"There's a bit more grit, hang on…"
Sitting on the chair in the kitchen Laura watched as Robbie, with the utmost care, removed a tiny piece of grit from the wound on her knee. He gently held her leg with his other hand and he wore a look of serious concentration as he checked for any more debris in the cut.
Robbie winced inwardly as he dabbed at the cut. It wasn't deep but the fall onto the frozen gritty mud path had left a ragged and bloody gash and broken the skin on Laura's knee. The bleeding had stopped but now a purplish crimson bruising was appearing around the glistening gash and there was dirt and grit surrounding it. He dabbed a makeshift staunch onto the cut and Laura inhaled deeply and quickly. In lieu of antiseptic she had suggested warm salt water to clean up the cut, applied with some kitchen towel. It was a good and sterile solution but her knee was stinging and throbbing from both the injury and the salt water. Robbie's touch was gentle, however, and Laura was a little humbled by the care he seemed to be taking, as well as noticing how having him attend to her injury was making her feel instantly better.
"There" he said with a smile, after another dab of a fresh kitchen towel onto Laura's knee "I think that's all clean now"
"Thanks" she said quietly.
"Look, I know you probably know this, but there's bound to be an explanation to it all" he said. Laura had recounted the events to him as he had cleaned up her knee. She told him everything – the odd set of clothes, the aloof waving and the sudden disappearances. There was one detail, however, that she didn't tell Robbie – that the girl had left no footprints in the snow.
"The light at this time of year can play tricks, y'know?" Robbie said, knowing it was a feeble notion, and one that he knew Laura could easily pick apart as a rational scientist.
Laura nodded, raising her eyebrows at the theory
He nodded back with a kind smile, secretly a little shocked that she seemed happy to grasp at any logical explanation offered
"Your jumper's all wet, why don't you go and get changed and get a hot shower eh?" He said
Laura smiled at him, touched by his care and thoughtfulness
"I was going to make a tea" she said shaking her head and getting up from the chair
"Go and get warm" Robbie said, with a gentle command in his voice "Doctor's orders" he said conclusively.
Laura laughed softly and looked down at her jumper and skirt, wet from the fall in the snow. With a resigned and almost sheepish smirk she nodded in agreement and Robbie watched as she headed out of the kitchen, a smile on his face which, as he heard her head upstairs turned to a troubled frown.
How much of a coincidence was it that both he and Laura had seen figures out in the snow, dressed in unusual clothes and that had seemingly disappeared without explanation? When he had seen the lad in the field he had assumed that he had hidden behind the wall, but this hadn't been the case the first time he'd seen him. Seemingly he had simply vanished, just like Laura had described. He'd not told Laura about the boy he'd seen, deciding that she had been shaken up enough without him adding extra intrigue to the mix.
He went over to the window and looked out. Darkness had fallen and he suddenly felt a shiver and an odd feeling that someone was watching him, or the cottage. With another shudder he pulled the blind down, shutting out the darkness and along with it the feeling that he was being watched by someone, or something.