Free 2007 - The Dead Pool by Prefers to remain anonymous, Sue Walker Page A

most likely to be sympathetic without flushing out her lie .
    ‘ That was a short visit, Miss. Thanks for coming anyway. Enjoy the rest of your day .’
    She smiled at the elderly security-guard and walked out into the grounds, choosing a shaded, corner bench. The mobile had been left at home intentionally. To keep her choices open. If she did decide to opt out, then she’d use a payphone and no one could call her back to persuade her otherwise. What was the time? Damn, they’d all be there by now. She listed the options in her mind. Go home? No, she wanted to be out and enjoy some of the day. Go back into the gallery? Go to the picnic? Mentally, she plotted her journey. All she had to do was go round the back of the gallery, down the steps past the wooded area, over the footbridge and she’d have arrived .
    Slowly she got to her feet, pushing her sunglasses firmly back into place. The sun’s glare was merciless today. She approached the first flight of steps, peering to her left to see when the river came into view. She caught a glint of the Cauldron and veered off the pathway steps to her left. Then she picked her way carefully through undergrowth, trees and fallen branches, until she was satisfied with her vantage point. Ally and lona were just arriving. Kisses and hugs all round. Morag looked tense, unhappy. Ally seemed in cockier mood than usual. lona was already taking her clothes off in as close proximity to Craig and Fraser as possible .
    ‘ Darling Fraser, spread that rug out for me, would you? Morag that sarong is absolutely gorgeous. It’s new? You must tell me where it’s from. I shall copy you. I need one for my hols .’
    Her overloud, super-confident tones were carrying easily across the still waters of the Cauldron. Bonnie sighed. Could she hear it? A whole day with lona, with them all?
    She began to stand up from her crouching position, and froze halfway. Surely Ally couldn ‘t have heard her? Nor seen her behind all this foliage. But he was staring directly over to where she was. She caught his frowning look of puzzlement before he turned away to accept a glass of wine .
    As she rejoined fellow path-users and gallery visitors on the steps, she made up her mind. She’d go to the picnic. But not yet. Not without emotional preparation. She badly needed a meditation. Somewhere in the gallery grounds there would be a quiet spot .
    An hour later, Bonnie paused just before the wooden bridge. This was her last chance. She could flee back up the steps to the gallery grounds. Or step on to the bridge and be swallowed up by the revelry, deafened by the drunken yells of greeting. She could hear them clearly now. Fraser was singing a guttural rendition of ‘Flower of Scotland’, at the top of his voice like some oafish football fan, Ally egging him on at every chorus. lona’s bray could be heard somewhere in the distance, with Craig’s answering laughter floating across the water. Only Morag’s voice was absent .
    Bonnie took up her surveillance position again, peering through the foliage. They were all in sight. Fraser’s football was stranded halfway across the Cauldron. She could hear him simultaneously curse and laugh as he stumbled, thigh deep in water, on his way to retrieve it. She smiled. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad after all. Fraser seemed on a high today and…well, he was at his best then. She watched his slim, bronzed torso twist as he reached for the ball and turned to throw it back to shore. With a firmer step than before, she moved out on to the footbridge and caught his eye .
    He tried a wave. ‘Yo! At last. My day is made!’ At that, his footing eventually gave way and he fell back, the waters of the Cauldron momentarily enveloping him. She felt a fleeting tug of anxiety as his waving arm disappeared under the water. But, within seconds, he re-emerged, the soaking tendrils of his shoulder-length hair plastered over his face. Laughing and spluttering, he shook his head violently, the