The House of Wood (4 page)

Rachel hadn’t even remembered
he was there. “Sorry? For what?”

“For not being there that
night. If I had, maybe I could’ve stopped him.”

She didn’t get a chance to
reply. Two of her parent’s friends were heading straight for them.
They greeted her with open arms. Fake sympathy.

“Oh Rachel dear, you must be
simply distraught. Such a tragic loss.”

The smell of cigarettes and
wine filled Rachel’s nostrils, as Mrs Krupp leaned in to plant a
kiss on her cheek.

“Your Daddy’ll be a big loss
down at the golf course,” Mr Krupp added, placing himself behind
his wife.

“Thank you.”

“Have the police found the
cause of the fire yet?” Mrs Krupp asked, aiming the question at
Nathan.

“The official line is that it
was faulty wiring,” he looked at Rachel. “But the investigation
isn’t quite finished yet.”

Mrs Krupp took Rachel by the
hand. “You poor thing, having to deal with all this on top of
everything that happened to you here. Jack and I feel you’re so
brave coming back.”

The tension was rising in her
again. “Stop.”

“The horrendous time you had,”
Mrs Krupp continued. “They never did find the bodies.”

“Please stop.” Her body was
shaking. Becky was trying to force her way through the oblivious
mourners.

“Poor kids. Although I never
did like that Chelsea.”

The words were drilling in to
her pounding head.

“I think Rachel’s had enough,
Mrs Krupp. It’s been a long day,” Nathan butted in.

But she was in full flow now.
“Such a nice boy, who’d have thought he

could -“

“For God’s sake, shut up,”
Rachel screamed. The room stopped dead, as if someone had flicked a
switch. “Just shut up. I know the bodies weren’t found. Chelsea was
my best friend, do you think I’d ever forget what
he
did.” She was shrieking now. Mrs Krupp stood there
as if she had been shot. “He wasn’t a nice boy, he was the devil.
He took everything from me. My friends, my home, almost my sanity.
Everything. So, I left, hoping to forget. Forget him, forget this
hell hole. Instead, I find the house rebuilt and everyone treating
me like a freak with a disease.” The tears finally broke. “I didn’t
even get to say goodbye to my parents.”

She made a bolt for the stairs.
Condemning eyes bored in to her, as she fled the now silent room.
She wanted to get out, get away from people. She wanted to hide
herself somewhere and disappear.

“Hey, Rach, wait. Come back,”
Becky called after her.

Rachel just ignored her friend
and continued running up the stairs to their room.

***

Rachel didn’t know how long she
had been sobbing on the bed; the pillow case was soaked through.
The light in the room had dimmed, as the sun made its way around to
the back of the building. Nobody had bothered to come up and check
to see if she was alright. In a way, she was glad of that.

She sat up. The constant
droning of conversation buzzed through the floor from downstairs.
In her hand was the last happy memory she had of her parents. Her
raw eyes stared hard at the graduation photo. It had been a bright,
sun-filled day that had culminated in a huge party. She could
remember being filled with giggles, as she had stumbled home with
Chelsea at two in the morning, blind drunk. At the time Rachel had
hated them for grounding her. But now she could see it was out of
love. It was funny, she thought, how old resentments got buried
along with the dead. She’d give anything for them to ground her
now; take away her credit cards, her car. Anything.

Tears dropped off her cheeks
and landed with a faint tap on the shiny surface of the photo. A
knock at the door startled her. It was probably Becky come to check
on her, she realised.

“Come in,” she said, wiping her
eyes. The door opened.

“I’m sorry, I was passing and
heard crying. Are you alright?”

It was a man poking his head
around the door. One she didn’t know. Rubbing away the tears, she
made herself look more presentable. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“No offence, but you don’t look
it.”

Who is this guy? Rachel
wondered. “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”

“No I don’t think so,” the head
replied. “I’m pretty new in town.”

The man was nothing special,
but attractive enough. He had a full head of mousy brown hair
sitting on top of a pale, boyish face. “So, what’s up?”

Rachel had never been in the
habit of telling complete strangers her problems, but something in
the man’s deep eyes made her want to open up, pour her heart out in
an attempt to cleanse the demons inside her. “It’s nothing really,”
she said, putting aside the photo. “I don’t even know your
name.”

