2010
Natalie felt the blood drain from her face. A man was dragging a woman’s body across the floor towards the open back door! Not her back door, the original one. The kitchen was the one she’d seen with Tabby, with an older Olive cooking at the range. The furniture was different to the wartime kitchen, a dresser now stood where there’d been a cupboard…Natalie dragged eyes back to the figures – who were they? The bright moonlight – if that was what it was, it looked too eerie for moonlight, she thought – threw everything into clear relief. The man turned his head toward where she was standing, his eyes seeming to go through her. Bill! A very much older Bill, but definitely him. But it couldn’t be! He died in the war! She looked again at the woman on the floor and noticed the dark stain around her heart. Oh, God! She was dead! As Bill reached the back door, the woman’s head rolled and Natalie recognised Olive. The older Olive she’d seen before…
She hesitated. If she walked into the scene, would it disappear? Her mouth increasingly dry, Natalie placed one foot cautiously on the stone floor. Nothing changed. Slowly, she followed as Bill dragged Olive through the open door towards what looked like a vegetable garden at the side of the house. The site of her new pond, she realised, with a jolt. Bill let go of the woman’s legs and picked up a spade and began digging.
Suddenly it went dark and Natalie found herself facing the flickering control lights of her fridge-freezer. Switching on the torch, she found the light switch. Everything was back to normal. Except it wasn’t. How could it be? It seemed she’d just witnessed the murder of Stuart’s grandmother!
Shock set in and Natalie started trembling. She found a bottle of brandy and a glass and poured a large measure, gulping it down. Gasping as it seared her throat, she slumped onto a bar stool. What the hell should she do? Glancing at the clock, she saw it was nearly midnight. Far too late to ring her parents, and what could they do, anyway? Except offer a bed for the night. The police? They’d hardly rush round at this time of night to hear a garbled account of a potential murder that may or may not have happened more than twenty years ago! No, she’d have to stick it out until morning – oh, God! Matt was coming round to fit the pond! She needed to think…Deciding nothing could be achieved until the morning, Natalie swallowed some of Stuart’s herbal pills and went back to bed, convinced she’d not sleep a wink. But as her head hit the pillow sleep claimed her.
The next morning Natalie awoke feeling like shit. Her head throbbed and her mouth was so dry her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Reaching for the glass of water she’d brought upstairs, she took a deep drink before checking the time. Seven o’clock. As the full horror of what she’d ‘seen’ surfaced, she reached for her phone to call her parents. Fortunately, they were early risers and after listening for a few minutes, her father said they’d be straight round. Next she texted Matt, asking if he could delay coming round until she got back to him and she’d explain later. After a quick shower Natalie went downstairs, nervous at what she might find. But all was at it should be. It was as if last night hadn’t happened.
Natalie was drinking a treble-strength coffee when her parents pulled into the drive. She opened the door and was immediately buried in her father’s arms, her unshed tears flowing freely. Her mother offered soothing words as they all congregated in the kitchen.
‘Right, now are you able to take us through it slowly so there’s no mistaking what happened?’ Her father’s voice was gentle, without a hint of doubting her. She gathered her thoughts and told them exactly what she’d seen. It was a memory seared on her brain and she left nothing out.
At the end her parents exchanged glances before either spoke. Surely they believed her? Her heart thumped against her ribs.
‘Don’t look so upset, darling. We do believe you, I promise. It’s just, it’s such a horrible thing to have seen, it hardly seems possible. But it does fit what we know about Olive, about her disappearing.’ Her mother paused, gazing at the floor, as if waiting to see for herself what Natalie had seen. She looked up and smiled. ‘The only thing that doesn’t make sense is Bill. He died in prison, didn’t he? That’s what Tabby was told, isn’t it?’
She nodded.
‘It’s been puzzling me, too. But is there any proof he died abroad?’ She shrugged, a tiny sliver of doubt creeping into her mind. If he had died, then what she ‘saw’ last night couldn’t have happened!
Her father chipped in.
‘There’s one way of proving what you saw happened, and that’s to dig the area you say Bill, or whoever he was, started digging. So he could bury Olive’s body, poor woman.’
Mollie nodded.
‘Yes, that’s right. But who will do the digging?’
‘I will, I’m not afraid of finding a few bones and we’d never convince the police to do it, would we? No, it’s best if I do it and you two can be witnesses. Take photos.’ Peter looked at the women, who nodded their heads in agreement.
Natalie was relieved. She’d had visions of Matt coming across the skeleton while digging that morning – an awful thought.
‘Good. Might as well get on with it now. Where do you keep your garden tools, Natalie?’ She took him to the garage where the few tools she’d bought were stored. Not that she had planned to do much digging, but…
A few minutes later she showed her father the spot she thought was the right one, though it was hard to be precise under the odd circumstances. The site earmarked for the pond. By now it was after eight and Natalie should have been on her way to work. She called the office to say something urgent had come up and she hoped to be in that afternoon.
Molly joined Natalie in the kitchen, asking if she’d eaten yet.
‘No, I’ve only had a coffee. I’ll make some toast. Have you and Dad had breakfast?’ She took out the bread from the freezer and popped two slices in the toaster.
‘Yes, we gobbled down some muesli, but I wouldn’t mind some toast and perhaps we could all do with some coffee. I’ll make it.’
Molly took a mug out to Peter and then sat down with Natalie.
‘Are you sure you’re all right? It must have been a dreadful shock, seeing…that.’ Molly’s face was creased in concern.
‘Well, I do feel a bit odd. As if I’ve walked onto the set of a horror movie. Unreal. If we don’t find a body then…’ she shook her head at the alternative. Insanity.
Molly patted her hand. ‘You’re not going mad, I’d recognise the signs. But I do sympathise. I’m completely out of my professional comfort zone with this, so goodness knows how you’re feeling!’
Concentrating on their food, they remained silent, the only sound that of a spade being thrust into the earth a matter of yards away.
‘It’s a bit like being in a TV crime drama, isn’t it? Everyone waiting to see what or who the forensics team dig up. My favourite was Silent Witness, gory but clever,’ Natalie said, finishing her coffee.
‘Mm. I’ll go and check on your father. Don’t want him overdoing it and having a heart attack, do we?’
Molly rose and Natalie went with her, feeling guilty she hadn’t offered to help. But there was only one spade.
Peter was leaning on the spade sipping coffee and appeared unfazed by his exertions so far. He grinned at their approach. ‘Can’t keep away, can you? We might be about to solve of the mystery of poor Olive. The good thing is the ground’s lovely and soft after the rain we had recently.’ He passed the mug to Molly and carried on digging. A hole about a foot deep yawned beneath him and it was clear to Natalie her father was an expert digger.
She and her mother fetched chairs from the terrace and sat near Peter, enjoying the early morning sun. Natalie closed her eyes, suddenly drowsy after the late night. Her mind drifted back to what she’d seen, wondering if there were any details she’d forgotten. She saw the man’s face again and it still looked like an older version of Bill. If only she could have taken a photo! But as the figures were in a different time frame, she assumed it would have just captured her own kitchen. Natalie was deep in reflection when she was startled by a shout.
‘Hey! I think I’ve found something.’
Her eyes snapped open and she saw her father kneeling down, scrabbling with his hands. She and Molly joined him and watched as he carefully moved soil from something protruding in the hole. White against the dark earth, as Peter’s hands swept it clear, the faint outline of a skull emerged.