‘What? Oh, yes. Thanks.’ Audrey lapsed into silence again. But she was licking her parched lips and wringing her hands. ‘Sorry I have a headache,’ she said, rubbing her temples.

  ‘Have you taken something for it?’

  ‘Yes,’ and she pulled out of her pocket a packet of paracetamol. ‘These. I, um, think I better go and lie down, if you don’t mind…’

  The unspoken request hung in the air.

  Franny stayed where she was. She was sure Audrey was displaying symptoms of an addiction. She’d had a friend some years back who had a bad drug habit and it was sickening to see one of her residents in the same state as her young friend all those years ago. She wasn’t sure what Audrey was addicted to, but Kath had mentioned something about gambling. So maybe it was that, rather than medication.

  ‘Are you sure there’s nothing else wrong, Audrey?’

  ‘What? No. Of course not!’

  ‘It’s alright. If there is anything wrong, you can come to me you know.’ She was trying to calm Audrey, with soothing words. An offer of help.

  But it backfired.

  All of a sudden Audrey stood and advanced on Franny. ‘You never liked me!’ she shouted. ‘I hear you all talking about me! Why are you here? It was Kath wasn’t it? I thought she was my friend. I thought you were my friend, but all you want is to sit in judgement of me. You’re all jealous. That’s it. Jealous of me and my good fortune. Jealous of my brass flamingo. Well I can live without the lot of you. Get out! Get out of my home! And keep your filthy jealous hands to yourself.’

  Audrey grabbed the flamingo and held it to her breast, the tirade was over, but she was breathing heavily, and her wild eyes locked with Franny’s. ‘Go on! GET OUT!’

  Franny stood and backed out of the room. She could feel the anger coming from Audrey in waves. She fancied the flamingo was glowing, but it could just have been a trick of the sunlight. Frightened and shaken Franny stumbled to the door.

  Audrey followed her into the hall. Standing, stock still. Watching.

  Franny looked at the flamingo that Audrey was still holding and saw that it appeared to be glowing. It cast a radiance over Audrey as she held it, her hands appeared to disappear as the glow became stronger. It reminded Franny of one of those religious types of painting where the rays of God would explode from a chalice, raining down on the faithful. Was Audrey under the spell of something? It certainly appeared so.

  But Franny didn’t think it was anything benign. She began to feel cold, her breath started to come out in puffs of white, as though she were in a frozen landscape. Her fingers were icy to the touch. She needed to get out.

  Backing away from Audrey, who now appeared to be in a trance, Franny turned and summoning every ounce of energy from her increasingly frozen body, fumbled at the door.

  Once outside, she was still shivering and hobbled over to the communal areas on feet she could barely feel. She made herself a hot drink. She closed the door to her office and flopped in a chair, breathing in the hot steam from the coffee. Moon whined in his sleep, but didn’t wake, and stayed in his bed, although Franny could have done with his warm body sitting next to her.

  She had no idea what had just happened. Had she really seen what she thought she had? Audrey in that awful trance. The cold enveloping her body with its icy grip. The sense of evil she experienced emanating from the flamingo?

  As the coffee warmed her, Franny fell into an uneasy sleep.

  She woke with a start 30 minutes later as cold coffee splashed on her trousers from the mug she was still holding. Looking around her office Franny wondered why her door was closed. Wondering as well why she’d fallen asleep. She stood, opened the door and took the mug through to the kitchen. She must be doing too much, she chided herself. She couldn’t fall asleep on the job. Whatever was she thinking?

  She had a vague feeling that she’d gone to see Audrey, but that she was alright. There was nothing to worry about there. She’d have to tell Kath and put her mind at rest.

  27

  George dropped Audrey’s letters through the box. She heard him, waltzing through the development, whistling as he went. The sound irritated her beyond reason as she was trying to concentrate on the bingo game she was playing. With a fanfare the game finished. Someone else had won! Bugger. She’d have to try again, but for now she’d make a cup of tea and collect the post. She wasn’t going to open it, she just wanted to get it out of sight. Off the mat and into the drawer.

  There was only one letter. It had a big red stamp on it. IMPORTANT ADDRESSEE ONLY.

  Crikey, thought Audrey. She’d never seen that before.