“Sorry, the name’s David.
Doctor David Cochrane.”

“Rachel, Rachel James.”

“Pleasure to meet you,
Rachel.”

She had never felt so awkward
in her life. Here was this stranger, beaming at her, and she looked
an absolute mess.

“You still haven’t told me what
the tears are for? By the way, you don’t know what the shindig
downstairs is, do you?”

The tears almost started again.
“Yeah,” she said, lowering her eyes. “It’s my parent’s wake.”

“Ah, way to go, David. Excuse
me, while I remove my foot from my mouth.”

David mimed pulling a shoe from
his mouth. The laughter it caused scared away any more tears.

“My sympathies,” he said, a
gentle smile forming on his lips.

“Thank you.”

Rachel found herself
increasingly attracted to the man standing in the doorway. There
was something about him that she couldn’t put her finger on. He had
an easy manner. Maybe it was because he was a doctor? She mused. It
was as if a dark cloud had been lifted. She had almost forgotten
there was a wake going on downstairs.

“So, doctor huh?”

“Psychology. I haven’t long
finished my four year residency. Hence the B&B.”

“Ah, I see. Have you been in
town long?” she asked, wanting to know more about the stranger.

“No, not really,” he replied.
“Barely over a month.”

“Wow, that long. And you
haven’t run for the hills?”

David chuckled at her feeble
joke. “Nope. I kinda like it. How long have you lived here?”

“This is where I was born.” The
dark cloud had begun to descend again. “I’m just back in town for a
while. Until everything is sorted.”

A painful silence entered the
room, like a morbid presence. A spectre of the past.

“You’ll probably say no, but if
you’re going to be in town for a while, maybe we could have a chat
sometime?” His cheeks had turned a deep red. “Professional of
course.”

Rachel found his shyness cute.
She wanted to say yes. “I think I’m only going to be in town a
couple more days.”

“That’s plenty of time.”

She shook her head. “Sorry, I
don’t think I can.”

Out the corner of her eye, she
thought she caught a familiar look flash across his face. But as
soon as it was there, it was gone. It must’ve been her imagination,
she realised. Maybe it was disappointment?

“Well if you change your mind.”
David pulled out a business card and placed it on a small table by
the door.

“I’m sorry, it’s just I’m not
much of a talker, so I’d be wasting your time,” she replied, trying
to sound sympathetic. “Thank you though.”

David laughed. “Don’t worry
about it. I hope everything works out for you.”

A slight shuffle behind him
drew both their attentions. Becky slotted past and walked in,
Nathan not far behind.

“Oh sorry, didn’t realise you
had company,” Becky said with a look of surprise on her face.

“That’s okay, I was just
leaving.” David turned to Rachel with a smile. “Take care.”

She felt a pang of regret hit
her, as he left the room. She spotted Nathan giving him the evil
eye.

“What was he doing here?”
Nathan asked.

“Nothing, he was just passing
by. He knocked on the door. Any objections?”

“I don’t trust him, that’s
all.”

“Wait. Who is he? Why don’t you
trust him?” Becky asked, her head snapping side to side, as she
looked at each of them in turn.

“His name’s David,” Rachel
replied, before Nathan had a chance to pipe up. “He’s a doctor,
well psychiatrist, and he’s very sweet.” She glared at Nathan.

“If he’s a doctor, why is he
living here?”

It was a valid question, she
thought. “I don’t know, maybe he’s not found a place of his own.”
There was a more pressing question ricocheting around her mind.
“Why are you so against him?”

“I just am. There’s something
about him. Call it deputy’s instinct.”

“Well I like him.”

The trio sat in silence. Rachel
was beginning to grow tired of the constant awkward tensions that
kept growing between her and other people. “I see you two have
met.” She hoped to change the subject.

“Yeah, Nathan introduced
himself after you…” Becky let the sentence trail off. “Anyway, tell
me more about this doctor.”

“There isn’t much to tell,”
Rachel replied. “He asked if I needed someone to talk to.”

“Rachel, I’ve got to get back
on duty,” Nathan butted in. “Maybe I’ll come back later.”

“Oh, okay. It was so good to
see you again.”

