Chapter 10: The Garden Wall

I texted Kirk: Someone is in the garden.

He answered before I had put the phone down.

Stay there.

I put on my cardigan and my shoes and went down the back stairs.

The kitchen was dark.

I took a key off the hook by the pantry and let myself out through the garden door.

The dogs did not come.

I walked the whole length of the lawn in the moonlight.

I waited for the first bark, and none came.

By the potting shed stood a wooden kennel with a rusted chain.

The water bowl was dry and full of dead leaves.

There had never been two Dobermans in this garden.

I stood there with my arms wrapped around myself.

Sheridan had looked at me over a cup of tea and lied.

She had wanted me to stay inside at night.

The east gate scraped.

Kirk slipped through it with his hood up.

He crossed the grass in a hurry.

I did not let myself think.

I pulled him by his sleeve into the shed and shut the door behind us.

The shed was dark and narrow and smelled of soil and cut wood.

Through the cracks in the boards I could see the cottage, forty yards away.

One window was lit.

"There are no dogs," I whispered.

"I know. I walked the wall twice."

"She lied to me."

"Yes."

"She wanted me inside."

"Yes."

I leaned against the potting bench.

He stood close enough that I felt the heat coming off him through his jacket.

"Who went in?" he whispered.

"A man. Tall. I couldn't see his face."

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