“Yeah, I had a doll. After a few years, one of her eyes was missing, and somehow most of her hair had come loose and fallen out. She was scary looking, but bloody marvellous with it. Actually, I think I’ve still got that doll somewhere.” Mary told Howard. “It’s probably back at the flat. I still haven’t finished emptying it all out.”

At that point, Mary’s sister, Kay, entered the kitchen, clutching an empty wine bottle.

“Time for a refill.” She announced, before placing the empty bottle into one of the recycling sacks that sat in the corner of the kitchen, near to the back door. Kay walked over to the fridge, opened it, and took out a fresh bottle of white wine. “So, what are you guys talking about?” She was interested to know.

“Oh, we were just discussing this and that… Howard was telling me how he likes Coldsleet, because it’s a town that’s slowly falling apart.” Answered Mary.

“Tell me about it.” Responded Kay. “I was reading in the paper this evening that they’re even thinking of pulling the plug on the local bus service to Elman. That’ll affect you, won’t it Howard?” Howard shrugged his shoulders.

“I’d just have to use the car to get to college instead… but I like to catch the bus. I can just sit there and listen to my music, without any hassle. Are they really talking about getting rid of the number nine, Kay?” He asked.

“Yeah, it looks that way. It’s costing them too much to run… not enough passengers using it, that sort of thing.” Advised Kay.

“That’s crap. I don’t know where they’re coming from, saying that… it can get pretty busy in the morning. There’s quite a few residents here in Coldsleet that have to commute to Elman, so somebody in the council is talking shit.” Remarked Howard. He finished up his mug of tea, then looked up at the kitchen clock. It was getting on for ten. “I’d better go upstairs… I’ve got to finish an assignment for college, I’m supposed to be handing it in tomorrow.” Howard said. He stood up from the table. “So, we’ll leave here at eight thirty in the morning then, Mary?” He asked the young woman.

“Sure, Howard.” She replied. Howard tried to suppress a smile, but couldn’t. He felt his face suddenly burn bright red.

“Goodnight then, Mary. Kay.” He said, awkwardly, to the two women, before hurrying out of the kitchen.

Kay looked at Mary with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“I think that you may have an admirer.” She commented.

“Who, Howard?” Mary asked.

“Yes, Howard.” Replied Kay. She gave Mary a wink.

“Aw… he’s actually really sweet… in a weird sort of way. I like him.” Kay’s younger sister advised.

“Oh, you do now, do you?” Teased Kay.

“Yeah, but not in that sort of way. I mean, he’s actually quite interesting to talk to, but you know me, Kay… Howard Trenton is definitely not my type.” Said Mary. Kay recalled a few of Mary’s previous boyfriends; they were all a bit ‘rough and ready’, which certainly didn’t apply to Howard.

“No,” agreed Kay, “I don’t suppose that he is. Still, you just never know, eh Mary? Love finds a way.” Kay’s sister stood up.

“Oh, trust me, I know,” Mary giggled, “and don’t you dare get any ideas about doing any match-making either, because me and Howard… well, it ain’t gonna happen.”

“Yes sir, whatever you say sir.” Said Kay, in a faux-military style tone, which she followed up with a salute. “Look, Lucas is going up to bed in a minute. Fancy coming back in the living room for a bit of wine and some sister time?” Asked Kay.

“Well, I was just about to go to bed but… sure, why not.” Replied Mary, and with that, the two sisters departed from the kitchen and went back into the lounge for a catch-up.

Extract from the journal of Howard Trenton

I’m totally captivated by Mary Broderick, even more so than I am with Kate, and all of this despite the fact that she is far less flawed in appearance than Miss Williams. But flawed, nevertheless, she most certainly is. You don’t notice it at first… all you see is her long, flowing hair and those beautiful, large brown eyes… yet when I was speaking to her earlier this evening, in the kitchen, I started to notice all of those other things, the sort of things that appeal to me. The imperfections. For instance, there’s a small patch of pock-marked skin on her left cheek… I’m guessing that, like me, Mary suffered from acne when she was younger. She has a tiny white scar, just under her lower lip. Mary has a mole close to her jawline… once you notice it, it can become quite distracting. And despite the fact that she’s not much older than me, Mary is already developing wrinkles across her forehead and around her eyes. She’s flawed alright, which makes her even more perfect, to me. I hope that she doesn’t find a new flat anytime soon. I want her to stay here, in this house, for as long as possible.

Chapter Five

With the arrival of my wife’s sister, Mary, into our home, my cousin Howard seemed to come out of himself a little bit. Well, for a short while anyway. I could see how much he liked Mary; it was just written all over his face. For a week or two, Howard wasn’t walking around like an empty shell; it turned out that there was more than just a spark of passion in him after all, and it was actually really good to see. Sadly, it didn’t last, and, as everybody now knows, things suddenly turned very ugly. That’s all because of the stuff with Alex Crennell that went on. Howard wasn’t happy about that at all. I can’t say that I was, either, to be honest, when I first found out about Alex and Mary. I knew Alex from around the town; he was a snide, arrogant, bombastic little shit at the best of times, and that’s me being polite about him. Around the time that Alex Crennell appeared on the scene, all of that stuff happened with our neighbour, Alfie Whitehouse, which climaxed with the terrible events that occurred up on the Black Pathway Trail, and nothing was ever the same after that. How could it be? It turned our world upside down. There was other stuff going on too, things that none of us knew anything about. All of that still shocks us, to this very day. It will never NOT stop shocking us. A favourite photograph of mine was one that Kay took of me and Howard, down at Hingley Beach. I can’t bring myself to even look at it now. All that I see is myself, standing next to a murderer. It sickens me.

Going back though, to those few weeks before Alex Crennell loomed over the horizon… yeah, Howard was like a different person, and that was all down to Mary. The problem there, of course, was that the admiration was all one-way; my wife, Kay, told me early on that Mary wasn’t interested in any sort of romantic relationship with Howard. By all accounts, he wasn’t her type. I often wonder how things would have turned out if he HAD been the sort of man that Mary was interested in. Would any of the bad stuff have happened? I’m not talking about the things that Howard had already done, but the events that came later on. Yeah, I think it was inevitable. It might not have involved Mary, but it would still have taken place, somewhere down the line, in some shape or form, and to someone else. And if, say, Mary and Howard had been an item at that time, then she would still have got dragged into everything, one way or the other. Howard was a time-bomb, just waiting to go off, and if Mary, or Alex Crennell, hadn’t been the trigger, then somebody else would have ended up causing the detonation, sooner or later.

***

Howard Trenton sat on the bus, next to Mary Broderick. The vehicle pulled away from Coldsleet terminus as it began it’s five mile trek to the town of Elman.

“It’s a beautiful morning out there.” Said Howard, looking out of the window.

“Bloody freezing cold though.” Remarked Mary, who was wearing a thick winter coat and a large wooly hat, which Howard found endearing.