“Yeah, and you,” he replied.
“Take it easy.”

He closed the door behind him,
leaving the two girls alone in the room.

“What’s up with him?” Becky
asked.

“I don’t know,” Rachel replied,
puzzled. It was really unlike him to act like a jerk, she thought,
her head racing with so many new emotions. He had always been so
sweet and shy when they had been friends in high school. How time
changes people, she realised.

A yawn erupted from her. She
felt as though she could sleep for a week.

“It’s been a long day,” Becky
remarked.

“Tell me about it.”

“There aren’t many people left,
just a few after more free wine. Shall we get back to them?”

“I suppose I should. I feel
like such an idiot.”

“Don’t worry about it. No one
noticed.”

Rachel let out a small laugh.
“Thank you for all this.”

“Don’t mention it,” Becky
replied. She bounced off the bed. “Right, let’s get back then.”

“Just give me a sec.”

“Okay.”

Becky pulled the door to, as
she left. Rachel took one last look at the memory she held in her
hand. That summer would live with her for the rest of her life. She
folded the photo and placed it back in her purse, trying as hard as
she could to block out the memories.

Chapter
Four

The rain hit the black surface
of Rachel’s umbrella like rapid artillery fire. Tap, tap, tap. The
cloud coverage was so thick, the warm rays of the dawn sun couldn’t
force their way through. It felt like night rather than day. A cold
wind battered against her, whipping around her legs. It made the
going hard. She had the feeling as though it was trying to drive
her back on purpose, to stop her reaching her destination. Maybe it
was? She thought. But it wouldn’t work. Lowering her head in to the
collar of her thick jacket, she pushed on.

She didn’t know how long she’d
been walking. Her feet had just led the way; first through the rain
soaked streets, then out over the sweeping fields, along the hard
shoulder of the highway. Time just seemed to slip past as she
walked. It didn't seem to matter how long she had been gone, or how
far outside the town she was, she knew her feet would take her
somewhere.

Her mind moved forward and
backwards between the past and present, trying to weigh up which
one was worse. Every now and then, a car would stream past her in a
hazy blur, spitting rain water up behind it. But even though her
eyes perceived it, she paid no attention. In the back of her mind,
she knew where she was heading and screamed at herself to stop, but
she just walked, stuck in a dream from which she couldn’t
escape.

Before long, the road began to
incline upwards, the grey sky melding with grey treetops, looming
larger with every step. Within the next five minutes,
it
would be there, she thought, as she climbed higher
up the hillside. Its pointed roof would stick out above the ridge
line, stretching upwards, jagged and dangerous, like a knife
jutting into the heavens.

Her steps were slow. Her
breathing shallower than it had been before. The constant drumbeat
of blood in her ears was like a marching song, edging her ever
closer. She lowered her umbrella and grasped at her hands in an
attempt to stop them shaking. This is a bad idea, she thought,
still moving forwards, never stopping. Her mind screamed at her to
turn back, to go into town and forget about this stupid need that
had pounced on her during the fluid waking moments of the dawn.
There was some glimmer of false hope buried deep down inside her,
pushing her on. Maybe she had made a mistake? Maybe it was just a
similar looking place? This was a small town; a lot of the
buildings looked the same, especially the farmhouses. Over and over
again she tried to convince herself that she had been wrong. Nobody
would ever want to rebuild that thing. And houses couldn't just
rebuild themselves. Could they?

Looking up, she realised she
had already reached the top of the hill. The air stuck in her
throat like a piece of hard food, as she inhaled sharply.

It was there. The house of
wood, renovated to its former glory. Gone was the flaky paint and
rotten wood of the porch, replaced by a bright white coat
stretching along its walls. The wooden steps leading up to the
front door were now perfectly square wooden planks, rather than
rough, crooked teeth. The windows were no longer encrusted with
years of dirt and grime. It was all a façade. Still they looked out
over the countryside like malevolent eyes, dark and dreary, as if
it was watching for something, waiting like a coiled cobra for a
time when it could strike again. The long shadow cast over her felt
frigid and desolate. No amount of cleaning, or decorating, could
remove the unwholesome stain that the building had left on the
surrounding area. On her own psyche.