I Know What I Saw

Chapter 3 #2

Georgia nods. ‘He looks out for all of us. Like we’re all family. I guess he sees us that way after losing Moira.’ She hesitates, and I sense there’s more she wants to add. ‘Right, let’s get some coffee.’

The kitchen is another room where every space is filled, but it’s warm and welcoming, and slowly I feel the tension in my body ease away.

‘If you have tea, that would be great,’ I say. ‘I’ve had a lot of coffee the last couple of days.’

‘I understand. Since I’ve not been working, I’m drowning in the stuff. How do you take it?’

‘I’ll have it black. It’s odd, but since I got out of hospital, I’ve gone off milk in tea; I only take it in coffee now.’

‘That is weird,’ she says.

Within less than a minute, she’s handing me a cup of tea, thanks to the hot-water tap we all have fitted into our kitchens. No need to wait for anything – everything in Silverleaf is about convenience and luxury.

While she adds milk to her tea, I tell her about Giles suggesting that Willow could spend some time with me whenever I like.

Georgia turns to me and smiles, gesturing for me to sit at the kitchen island.

‘That shows how kind he is. He absolutely adores Willow.’ She slides on to a bar stool.

‘That’s why I can let his finickiness slide.

He just has high expectations for Silverleaf.

Nothing wrong with that if it gives us all a better life, right? ’

I nod, and sit beside her. ‘Other than you, I’m finding it hard to get to know any of the neighbours.’

Georgia smiles. ‘Oh, no. Well, we can soon rectify that, can’t we?

I can fill you in on everyone. Not that I’m a gossip or anything, but I’ve got to know people well around here.

We were the first ones to move in after Giles and Moira.

Xander came next, and then Eleanor and Rufus.

Then you and Leo. It was a bit strange to start with – all the houses being empty.

And they’re not small. It was a bit creepy at night.

So quiet around here. No houses outside Silverleaf for miles.

Took me a while to get used to it.’ She bites her lip.

‘Don’t ever tell Giles I said all this. He won’t hear anything negative about this place. ’

I open my mouth to tell her that something far worse than a negative comment has happened, but I reconsider. I don’t know Georgia yet, so I need to tread carefully. ‘You can trust me,’ I assure her.

Georgia studies me. ‘Then can we talk about the elephant in the room?’ she says, catching me off guard. ‘Just to get it out of the way?’ She smiles as she says this, making me believe that she’s not here to attack me in any way.

‘You mean the drawing I posted this morning.’

Georgia nods. ‘Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great sketch, but .

. . I think everyone’s a bit confused about how you could have seen a woman get attacked out on the green last night.

’ She pauses to sip her tea, wrinkling her nose as she puts the cup down.

‘Giles came round to see all of us early this morning, to show us the CCTV footage and put our minds at rest. Have to admit it scared the hell out of me, just to think something like that could have happened on our doorstep. And Giles was in a state, too. I guess he’s worried we’ll all start freaking out and putting our houses on the market.

’ She gets down from her stool and opens the door, letting in the warm May air.

‘I did see two people out there,’ I say. ‘It wasn’t my imagination.’

Georgia’s mouth twists, and she places her hand on my arm. ‘I get that it must have felt like that. But Giles said there was no evidence of anything on the green. He showed us the CCTV. I’ve looked on mine, too. So has everyone else. And Xander helped you check, didn’t he? Straight after.’

I nod. ‘I know. I can’t explain that. But did you recognise the woman I drew? Giles seems to think it’s his wife, Moira. But I never met her.’

Georgia frowns and reaches for her phone, scrolling through it for a moment. ‘It could be? But then, lots of people have long blonde hair. And it’s quite hard to tell from a sketch.’

‘Giles showed me a photo of her earlier. And it does look a bit like her.’

‘Wasn’t she a patient of Leo’s?’ Georgia asks.

‘Yes. But I’d never set eyes on her. Not even seen a photo before today. So how could I have sketched her?’

Georgia picks up her cup but doesn’t drink from it. ‘That is a bit of a coincidence. But I suppose they do happen.’

‘And no one’s replied to my message, even though everyone’s read it.’

Georgia takes her time to answer. ‘I can’t speak for the others, but I wonder if it’s made everyone a bit uncomfortable.

’ She holds up her hand. ‘Not saying that’s how I feel.

But going back to what you saw – strange things do happen, you know.

