A Twist In The Tail

I waited almost all day for the Weatherbys to make a move. I hovered around the front rooms with my duster, trying to look busy. I wanted to stay near the foyer so I could catch them if they left, but there was only so much dusting and straightening one could do in the front rooms.

I felt a little like a creep. Was I doing the right thing? If they were innocent, I’d simply see them taking pictures of birds. But if not…

I’d also had the distinct feeling someone… or something… was following me when I left the post office earlier that day. I hadn’t seen anyone when I did a tricky glance over my shoulders and the Weatherbys car was parked and cold (yes, I felt the hood) when I got back to the guesthouse, so it wasn’t them. What if they weren’t the killers and it was the real killer who was following me?

The cats had been acting strangely too. They bolted into the house a few minutes after I got home and had been staring at me the whole time. Now all of a sudden they’d disappeared. A creak on the stairs brought me out of my reverie.

‘Oh, hi, Josie. Huh, I saw Flora cleaning in here earlier.’ Ron looked at me suspiciously. ‘How often do you have to dust this place?’

‘One can never have things too clean!’ I chirped. ‘Old houses collect lots of dust.’

‘Ahem. Right. Well the Mrs. and I are just going for a walk.’ Ron held up the camera that dangled around his neck. ‘Going to see if we can spot a blue-billed horn-swallow.’

‘They have those around here?’ I’d never actually heard of one. Was he making it up? If he was the killer, then he probably was. I remembered how Mike had said that he thought it was odd that Ron had the specifications of his camera wrong, maybe he'd been lying then too? Maybe if I'd listened to Mike, I would have realized Ron could be the killer sooner. Of course, I would never tell Mike that.

‘They are very rare, but we’re hopeful!’ Iona pulled Ron out the door and I stared out the window as they headed off to the path at the edge of the estate property. It wound up the hill above the Smugglers Bay Inn, then over to the cliffs near the gulls. I tossed down my feather duster and followed.

I’d always liked the serenity of walking in the woods with only the chipmunks and birds as company. The smell of pine and the dapples of sunlight filtering through the leaves can be magical. Except for today. Today the woods had an ominous feeling and being alone wasn’t quite so serene.

I came to a fork in the path. Now, which trail had they taken? I squinted down the path on the right and caught sight of something red moving in between the trees. Iona’s shirt. I picked up the pace. Something dark ran in front of me, almost tripping me.

‘Whoa!’

Mew! Nero leapt onto a rock and preened.

‘Hey, watch it.’ I whispered because I didn’t want to alert the Weatherbys to my presence.

Purrr. Marlowe did circle-eights around my ankles.

‘Get lost. Shoo. I’m busy.’ I stepped over her and continued on the path, slowing when I came to the corner. I didn’t want the Weatherbys to see me if they’d slowed down. And surely they must have slowed, because we were going uphill. I know I felt like slowing down, and they were a lot older. I could probably take my time and let them get to the cliffs and still see them doing something nefarious. But what if they also did something along the way? I didn’t want to miss that.

Meow! Nero shot ahead of me on the path then stopped, almost blocking it.

‘Look out,’ I whispered, stepping over him again. Darn cats were going to ruin everything.

I turned the corner. No Weatherbys. I went a little faster, now afraid I might miss out on something.

Nero and Marlowe trotted in front of me in the most annoying way possible. It was almost as if they were trying to trip me.

Another splash of red! They were just ahead. I didn’t want to lose them now, but also couldn’t let them know that I was here.

I continued on, craning to see ahead. They were probably around the next corner. I rounded cautiously.

No one was there.

I picked up the pace. Maybe the next corner.

Nope. Where were they? Had I lost them? And where were the cats? They’d run off and—

‘Josie. What brings you out here?’

I spun around to see Ron and Iona Weatherby blocking the path.

‘Josie. What a surprise!’ Iona really did look surprised, but how had they gotten behind me without seeing me on the path? And why would they double back and then come back up? Had they seen me following them and come to confront me? Would I be their next victim? I tensed, ready to flee. Too bad they were blocking the way. I had nowhere to go but toward the cliff. Images of my body smashed on the rocks came to mind.

Mew.

Nero, the traitor, was threading between Iona’s ankles and she bent down to pet him. ‘We didn’t realize you were a nature lover.’ Ron stepped closer, a look of suspicion on his face.