Chapter 12 Elin

12

Elin

Parque Nacional, Portugal, October 2021

‘Nice spot you got here.' It's Bridie, her daughter clamped to her hip. ‘Thought we'd take a little walk and say hi.' She nods at the Airstream, her dark fringe slipping forwards to conceal her eyes. ‘Never seen one of these up close.' Lowering Etta to the floor, she watches her toddle around the decking. ‘Plus, Etta gets antsy this time of night. Maggie calls it the witching hour. I like to get her away from everyone, calm her down.'

‘You've never been up here before?' Isaac's words are light but Elin senses his discomfort, the sudden arrival putting him on edge.

‘No, too far when she was smaller, but now she can walk a little of the way.' Bridie crouches. ‘You can walk like a big girl now, can't you? You—' She's cut off by Etta's howls. She's tripped up, landed hands down.

As Bridie scoops her up, Etta glances, indignant, at the stones dimpling her palm. ‘It hurts.'

Whispering platitudes, Bridie carefully brushes them away, kissing it better. With an unfamiliar pang in her gut, Elin watches Etta gazing up at Bridie with total trust.

She'd like that one day, she thinks. A different kind of bond.

Bridie turns back. ‘Look, I was thinking, what you guys said about dropping by, it's probably best if you give it a miss. Everyone's busy, you know.'

The comment is thrown out there, casually, but it's not. It's a warning. Stay away.

Elin looks at Isaac, unsure of how to respond. ‘I—'

‘Bridie? You there?'

Ned.

His voice, at least. It's the dog that appears first, straining on his leash as he crests the top of the path. ‘Thought I heard you.' Ned stops at the edge of the decking, winding the dog's lead a little tighter around his hand, the veins in his forearms bulging as the dog springs towards them. ‘Food's ready.'

Bridie smiles. ‘Ned's a stickler for the food not getting cold.'

‘You camp cook?' Isaac asks.

Ned smiles. ‘Something like that. Can knock up a few things when I'm in the mood.'

‘Oh, he's being modest.' Bridie winces as Etta reaches up, roughly tugs her fringe. ‘He's better than all of us put together.'

‘I wouldn't say that …'

Elin looks between them. The banter is superficially friendly, but she can't help feeling there's something performative about it. Forced.

Still trying to pull on Bridie's hair, Etta starts grumbling, pointing at something on the floor. ‘Look … look.'

Meeting Elin's gaze, Bridie smiles. ‘Better be off before this one starts. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.'

‘Should be good weather the next few days.' Ned gestures up towards the hill behind. ‘You'll be able to get some miles under your belt.'

After saying their goodbyes, Ned tugs on the dog's lead to get it moving and they start back down the path .

Elin and Isaac watch them leave, Bridie making easy work of the uneven ground, despite the weight of Etta, still balanced on her hip.

Once they're out of earshot, Isaac turns. ‘So, what do you make of that?'

‘Pretty much a warning to stay away from the camp.' Elin rubs her eyes, a weariness settling over her. The intrusion and the odd dynamic between Bridie and Ned had darkened her mood.

‘But why?' Isaac frowns. ‘Ned was the one who invited us into camp earlier.'

‘Probably a way of doing introductions on their terms before we found them later.' She shrugs. ‘To be fair, it's their home. Must get pissed off with people wandering in.'

‘Maybe.' His brow is still furrowed as he picks up his beer.

Elin knows where his mind has gone. Kier.

‘To be honest,' she says carefully, ‘I think we do as they say.'

‘Stay away?'

‘Yeah, this trip, it was meant to be …' She doesn't know what it was meant to be, but after the stress of her last case, the breakup with Will, she knows it isn't this. She wants to get to know Isaac again, not spend time chasing other people's ghosts.

A beat passes.

‘Meant to show you this before. Penn sent it.' Isaac pushes his phone into her hands.

A photo.

It's Kier, sat at the top of a hill; her mud-encrusted boot soles tipped up towards the camera. Her dark hair is mussed over her face. Grinning widely, she's looking right into the lens of the camera.

Elin's about to pass the phone back when she pauses.

A little flicker of recognition. Something about her face, her eyes.

Moving the phone closer, she studies the picture more carefully this time, but she still can't place her. Probably looks like someone she knows, she thinks, dismissing it. A resemblance, nothing more.

‘Kier's all he has left,' Isaac murmurs, watching her .

‘No other family?'

He shakes his head, something passing across his eyes. ‘The same as us,' he says quietly. ‘Just each other.'

Elin nods, says nothing, but as she passes him back the phone, her hand is trembling, fingers wobbling against the glass.