People have sworn they’ve seen people who have passed away—’

‘That’s not what this is,’ I insist, feeling blood rush to my head. ‘Even if ghosts did exist, I have no connection to Giles’s wife, and she wasn’t strangled, was she? She died from bone cancer.’

If Georgia’s offended by my blunt tone, she doesn’t show it, and her expression remains soft with concern.

‘I have to be honest with you, Ria,’ she says.

‘People are saying what you saw could be the after-effects of your attack. The mind’s a powerful thing – it can conjure up whatever it wants to, given the right circumstances.

And we humans aren’t intelligent enough to understand half the things that happen.

’ She pauses. ‘Look, I know we’ve just met, but you seem like a good person.

You’ve been through a lot, but I think you should maybe let this go.

Try to just get on with things. We’re a lovely bunch around here, and making friends is better than having enemies, right?

’ She pats my arm. ‘It was hard for me when we first moved to Silverleaf. When the others all came. I spent ages feeling like we didn’t belong, like we weren’t good enough, because Patrick’s a builder and not some fancy hotshot lawyer or anything.

But we’re good people, and that’s all that should matter.

And he helped Giles build this place – we deserve to be here.

’ Georgia sounds as though she’s trying to convince herself as much as me.

‘Of course you do.’

‘And so do you,’ Georgia says. ‘But living in such a close community means we have to make an effort. Get to know one another. Wouldn’t it be great if one day we all trusted one another so much that we didn’t feel the need to lock our doors?

Just like it was in our great-grandparents’ time.

That’s what Giles says. And I agree. We have the chance to make Silverleaf something different.

Something special.’ She beams and finishes her tea, seemingly finding it more palatable this time.

Georgia seems nice, but I realise it’s pointless trying to change her mind and get her to believe me. And I understand – none of this makes sense. ‘Okay,’ I say, ‘so tell me how I get to know the neighbours. I’m sure everyone’s already made up their minds that I’m crazy.’

She puts down her cup. ‘Not at all. Of course you’re not. They all feel bad about what happened to you.’

‘I don’t get that feeling from Eleanor. Sort of feels like she’s avoiding me.’

At the mention of Eleanor’s name, the atmosphere shifts and Georgia leans forward. ‘Don’t pay any attention to Eleanor. She’s . . . Oh, I hate speaking badly of people. We’ve become good friends. But I’m not sure anyone can really win her over.’

I think of the argument I witnessed them having in the coffee shop earlier. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I really don’t like to gossip, Ria. But Eleanor’s a bit of a closed book. Doesn’t trust people easily.’

‘What’s her husband like?’ I ask.

‘Rufus works hard. He’s hardly ever at home.

Gone from morning till night. Did you know he works for Alphabet?

Must be a lot of pressure on him, working for a huge tech company.

’ Georgia doesn’t wait for an answer. ‘But now Eleanor’s got all this time on her hands – it must be a strain on their marriage that he’s never there. ’

I think of Leo – how hard he works yet how he’s also fiercely protective over the time we can spend together. ‘But she sold her business, didn’t she? She must have thought that decision through.’

‘Oh, yes, but I don’t know if she realised what it would be like to go from being a high-powered CEO to being a woman of leisure. It’s not as if they have kids to keep her busy, either.’ She clamps her hand over her mouth. ‘Um, I should not have said that,’ she says.

‘Not everyone wants kids,’ I say, feeling the need to defend Eleanor, even though we’ve barely spoken.

Georgia gives a slow nod. ‘You’re right. But sadly, Eleanor did want them. It just never happened.’

‘She’s still young – she’s got time,’ I offer.

‘Just turned thirty-seven.’ Georgia lowers her voice, even though we’re alone.

‘But she’s been told by doctors that her egg reserve is badly diminished, so Eleanor doesn’t think it will ever happen.

They’ve tried so many cycles of IVF, until Rufus just turned around and said he no longer wanted to carry on.

Just like that. They were about to go for another round when he said, No more. Bit cruel, if you ask me.’

Hearing this, I feel a surge of sadness for Eleanor, as if her pain is my own, even though Leo and I haven’t started trying to have children yet.

‘But,’ Georgia continues, ‘it doesn’t give her an excuse to be so . . . I don’t even know how to describe it. She can just be off with people.’

‘I thought it was just me she doesn’t seem to like.’

‘Oh, no, believe me – it’s not just you.’

‘Have you seen her today?’ I hold my breath, praying Georgia doesn’t lie.

