high sound rises from inside the folly, cutting Edward off, a wail that echoes through the hollow stone tower, before flying out of its dark apertures, screeching across the clearing. It’s a shriek of torment and indignation. A cry of pain. Rachel sees Edward spin around as a third figure rushes up onto the platform, joining Edward and Ellie at the top. Olivia.
She staggers into view, something silver flashing in her hand, rushing forward, heading straight for Edward and Ellie at the ledge.
‘Olivia! No!’ screams Rachel, her heart in her mouth, but it’s too late.
They tussle on the brink, a tangle of flailing limbs and Rachel watches in horror as one falls back. A shout of surprise. Arms pinwheeling in the air, reaching helplessly for the sky as they plummet like a stone to the earth below.