I guided Harley away and round to the front entrance. On closer inspection, I could see a stack of mail piled up against the frosted glass of the front door.

The light was fading faster now. I debated what to do. What if someone elderly and reclusive did live there and had suffered a fall? Or perhaps they were languishing on that dusty-looking carpet and needed urgent medical attention?

I pulled my mobile from my back jeans pocket and switched on the light. It spotted against the smudgy windows of the sitting room again.

The sky was deepening and the surrounding trees, with their bare, twisted branches, were transforming into ghostly silhouettes.

I was reaching for the letterbox to give it a rattle in the hope that someone might answer and assure me they were all right when I realised there was the sound of someone – or something – moving behind me.

I spun round, my heart whizzing up to my throat. Harley let out a nervous growl.

A silhouetted figure stood there. “And what do you think you’re doing?” barked an aggressive female voice.

Chapter Four

She shot a frozen look at Harley and me and repeated the question. “What are you doing?”

I was struggling to make out her features. Every so often, strands of light would slip across her pointed face.

I arranged my mouth into what I hoped was my most winning smile. “I was looking for my puppy.”

The woman jabbed an aggressive finger. “Well, you seem to have found him.”

“Her,” I corrected. “She’s a girl.”

The suspicious voice took a step closer. Shadows glanced down one side of her face. There was a an irritated glint in her lined narrowed eyes, which were a dazzling shade of lilac. She also possessed thick vanilla-white hair that was secured back off her face. Her chilly gaze travelled from me to Harley and back again. Her tone was accusatory. “Are you looking for someone?”

I shook my head. “Harley spotted a fox back in the field and chased after it. I was trying to find her.”

I willed the woman to come a little closer. Being confronted by a shadowy figure in the middle of a dark wood wasn’t doing much for my nerves.

She made a clicking noise with her tongue. She didn’t believe me.

“This house,” I began, sweeping one hand in its direction. “It’s very impressive. Do you know who lives here?”

The woman’s chin hardened. “Why do you want to know about Merry Wood?”

I blinked. “Merry Wood?”

She rolled her eyes at my apparent stupidity. “That’s Merry Wood. The house.”

I followed her gaze to a small wooden plaque, which was just visible through a tangle of ivy trailing over it. Sure enough, the words Merry Wood were inscribed on it. I had been so preoccupied by the hypnotic aura of the place that I’d failed to notice.