  The letter was in one of those envelopes that had a transparent window, so the addressee could be clearly seen. The letter had her name on it, but she could just read something else. Repossession. She sat down at the kitchen table with a thump. She stared at the envelope in her hand and dropped it on the table as though it burned her fingers.

  So that was what it had come to. She’d known things were bad, but not that bad. She knew she had to open the envelope and read the contents. But she was frightened. She didn’t want to face how bad the situation really was, but now she had no choice.

  Grabbing the envelope she ripped it open and pulled out the letter. Scanning the contents she found it was a Repossession Order from the court. She had to be out of her flat in 28 days. No extension. No excuses. Nothing. She owed over £12,000 in unpaid monthly mortgage payments.

  Tears ran down her cheeks unchecked. They’d be changing the locks and throwing her out. So that was it. The game was up. She had no idea what she was going to do. Where she was going to go. She had no friends anymore. No family.

  Audrey thought about what John would have said. How disappointed he’d be in her.

  Was it the flamingo’s fault?

  She didn’t know.

  Was it her fault for being so susceptible?

  Maybe. Possibly.

  But she also felt there was something evil in the flamingo. Something… other.

  Either way, the game was over.

  It was time for the final roll of the dice.

  And Audrey would pay the price for losing.

  She had to finally acknowledge that her addiction had left her, and her life, in ruins. She was at rock bottom. Physically exhausted and mentally drained.

  She had gone from being a well-groomed, young looking older woman, into a harassed, harangued witch of a person. The thought of eyes on her, the judgement, the gossip, became unbearable. Desperate, unable to settle, her mind was becoming more and more detached. She had little, if any, sleep at night and the internal pain she felt was so strong. She had hurt, lied, stolen, and the truth of it was she could hardly put one foot in front of the other anymore. The reality of what her addiction had done was profound. Her gambling was as life-destroying as an addiction to drugs. She had lost everything to gambling and doubted she could ever get back to the person she used to be.

  With the final £20 left from the £50 she had recently stolen from her severely disabled neighbour Josephine, she walked across the road to the corner shop. Keeping her head down and without making eye contact with the other shoppers, nor the girl on the till, she bought the cheapest bottle of vodka in the store and put the change in the cancer care box. After all, she reasoned, she wouldn’t be needing it.

  Darting back across the road and nearly getting run over, Audrey made it to her front door without encountering any friends or neighbours. Grabbing the flamingo from where it stood in the window, she went to her bedroom and put it on the bedside table, together with the bottle of vodka. As quickly as she could, before she changed her mind, she got a glass from the kitchen and her supply of sleeping tablets that she had never taken. Returning to the bedroom, she settled herself on the bed and poured a large slug of vodka. Shaking out some tablets, she began to methodically cram them into her mouth, taking a handful at a time and washing them down with vodka.

  Soon, she found herself relaxing in a way that she hadn’t managed to do for several months and wondered why she’d never thought of doing this before. A couple of sleeping tablets a night and a few shots of vodka would have helped enormously.

  With a small smile on her face, she fell asleep and drifted off into oblivion.

  For ever.

  28

  The following morning, Franny arrived at work and went into her small office. Her Labrador Moon flopped into his bed under the desk. Grabbing a coffee she then read her emails and opened the post before starting on her rounds.

  Most of the residents had a keypad on the locks of their front doors so Franny could gain access to their apartments in an emergency. It was also a way for carers to gain access to the apartment of those who had severe disabilities which meant they rarely left their homes. That morning, she decided to call in on Audrey. The poor woman was having terrible problems, both personal and monetary. Audrey was behind with the monthly development maintenance fees and the extra payment for replacing all the windows in the development hadn’t been paid either. She was sure that was why Audrey had been avoiding her. However, this wasn’t a professional visit, but a personal one. She needed to know if the poor woman was alright.

  There was no reply to her buzzing on the intercom, so she decided to use the keypad to gain access. Once the door was open, Franny stood just inside the flat and called out, ‘Audrey? Audrey are you there? It’s just Franny. Are you alright? We’ve been a bit worried about you.’

