Chapter 1
From around the corner of the light grey stone cottage, a small-built woman walked, a pleasant smile across her round face, her blue eyes lit as bright and clear as the skies above. She tugged at the sides of her knitted pink jacket, pulling it tighter around her small, round body, as the faint wind that carried with it the slight scent of her petunias played with the jacket, her bellowing white skirt and short grey curls.
Elizabeth Mosely moved slowly, but eagerly, along the gravel path that ran along the sides of her cottage and towards the front gate of her property, towards the figure that was waiting there. The sound of the gravel crunching under her feet, breaking the silence that otherwise filled the countryside.
When her dark brown eyes fell upon the figure that was waiting for her, she widened her eyes for a few seconds before scrunching them, trying to get a better look at the figure standing on the other side of the gate. Apart from the familiar blue uniform, she realised it was not the lanky white frame that she would find waiting for her. Instead, she found a much smaller and slender female figure with long silky black hair and brown skin in its place.
She hesitated for a second before continuing, her lips pursed and a dazed look in her eyes, curious about the change.
“Hello, dear,” she said, when she reached the gate, her expression turning into a wide-brim smile.
The young postal worker looked up, revealing her round face and dark brown eyes hidden behind the blue cap she wore.
The young girl did not return her smile; instead, on her face was a pinched expression as she glared at Elizabeth.
“I’m Elizabeth,” the smile plastered across her face.
“Indra,” the girl said, in the most matter-of-fact way, as she continued to stuff the mailbox. Turning her gaze towards the work and away from Elizabeth.
“What a pretty name.”
As she spoke, she silently ran the name around in her mouth a few times to get used to it.
“Are you new?”
“Just arrived,”
The girl continued with her work, not paying much attention to Elizabeth.
“Oh, that’s wonderful; you’re just going to love it here.”
The girl just shrugged her shoulders.
“Is anything wrong with Pat?”
“He usually brings my mail.”
The girl, again, just shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention to the satchel she carried. Closing it up.
Elizabeth, for the first time, looked away from the girl and turned towards her mailbox.
“I’m expecting a particular mail,” she said, turning her gaze back to the girl.
As the girl looked back at Elizabeth, her eyes narrowed, and her mouth formed into a perfect slash. She glared at Elizabeth without responding.
“Pat usually keeps an eye out for me.”
She continued to focus her gaze on the girl, her voice bubbly and somehow maintaining the big smile.
“I’m hoping to win tickets from the Silverline Cruise lottery,” she said, when she did not get any response from the girl.
A bored look added to her initial expression as she maintained her silence.
“I’ve been buying tickets for weeks since they announced the lottery. My husband and I went on our honeymoon on a cruise. Since then, we had been hoping to recreate it, but could never find the time; life always seems to find something to tie us both down. I probably should stop now that he’s gone, but our wedding anniversary is coming up, and I just feel it would be a great way to celebrate it. He was such a wonderful man, my husband.”
The girl continued to stare at her with a vacant expression on her face. But Elizabeth did not show any signs of stopping.
Finally, she decided that the only way to avoid listening to Elizabeth any more was to just walk away. And so she was about to turn away when something caught her attention.
She had seen her fair share of cottages in her route, and she more or less ignored them. But something about this cottage drew her attention. Not to the grey stone walls, the gabled tiled red roof, which all looked as if they were brand new. Nor to the garden with its assortment of colourful flowers and freshly cut grass. But to the single window that poked out from within the tiled roof. She swore she saw something, a shadow, that lurked behind the curtained window. As she looked again, there was nothing there, and she assumed she was seeing things.
For all its grand design, even from the outside, she could tell that the interior was quite dark. There were probably a number of shadows that lurked about inside.
She took a second to admire the sight before her, the picturesque view, set against the artistic background of the countryside with its bright, vibrant shades of blue skies and greenery. The two-story cottage looked something straight out of an oil painting, with its neatly trimmed hedges, manicured lawns and petunias growing along the sides.
Elizabeth watched the girl as she admired the cottage, taking some delight in her gaze, then watched as the girl turned and walked away from her, before turning her attention towards the mailbox.
