The Ghost and the Rose

Chapter 2

The rain fell hard and fast bouncing off the windscreen like rubber bullets sending the windscreen wipers into a frenzy every couple of seconds. Phoebe's sister crawled the car at a snail-like pace along the country lane ahead of us. Ever since Nell had steered her untrustworthy car into Hadley, there had been a thick coat of mist clinging to the land like a disease, making me wish I was anywhere but here.

"I wish this rain would stop," I moaned, letting my head thump back against the headrest.

Next to me, Phoebe glanced up from the magazine she attempted to read by the light of a mini torch. "It doesn't appear to be that bad," she said and went back to her magazine. "Anyway, we've got to be nearly there by now. Here," she passed me a water damaged copy of Vogue. "Read that."

The thought of reading in the car made my head spin. "Not unless you want me to throw up." I threw it onto the seat between us. "Will it be much longer, Nell?"

"Don't ask me questions when I am trying to drive, please," Nell gritted her teeth. She was four years older than us but had only passed her driving test last month after failing half a dozen times. Even then, Phoebe believed their dad had given the examiner a bribe to ensure she passed this time. It stumped me why she would have volunteered as the driver for this two-hundred-mile trip into nowhere. I couldn't work out if it was because she was so eager to be on the road having just passed or if she had lost her mind.

I looked at my watch. It had just left twenty-five to nine. "It can't be much longer. Are you alright, Eleanor?" Phoebe's grandmother had not spoken three words together since we had set off.

Face cast in shadow, Eleanor half-turned towards me and offered a weak smile. "Yes, I'm fine."

I now regretted allowing Phoebe to talk me into coming. I don't travel well at the best of times, but I certainly don't travel well in crappy weather that adds hours onto an already boring journey.

A sigh escaped Phoebe's mouth. I stretched my limbs as much as I could to ease the throbbing which had built up after two-and-a-half hours. I toyed with the idea of asking to stop at the next bed-and-breakfast. In weather like this, it wouldn't be long before Nell did serious damage to us or anyone else brave enough to venture out in this.

The car spluttered. And jumped, jerking forward only inch by inch. My hands flew, one on the seat in front, the other to the door frame to support myself. A low hiss filled the vehicle and steam rose from the bonnet until it was inseparable from the mist surrounding us. The pages of Phoebe's glossy magazine fell from her hands, fluttering.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

I swallowed. Hard. A sense of dread slunk over me leaving trails of sweat upon my palms and brow and the wild thumping of my heart drummed in my chest. The last time I felt this ill, I had gastric flu and passed out on stage during the Christmas play. I remained quiet to suppress the urge to be sick as Nell and Phoebe descended into muted panic.

"It's fine, it's fine. Everything is fine," Nell muttered to herself, her voice high. She turned off the ignition and prompted the rest of us to lock our doors. I'd already done mine, I'd read too many horror stories about murderers attacking people in trouble on long, isolated stretches of road like this one.

"Maybe you stalled it," I offered, half in prayer I was right.

"Yes. Stalled it. I could have stalled it." Nell turned the key in the ignition again but there was nothing. Not even the chugging sound of the engine attempting to start. "This isn't good."