Free Urban Myth by James Raven Page B

nothing,’ I lied.
    ‘Thank God for that.’
    She turned and started putting bacon strips into a frying pan.
    ‘So how do you explain all the stuff that’s happened?’ I said.
    She turned back to me, annoyed. ‘Oh, come on, Jack. You’re being silly.’
    ‘But it’s bugging me. I can’t help it.’
    ‘OK, let’s start with the snake,’ she said evenly. ‘It obviously managed to get in at some point when a door was left open. It then crawled onto the bed to keep warm and nobody realized it was there. I’ve no idea why it died and frankly I don’t care. As for the smell, well who knows? Probably something to do with the drains.’
    ‘And the lights? Who switched them off and then back on again?’
    She shrugged. ‘Maybe there was a power cut while we were sleeping. Then coincidentally the power came on again when you walked down the stairs. Or it could have been a faulty wire. Who knows? What we do know is that nobody tampered with the fuse box. If someone had we would have seen them.’
    ‘OK, so explain the doors?’
    ‘That’s an easy one. You only
thought
you closed them. We all make mistakes, Jack. And don’t forget we’d all just had a massive shock and we couldn’t wait to get out of the house.’
    ‘But it’s a bit much don’t you think?’
    She drew a breath. ‘Oh, come on, Jack. Reason imposes its simplistic logic on everything. You should know that. Unless you really believe we’ve been experiencing paranormal activity. In which case you’re a moron.’
    ‘Of course I don’t believe that. You know I’m as sceptical as you are about that stuff. But something isn’t right. I’m sure of it.’
    ‘Well if you’re that concerned maybe we shouldn’t stay here. We could pack up and go home. Or book into a hotel and incur a huge amount of expense.’
    ‘Now who’s being silly? No way are we doing that.’
    ‘Then stop trying to make something out of nothing. You’re starting to creep me out and I don’t like it.’
    I stepped forward, held her shoulders. ‘Look, I’m sorry, hon. It’s just that I’m uptight because I want us all to have a great time. I’m worried that the vacation is being spoilt. It’s been one thing after another.’
    She rested her head against my chest and sighed. ‘The only reason it’ll be ruined is if you don’t keep things in perspective. Stop assuming that there’s something sinister behind every little thing that happens. This is so out of character for you. Normally it takes a lot to ruffle your macho feathers.’
    My mind flashed back to that damned telephone call. It was suddenly clear to me that the warning from the girl was the source of my anxiety.
    You have to stay away from this place … your family will not be safe here … Please cancel your plans and go on holiday somewhere else.
    A knife of guilt twisted in my stomach. I should at least have tried to find out what she was going on about instead of dismissing the call as a hoax. And I should have told Nicole about it. Then she’d know why I was so uneasy.
    ‘Look, the last thing I want is for us to fall out over this,’ I said. ‘So let’s start over and pretend that none of the weird shit has happened. OK?’
    She looked up at me and gave an impish smile.
    ‘OK,’ she said. ‘It’s a deal. Now go and shower while I make breakfast.’

15
    A t least one of the little mysteries got solved when I came back downstairs. Nicole mentioned that she’d woken up just before dawn because I’d stolen the duvet – as per usual – and she was cold. So she’d switched off the ceiling fan before prising the duvet away from me and going back to sleep.
    I was tempted to tell her that I’d wondered why it hadn’t been working when I woke up. But I decided not to because I didn’t want her to think I’d added it to the contentious list of ‘weird incidents’.
    Tina appeared as we were dishing up the breakfast.
    ‘I’m famished,’ she announced. ‘I could eat a horse.’
    ‘What