Cruel Minds Read Online Free PDF

“Come on, grumpy. Let’s grab our bags.”
    Stepping onto the gravel, she took in a breath and let it out steadily. The air was heavy with forest smells. The sun was warm against her skin. Any anxiety she’d been feeling was brushed away. She watched Jerome shut the car door, then adjust his sunglasses. He looked around, lips curling in disapproval.
    “It’s not even a proper car park,” he complained, kicking at the loose gravel.
    “Toto, we’re not in London anymore.”
    “You may jest, but at least London feels safe. Anything could happen out here.”
    “Safe? Have you seen the latest crime statistics?”
    “I bet they don’t include being eaten alive by a herd of ravenous ponies.”
    As they pulled out their backpacks from the boot of the car, Emily’s gaze wandered over to the deer. They were beautiful; their white coats giving them a mystical, ethereal appeal. She couldn’t understand why Jerome found the natural world so unnerving.
    A loud grumble of an engine unsettled the animals. A few of the young looked up, ears twitching, snouts sniffing the air. An olive-green Land Rover, encrusted with mud, pulled up onto the gravel. The words Meadow Pines were stencilled across its doors.
    Emily and Jerome waited for the driver to turn off the engine and climb out. She was a pale-skinned young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, with wavy red hair that she wore tied behind her back. She opened up the folder in her hands, pulled out an A4-sized card, and held it up. Handwritten in black ink were the words: EMILY SWANSON & JEROME MILLER.
    “Be nice,” Emily whispered to Jerome as they strolled towards the Land Rover. He nudged her in the ribs.
    “Hi, I’m Marcia Hardy. I’m the assistant manager at Meadow Pines,” the young woman said as she returned the name card to her folder. She shook Emily’s hand, then hesitated slightly before shaking Jerome’s. “You came from London?”
    Emily nodded. “That’s right.”
    “One of our other guests is from there as well. I’ve never visited, although I’d like to.” Marcia shifted from one foot to the other. Her gaze flitted from Jerome to the ground, then back again.
    “You’re better off here in the peace and quiet,” Emily said. “And peace and quiet are exactly what I’m looking forward to. Have we missed much?”
    “In terms of activities, not really. Pamela will explain more about that. You missed our welcome dinner last night but you still have plenty of time to get to know the other guests—if you choose to, that is.”
    She stared at Jerome again.
    “Who’s Pamela?” he asked.
    “Pamela owns Meadow Pines. She’s also my mother. Well, if you’d like to put your bags in the back, I’ll drive you to the house. It’s a few miles into the woods and it’s a bit of a bumpy ride down an old dirt track, so please watch your heads.”
    “What about the car? We just leave it here?” Jerome said, casting a suspicious eye over the tourists on the viewing platform.
    “Our guests leave their vehicles here all the time. We’ve never had any trouble. No one ever comes out this way at night and during the day it’s just tourists.”
    Peeling her gaze from Jerome’s face, Marcia turned and opened up the back of the Land Rover.
    “I think you have a fan.” Emily nudged him in the arm.
    Jerome narrowed his eyes. “Oh my God, he’s not white! Run for the hills!”
    Both smiling, they threw in their bags, then climbed into the back seat of the Land Rover. Marcia started the engine, pulled out of the parking area, and headed north.
    ***
    A hundred metres along the road, the forest disappeared. Heathland speckled with grazing ponies filled the view.
    Spinning the wheel, Marcia took a sharp left. The Land Rover skidded, almost turning a hundred and eighty degrees. In the backseat, Jerome slammed into Emily’s side. The smooth asphalt road came to an end and merged into a narrow gravel track that was barely wide enough to contain the Land