Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
The woods were eerily quiet, no birdsong, no chatter from Max and his new friend, but it was dry, which was a good start to the day and Ettie was determined to make it a fabulous day.
She almost got out of the pretty lilac garden gate before she heard the faint trill of her phone and realised it was still on the kitchen counter charging.
Ettie’s voice was out of breath as she said, ‘Hello, are you okay, Morgan?’
‘I’m good, how are you?’
‘Good, I was just leaving and had to run back inside for my phone.’
‘Where are you going this early?’
‘Brunch with Ernest.’
‘Oh, that’s lovely.’ She paused. ‘Is he with you now?’
‘No, he left an hour ago. I’m meeting him in town.’
Morgan grinned, her aunt had just let slip that her new man had spent the night and she couldn’t be happier for her.
As far as Morgan knew, or at least since she’d found out she had an aunt, Ettie hadn’t been romantically involved with anyone.
She deserved to have all the happiness in the world.
‘I’m sorry, Ettie, to keep asking you, but have you talked to anyone recently about this watcher legend? ’
‘No dear, why?’
‘No particular reason.’
Ettie paused, and Morgan knew she was trying to figure out what was going on.
‘How many people do you think know about it? I mean I couldn’t find anything online, is it a local lore type of thing? How did you even know about it in the first place?’
‘It’s not well known. I suppose there will be something written down somewhere. Maybe in an old book of Lake District tales or something. I heard about him from my mum, who got it from hers and it’s always been passed down.’
‘I didn’t know about it until you told me.’
‘Exactly, to be honest I hadn’t really thought about it for years, Morgan. I mean it’s highly unlikely it’s real and there’s the reason you haven’t heard about it.’
‘I don’t know, someone is out there killing people when the weather turns misty, so it’s been made real. What about Ernest, did you talk to him about it?’
‘No, it’s not the sort of topic of conversation we’ve been having. We’re still getting to know each other.’
Morgan sighed.
‘That’s a heavy sigh, loaded with a lot of blame and guilt. I don’t know what’s going on, Morgan, but this is nothing to do with you.’
‘No, but I feel so bad that we haven’t found the two missing girls yet.’
‘You will find them.’
‘Do you know of any other hauntings or lore in the area? What about the girl the teenagers first thought they saw, do you know anything about that?’ Morgan knew she was clutching at straws but hoping for any kind of clue.
‘Hmm, there is supposed to be the ghosts of the women who drowned on the lake, but I don’t know if there’s any truth to that.
I’m not sure, but possibly they could have saw one of those.
Oh, I know, the old caves are supposed to be haunted by the guy that got crushed there. Have you checked the old cave yet?’
Morgan felt goosebumps break out all over her flesh. ‘What cave?’
‘Well, I don’t think they’re accessible now and haven’t been for many years, but there is a cave on the far side of the fell that is probably overgrown and impossible to find.
It’s been disused for so long because of an accident there.
Nobody goes there because they’re unstable and it’s not talked about or on any maps, to discourage kids from getting themselves into even more trouble. ’
‘Oh my God, I forgot all about it. Is that the cave the guy staying at the summer camp died in back when it first opened?’
‘Yes, that’s the one. Mountain Rescue may have knowledge of them, but like I said it’s been so long since they’ve been used, they may not.’
‘You’re a genius, Ettie, where will I find the cave?’
‘I can ask Ernest for you, he was a Mountain Rescue volunteer before he retired.’
‘Yes, please. Can you hang up and ask him right now, maybe ask him for GPS coordinates too?’
‘Oh, I don’t know if he’ll have those, Morgan, but I’ll ask him for you.’
‘You’re the best, thank you.’
Morgan hung up. She remembered about that caving accident all those years ago, but why had she not thought that the caves may still be accessible?
She could have kicked herself. She was about to tell Ben, but then she stopped and thought better.
Maybe it would be worth finding out if they still existed before getting the whole team out looking for them.
Especially if they were dangerous. It might be too risky, or it could be a total waste of everyone’s time.
Far better for her to investigate this and not lose all that momentum from the house to house in the village and the search of the outbuildings around the camp.