Haunted Fields by Dan Moore

you got Lucas to buy your first drink.’
    â€˜Guilty, I’m afraid,’ he said, feeling a little numb.
    â€˜You all right? You look funny.’
    â€˜I could do with a drink, that’s all.’
    Daisy pulled him a pint.
    â€˜I heard about you and Scarlett.’
    Him and Scarlett?! thought Freddie. What about him and Scarlett? There was no him and Scarlett! Why was everyone trying to set him up with her?
    â€˜I don’t follow.’
    â€˜You don’t waste time,’ she said, handing him the pint. ‘Harvey won’t be happy.’
    He really didn’t care – he couldn’t erase the image of the lad leaning against the bale from his mind.
    â€˜Hey, Daisy,’ he said, rifling through his pocket for some change. ‘Do you know the name of the farm where Noel Davidson was killed?’
    â€˜Rose Farm, I think.’
    His mobile vibrated in his pocket. It was a text, this time from a number he didn’t recognise.
    Meet me in the smoking shelter in five minutes
    Brilliant! thought Freddie, a meeting in a smoking shelter. But with who?
    The storm clouds had begun rolling over the hillside while he’d been inside, and as he left the sanctuary of the pub, he saw blonde hair wherever he looked. Ghosts don’t exist, he kept telling himself. Don’t get dragged into the hysteria! There had to be a logical explanation. He’d find out who the lad was, get a name – put an end to all this nonsense. He refused to accept the alternative – the mad ramblings of Elizabeth and the other scared villagers.
    At first he thought the smoking shelter was empty, that he’d been set up, trapped – perhaps by the same person who’d left the note on his Corsa. But as he entered the wooden structure everything had become much clearer. Of course, Jess had given her his number! He felt cornered.
    â€˜I know Harvey threatened you,’ Scarlett said. ‘He won’t do it again, we’ve had words.’
    â€˜What did you see in him?’ he asked. He had no choice but to move further into the dark shelter as the rain streamed down the back of his neck. ‘He’s a thug.’
    â€˜He can be quite sweet, actually.’
    â€˜I don’t think I really got to see a lot of his sweet side, you know, while he had his hand around my throat.’
    It was cramped inside, much of the space taken up by a bench fixed to the back wall. He sat down next to her. She spoke, but Freddie struggled to make out what she’d said, her words masked by the rain thudding on the roof. He regretted not bringing a jacket. The air had turned cool.
    â€˜What did you say?’ he said.
    She twisted a strand of auburn hair round and round her finger.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ she said.
    He certainly didn’t want to upset Scarlett. She was a laugh and he enjoyed her company. It was her ex that worried him. But if what she’d said was true, that things were cool between them, that Harvey was no longer a threat, surely they could what – be friends? Why had she wanted him to meet her out in the smoking shelter? She didn’t even smoke.
    â€˜I’ll let you off this time.’
    â€˜We should go out sometime,’ she said, her eyes brightening. ‘Go watch a movie or something. I’ll see if Jess and Lucas want to come.’
    Have I just been asked out on a date? Freddie wondered. Surely it was custom for the guy to ask the girl?! He wasn’t too enamoured with the idea of sharing the occasion with Jess and Lucas, who’d no doubt spend the evening inspecting each other’s tonsils on the back row. He hoped Scarlett wouldn’t choose a rom-com either. It’d have to be something gory to keep Lucas’ eyes on the screen.
    â€˜Yeah sure,’ he said, smiling. ‘If I can choose the film.’
    Suddenly the storm screamed.
    â€˜What’s that?’ said Scarlett.
    Freddie watched as she tilted her head. And