Silent Footfall Part 6

Silent Footfall Part 6

There was a ringing sound in Gina’s ears. She twisted about. Groggily she flapped her hand in the direction of the sound. Her fingers connected with her phone.”Yes,” she croaked with difficulty. Her throat felt as if she had slept with her mouth open all night. “Gina,” Max’s voice said anxiously, “where are you?” The question floated around somewhere in her head. She felt as if she had the mother of all hangovers. “Where am I?” She rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hand. “I’m…her eyes darted around the room. It looked unfamiliar. One of her trainers was lying just inside the door and the floor between the door and the bed was littered with her clothes as if she’d started to undress as soon as she’d entered the room. Bed…she was in bed but whose bed?

Outside she could hear children shouting and laughing. Max’s voice, impatient now, broke into her dazed state. “Why did you just…go, like that without even telling me? I thought… Gina let the phone slip under the bed clothes. She could hear Max’s talking, and then silence.

Something niggled at her. Carefully, she sat up. The room swam about. Her stomach threatened to throw up. She closed her eyes and it stopped. Eyes still closed she swung her feet on to the floor and shivered. Cold air drifted over her feet. She needed the toilet.

Somewhere nearby a child whined. A woman’s murmur responded. It came to her then. She was in the holiday chalet. Using the bed as a guide she fumbled her way toward the door. The abandoned clothes snagged at her feet. That wasn’t right. Even in a drunken state she never threw her clothes on the floor.” Except when you decide to strip, her inner voice sneered. Jesus! “What did I drink last night,” she gulped looking at the face staring back at her from the small mirror over the hand basin. She ducked her head. Vomit spewed into the basic. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she looked around for something to clean up the mess.

The child cried again. A high pitched squealing sound like the scream of an animal caught in a trap. Suddenly, she was wide awake, cold and sober. She had been to the house! Had seen Max there preparing for the annual ‘babes in the woods’ masked party with him. Her phone shrilled. Confused, she retrieved it from under the bedcovers. How could it be here? She had lost it. It had fallen into the long grass. She had seen it falling as if in slow motion. It had turned slightly sideways, before plunging into a tangle of weeds and briars.

Cautiously, she put the phone to her ear.” Gina, talk to me love,” Max’s voice had a coaxing quality in it now. She held the phone away from her face. How could Max be on the phone if she’d lost it? “You’re not there. I lost my phone,” she whispered moving her finger to end the call. “Gina, Gina! Don’t cut me…

“How did I get back from the house?” There was a beat of silence. Then, he gave his familiar dry cough before he spoke again. Thinking time, he used to tell her.

She felt a wet moisture slip down her legs. She needed to pee again.

“What house? What are you talking about? You need your medication…” The blue light on Gina’s phone blinked. A message flashed up. ‘Battery low’

“you’re not well – tell me where you are and I’ll come and get you, darlin’.”

“But you’re in Belfast, aren’t you?” silence. Gina listened to the silence. Was there somebody else with him? Had she heard the creak of the loose stair board? “You’re still in the house – with him, aren’t you? And it will soon be time for the sun to set,” she said bravely

“What house! I’m at home, in Belfast. Listen; listen to the traffic going up and down the road.” She heard him opening a window. An image of her apartment just off the city centre flashed in her mind. It was tiny. She had bought it because it had a terrace and a small patch of garden to the back. Max had begun to live there more and more. That’s was what had decided her to face up to her past. If they were to have a future together she needed to move on – needed to stop taking her medication.

She shivered, she’d been sure she could trust Max. Yes, even with her life. But she wasn’t so sure now.

“Now do you believe me? Tell me where you are…” Gina held the phone away from her body. The battery light was flashing rapidly now. “How did you know where to look for my phone? The goat man told you, didn’t he?”

“What, what goat man?” There it was a distinct note of cautious in Max’s voice now. The tone he used when he was lying or pretending he didn’t know about something. “Gina, there is no goat man. You are having one of your…episodes.”

Gina sat down abruptly on the bed. Max was using his official medical, nurse’s voice now. That’s how she had met him. Her skin prickled. She needed to get away from here. He would soon figure out she was somewhere in the area. The car engines and the hum of traffic was probably the others arriving for the celebratory face painting of the masks before the party. It was the longest day. It would be clear until later. They’d have plenty of time to get tanked up and togged out. She wondered about the fires. Would they build a fire and dance…

Max, his voice more insistent now was still talking. “I’ll be there was quickly as I can, sweetheart. I’m worried…only want to hel…His voice faded as the battery died and the face of the phone went blank.

The silence in the room seemed ominous now. Gina’s feeling of foreboding intensified. She moved away from the damp patch on the carpet and mechanically began to change out of her wet underwear. Not naked after all she thought vaguely pulling the short nightdress over her head. Nightdress? She hadn’t worn nightdress since she was a child. A chill came crept her. She looked down at it lying in a crumpled heap at her feet. Goose bumps rose on her arms. She prodded it with her foot. Even before she picked it up she knew it would have the motifs of the teddy bears on the front. It had always been his favourite.

Part 7 will be posted on Monday Ist Sept.‘like’ and leave a comment

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