Unknown by Unknown

confirm once and for all that he was not Mark. His thick, dark hair swept across his brow at exactly the same angle, fine lines were etched at the corners of his eyes, his cheeks dimpled when he smiled. It was impossible to find any distinguishing mark. She shook her head. The more she pondered the more bewildering the whole affair became.
    He left shortly afterwards, and judging by her aunt’s face she was highly satisfied by his visit. Not wishing to talk about him now, Taryn decided to go up to Dale End and see how the work was progressing.
    Gammy expressed surprise. ‘I don’t think Luke would want you to put in so much time,’ she said. ‘You’ve been out all day.’
    ‘That was pleasure,' remarked Taryn. ‘I enjoyed it tremendously. Anyway, I’ll only be about an hour.' Already she was beginning to wear a path up the slope and the journey was much easier than on that first day. The westering sun depicted the house in sharp relief against a golden haze of sky. It still looked gaunt and forbidding, but Taryn was no longer apprehensive. She was beginning to love this old building and looked forward to the day when its conversion was complete.
    She paused to rest for a moment on an old lichen-covered bench in the garden. Closing her eyes, she listened to the warbling of a thrush, the raucous cry of a rook and the more homely chirping of the sparrows. Up here on the hill, in splendid isolation, an all-pervading peace stole over her. She could almost forget her troubles. Luke had certainly made a wise choice.
    She suddenly realised it was too quiet. Surely there should be sounds of activity from within the house? She ran to the front door, but it resisted her touch. Then she looked at her watch. Of course, work would be finished for the day; what a fool she was—and she had no key.
    Perhaps Andy had left a window open? She wandered round the house, without success. The back door too was securely fastened. Then she saw it, a tiny window open—high in the wall. It probably belonged to the pantry, but it looked just big enough for her to wriggle through.
    It was stupid to want to climb into Dale End, she knew, but now she was here she did not want to go back without seeing what work had been done; but first of all she must find something to stand on.
    A search of the nearby outhouses revealed a water butt almost hidden by creeping ivy. It was empty apart from the myriads of insects who had made it their home. It was heavy too, but she managed to drag it across the cobbled yard and turn it upside down beneath the window. From then on it was a simple matter to climb up and ease herself through the window. Or so she thought. Her head and one shoulder went through, but the opening was smaller than she had anticipated. Still determined to get inside, she wriggled and struggled, tearing the thin material of her blouse in the process, but eventually both shoulders were through.
    Suddenly her ankles were held in a vice-like grip.
    ‘Caught you, my lad! What do you think you’re playing at?’
    Luke! His voice was unmistakable. And he thought she was a boy trying to break into the house! It was easy to understand why when he could only see her faded blue jeans.
    ‘It—it’s me,’ she faltered.
    Silence.
    Then, ‘Taryn! What the blazes are you doing?'
    ‘I—I ’ She tried to twist round to look at him, but in her undignified position found it impossible. ‘I wanted to see how the work was going.’
    ‘Didn’t you think of using the door?’ his voice heavy with sarcasm.
    ‘I have no key.’
    ‘So—you thought it important enough to break in. I don’t expect you to work night and day, but if you still insist on having a look we’ll use the proper entrance. Come on down.’
    He sounded dreadfully annoyed and Taryn took a deep breath before saying, ‘I—I can’t. I had an awful job getting through this far. And—and, Luke, there’s nothing to hold on to. I can’t get down this way either.’ She had been