I’d worked it out: either Daniel was working crew on a yacht headed to the tropics. Or he was hiding out in Somersby. And my money was on Somersby.
After all it made the most sense: if I was in trouble or needed to escape the world, that’s where I’d go. It was the place I knew best in the world, so it must be the same for Daniel. It also was the place I could think most clearly,where I really knew who I was and what I really cared about. In fact, the more I worried about Daniel, the more I felt like Somersby would somehow tell me what to do.
So I borrowed Annette’s car and drove up the next week. The land turned from muddy brown to blinding snow-drift white, christmas tree pines covering the hillsides, each town I passed got even smaller until there were no more towns, just general stores at local highway junctures. It was almost dark when I arrive.
The first stop was the twins’ house. I’d passed by it so many times and it looked the same as ever: curtains tightly closed, so no speck of inside could be seen. I had a hunch that the Norrises kept a key somewhere on the property but I wasn’t about to call Nick to find out. Instead I circled around the house several times, trying to feel under eaves and porch steps for keys on hooks. But there was nothing.
Next I tried to be clever: if I was a neurotic mother who was liable to forget things, what is the most obvious place? I stared up at the eaves over the front door and saw a bird’s nest perched in the corner. I hoisted myself onto the porch bench and felt around the nest, grabbed onto a set of keys. God, I was good!
Then I hesitated. What if Daniel was holed up in there? Should I knock first? Or if I knocked and he knew I was snooping around maybe he’d take off again?
I decided to be sneaky. Daniel would forgive me eventually.
I carefully unlocked the door and turned the knob, stepping inside the darkened living room. It was dead quiet. The overcast day lent a cold grey light to the beigy couch and love seat. Above me I could hear a whispery scratching noise, which could be just house noise or mice scurrying. I stayed still and the creaking stayed rhythmic.
“Hello?” I called, my eyes darting around, the books on the bookshelf were all about finance and military history, probably not the twins’ books. In fact, I didn’t get any sense of the twins at all in this house they spent the last five summers. I glanced at the old-fashioned kitchen at the far end of the cabin, the sink dry as bone, the fridge hanging open, unplugged. Daniel wasn’t here. The house just felt empty. So the least I could do was snoop.
I went up the stairs and saw two doors opposite each other. The left door led to the twins’ room, that much I knew. So I opened the right door and walked into a smallish room where a king-size bed took up most of the space. On the middle of the bed was a small leather case, about the size of a cigar box, its cover hanging open. I walked over to it and saw the inside of the case had an indentation in the shape of a gun.
A shiver ran through me. Someone had been in such a hurry that when they took out the gun they hadn’t bothered to close the case, to put it away. But who had taken the gun? Daniel? And what was he going to do with it? That was when I realized how stupid it was to barge in the house. If someone was carrying a gun and came inside I had good chance of getting shot. My breathing seemed to lose its rhythm and I backed towards the window to peer out furtively at the yard, the driveway. Still no one in sight but now all I wanted to do was get out of there immediately. I turned to go out the door when my foot hit another case half-shoved under the bed. If it was another gun I wanted it.
I lifted open the case. It was full of money.
— siobhan
After all it made the most sense: if I was in trouble or needed to escape the world, that’s where I’d go. It was the place I knew best in the world, so it must be the same for Daniel. It also was the place I could think most clearly,where I really knew who I was and what I really cared about. In fact, the more I worried about Daniel, the more I felt like Somersby would somehow tell me what to do.
So I borrowed Annette’s car and drove up the next week. The land turned from muddy brown to blinding snow-drift white, christmas tree pines covering the hillsides, each town I passed got even smaller until there were no more towns, just general stores at local highway junctures. It was almost dark when I arrive.
The first stop was the twins’ house. I’d passed by it so many times and it looked the same as ever: curtains tightly closed, so no speck of inside could be seen. I had a hunch that the Norrises kept a key somewhere on the property but I wasn’t about to call Nick to find out. Instead I circled around the house several times, trying to feel under eaves and porch steps for keys on hooks. But there was nothing.
Next I tried to be clever: if I was a neurotic mother who was liable to forget things, what is the most obvious place? I stared up at the eaves over the front door and saw a bird’s nest perched in the corner. I hoisted myself onto the porch bench and felt around the nest, grabbed onto a set of keys. God, I was good!
Then I hesitated. What if Daniel was holed up in there? Should I knock first? Or if I knocked and he knew I was snooping around maybe he’d take off again?
I decided to be sneaky. Daniel would forgive me eventually.
I carefully unlocked the door and turned the knob, stepping inside the darkened living room. It was dead quiet. The overcast day lent a cold grey light to the beigy couch and love seat. Above me I could hear a whispery scratching noise, which could be just house noise or mice scurrying. I stayed still and the creaking stayed rhythmic.
“Hello?” I called, my eyes darting around, the books on the bookshelf were all about finance and military history, probably not the twins’ books. In fact, I didn’t get any sense of the twins at all in this house they spent the last five summers. I glanced at the old-fashioned kitchen at the far end of the cabin, the sink dry as bone, the fridge hanging open, unplugged. Daniel wasn’t here. The house just felt empty. So the least I could do was snoop.
I went up the stairs and saw two doors opposite each other. The left door led to the twins’ room, that much I knew. So I opened the right door and walked into a smallish room where a king-size bed took up most of the space. On the middle of the bed was a small leather case, about the size of a cigar box, its cover hanging open. I walked over to it and saw the inside of the case had an indentation in the shape of a gun.
A shiver ran through me. Someone had been in such a hurry that when they took out the gun they hadn’t bothered to close the case, to put it away. But who had taken the gun? Daniel? And what was he going to do with it? That was when I realized how stupid it was to barge in the house. If someone was carrying a gun and came inside I had good chance of getting shot. My breathing seemed to lose its rhythm and I backed towards the window to peer out furtively at the yard, the driveway. Still no one in sight but now all I wanted to do was get out of there immediately. I turned to go out the door when my foot hit another case half-shoved under the bed. If it was another gun I wanted it.
I lifted open the case. It was full of money.
— siobhan
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