****
That night, Liz replaced burnt out candles in the wall sconces. I helped, holding the bag while she took special care with the candles either side of the Adsero nos carving, straightening the wicks and picking hardened wax out of the holders. I looked into the bag of new candles.
“There’s plenty more in here. Want me to check the other rooms?”
“Yes, if you like.”
This was the first time I’d had a proper look around the rabbit warren beneath Gaunt House ruin. I used struck matches to light my way so I could see the lesser chambers leading off the corridors but my lonely expedition started to make me feel very creepy. Perhaps it was the flickering of the match flames but more than once I thought I saw movement in a vacant room. The chambers were dank and cold, mostly empty but for a dirty blanket here or a dusty wooden crate there, the candles hardly used. I stopped in one of these chambers to light another match, my fear rising.
“Here you are!” Jude’s voice made me start and drop the match, which fizzled itself into darkness on the stone floor. He blinked when I struck another and held it up to see his face.
“You scared the hell outta me,” I said.
“Sorry. Just wanted to ask you a question.”
I waited. “Well?”
“What are you doing?”
“Looking around.”
“You need help reaching the candle holders?”
“Most of them still seem fine,” I said. Jude leaned against the doorway. “What do you really want, Jude?”
“Just checking if you were all right.”
I frowned. “Be honest. Why did you follow me?”
The match guttered so Jude waited until I lit another. In the dim light he looked amused. “Be honest? Okay. I just wanted to tell you, Frankie, that I like you.”
“Oh!”
“Yeah.” He sounded less sure of himself now.
“Well, I like you, too.” I said it lightly, preparing to ground him with the ‘as a friend’ but he got in before me.
“Really? Great!” Jude gave me a big, delighted grin. “Do you think you might like to come out with me? For a movie, maybe? Or just coffee?”
“Like ... a date?”
“Yeah. Tonight, after we finish up here?”
I tried to think of a way to let him down gently―but was there even much point to refusing? I wasn’t into Jude but half the town already thought we were together. Would Cain have a reaction to Jude and me going out on a date? Would it affect him, or bother him in anyway? I got an idea: I could ask Jude about Cain’s drug habit if we went for a coffee later.
I gave a rash shrug of assent and the smile on Jude’s face got even bigger. Shaking off the sense of unease that smile gave me, I went back to the main chamber with Jude trailing behind. How I wished I could look at Cain to see what he thought of me and Jude disappearing like that. I couldn’t, of course. At the end of the evening we climbed up into the warm, starlit night. There was always a little milling about outside the ruin, killing time before we said goodbye. I sat on a pile of stone blocks and watched the other four talk and joke. As he sometimes did, Jude had shared a ride with Owen, which meant he had no car with him. I guess he’d be coming with me in the pink car to get this coffee.
“Let’s go, Jude,” Owen said at last.
“No, it’s okay,” I said. “I’ll drop Jude off tonight.”
“We’re gonna grab a drink or something.” To my embarrassment, Jude’s voice was brimming with happiness.
Okay, this was my opportunity to see how Cain felt about me and Jude going on a date. Look at him. Look at him, Frankie! But I couldn’t. Instead, I scrambled into the car and started the ignition. Jude climbed in beside me, oblivious to my discomfort. I accidentally spun the wheels in the slippery gravel as we drove away, and when I looked back at the crumbling structure of Gaunt House all I could see was an immense cloud of dust.