I waited.
‘It’s because they think their cabin is haunted.’
‘You’re kidding me.’
‘Nope. They swear they heard voices in the night. They said they felt a presence too. Like, a feeling there was someone outside their cabin. They’re convinced it’s those teachers you were telling us about, haunting this place.’
‘Eric and Sally.’
‘Yeah, if that’s their names. A load of hokum. But I guess that’s what triggered my imagination.’
‘Or it could just be other vacationers going for a wander in the moonlight.’
‘Could be.’ She looked over to the spot where I’d indicated the rabbit was found. ‘Nothing to worry about. Unless you’re a rabbit. But listen. Please don’t mention this to Donna if you see her. She can be . . . kinda superstitious.’
Again, I got the impression she wasn’t telling me everything. That she was protecting Donna’s privacy. But I nodded and said, ‘Of course. My lips are sealed.’
Two hours later, Frankie and I stood in a field on the edge of the resort, being kitted out for our archery lesson. I had put our names down yesterday, and sprung it on her as a surprise over breakfast. She had moaned at first, but on the walk here her mood had lightened. I hadn’t said anything about the dead rabbit.
‘So, what do you think of the holiday so far?’ I asked. This was our first activity together, if you didn’t count eating dinner last night.
‘It’s pretty good.’ She smiled, knowing I would be disappointed by this faint praise. ‘No, it’s okay here. I’m not even that bothered about not being able to go online.’
‘Really? Because I am.’
‘Missing Netflix, are you? Or Facebook?’
She said this in the same way I might have gently ribbed my gran about still having a black-and-white TV in the 1980s.
‘All right. Just because I don’t spend my days learning the latest TikTok dance moves.’
‘Okay, boomer.’
I laughed. ‘Hey, I’m Generation X, I’ll have you know. The best generation.’
‘You keep telling yourself that, Dad.’
This was more like it.
Our archery instructor was a thirty-something guy called Carl. He had a shaved head and a reddish beard and moustache. He reminded me a little of Walter White from Breaking Bad, but fifteen years younger. He asked us if we’d ever tried archery before.
‘Not since I was a little kid,’ I said, deciding not to tell Carl that my dad had been an amateur archery champion, in case it raised his expectations.
‘You guys are Brits? You should be good. Robin Hood and all.’
‘I think we might let our country down,’ I said.
Carl winked at Frankie. ‘I’ve got a feeling you’re going to be good, even if your dad isn’t.’
That made her smile.
He showed us the parts of the bow and measured our draw length to decide which size we needed.
‘Okay, who wants to go first?’ Carl asked. ‘You want to show your dad how it’s done?’
‘You go first,’ said Frankie, looking at me.
‘Sure.’
My first attempt sailed past the target.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned Robin Hood.’ Carl laughed like this was the most hilarious joke he’d ever cracked.
But I improved. I was soon able to hit the target, and though most of my arrows landed in the white, scoring one or two, I got a few in the black and blue. It was frustrating but fun. It took me back to when I was a kid and my dad used to take my sister and me to watch him and occasionally let us have a go.
‘Not bad,’ said Carl. ‘Now, Frankie, it’s your turn.’
He handed Frankie a bow. ‘Your feet need to be shoulder distance apart. Stand perpendicular to the target. That’s it. You need to hold the bow gently, not in a death grip. That’s it. Good. Now, when you pull back, use your whole body, not just your arm. Pull it back to the corner of your mouth and aim the sight pin at the centre of the target. There you go.’
Frankie released. The arrow flew past the target.
‘Great effort,’ said Carl. ‘Nobody hits it their first go. Your dad didn’t.’
Frankie wore the determined expression I recognised, the one that had accompanied many challenges throughout her life, from learning to tie her shoelaces to kicking Bowser’s ass in Super Mario. This time, on just her second attempt, she hit the target, the arrow thudding into the blue.
‘Awesome!’ Carl exclaimed.