Read ON DEVIL'S BRAE (A Psychological Suspense Thriller) (Dark Minds Mystery Suspense) for Free Online

brother had left. Theirs was not a home where young children could get messy and dirty or run riot in the garden. There was little love from either parent. No wonder Susan had been expelled from school. Cassandra knew how Susan must have wanted to rebel, and if she hadn’t been such a coward, she might have followed in her footsteps.

    Chapter 8 January 2013, Inverdarroch
    Cassandra finished her supper, and thinking of her late mother’s obsession and compulsive desire for order, dumped her dirty plate in the kitchen sink before climbing the stairs to her cold and lonely bed. It was a tiny hint of rebellion, but even though it was too little, too late, it gave Cassandra a crumb of satisfaction.
    Sometime in the night, she woke with a start. It was strange, but for the first time in years, she dreamt of her older brother. She tried to capture what the dream had been about but failed to evoke any memories. It left her feeling disturbed and somehow, apprehensive. What was it about him that made her feel so vulnerable? Cassandra lay in the complete darkness, straining to hear through the silence, and then she heard it. It seemed to come from a long way off; at first it was muffled and faint before building to a regular tempo, a drumming which reverberated all around the glen.
    After lying awake for an hour or more she finally drifted off into a deep sleep and finally woke around six thirty. When she first opened her eyes and stretched her long legs beneath her duvet, she couldn’t remember where she was. Living in a city, she was used to the permanent rumble of traffic outside her bedroom window. But she was met by a silence, which was so complete it was almost tangible. She rolled over and fumbled for the switch on her bedside lamp. She was shocked by her misty breath before her; she knew it was cold in those parts, but she wasn’t prepared for that.
    Braving the temperature, she thrust her feet into her sheepskin slippers and wrapped her dressing-gown round her. She was tempted to stay in bed, but the cold made her desperate for the bathroom. She clattered down the stairs, casting a baleful eye at the cold hearth in passing. Perhaps if she invested in a wood-burning stove, she would have been able to keep the fire going all night. But that would mean spending money, she mused, as she perched on the freezing-cold toilet seat. And would I want the expenditure if I’m only going to stay here for a few months to tart the place up and sell it in the summer? Hmm. All the same, it would have made the place more pleasant.
    Cassandra showered and dressed, pulled back the bedroom curtains and gasped. Stretching in front of her was mile after mile of sparkling snow. She was quite unprepared for the beauty of the virginal scene, where every flaw in the earth was corrected and made perfect. Tiny icicles hung from the roof and the nearest tree; if she opened her window, she could have reached out and touched them. Even the cobwebs moving gently in a breeze were frosted. As the sun rose higher, the whole valley seemed dazzled by the coating of frosted icing. It was so bright, Cassandra had to squint. It was achingly beautiful.
    Breakfast over, Cassandra found her thickest pair of socks and her walking boots. She had to see how deep the snow was and if the road was passable. It was also a good time to go to the farm and place her order for milk. On her previous visits to Inverdarroch, she had taken supplies with her. But on the last trip she had made the dubious acquaintance of the family living at Lochend farm when Elizabeth Blackmore introduced them. Cassandra had described them to her own friends as ‘quaint and hard-living Highland folk’. Cynthia said they were louts.
    She had lied when she told Cynthia and Rosie she thought her neighbours were fine. The farm folk were as Cynthia had intimated: a bloody rough-looking lot. But so what? It wasn’t as if she wanted to make them her bosom pals; all she needed was a pint of milk a day,