Secrets on Saturday (29 page)

L
OIS WAS VERY FAR FROM BEING WARNED OFF
. Now she had straightened things out with Derek, she felt happier. He had certainly been warmer towards her after their night of passion—she chuckled—but the excitement had quickly worn off and now he was polite but disapproving.
She hoped that this would wear off, too. She was sitting with Gran after lunch, drinking coffee and playing with Jeems. “She’s still, a puppy, isn’t she,” she said. “Do you think she’ll ever grow up?

Gran shrugged. “Some people don’t,” she said. “Don’t know about dogs.”

Lois recognized a snub when administered by her mother, and stood up. “I have to go to the shop,” she said. “I’ll take Jeems for a walk after that. Get a breath of fresh air before I tackle paperwork.” She also needed some thinking time, and planned a walk across the meadows so that Jeems could have a good run. She picked up a chewed rubber ball and put it in her pocket. “Bye then, see you later.”

Gran managed a grunt, and then rattled dishes as she began to clear the table.

Perhaps I should offer to help, thought Lois. But that would give Gran an opportunity to score another point. Still … “Do you need a hand with those?” she ventured.

“No more’n I ever do,” Gran said. “You go off and enjoy yourself. I know my place.”

“Oh, for God’s sake!” Lois fixed the dog’s lead and marched out, shutting the door firmly behind her.

The shop was busy, and Lois attached Jeems to a hook by the waste bin outside. A gang of small children, out early from school, were jostling by the sweets display, working out what they could get for coins clasped in hot hands. “Something you want, Mum?” Josie said over the tops of heads. “This lot’ll be ages.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll wait. Just wanted a word, that’s all.” Lois checked on Jeems through the shop window, and turned to inspect the greetings cards. Her eye was caught by “new baby” cards, and she selected one that would do for boy or girl. Always good to think ahead, she reckoned. Be prepared, as the scouts said. Thinking of scouts took her to speculating on Ben. So far, he had been fine, doing the work efficiently and upsetting none of his clients. Floss continued to be excellent. But this situation couldn’t last. Both of them would probably move on
soon, and then she’d have to be thinking about recruiting again …

“Penny for ‘em, Mum.” Josie was smiling at her, and she realized the children had gone.

“Ah, yes. I’ll have this card for Rebecca. Nobody knows when that baby will arrive!” She paid, and then said, “I just wondered if I could ask you something. And no, don’t joke. This is deadly serious. I don’t mind what you answer, or even if you want to think about it. But here it is: you know I’m still feeding information to Cowgill. It’s to do with Herbert Everitt, though I’ve still got to convince Cowgill there’s anything wrong with the old boy disappearing. By the way, Dad knows all about it. The thing is, the meeting place Cowgill has used is lousy. I’m not going there any more. So I wondered if …?”

“If you could come here? Not bloody likely! I can’t think how you’ve got the nerve to ask,” Josie said. “Anyway, you know it’d soon get around. Lois Meade is having an affair an’ her daughter’s in a conspiracy to hide it from poor old Derek.”

Lois sighed. “I expected you’d say something like that,” she said, “but I’ve thought it out carefully. Nobody’d think anything of my coming round to the back of the shop out of hours to see you. And Cowgill could come that back way through the old passage nobody uses. You’re not overlooked at the back, so there’d be no danger of him being seen.”

“Did he suggest this?” Josie’s voice was hard and suspicious.

“No, it’s my idea, and I haven’t even told him. You can just say no, and we’ll forget the whole thing now.”

“Well,” Josie replied slowly, “for the moment I’ll say this. On condition that you tell Dad all about it, I’ll consider it. I’ll have to ask Rob, of course. You do your side of the bargain, and I’ll try to sell it to Rob. I can’t say it’s the best plan you’ve ever proposed, but I’d like to help old Everitt. I hope I can trust you, Mum.”

“Have I ever let you down?”

Josie shook her head. “No … Well,” she added briskly, “there’s sorting out to do in the stockroom, and that dog of yours is turning out the contents of the waste bin, so I’ll say cheerio.”

