‘Of course. I’ll deal with it. You have my word.’
‘Good.’
The conversation was over. I went back to my cabin and looked in on Frankie. She was still asleep and I didn’t want to disturb her. I left her a note, telling her not to leave the cabin, which I was sure she wouldn’t do anyway.
I was going to try to find her phone.
The problem was, I didn’t really know where to look. A clearing, somewhere close to town. That was as much detail as Frankie had been able to give. That and the wind chimes.
As I got closer to Penance, I listened out for them but all I could hear was the incessant chatter of unseen birds. The faintest hum of traffic in the distance. I scoured the ground at my feet and, managing to get a slight signal, tried phoning Frankie’s number several times, but the phone had been on low battery when she lost it and it went straight to voicemail. I couldn’t use Find My iPhone either because the phone was dead.
I wanted to find it. It would be expensive to replace, and I could imagine how Sarah would react when she heard Frankie had lost it. I really didn’t want Sarah to know about any of the creepy stuff that had happened this week. I also wanted to see the messages Frankie had received on Instagram. But this was hopeless.
There was someone who could help, though. Nikki. She might not know exactly where Frankie had dropped it, but it seemed likely she could identify the correct clearing.
Except, when I got into town, the bookstore was shut.
I peered through the front window. All the lights were off. I thought I saw a movement inside then realised it was the cat, Cujo. At least he was safely home.
I looked around. Wyatt, the homeless guy I’d seen the first time I came here, wasn’t in his spot beneath the statue. In fact, there was absolutely no one in sight. Unsure what to do next, I headed down the street to the minimart and, happy to find a living person behind the counter, bought a bottle of water, a notepad and a pen. I tore a sheet of paper out of the pad and wrote a note for Nikki, asking her to come and see me. Then I went back to the bookstore and put it through the letterbox.
‘They not open?’ said a voice behind me.
I turned. It was the guy who had taught us archery. The young Walter White, with his bald head and goatee. What was his name?
‘Hey,’ he said. ‘It’s Robin Hood. How’s Katniss?’
I laughed. It appeared he couldn’t remember our real names either, but his had come back to me. Carl. ‘Frankie? She’s okay.’
He peered past me at the door. ‘She was meant to open two hours ago.’ He tutted. ‘I was supposed to pick up a book. Oh, Nikki, you’re going to go broke if you don’t manage to get yourself out of bed in the morning.’
‘You know her?’
He grinned. ‘Hey, have you seen the size of this town? We all know each other.’
He was a local. Maybe he could help me.
I told him what had happened last night: just the part about Frankie losing her phone in the woods. I didn’t want to get into the whole story.
‘She says it was in a clearing quite close to town. She could hear wind chimes nearby.’
He stroked his chin. ‘I think I might know where you mean. I’m heading back to the resort. I can help you look if you like.’
‘That would be great.’
We walked down the street together, back towards the woods.
‘So you know Nikki, huh?’ he said as we stepped into the trees.
‘Yeah. Well, I’ve been to her store. And she found Frankie in the woods last night. That’s why I was going to see her this morning.’
‘Ah, I see.’ He appeared to be smirking.
‘What is it?’
‘Nikki’s cute. A total mess, but very easy on the eye.’
I didn’t like his tone. ‘What do you mean by that?’
I must have sounded aggressive because he said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, if you’re, like, in love with her or something.’
‘I’m not in love with her!’
‘I mean, I wouldn’t blame you. Like I said, she’s hot, and a lot of guys are into screwed-up women.’
‘I’m not—’
He laughed. ‘I’m messing with you, man. To be honest with you, I don’t know her that well. But she was always one of the smartest kids at school. Why she didn’t get out of Penance the minute she had the chance, I’ll never know. She never even went to college. A waste, if you ask me.’
‘You didn’t get out either,’ I pointed out.