Sound Carries

22.

It was Christmas, but it didn't feel like it. Time usually operated in an odd, fluid way after exams, and this week had been almost like that, but worse, because we were waiting.

It was becoming obvious that the event we were waiting for would never happen.

Audra refused to come into town. I told her that it would make her feel better if she did, and she fixed me with such a complicated look that I left her alone.

We were fortunate that a cab would come up to Conolly at all. I had been expecting that no one would want to make the drive up in this awful weather, but the fact that we were a large party seemed to be motivation enough, and after a short wait, the five of us – without Audra – found ourselves in the back of two taxis on the drive down.

Oliver, Cecily, and I sat in silence. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, just anticipatory. If Hannah had been here, I thought, it would be fine.

When the driver dropped us off at the front entrance of the local pub, The Whistling Bartender, it became clear that we had not had the worse drive down. As I tipped the man, the door of the other car slammed so sharply that I looked up. Colin was stalking towards the front door, his lips in a tight line. Gabriel clambered out of the other side, looked annoyed.

Colin wrenched open the front door, knocking the snow off of his boots before entering. I could hear the bells jangling inside, and I waited until the door closed before turning to Gabriel. "What's all that about?"

Gabriel shrugged, and jammed his bare fists into the pockets of his jacket. "Not too sure, actually. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, maybe."

It was a deliberate evasion – Colin didn't just get angry like that, if anything, that was more Gabriel's style – but he looked both annoyed and slightly worried, so I didn't press him.

I followed Oliver into the pub. It was nearly dark out, and the inside of the room was lit by multicoloured Christmas lights strung along the wall, painting the room a bright neon glow. The speaker in the corner was playing an altogether too cheerful rendition of Rockin' around the Christmas Tree.

The bartender's smile was wide when he first saw us, then shifted abruptly when he saw we were students to something a little more uneasy.

The pub was mostly empty – I imagined it was probably not the top destination for Christmas Eve, and the proprietor was likely delighted to have more customers.

I scanned the room: Colin was already slouched at the bar, looking moody.

"I heard about your friend."

Cecily didn't beat around the bush. "Did she come in here, at all? On the fifteenth?"

The bartender – his nametag read Eugene – shook his head. "No. Those detectives were already in here asking about it."

Cecily's disappointment was so pronounced it was hard to look at. "Oh."

"First round on me, eh?" Eugene took in our dejected faces and sighed. "She'll turn up. Last minute road trips happen, you know?"

He began to pour glasses of beer, and I accepted one gratefully.

The evening started slowly. I didn't know what I was expecting it to be, but it wasn't the distraction I had been hoping for. We'd been here before as a group, and Hannah was everywhere – her favourite chair by the fire sitting empty was a terrible sight, somehow made worse when it became occupied by a rather sour looking man.

I sat by Oliver at the bar, Cecily on my other side. We talked about nothing, the way you do when there's only one other thing to talk about, and you've already beaten the conversation to death.