She went away, and Lois rushed out to repair the damage. She felt bad, and for two pins would have gone back to Josie and told her it was all off. She’d find somewhere else. Then she remembered the supermarket and her bladder weakness story. She couldn’t do that again. But she had to see Cowgill in person and convince him that something was badly wrong with Herbert’s prolonged absence. No one could contact the old boy, or even discover which nursing home he had been taken to. As for Cox, Lois didn’t much care about him. She knew too much about his past. But the fact that two well-off old gents, neither with family who cared about them, had disappeared in a short time couldn’t be dismissed. She unhooked Jeems, and headed towards the meadows.

T
HE PLEASURE OF THE WALK WAS NOT ENHANCED BY
the smell of sewage borne on a warm wind, but Lois hurried past the gurgling mass and was soon out of range. Jeems was still on an extending lead, and Lois sat down on a tree stump by the old railway line, playing the little dog like a fish. She decided to sort out what she knew into a list, and prepare a case for police action next time she met Cowgill. She had only to telephone him, she knew, to fix the date.

First, Reg Abthorpe was the obvious central figure in what was going on—and what
was
going on? He came and went like the Red Shadow, and seemed to live nowhere. He had men working for him, and organized badger-baiting was one of his jolly games. But was this all? Lois suspected not. In fact, the baiting could be a cover for something else. Something connected with the two old men?

Secrets: Floss and Ben were hiding whatever had happened that night in the woods. Ellen Biggs was not revealing
all she knew about William Cox, Lois was sure. Ivy Beasley probably doing the same thing. Frances Wallis hiding everything, but quite definitely connected with Reg Abthorpe in some way. Her brutish husband, too.

So what to tell Cowgill to convince him? Hard evidence was what he wanted. Lois reviewed what she had just listed in her mind. Ben and Floss were the most likely to be harbouring something useful. If she could get either of them to tell her exactly what had happened to frighten them into silence, she had a hunch things would get moving with Cowgill. She got up from the tree stump, and walked on. Right, next step was to talk to the youngsters. Separately, would be best. Maybe starting with Floss. Perhaps she’d arrange to call in at the Hall when Floss was working there. She could easily think of a convincing pretext.

“Good girl,” she said absently, as Jeems squatted on the grass. Lois fumbled in her pocket for a scented pink nappy sack and concentrated on the job in hand.

N
OW THAT
S
POT WAS RESTORED TO HIM
, H
ERBERT
Everitt was a different man. Optimism oozed from every pore, and curmudgeonly old William’s depression didn’t bother him in the least. He had searched the entire house and discovered a number of useful things, including an ancient paraffin stove nearly full of fuel. During the day he opened all the windows to air the place, leaving Spot tied up outside to act as lookout. He found an undamaged blanket for William to drape around his
shoulders to keep warm. In the early evening, he lit the paraffin stove and put it in the living room. “Quite cosy?” he said to William.

“Stinks,” was the reply.

But Herbert could see that William was trying hard, and so they reached a kind of truce. When William found a stash of tins of food in a cupboard high above the sink, he actually laughed, and the two worked out carefully how long this would last them. They reckoned they could exist on iron rations for a week or ten days. By then, Herbert insisted, someone would come and rescue them.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Bert?” William said, as they sat at the rickety table drinking perfectly good pea soup.

“Always been my favourite, pea soup,” Herbert replied. He had given up demanding William call him by his full name. Anyway, now he was getting used to it, Bert seemed more friendly.

“No, no … I meant enjoying all of it. It’s all one big adventure to you. The Terrible Two go hiding in the thicket. Find a stash of food, and manage to keep going until Uncle and Auntie find them and take them home.”

Herbert looked at him. “That’s good, Bill,” he said. “Very clever. But Uncle and Auntie are more likely to be Reg and his henchmen, so we’d better make a plan for what we’ll do if they turn up before help comes.”

He cleared the dishes, and put a damp notebook on the table. The pencil William had found on the floor in the small bedroom still worked. “Now,” Herbert said. “First of all …”

“I said you were enjoying it,” grumbled William, but he sat up straight and listened to what Herbert had to say.

