Chapter 11
She waits, watching, hidden behind the scratchy leaves in the garden border.
Eventually, there’s movement by the back door. The fluffy dog lifts its head. A hand appears, gripping the doorframe. Someone is stepping out cautiously onto the veranda, taking their time about it.
Is this the new owner of Raven Hall?
It’s a woman in her forties. A loose summer dress billows over her bloated frame, and her pale hair is scraped back into a ponytail, creating the impression that her head is too small for her body.
She shuffles across the veranda and collapses onto a swing seat with a groan that rolls out across the lawn.
The fluffy dog springs up beside her and nestles into the folds of her dress, and she rests one puffy hand on its little head.
Almost immediately, a second woman, much younger, appears in the doorway.
In stark contrast to the figure on the swing seat, this one is dressed to show off her slim frame: bright orange crop top, tight-fitting denim shorts, enormous hoop earrings.
She hovers briefly on the veranda without saying anything, then swivels and disappears back inside the house with a swish of her waist-length hair.
The swing seat rocks and creaks, and the older woman tips her head back and closes her eyes.
So, these are the new owners of Raven Hall. A slow-moving woman and her spoiled brat of a daughter.
She watches the woman on the swing seat for a while longer, but her resentment is an ache inside her rib cage, and her powerlessness makes her restless.
She creeps back around the border of the garden and escapes over the curved branch, into the farmer’s field.
Insects buzz all around her, and she stands perfectly still for a minute, thinking, weighing up her options.
She needs to get back to the village; she’s got a long journey ahead of her, to return to her lodgings.
But before that, she has a decision to make.
She lifts her chin and retraces her steps around the boundary wall, until she reaches the point where she’ll have to veer out into the open—where she might be seen.
Before she leaves, she places her palms against the warm stone wall again, and she tells Raven Hall, “Don’t forget me. I’ll come back.”