moment were filled with sleep but were no less potent as he watched her over the rim of his cup.
For a moment they stared at each other until Bailey wandered over, having cleaned her bowl, and butted Ava in the legs. Ava looked down as her dog brushed past her, rubbing her full body against her affectionately.
‘I honestly don’t know how you haven’t suffocated sharing a tent with her,’ Kelley shook his head.
‘She doesn’t sleep on me like that,’ Ava laughed lightly. ‘Sometimes she’ll lie across my legs, but she’s never actually rolled all over me.’
Kelley looked down at Bailey who was watching him with dark liquid eyes.
‘Decided I’m alright, have you?’ he asked her.
She responded by jamming her nose in his crotch.
‘Jesus Christ Bailey,’ he swore as he doubled over and moved back sharply, trying not to spill the rest of his coffee. ‘Boundaries… you didn’t even take me out to dinner first.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Ava tried to cover her laugh with her hand. ‘I guess somewhere between last night and this morning she’s decided she likes you.’
‘What about you?’
‘What about me?’ her eyes glittered in amusement.
‘Have you decided you like me too?’
Ava laughed again. In fact, she hadn’t laughed this much in a while and it felt good.
‘I guess you’re okay,’ she replied.
‘Ava really, all these compliments will just go to my head.’
‘I’m sure you get enough compliments,’ Ava leaned back against her truck.
‘Huh?’
‘Nothing,’ she shook her head as she gazed up at the house.
Kelley followed her gaze and took another sip of coffee.
‘I guess it’s not so scary in the daylight,’ he mused.
‘What? The house?’ Ava asked.
‘Yeah, half the island’s population have come out here as teenagers and kids, scaring themselves stupid and trying to catch a glimpse of the ghost.’
‘What ghost?’
‘You seriously telling me you’ve been on the island what, two days, and you haven’t heard about the ghost of Luella Lynch?’
‘No,’ she climbed up onto the hood of her truck and once again glanced up at the house. ‘Everyone gets all cagey and tight-lipped about the house, like it’s some big secret. It’s just a house, a big sad old house that’s been neglected for far too long.’
‘Ava…Ava, Ava,’ he tutted as he propped himself casually against the side of the truck. ‘I can see I’m going to have to educate you.’
‘Go on then,’ her mouth curved, ‘educate me.’
‘The story begins back at the turn of the century. The Lynch family had already owned the house for nearly fifty years, though most of the family had passed away. All that was left was Eleanor Lynch, her daughter Luella and her young son Edward. Luella, it seemed, was a very disturbed child, and even worse as a teenager. Legend says she murdered her younger brother when he was only eight years old, by drowning him in the bath. The mother, Eleanor, had Luella locked away in an asylum in Maine where she stayed for several years, until the doctors decided she was not considered a danger. She’d managed to convince them her brother’s death had been a tragic accident although Eleanor never fully believed it. Lonely in her old age, she relented and allowed Luella to return home.’
‘Still not really scared yet,’ Ava shook her head.
‘That’s because I haven’t got to the good stuff yet,’ he replied. ‘Now, where was I?’
‘Luella returns home after a stint in rehab.’
‘Very funny,’ he glanced up at the house. ‘Anyway, Luella returns home, furious with her mother for having her locked away for so long. She locked her mother, who was now old and frail, in the attic room, keeping her prisoner as she once had been. Trying to put her past behind her and present a respectable face to the world, Luella married a young teacher, from Boston I think, and together they opened the house as a school.’
‘Yeah,’ Ava murmured absently as she stared back at the house. ‘I saw all the children’s desks when I was in the house yesterday. Your brother said it had once been used as a school.’
‘You were inside the house?’ Kelley blinked slowly, ‘actually inside it yesterday?’
Ava nodded.
‘Good God Ava, you’ve got a set of brass balls.’
‘Like I said, it’s just a sad, old, neglected house,’ she told him pointedly, ‘and I’ll thank you to leave my balls out of it,’ she added impishly. ‘So, go on, tell me how this tale of terror ends, cause I gotta tell you, right now? I’m just not feeling it.’
Kelley shook his head in disbelief as