Murder On Wild Winds Island

CHAPTER SIX

I didn't sleep.  Not even a little.

Craig and Ursula had been nice and assured me they'd made everything secure; they even gave me their numbers and made me promise to call if there was a problem or I was spooked.  They assured me Craig wasn't a great sleeper and would be happy to come and check around my property in the middle of the night.

I appreciated their kindness and pulled out my credit card to pay for their services.

Ursula smiled, "How about you just pay for the parts.  The labour is on us this time."

I opened my mouth to argue but she shook her head, "Really.  It was nice talking to you.  Think of it as a weird 'welcome to the island' gift."  She said with a smile.

I thanked them profusely and offered to walk them to their car, but they insisted they were fine and said goodnight.  I watched as they drove away.  They were both older, with grey streaks in their hair and smile lines around their eyes and mouths; they'd lived their whole lives on the island and like many others had told me, they had zero desire to leave.

I tossed and turned some more and then gave up.  With a sigh that was unneccessarily loud, I threw back the quilt and frowned when Apricat yowled at me from somewhere underneath the material.

"You'll be right.  It's just a blanket."  I muttered as I glanced at my watch.  4:30am. 

I've never been the best sleeper in the world, but I can usually manage a few hours of deep sleep; that hadn't happened since I'd arrived on Wild Winds Island and I was beginning to wonder if it was meant to be. 

I jumped as Apricat launched himself at the kitchen counter and landed quietly beside me.  I searched the semidarkness of the kitchen for a teaspoon and shuddered as I made myself an instant coffee; vowing yet again to buy a coffee machine as soon as possible.

Apricat purred loudly beside me and despite the scratches on my arms from earlier, I couldn't help myself.  I lent down, let him rub heads with me and gave him some early breakfast.  I wondered if he'd seen the person who broke into my house, but something told me even if he did, he wasn't about to tell me.

Stretching and yawning, I took my coffee mug and headed to the small loungeroom at the front of the house.  I considered sitting outside, but the wind blew hard against the door and I realised I could hear rain on the tin roof.  It was louder than I'd expected and I looked to Apricat to see if he was okay. 

Apricat being Apricat, didn't seem to notice the weather and definitely didn't notice my attempts to get him off the kitchen bench and instead gave his head a shake and headed towards the front door.

I was hesitant to open it after the weird incident the day before, but I didn't have a litter box for him and I got the impression it was an urgent situation.

Reluctantly I opened my front door and peered out at the wet driveway.  The old concrete that had probably been there as long as the house glittered under the yellow hue of the streetlights and reminded me of black glass. 

"You know there's a perfectly good kitty door out the back right?"  I asked as the large cat stood sniffing the air and slowly, almost inch by inch, made his way outside.

The rain was heavy and I squinted, wondering if it was hail.  Lightning cracked overhead and I felt myself jump.  I hadn't checked the weather forecast, but judging by the rain, there was little chance of it stopping any time soon.

It would be a couple of hours until sunrise and although I wanted to go back to sleep, I knew it was pointless trying. 

I stood with the door open just a little longer.