Free Don't Hurt Me by Elizabeth Moss Page B

thick with legends. Perhaps even a haunting or two,
as the more superstitious locals would have tourists believe. The perfect place
for a writer of ghost stories and other supernatural tales. Through the
leafless branches surrounding the lake, it was still possible to see a faint
glimmer of water reflecting the dusk as night fell, and immediately beyond
that, the brooding emptiness of the moor.
       ‘Bodmin Moor is an unpredictable
place and, as you discovered, dangerous too.’ He swung his head back to look at
her, his eyes searching her face, strangely intent. ‘Now that you’ve seen it,
Julia, what do you think of the moor?’
       ‘When I was out there on my own, I
found the silence and the sheer sense of space fascinating.’ She paused, gazing
out of the darkened   window.
Although that was a perfectly accurate description of her reaction to the moor,
she would always remember getting lost out there too, how it had felt to be
alone in such a cold alien landscape. ‘But a little frightening as well.’
       He nodded, his eyes darkening. ‘I
brought my wife here when we were first married. Rachel was a city girl, born
and bred. She hated Cornwall. Not enough people, too many wild open spaces.’
       ‘That must have been
disappointing.’
       His mouth twisted in wry
self-deprecation. ‘Oh, I survived the early blows. It was the last one that hit
me hardest.’
       ‘You mean when she left?’
       ‘With one of my closest friends,
yes.’ The voice was harsh now, his head turned away as if he was remembering
another woman, another time. ‘But that was Rachel for you. She loved to
surprise.’
       ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, watching his
averted face.
       He shrugged the memory away, taking
a deep breath and turning back to her with a reluctant smile. ‘At least I was
awarded custody. That’s why it’s so important to me that Victoria is happy. I
don’t want her to grow up in the shadow of such a messy divorce.’
       ‘You’ve done a good job of raising
her.’
       ‘Thank you,’ he said, his voice
dry. ‘Though I never intended to be a single parent. It just happened that way.
One minute I was married, the next I was on my own with a four year old
daughter and not a bloody clue how to look after her.’
       She bit her lip, not wanting to
offend him but knowing she had to say something or go crazy holding it back.
       ‘This is none of my business, I
know. But I think you’re doing the wrong thing, sending Victoria back to
boarding school. You know she wants to stay here with you. So why not let her?
She’s not a little child anymore, she won’t be constantly underfoot - ’
       He interrupted her with a frown.
‘I’m not sending Victoria back to that school. What on earth made you think I
was?’
       ‘But on the phone, you said ...’
she began, stammering, then fell silent as she realised that she had betrayed
herself.
       The frown deepened. ‘Have you been
eavesdropping on my telephone calls?’
       ‘Look, it wasn’t like that,’ she
said defensively. ‘I would never deliberately listen in to a private conversation.
Victoria was showing me the secret passageway. It runs right behind your study
and I’m afraid we both heard your phone call quite clearly through the wall.’
       He looked stunned for a moment.
‘And you thought I was sending her back to the boarding school?’
       ‘Tomorrow morning, yes. That’s what
it sounded like.’
       His face tightening with fury,
Marshall swore under his breath and turned on her, his hands gripping her
shoulders.
       ‘So where exactly is my daughter
now? I should imagine she has a pretty low opinion of me right now, if what
you’ve told me is true.’
       ‘I don’t know. In her room,
perhaps.’
       ‘You just let her go off on her
own, after hearing that?’ His face was white with tension. ‘Are you insane?’
       She fell back against the table as
he released her without warning,