At this point, Spot barked ferociously outside. “Hide!” said Herbert. “I’ll take a look.” He crept round to the window, keeping out of sight, and peered out. Spot was straining at his rope lead, and aiming his warning at a thick thorn bush very close to the back door. Herbert continued to watch. Then he thought he saw a shadow move and disappear. Spot stopped barking after a minute, and
Herbert went back to William. “You can come out now,” he said, and William crawled from under the table. “We’re unlikely to be bombed,” Herbert said with a smile.

“What was it, then?”

“A rabbit, probably,” Herbert replied. “No sign of human beings of any sort. “Right,” he continued, “let’s get on with the plan.”

G
RAN WAS IN A BETTER MOOD WHEN
L
OIS RETURNED
home. She’d had a visit from Mrs. Pickering and they’d obviously enjoyed one another’s company. “What did she come for?” said Lois, antennae waving.

“It was all to do with WI, and nothing to do with New Brooms,” Gran said firmly. “Mrs. Pickering and me have agreed to do teas next month at the group meeting.”

“Did she say anything about Floss?” Lois said casually.

Gran frowned at her. “Only that she really loved working for you, if that’s what you want to hear.”

“Well, it’s nice to know, Mum. I like my team to be happy.”

They moved on to the subject of whether Jeems had had her feet wiped after running about in those muddy fields. While Lois was obediently drying a wriggling dog, Gran said, “Oh, there was something that might interest you. Apparently Floss and Ben are getting engaged. Well, talking about it, anyway. Floss’s parents are insisting that they wait at least two years before even thinking about getting married, but otherwise they’ve given their blessing.”

“Floss hasn’t said anything to me!” Lois felt quite hurt that Gran had known first.

“Maybe that’s because you’re so busy with other things,” her mother answered. “Anyway, I should congratulate her as soon as possible, if I were you. Apparently they’re talking about moving away soon, somewhere where Ben can get a proper job.”

This bombshell galvanized Lois into action. She dialled Floss’s mobile and waited. “Hello? Mrs. M here. Are you still at Mrs. T-J’s?” Floss replied that yes, she would be there for a while, having found a message on the table that the mistress would be back soon and would like everywhere spick and span. The gardener, apparently, had a key and had left the message, together with muddy footprints and finger marks everywhere.

“I’ll be over in ten minutes,” Lois said. “Look out for me. No, nothing wrong, I just want to have a word. See you.”

Lois was there in fifteen minutes. She sounded her horn to attract Floss’s attention and went to the back door. “Thanks. Better lock it behind me,” Lois said, walking into the kitchen. “Shall we go and sit in the drawing room? The sun shines in there in the afternoons, and we’ve got something pleasant to talk about, haven’t we?”

Floss led the way, and they settled into comfortable chairs. Floss grinned broadly, and said, “I bet I know who told you. It was your mum, wasn’t it. My mum told yours, and the cat was out of the bag. I was looking forward to telling you myself, but never mind.”

“Go on, then, tell me,” Lois said. “It’d be nice to hear it straight from you.”

“Well, Ben and I are engaged. We haven’t got a ring yet. We’re going to look for one next Saturday. Can’t be a diamond or anything expensive! Ben’s not got much money yet, but one day he will have. Mum and Dad have agreed, and Ben’s folks say they’re delighted, though I’m not so sure about his mum.”

“Mothers and sons,” said Lois enigmatically. “Always difficult.”

“So there we are, Mrs. M. I wish I could have told you first, but I hope you approve.”

Lois stood up, walked over to Floss, and gave her a big hug. “Congratulations!” she said. “Nothing could be nicer. You’ll be the first romance we’ve had in the New Brooms team. Will you be able to tell the rest on Monday?”

“Oh, yeah. Looking forward to it. I expect we’ll get teased a bit, but they’re a nice lot and I’m fond of them. Even Bill! Ben’s a good friend of his now, so no jealousy there!”