‘That’s just Timmy Willy,’ he says, grinning at me.
‘It’s … a mouse?’
‘Yep. A field mouse. Olivia named him. From Beatrix Potter. He likes to come in and I give him summit to eat.’
I shudder at the thought that rodents just wander through the caravan and surreptitiously scan the floor to make sure no other furry friends are about to make an appearance.
He laughs. ‘He won’t hurt you.’
There is something so childlike about Ralph and I feel a lump form in my throat. Since I’ve had Finn I’ve become soft. I see the little boy that Ralph once was and wonder how he could have ended up like this. Was he loved growing up? Did his mother do enough to protect him? Who cares for him now? I wonder if Olivia does. Is that why she visits? The rain thrashes against the window and the wind whistles through the gaps in the caravan. Yet I don’t feel afraid here with him, even though I probably should. This could be exactly what Ralph is banking on. Luring his victims here by pretending to be a simple soul with animals for companions. As I reach for my phone to record him I place the mace inside my handbag but within easy reach.
‘You’re happy for me to record you?’ I ask, setting my phone up on its stand between us.
He nods. ‘Sure.’
‘So why did Olivia come and see you?’ I sip my coffee while I wait for him to answer.
He shrugs. ‘She comes often. She’s my friend. She’s always been kind to me. I know what people say about me, but Olivia’s always treated me like a person, not a joke.’
‘Did you know her before the accident?’
He shakes his head, his giant hands clutching his mug. ‘Only after her friends went missing.’ He’s silent for a few moments, looking into his coffee. And then he says, ‘They were nice girls. Pretty.’
I try to fight the preconceived idea that he’s some kind of pervert just because he lives alone in the forest and is a little bit odd.
But then I remember Olivia’s pinched white face, her puffy eyes. Had he tried it on with her?
‘Did you like the girls, Ralph?’ I say carefully. ‘Do you like Olivia?’
He looks up at me. ‘I didn’t know them. And, like I said, Olivia is just a friend.’
‘Did you see anything that night? Anything suspicious?,
He bites his lip, as though he’s trying to stop himself saying something he shouldn’t.
‘Olivia claims to have seen a figure in the road. And that’s why she’d swerved. Did you see anything?’
He shrugs again, avoiding eye contact. ‘No. I didn’t see a person in the road.’
‘You said something about a bright light? And then you retracted it?’ I press.
He sighs. ‘It was a long time ago. I can’t remember.’
‘Did you see a bright light?’
‘Olivia told me not to say.’
‘Olivia told you not to say what? About the light?’
‘People would laugh. That’s what she said. People would laugh at me.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I believe in aliens.’
Oh, yes, his alien theory. ‘Did Olivia see the bright light too?’
He nods, just a fraction. ‘This place ain’t right,’ he blurts out suddenly, with feeling. ‘I’ve been saying that for years. It’s haunted.’
‘What did you think the bright light was, Ralph?’
‘A UFO, of course. It blinded me. And then … and then it just sort of disappeared.’
He eyes me stubbornly. Does he really believe what he’s saying? I decide on another tactic. ‘Why did Olivia leave here crying earlier, Ralph?’
He presses his lips together stubbornly. And then he stands up, his leg knocking against the table and nearly unbalancing my phone stand. ‘I think you need to go now.’
I experience a thud of disappointment. ‘Ralph, are you protecting Olivia?’
‘I don’t want to talk about Olivia any more. She told me not to say anything. I’m fed up with everyone asking questions … everyone blaming me!’ His cheeks have turned red and spittle forms on his lips.
‘Told you not to say anything about what?’
‘Please leave now.’ He strides across the caravan and flings open the door. I reluctantly gather up my phone and its stand, dropping them into my bag, and hurry out. ‘Ralph …’ I begin, as I step down onto the wet grass, but he has shut the door in my face.
14
The sky has darkened considerably in the time I’ve been in the caravan. As I head back through the forest I’m thinking about Ralph and our strange conversation when I hear a twig snap behind me. I pause, my body rigid, a creeping sensation at the back of my neck. I turn but nobody’s there. I’m not far from my cabin so I break into a jog, wondering if Ralph has followed me, if I got him wrong and he isn’t some harmless loner after all but a psychopath. I feel a surge of relief when I notice a light is on in Foxglove, the cabin opposite mine, and a shadow passes across the window.
I’m cold and damp by the time I let myself into my own cabin and turn on the lights. I go around closing the curtains, wanting to shut out those trees, which feel like they’re encompassing me, threatening to swallow me. They remind me of a Doctor Who episode I once watched with Finn where trees started sprouting out of the ground and growing out of control, threatening to engulf the town in a blanket of nature. I peel off my wet things and make myself comfortable in the armchair by the fireplace. Then I FaceTime Finn.
My son is in the living room when he answers. Behind him I can see the ink blue feature wall I’d painted last year. He flashes me his cheeky smile but he looks tired. I hope Gavin isn’t letting him stay up too late.
I tell him about the forest and remind him of the Doctor Who episode.
He laughs. ‘Really, Mum! That sounds pretty rad.’
‘Sometimes it feels like they’re going to come in through the windows, their branches like gnarled fingers, trying to grab me. I’m literally in a box in the middle of a forest.’
He giggles and asks to see so I take my phone to the window and pull aside the curtains to show him the forest beyond. A flash of a waxed jacket catches my eye. Is it Ralph coming to find me? Or the person I saw in the cabin opposite? I peer out but everything is smudged due to the rain splatter on the glass and I can’t tell if it was my imagination. I close the curtains and concentrate on what Finn is saying.
‘Wow, I wish I was there,’ he says, as I turn away from the window. ‘We could explore.’ My heart lurches. I wish he was here too. Or that I was there. Right now I’d give anything to be at home with him, curled up on the sofa watching Doctor Who.
‘It’s not exactly Center Parcs,’ I say, and a shiver runs through me at the thought of my excursion to Ralph’s caravan earlier. I’m just glad I managed to get a recording of our conversation.
We talk about school and I spot my mum in the background, zooming in and out of shot as she hands Finn some biscuits and milk. ‘Can I talk to Nanny after?’ I want to ask him about the woman I heard earlier but I don’t want to put him in an awkward position. He just thinks Gavin and I are having a break from each other. And that, soon, we’ll all be back under one roof. It must be confusing and unsettling for him.