  There was no reply. The silence was complete. There was no ticking clock, no television or radio and no reply from Audrey. Franny decided to move further into the apartment. She kept calling, ‘Audrey?’ but never received a reply. The lounge and kitchen were empty. There was no sound of running water, so Audrey wasn’t in the bathroom. The final room was the bedroom. Knocking on the door, Franny turned the handle of the door and pushed it open.

  The words, ‘Audrey are you OK?’ died on her lips as she looked at the woman sprawled on the bed. Taking note of the half empty bottle of vodka and the empty pot of tablets, Franny quickly crossed the small room and went to the still form. Her worst fears were realised, when she couldn’t find a pulse and found Audrey cold to the touch. Franny was too late. Audrey was gone.

  With tears blurring her vision, Franny felt her way out of the apartment. On the doorstep she pulled out her mobile phone and called the emergency services.

  Leaving the door to Audrey’s apartment open, Franny wandered outside to await the ambulance. She didn’t think Audrey could be revived, but she wasn’t going to make that decision, that would be up to the paramedics. To her, Audrey had clearly intended to take her own life, but that would have to be confirmed by the coroner.

  It didn’t take long before the other residents began to wonder why Franny was hanging about in the gardens and not working away in her office and one by one they emerged into the sunshine, eager to know what was happening. The news of Audrey’s death swept through the development and within 30 minutes everyone knew what had happened, including those who were house bound.

  EPILOGUE

  It wasn’t hard to slip into the apartment un-noticed. Everyone was so busy talking about what had happened, consoling Franny and keeping a look out for the ambulance, that no one took any notice of me. I went into the bedroom and there, near to Audrey’s lifeless body, was the brass flamingo.

  That was what I was looking for.

  It seemed to glow with an inner light. Drawn to it, my hands went out to it. I couldn’t have stopped them even if I had wanted to. I picked it up feeling the exquisite carving of the wings, neck and bill under my fingers. Marvelling at the work that must have gone into making it. Wondering how old it was and how many hands had rubbed it in previous lives.

  Gosh, it was a bit like a genie lamp.

  An involuntary giggle escaped me, despite the sombre scene.

  Slipping the flamingo into my large coat pocket, I was sure Audrey wouldn’t mind. After all she was dead and had no use for it anymore.

  And anyway I was sure she would want the flamingo to go to a good home. I had heard the rumours about Audrey’s good luck since she bought the flamingo. Maybe I would have some too.

  At least that was my hope.

  After all, we could all do with a bit of good luck.

  Couldn’t we?

  The End

  The Haunted Series

  I hope you enjoyed Gamble with Death. The next book in the Haunted Series is Bramble Cottage…

  Trevor and Sally Carpenter go on holiday to Devon after the pandemic and they find the experience very revitalising, especially after a visit to Agatha Christie’s house. Later that evening, over dinner, Trevor asks Sally what she thinks about living there. Permanently. Giving up the city and all that goes with it and moving to Devon.

  Taken aback, Sally promises to think about it. But once back in London, she is immediately taken by the noise, the pollution, and their lack of outside space. And so Sally begins to think that Trevor might have a point after all.

  Decision made, they soon find their ideal property, Bramble Cottage. Within weeks the sale of their London house and the purchase in Devon is complete and the Carpenters happily move to the West Country.

  But the discovery of an old, dilapidated cottage in the woods at the bottom of their garden proves a disaster for the happy couple, as Trevor falls deeper and deeper under its spell. There's something seriously wrong with Bramble Cottage, Sally realises, but by then it's far too late.

  Bramble Cottage is the second book in the Haunting series of ghost stories from Wendy Cartmell. She is the popular and bestselling Amazon author of the Sgt Major Crane British Army investigator series, DI Jo Wolfe psychic detective horror suspense series and the Muddlebay Mysteries. All are available NOW for purchase or to read in Kindle Unlimited.

  By Wendy Cartmell

  Here are the details of series you may be interested in…

  Sgt Major Crane crime thrillers:

  Crane and Anderson crime thrillers:

  Emma Harrison mysteries

  Supernatural suspense

  Cozy mysteries

  All my books are in KINDLE UNLIMITED and available to purchase from Amazon by clicking the covers.

 

 

  Wendy Cartmell, Gamble with Death: A supernatural novella (The Haunted Series Book 1)

 

 

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