Mist in the MOUNTAINS

Having made a shocking discovery, was Clare's own life now in danger?

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Carrying her boots as she fled down the stairs, Clare reached the front door, only to find it was locked.

It had a pull and twist lock that required a knack... and Clare didn't have time to develop that knack.

Jacinta Martin was hot on her heels, ordering her to stop, her voice shaking with fury but for now, kept necessarily low Jacinta didn't want to disturb the packed sitting room nearby where husband Rory was holding court with his reading. And no wonder. The locket in that jewellery box meant that Jacinta perhaps both her and Rory - were implicated in Aisling's disappearance. If only Clare hadn't dropped the locket back into the box when Jacinta surprised her just now!

Clare did a U-turn before Jacinta had reached the bottom tread of the stairs, outflanking her to run down the hallway and burst through a door at the hallway's far end. It led into an open-plan kitchen with - thank goodness! - a glass-panelled door facing the back garden. Behind her, she could hear Jacinta panting, but still trying to avoid making a racket.

Clare flung herself at the glass door and wrenched it open, tumbling into the rambling garden where she'd met Rory the previous day and been accused of trespassing.

She had to pause then, hopping from foot to foot, to pull on the boots she still carried.

Jacinta's own footwear came to mind. Weren't they impractical kitten heels? Those were bound to slow her down.

Clare was flagging now, her breath frosting in the cold air. The absence of her pocket torch reminded her that she lacked not only her mobile phone, but also her warm, padded jacket. Rory had relieved her of all three on arrival, even locking up visitors' mobile phones, lest they disturb the reading.