Page 60 of Highland Getaway
And, if so, could he be trying to scare me away from the hotel because he knows my poor attempts at influencing people to come here might ruin his chances of selling the place one day?
I stand clutching the book, my breath coming in shallow gasps as I consider this.
I have to find Hunter. I have to run this theory past him, and find out what he thinks. And I have to do itnow.
I rush out of the room, and go running down the stairs and out into the grounds.
The maze. Hunter said he was going to do some work on the maze.
I set off at a jog, making my way around to the back of the castle, and past the beautiful, mirror-like lake, until I spot the entrance to the maze, the little tree Hunter was cutting down in front of it now reduced to just a stump.
The weather has changed again since this morning, a fog blowing in from the sea and shrouding the castle grounds in mist, while a cold breeze rustles the leaves on the trees. Given the kind of luck I’ve been having, it’s probably not the best idea to get myself lost in a maze right now, but, as I approach, I can hear the steady thud of Hunter’s axe, which tells me he’s not too far from the entrance.
All the same, I hesitate before going in, wishing I had a ball of string or something I could unravel as I go, Famous Five style, so I could find my way back out easily.
Still, it’s not a particularly big maze. It can’t bethathard to find a way through it, surely?
That familiar feeling of foreboding hanging heavily over me, I take a step inside; then another, and another. Nothing bad happens, so I speed up a little, following the sound of the axe falling; a stead thud, which would be ever-so-slightly ominous, if I didn’t know what – or ratherwho– was behind it.
All I have to do is find Hunter; then he’ll be able to help me find my way back out again.
The trees which make up the maze are taller than they looked from my bedroom window, the paths between them only wide enough for two people to walk abreast. The fog from the sea hangs wispily over us, giving the whole place a surreal, nightmarish quality, and I’ve only been walking for a couple of minutes when I hear the sobbing. It’s low and unearthly, and makes goosebumps stand out on my arms, my entire body vibrating with fear.
This was a very bad idea.
My legs are trembling too much for me to run, so I open my mouth to scream, instead closing it abruptly as a familiar voice drifts over from the other side of the row of trees.
‘Yes, I know,’ says Sabrina Bates, in a voice so shaky I almost fail to recognise it. ‘But if you could just give me another few days, then this hotel campaign will be wrapped up, and the payment we get for it will have us back in the black again. That’sifwe get paid for it. It’s not going particularly well, to be honest.’
She starts crying again; a sound so incongruous that I almost find myself doubting that it’s really her.
I take a step forward, trying to get closer without her seeing me.
‘No, I can’t do that,’ she’s saying now. ‘I don’t want to have to lay off any of my staff. I’ll .?.?. I’ll try harder with this campaign. If I can just make sure the launch goes well . . .’
She must be walking now, because her voice is getting fainter, and I can no longer hear her clearly. But, from what I did hear, it sounds like Sabrina’s business reallyisin trouble, like Hunter said. It sounds, in fact, as if she has everything hanging on the Chrysalis launch. The one I’m currently in the process of completely messing up.
My heart starts hammering wildly in my chest.
This is all my fault. Ever since I got here, it’s been one disaster after another; and now it’s not just the hotel staff who might lose their jobs if the launch doesn’t go well, it’s Sabrina and Luna, too.
I have to fix this. I have to make it right.
First, though, I have to find Hunter.
I turn to walk away, but I manage to step on a twig, which snaps loudly, the noise seemingly amplified by the quiet of the castle grounds.
‘Who’s there?’ calls Sabrina tremulously, still on the other side of the trees. ‘Is there someone there?’
I step cautiously backwards, grateful for the grass underfoot, which muffles the sound of my footsteps. I can’t let Sabrina catch me in here. I don’t want her to know I overheard her conversation.
I continue walking backwards for a few more steps, but a sudden rustling sound tells me Sabrina’s started to follow me, so I turn and run, sprinting down through the long columns of trees, not really thinking about where I’m going.
This, of course, isanothermistake.
A big one.
A veryRosieone.
