Olive hadn’t realised it was so late. By the time she’d put everything away in the beach hut, it was gone midnight.
She’d packed Skylar off, making sure Richard came to walk her home, and had busied herself with tidying before heading off.
It was taking her longer than usual, the fall having jarred her more than she’d realised when it had happened. She was also trying to put the sense of unrest inside her to bed, but it didn’t want to be settled down.
There was something so unnecessarily cruel about upset being caused when it could have been prevented. All it would have taken was a phone call to at least warn Skylar the father of her child would be back in the area.
Instead she’d discovered by accident in a less than satisfactory set of circumstances. Olive was angry on her behalf. No one deserved to be treated like that, least of all by someone they’d once loved.
As Olive placed glasses back in cupboards, and gin bottles back in her ottoman, she realised she wanted to act on Skylar’s behalf. She wanted to march (or Segway) to Bottoms Up and give Pete what for.
That kind of plan of action wasn’t going to help anyone, though, least of all her friend. She was dealing with enough upset without Olive adding to the problem.
For now, she’d have to observe. She would be there for Skylar in whatever capacity she was needed and would make sure that, even if she couldn’t launch her defence immediately, she was at least able to keep an eye on things as much as possible. She needed to do the same for Lucas. He’d had his own upset recently and this would really add to things. No young boy needed the stress of his father turning up out of the blue.
Olive stretched out a yawn. It was way past her bedtime. In fact, she wasn’t even sure these days if Oakley West had any restrictions on the time she should return. Before, Matron had been so strict, the only way to get in and out was by covert means. These days they didn’t need to worry about going out in the evening as long as they’d signed the log book before leaving. But Olive had never been out this late. At least they knew where she’d been and who she’d been with. Hopefully no one would panic.
Satisfied everything was as it should be, the towel drawer winked at Olive in the dark. Of course objects couldn’t wink. That was plain stupid. She wanted to think she was perfectly aware of these kinds of facts. But there was an undeniable sense of it calling her over.
There was no real reason for her to look. No one had taken one out this evening or at any point today. And there lay the reason she was curious. If no one had been there today, they should be as she’d left them.
It was the wrong time of day to be looking really. All sorts of things might happen in these twilight hours if she was going to be so stupid as to check. There might be goblins in there performing stupid folding techniques on her towels.
And yet, despite knowing she probably shouldn’t, Olive found herself stepping in the direction of the drawer to see what she would uncover.
If she’d been hoping for anything exciting, there wasn’t a unicorn-nesting zone or fairy village taking up residence. Instead her towels were there, in exactly the same way she’d placed them. Rolled, as one would hope.
Olive wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it didn’t in any way help to explain what had been going on. The pattern of towel disruption tended to be fairly random. And after they’d “discovered” someone there, it had only happened once.
But in the same way the drawer had winked at her when it hadn’t, Olive also felt there was something amiss. That if she were a betting woman, she’d predict something happening again soon. But that was ridiculous. There was nothing other than a sixth sense telling her so. Maybe a shift in the atmosphere in the hut telling her she should be aware. Or more likely the lateness of the hour causing her to worry more than usual.
Perhaps it was the events of the night. Attending the opening of a rival bar, falling and discovering Skylar’s ex had turned up out of the blue was quite enough for one evening. It was enough to leave her feeling out of sorts enough to start imagining things. At least she hadn’t actually seen pixies or unicorns. That really would have been worrying and warrant another trip to the doctor.
Instead she had towels that were perfectly in place and nothing to worry about, which didn’t go any way to explaining why she was still concerned.
Deciding tiredness was playing far too much of a part in her muddled thoughts, she knew it was time to head back to Oakley West. Really, she should get someone to escort her. Richard had said he’d come back and walk her home, but if he was going to have the chance to chat to Skylar, she didn’t want him to have to rush back because he was obliged to. Besides, she had her Segway. If anyone was going to pounce on her, she’d go ahead and run them over.
Only when she went to turn her wheels on, there was no response. It didn’t switch on like it normally did and it didn’t take long for Olive to realise she’d left it on and drained the battery.
Great. It wasn’t exactly the type of thing she was able to lug up the hill herself. And it was as she looked towards the slope to calculate if there was any way she’d manage to roll it up there by herself in the middle of the night that she noticed someone making their way down.
And there was that instinct again, kicking in like a wild brushstroke that waved its way with its guidance and misdirection. It was based on something and nothing all at once. Olive knew she should hide. That she had nowhere to run and certainly no wheels to run with, and instead should disappear as quickly as she was able. And there was only option for her to take.
Because, however much she would have liked to will her body into quick decisions and fast reflexes, the only thing she could do was wheel the Segway in and lock the door securely behind her.
In her rush, the Segway toppled over and made a sound so loud she was sure they’d have heard it over on Margate beach.
If she hadn’t felt the need to hold her breath, that was enough to make her do so without thought.
So, when the door to Olive’s beach hut started to rattle, it took all her strength not to scream. And because all her strength was gone, there was nothing left to help her with what to do next.
Because, at that exact moment, running was no longer an option.