"Are you lost, dear?"

"Sorry?" Emilia Blythe pulled her head up from her phone and glanced at the small elderly lady looking up at her. She blinked as if suddenly remembering where she was, or where she was not.

Emilia looked behind the elder and stared at the Fourstones service station where she had just filled up her Mokka before turning her gaze back to the lady who spoke.

The lady smiled pleasantly at Emilia before looking into the window of her car and giving her daughter, Alice, a comforting look.

"I think I'm ok, just can't get a bloody signal." She waved her phone to prove a point. "I'm trying to get to Falstone."

"Well, you're certainly heading the right way. Just follow the road and take a left; follow the 3-2-0 towards Bellingham and turn left again."

The lady held out her hand for Emilia to shake, "Call me, Susan. What's your name, dear?"

"Emilia," the twenty-four year old greeted politely.

"What's a young southerner like yourself wanting to go to Falstone for?" Not many people go there since..." Susan paused.

"Since what?" Emilia was curious.

"Nothing you should worry yourself over, dear. We just don't get many passing through heading that way."

"I have a small place near there. Alice and I are going there for the first time. A new life." Emilia tried to be as polite as possible but she found the woman's intrusion a little rude. She let it slide however, her mother told her before she left that the north was a far more friendlier place with more open people compared to the city they were used to.

"Sorry if you feel like I'm prying, Emilia. It's considered a custom to get to know our neighbours around here."

"No need to apologise, Susan. It was lovely to meet you but I really should start making a move. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction." Emilia, who was sat against her bonnet for most of their talk attempted to get back into the driver's seat.

Susan grabbed the young woman's arm gently but with subtle hint of firmness. "May I heed you a warning, miss?"

Emilia pulled her arm away as if she was offended. The look on her face was more severe than she intended. "A warning to what?"

Susan gave a look of seriousness, "The church in Falstone isn't quite the tradition it once was. I would avoid it like the plague if I was you."

"I'm afraid I'm not much of a Christian anyway, Susan. I'm sure I do not need to worry." Emilia nearly felt like she needed to apologise for not attending church to the older woman.

Susan reverted back to her comforting smile, "If you ever need help, or if you want to get away, please come and say hello to us down here at Fourstones."

"I will be pleased to, Susan. Have a good afternoon," Emilia brushed down her dress and climbed into the car.

"Mind how you go, dear," Susan lowered her head to the window and waved at Alice who returned the wave with a big grin.

Emilia swapped her glasses for sunglasses pulled the car away with one final wave to Susan. She looked in the rear view mirror at her daughter, "Everyone's friendly up here, Bee." She told Alice, even though the four year old did not appear to be listening.

Emilia followed the road towards the left and after passing through several small villages for around thirty minutes they had finally passed the 'Welcome to Falstone' sign, marking their near arrival to the final destination.

There were not many houses to be seen between the trees of the small village, and even fewer people. Emilia spotted one man with a wheelbarrow who kept his head down as she passed and a woman who gave her what could of been a glare behind a dry smile.

The pointed roof of the church that she guessed was the one Susan spoke of appeared above the treeline. As it opened up into a better view, Emilia saw a man in a long white robe with golden hems standing on the edge of the road. He turned to face her and Emilia involuntary gasped at the strange golden hockey-style mask covering his face.

As she passed the church, Emilia spotted more men and women stood in the yard and surrounding orchards dressed exactly the same. All turned to face and stare in her direction.

"Not creepy at all," she muttered under her breath as she tried to ignore them and continued her drive through the village.

"What are they?" Alice suddenly asked.

"Cultists, I mean just people dressed up, Bee. They're harmless." Emilia replied. Alice did not question any further, she was too intrigued in watching the strangely dressed people.

As they neared the far edge of the village, Emilia kept her eyes peeled, looking from side to side. Jason, the man who convinced her to rent his cabin for her new life, agreed to meet her on the edge of the village near the fork in the road to lead her the rest of the way.

Emilia grew a little nervous as she passed the last visible house and the road became surrounded by even more trees. There was still no sign of Jason and the lack of signal on her phone was still going to be of no help.

A glimmer of luck relaxed Emilia as she spotted a Land Rover parked in a small dried-dirt layby. "Please be, Jason," she said softly to herself. She slowed her car down to a crawl as she approached.

The door to the Land Rover opened and thankfully, her friend, Jason stepped out and waved her down. He was much older than her; late thirties if she remembered correctly. She would have called him handsome if he had not been her boss once.

"I pictured you more of a red girl," Jason said as a greeting as he inspected the royal blue Mokka.

"Better Chelsea than Arsenal I suppose with the options available," Emilia replied.

Jason laughed, he poked his head through the open window and turned to Alice, "Hello, little one. Doubt you remember me."

Alice smiled and said an awkward, "Hello." She was not fond of strangers and she had met enough of them already that day.

"How have you been?" Jason turned his attention back to Emilia.

"You mean apart from questioning my decision making and sanity? I've dreamt of this for a long time, but now that I'm here, I wonder if it is the right choice." Emilia could not hide the doubt in her voice.

"Trust me, you're gonna love it. I've prepared everything. It's fully furnished; WiFi is a little iffy but I went to great lengths to install a working landline so you'll always have some form of contact available."

"You thought of everything," Emilia said although she felt a little sarcasm in her words.

"Yes, the only drawback is that you'll have to meet the Tesco drivers here when you order an online shop. They won't go down the road I'm about to take you down. Too risky for front wheeled vans."

"Oh right," this concerned Emilia.

"You'll be fine though, this is a four by four right?" Jason said quickly.

"Yes, fortunately."

"Good, let's talk more in the cabin. Follow me," Jason tapped out the top of Emilia's car and went back to his own vehicle.

He left the layby and drove about a hundred yards and turned left down a beaten, muddy track.

"Here goes..." Emilia replied and followed closely behind.

***