Page 2 of The Path to the Last House Before the Sea

Her story was all too real, and the traumatic past that she was hiding from in Heaven’s Cove was available for people to discover on the internet. If they knew where to look. If she hadn’t changed her surname and her whole life after it had happened.

Back then, she had had a career and peace of mind. Now, she lived alone in a caravan at the end of a Heaven’s Cove garden, and she peddled old stories to tourists.

Alyssa shook her head to banish the distressing images flooding her mind. ‘That was then and this is now,’ she murmured, then glanced at Claude in case he’d heard her. But he was too busy trying to avoid a rabbit with a death wish to take any notice.

That was then and this is now, she repeated in her head, over and over.

At least here she was far from constant reminders. Though arrogant tourists, like the man at the back of the bus, didn’t help.

‘Don’t forget the dragon,’ hissed Claude out of the corner of his mouth, as the minibus trundled along the lane that edged the beach.

Alyssa grinned. Claude was starting to know her spiel better than she did.

‘Thank you,’ she mouthed to him, getting to her feet and grabbing the back of the seat as the bus hit a pothole. ‘I expect you’ve all been to the beach already,’ she said, in a raised voice, to her group who were now gazing out of the window at the pretty cove they were passing by. A chilly breeze outside meant the curve of sand was empty, but sunlight was dancing on the sea. ‘So you’ll know how lovely it is. But what you might not know is that there’s a cave, at the far end of the cove, which locals claim is the lair of a fierce sea dragon.’

Alyssa noticed the man at the back of the bus roll his eyes.

‘The legend of the sea dragon was born after a young couple disappeared off the face of the earth two hundred and seventy years ago, on the fifteenth of October, 1753,’ she continued, deliberately not looking at him. ‘Charity, the daughter of a local landowner, and Josiah, a farm labourer, both vanished on the same night. Locals said they heard a roaring sound coming from the cave, which was the sea dragon pulling poor Charity and Josiah into the depths of the ocean.’

The student’s eyes opened wide, and Alyssa smiled. It was always good to have a believer on her tours – even though she was about to bring her down to earth with a bump.

‘The reality is rather different,’ Alyssa told the group. ‘Josiah is thought to have murdered Charity for a jewelled brooch she was wearing, and then fled the scene. There’s a memorial stone to her on Heaven’s Cove green, near the church. You might have seen it. That’s the far less fantastical story. Though I prefer to believe that Charity and Josiah were forbidden lovers who ran away together.’

‘You’re just an old romantic, Alyssa,’ called one of the elderly women, and the rest of the group smiled in agreement. All bar the man at the back, who continued staring resolutely out of the window.

He was studious-looking, with brown hair that flopped across his forehead and he was wearing a grey polo shirt and jeans. He’d be quite good looking if he toned down the brooding vibe going on and smiled, Alyssa decided, giving him a cold stare –that went quite unnoticed –before dropping back into her seat.

Five minutes later, Claude pulled the minibus into a parking bay near the quay and sat quietly while the tourists filed off. Alyssa stood at the foot of the steps, saying goodbye and wishing members of the group a very happy holiday, whatever their plans for the rest of their time in Heaven’s Cove.

‘Thanks a mill, Alyssa,’ the student replied with a grin, blinking in the sunshine and flicking hair over her shoulder. ‘That was, like, totally awesome.’

The man was the last to leave the bus. He gave Alyssa a brief nod and murmured ‘Thank you’ before walking off.

Alyssa stretched her arms above her head and sucked in a deep breath of briny air.‘I don’t think he thought the tour was awesome,’ she told Claude, who’d unfolded himself from the driving seat and joined her outside the minibus.

Claude, a man of few words, patted Alyssa’s arm in sympathy and ambled off towards his cottage. He stopped suddenly and turned. ‘He’s got a familiar face, that one, though I can’t for the life of me remember why. But don’t let him worry you, is my advice. Some people don’t want to be pleased.’

He was right. Some people simply enjoyed being miserable.

Alyssa watched the rude man stride past the ice-cream parlour. He also reminded her of someone she once knew.

Someone she was desperate to forget.

She shook her head and pictured a sea dragon towering over the rude tourist before devouring him in a single gulp. It was a childish but satisfying fantasy, she decided, before turning back to the bus and counting the tips she’d received.

Twenty-two pounds. That would pay for a decent meal or two this weekend, at least.

And talking of food… Alyssa glanced at her watch. Her second job began in an hour’s time – she’d have to get back to her caravan and rustle up beans on toast to keep her going.

But she paused at the quay for a moment to gaze across the sea. Having been brought up in landlocked Leicestershire, she’d never tire of the view. At one edge of the village, a headland stretched into the water, its lower slope dotted with the ruins of an ancient castle. Heaven’s Cove itself was a picturesque muddle of white-washed cottages and narrow lanes. And, at the other edge of the village, a high cliff rose out of the sea into the sky. On top of the cliff, standing watch over Heaven’s Cove, stood Driftwood House.

Driftwood House was where Rosie lived; Rosie, who was getting married soon. Honestly, you’d think it was a royal wedding, with all the fuss there was about it. Magda, Alyssa’s landlady, was in charge of catering at the reception, and talked about little else.

Alyssa breathed out slowly and let her shoulders slump. There was no point in being grumpy about other people’s good fortune, simply because her own life was going nowhere. Rosie seemed like a lovely woman, and she wished her all the happiness in the world.

With one last look at blue-grey water stretching to the horizon, Alyssa turned away from the view and headed for her caravan. This was her life now, and she should make the best of it.

TWO

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