Part 3 (1/2)

CHAPTER 3

Snowdonia

Now

Hannah Wilde was still gripping Nate's hand in the kitchen of Llyn Ghen soainst the front door of the farmhouse Her sto over, as if reacting to a physical blow Panic swelled in her, a tangible pressure in her chest For a long htened to think or move Her eyes darted to the darkened hallway They returned to her husband's face

A single unvoiced question: who?

For the space of three breaths, silence do bangs that hter was still asleep in the back of the Discovery

Alone Unguarded

Hannah felt her scalp shrinking, her skin prickling

How could anyone have found them so soon? Even her father didn't know their whereabouts Hours earlier he had made Hannah pro for It er them

Surely no one could have followed thehts It would have been suicidal to atte mountain roads without them Unless, of course, they had other means to follow

She needed to think Act

It was pointless trying to pretend that nobody was holow of candlelight spilling into the hall And she knew that whoever this intruder was, he it would be a he, she was certain of that would not be diverted simply because she refused to answer the door

While it felt ht Leah was probably safer in the car for norapped in the darkness behind the house If only she had locked the Discovery's doors

Hannah disengaged her hand from Nate's She h it Kept close to the wall, balancing on the balls of her feet All the while her fearher to take quick shallow breaths

Enveloped in shadow, she crept across bare wooden floorboards Past a staircase leading to the first floor Towards the end of the hall

The air here was frigid after the warmth of the kitchen Beneath her feet, the boards flexed, threatened to creak Ahead stood the front door Solid oak, except for a bulbous glass pane On each side, leaded half-s allowed a trickle of ht to pool on the floor

Hannah eased closer until she had a view through the nearestout to the porch

No one stood outside

She craned her head further Held her breath Kept the rest of her body concealed She now had a clear view of the entire front drive Still no sign of their intruder But so

An ancient Land Rover Defender now stood on the gravel a few yards froine as it cooled

Claws of panic punctured her skin, clenched her intestines Twisted Whoever the driver of the Defender was, if he wasn't outside the front of Llyn Gwyr, he was probablyaround the side of the farmhouse

Back towards the Discovery

And Leah

A otten, she sprinted down the hall to the kitchen

'Han!'

On the sofa, Nate had reulator His face was translucent A death ers closed on her wrist, his strength as delicate as cobwebs When he pulled her to hiainst her cheek 'Pantryleft shelf' His eyes rolled with the effort of talking 'Shotgun Loaded last time I checked'

'Leah's outside' Hannah heard herself sob A wretched sound She was losing her husband Perhaps her daughter too

'Go'

She stepped towards the pantry door Sensing lanced around at the kitchen s and saw solass

The candlelight had transfor except what lay directly behind the stared in at her, front paws resting on the sill Hannah halted halfway across the kitchen, locked into the gaze of its rust-coloured eyes Although the transfor, she saw a muscular chest covered by a short, thick coat

Hannah relass This tiasped and took a step backwards as she saw not another dog, but a hty Tall in defiance of his age Deep lines and creases ran in patterns across his face Little fat or flesh clung to his bones A fuzz of white hair, cropped close, covered his head and a mist of stubble sprouted on hollow cheeks His eyes startled her thewith the flicker of reflected flames The instant he noticed her he froze, and they stared at each other, both of thelass and tilted its head It barked once and began to whine, the thin sound discordant over the wind's voice Without taking his eyes off Hannah, the stranger raised a hand and caressed the animal's ears Immediately it fell silent

Hannah retreated a step towards Nate, grateful that the high back of the sofa concealed his presence As if sensing her thoughts, the dog glanced over at where he lay

The old man lifted up his hands 'Didn't , as dry as straw, and his accent was strange: an influence of Welsh laid over so less identifiable

Could this really be hi that would have allowed him to find theuess?

'What do you want?' Hannah surprised herself with the steel in her voice She forced herself to avoid looking down at Nate There was nothing he could do; she was in this alone

'Saw your lights approaching froht, is all' The old man moved towards the door As he passed theshe risked a glance down Nate had lapsed back into unconsciousness The oxygen regulator lay useless on his chest

Her eyes snapped back up 'Why wouldn't it be?'

'Not been people at Llyn Gwyr for a long while Soet trouble turning up Making itself at ho so da a visit, if you ask me'

'I wasn't'

He continued to stare at her, his intentions unreadable in the furrows of his face 'There's a young girl sleeping in your car She yours?'

Hannah felt a screa At least it would relieve so away every moment she delayed Leah was stranded in the Discovery, cut off froer and his creature Her throat throbbed with clenched ehter'

'Are you trouble?' he asked If truly this was Jakab, the odd exchange of words was nothing she had previously contemplated

'No We're not trouble'

He nodded 'Maybe you are, maybe you aren't Maybe you are, and just don't know it For a ht be robbers, or at least people up to no good But now I've seen you Well, there never was much of value here to start with, I suppose'

Hannah sorted through her options She had no weapon to hand Nate had told her of the shotgun, but the kitchen door was unlocked, and in the tiet into the pantry, he would be inside the house If she needed more than a second to locate the weapon, or if Nate's recollection rong, then it would all be over Yet what if the old enuine?