"Hi daddy!" Alice beamed down the camera of her mother's iPad.

"Hi pumpkin!" Will Trawler, her father called back excitedly. "How are you, baby?"

Alice jumped up and down on the spot in excitement. "Good! I made you a picture!"

"That's awesome, thank you, sweet. Are you enjoying your new home?"

"Yes!" The little girl squealed. "I miss you!"

"I know, I miss you too. Don't worry, I will be up to see you in a couple of weeks."

"Yay!" Alice screamed excitedly at the top of her lungs.

"Yay," Emilia whispered far less enthusiastically. Have fun talking to daddy, Bee. I'll just be in the other room." She left her daughter seated at the table and walked into the kitchen.

"Ok, mummy," Alice replied without any real attention. "Look, daddy. I have a new teddy. His name-" Alice's voice faded as Emilia pushed the door to.

Emilia boiled the kettle and knelt against the counter to pull her phone out of her pocket. Her initial reaction was to scroll through social media and kill time while Alice had her call with her father.

The tea had hardly been made before one of Emilia's least favourite sounds offended her ears, and just who would knock on her door out there in the sticks?

"This better be important," the lone woman growled as she left the kitchen.

Emilia begrudgingly walked towards the front door, giving Alice a warm wave as she passed the smaller human engrossed in her video call.

She paused for a second before the opening the front door, "May I help y-" she stopped, no one was stood on the other side. "Hello!" She called out.

"Mummy?" Alice was looking at her with a bewildered expression from her seat at the table.

Emilia turned to face her, "Bee, did you see anyone out of the window? Did you see who knocked?"

"No, mummy," Alice answered truthfully.

"Ok, sweetie, go back to daddy." Emilia glared back out of the open door. There was a knock on her door, she was sure of it.

"It better not have been that creep from a few days ago," she grumbled through gritted teeth, although she was certain he would be too old to be playing prank games like that.

Emilia stepped out onto the porch and looked round at the surrounding trees. There was definitely no one around.

"I must be going crazy already," Emilia rolled her eyes at herself. She stepped back inside and closed the door. She went back to the kitchen for her tea and took it to the sofa and sat down.

No sooner had she sat down she was already back to her feet. A woman's head passed the window to the back of the cabin. Emilia watched as she presumptuously took a seat at the bench by the still uncleaned barbecue.

The woman did not look in her direction but instead stared into the trees to the west.

"What the actual eff," Emilia said and walked to the rear door. "Can I help you, ma'am?" She asked as soon as she stepped out of the cabin.

The older woman ignored her.

"Excuse me!" Emilia marched and stood in front of the strange woman trespassing on Jason's property. "Can I help you?" She took note of the strange attire the woman was wearing, it was a very old fashionable black dress, almost Victorian looking.

The woman looked up at Emilia through withdrawn, pale eyes, "Has it begun?"

"Has what begun?" Emilia was confused.

"The gathering?" The woman looked puzzled as if Emilia should know about it.

"There'll be no such thing here, I think you are mistaken." Emilia made a slight signal with her hand to usher the lady to move on, but the elder did not respond. Emilia looked around for a suggestion but none came.

"The gathering of lost souls at every equinox."

Emilia thought the poor woman might be one of the lost souls she spoke of, "It's rather hot out here and you have some layers on you. Can I offer you a glass of water?"

"No water, no thank you. I am just here to wait," the woman returned her stare to the trees.

She may be ill. Where did she come from? Who do I ask for help? Many more thoughts encircled Emilia's mind. She was not sure if she should stay with the poor, obviously confused, woman or leave her be and wait for her to move on on her own accord.

The woman continued speaking, "The autumn equinox is when we all like to gather and celebrate the lives of all those around us."

Emilia decided to play into the idea a little, "The equinox is still a few weeks away. You are early, you should return home and return on the day."  She said softly and thought, Or not at all

"I'm early?"

"I'm afraid so. Listen, can I give you a lift back to the village?"

"You are too kind, young lady, but I am quite capable of finding my way home. I do hope my friends don't arrive too early. It was not nice of me to disturb you." The woman stood up and faced Emilia. "Thank you, miss."

"I do hope you will be ok," replied Emilia.

"I will be fine," the woman replied abruptly. "It is for you, dear, that I find need to worry."

"Oh, how so?"

"The church in Falstone. They are some shady folk. Cultists," the woman spat the word.

"Others have warned me about the church. I am not worried about them. I can take care of myself and my daughter."

"Let us hope so, dear, let us hope. They have had their eye on this cabin for many years. I won't be surprised if they visit you soon and try and claim this place for themselves."

"Thank you for the warning, ma'am, but I ain't going anywhere. They will soon learn that if they come this way," Emilia said defiantly.

The woman smiled, "You have a strong spirit, let it guide you. Go to your daughter, I will be fine."

"Ok, please get home safe," Emilia reluctantly left her bizarre guest and returned to the cabin. She was growing concerned with the warnings of the church but she still felt safe. Jason would have been aware of them surely before sending them to live on their own.

Alice had finished the call with her father and was enjoying watching cartoons on the device when Emilia returned.

"Hi, Bee, dinner is coming up." Emilia smiled. She turned to look out of the window and saw that the woman had disappeared. "Strange, she left quickly. Some very odd characters around here," she said softly.

***