She studies me. ‘Actually, I have. We went for coffee this morning, and it didn’t end well.’ She looks down, her fingers tracing the side of her cup. ‘We had a huge disagreement.’

‘Oh. Sorry.’ I want to push for more details, but that might make Georgia suspicious of me; I need at least one person around Silverleaf onside.

‘Um . . . it was about you,’ she says. ‘And your drawing. It really got to Eleanor. I told her she was blowing things out of proportion, but she lost it and had a go at me.’

It takes me a moment to process this. Whatever I’d imagined they could be arguing about, I didn’t think for a second it would be me. ‘I don’t understand why she reacted so badly to that. What exactly did she say?’

Georgia stares at her cup, tapping her fingers on the table.

‘Georgia, please just tell me, whatever it is.’

With a heavy sigh, she finally stops tapping on the table, avoiding eye contact as she speaks.

‘Eleanor thinks that, after what you saw, everyone just feels awkward. And she seems to think the sketch you posted has made it even worse.’ Georgia looks up.

‘But please don’t let her bother you. Eleanor’s just not in a great place right now. ’

I want to object and drum into her that I haven’t done anything, but it wouldn’t be true.

I’ve dared to speak the truth about what I saw, even when no one will believe me.

Something’s being covered up here, I know it.

‘I’ve learned not to let people get to me,’ I say.

‘All I care about is fairness and justice.’

Georgia nods. ‘That’s admirable. But look, my advice is to give Eleanor a wide berth. I’m sure things will settle down. She’ll get used to having a new family around here.’

‘Yeah, I’ll do that,’ I say, even though I have no intention of avoiding Eleanor. What do we become if we surround ourselves only with people who don’t challenge us? ‘So, who else do I need to be careful around?’

She laughs. ‘Oh, we’re not that bad.’ She considers this for a moment. ‘Well, don’t tell Xander I said this, but as much as I love him, his eyes tend to wander, if you know what I mean?’ She laughs. ‘No wonder his wife left him.’

‘Did she live here?’

‘Only for a bit. She left him a while ago. He’s had a string of women since then, and none of them seems to last longer than a few weeks.’ She shrugs. ‘But if that makes him happy, then who am I to judge?’

A vision of the blonde woman forces its way into my head.‘Is Xander seeing anyone at the moment?’ I ask.

Georgia nods. ‘Yeah, he is, but I’m not sure how serious it is.

None of us has met her. To be honest, I don’t bother trying to get to know Xander’s partners any more – as soon as I do, he’s got rid of them.

And they’re always nice. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying he doesn’t want to settle down with someone, or that he’s using these women.

It’s just none of them seems to live up to his wife. ’

‘Do you know what this woman he’s seeing looks like?’

Georgia appraises me. ‘I know what you’re thinking, and she’s not the woman you drew. I saw him with her in town the other day, and she’s Black with beautiful long curly hair.’

Plus, Xander had clearly been in bed when I woke him up, so he can’t have been the man I saw out on the green. My head pounds and I clutch my temples. There’s something I’m missing here, and it’s out of reach no matter how hard I try to grasp it. Or I’m losing my mind.

‘Are you okay?’ Georgia asks. ‘You’ve gone a bit pale.’

‘Might have a migraine coming on. I’m fine, though. I’ve been getting them for the last year.’

‘Sorry, Ria.’ She pauses. ‘You must think I’m such a gossip.

After protesting that I don’t like to. Patrick’s always telling me off.

He says I have too much time on my hands since we moved here.

’ She lets out a deep sigh. ‘Maybe he’s right.

Now the kids are grown up, they don’t need me, at least not for day-to-day things.

All Declan asks me for is my car.’ She leans forward, resting her elbows on the table.

‘I miss the time when the kids depended on me. It made me feel useful.’ She stares into her cup. ‘I’ve actually been looking for a job.’

‘That’s great. What did you do in Ireland?’

‘Before I had the kids, I was a dental nurse. But it’s been years. I’d never get a job doing that now. I didn’t keep up to date with training.’

‘I’m sure you’ll find something.’

When Georgia smiles, I sense the sadness behind it. ‘No harm trying, is there?’ she says.

We talk for another hour, and by the end of it, I’ve realised that I like Georgia very much.

At the door, she gives me a hug. ‘I hope your migraine goes soon.’

I step outside, and she calls me back. ‘Just be careful,’ she says.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I like you, Ria, so I have to be honest. Just be careful about talking about what you saw.’ She glances past me. ‘There are people around here who won’t like it.’