The Mercer's House (Northern Gothic Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

tide.’
    ‘Oh dear,’ said Alexander, a concerned look flitting across his face. ‘You mustn’t swim at this end of the beach, my dear. It’s terribly dangerous.’
    ‘So I gather,’ said Zanna, inwardly annoyed that Will had insisted on mentioning it. ‘I won’t do it again. I was only caught for a second, though. I’m quite a strong swimmer.’
    ‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Will. ‘Those tides get even the best swimmers. You could easily be dashed against the rocks. You’d better be careful.’
    ‘Don’t worry, I will be.’ said Zanna, and smiled to hide her irritation. She stood up.
    ‘Thanks for the coffee,’ she said to Alexander. ‘I’ll let you get on now.’
    ‘You will come today, won’t you?’ said Alexander. ‘We don’t get many visitors, and I’m sure Corbin would love to meet you. He was very fond of Helen. I’d introduce you now, in fact, but he’s generally tired in the mornings, and not at his best.’
    ‘All right,’ said Zanna, after a moment’s hesitation and a glance at Will.
    ‘Excellent. Shall we say four o’clock? That will give me a chance to get to the supermarket and buy some more teabags, and some things to eat.’
    ‘Four it is,’ she agreed.
    ‘I’ll show you out,’ said Will, and stood back to let her pass. He shut the living-room door after them and went out through the front door with her. Once they were outside, he said abruptly:
    ‘Why are you looking for Helen?’
    ‘She’s my aunt. Why shouldn’t I look for her?’
    ‘Nobody ever came before.’
    ‘No, but in my case that was because I didn’t even know she existed before. Now I do, and I’d like to know where she is.’
    ‘I wish you hadn’t come. It upsets my dad,’ he said. ‘He’s been doing his best to forget it for years, and the last thing he needs is for someone to come digging it all up again.’
    ‘Of course I didn’t mean to upset him,’ she said. ‘I had no idea she was missing when I first wrote to him, but he was the one who invited me. It wasn’t my suggestion.’
    ‘But why did you come at all? You could have done it all by email.’
    ‘I could, but I wanted to get away from London for a while, and this seemed like a good opportunity.’ She realized she sounded defensive, and was annoyed at herself. She had a perfect right to come here if she wanted. ‘There’s no need to be so hostile. I’m only here for a few days, and I didn’t come up here to fight with anyone, so if I really offend you that much I’d rather you just ignored me.’
    He gave a half-smile.
    ‘That would be difficult,’ he said. ‘This is a small place, and newcomers tend to stick out a bit,’ he went on, in reply to her questioning look. ‘I’m sorry if I seemed unfriendly. I just don’t like this whole thing being stirred up again.’
    ‘But wouldn’t you like to know where they are?’ said Zanna.
    ‘Why? Do you think you’ll find out?’ he said. ‘Nobody else has ever managed.’
    ‘Where do you think they went?’
    He shrugged.
    ‘I think if they’d stayed in Britain they’d have been found by now,’ he said. ‘I guess they went to Canada, like Helen said, and they’re not interested in contacting us. If they’d wanted to get in touch they could have done it easily enough.’
    ‘Helen, maybe. But would Rowan remember his life here? Perhaps Helen kept it from him. After all, he was very young when they went away and he might have no memory of it.’
    ‘He was four, so he must remember something. I can remember stuff from when I was four—not much, but enough. And he’s old enough now to have researched his past if he wanted to. He could have found us in ten minutes on the internet. It’s not like we’ve moved around. If you want my best guess, I think Helen probably found another stepfather for Rowan, so he doesn’t feel the need to keep in contact with this one.’
    He said it lightly, but there was something in his expression which belied his tone.
    ‘I’m