The Balmoral Incident (19 page)

‘What will we do now?’ Meg wailed.

She couldn’t swim and neither could I. We could try shouting for help if there was any hope of our cries being heard above the swirling rush of the water, or if anyone happened to be passing by, a fisherman perhaps. We had seen groups of them with their fishing rods on this part of the river.

‘He-ll-o!’

A miracle – our shouts had been heard.

A tall man stood on the mainland side. The one my heart recognised before I did. Mr Brown.

We pointed to the boat. He nodded, elaborate gesticulations accompanied his words that we couldn’t hear distinctly, indicating that he would push it across to us.

Wasn’t it too deep for him? ‘You’ll drown,’ shouted Meg.

He shook his head. ‘You’ll – get – very – wet.’

He laughed, kicked out a leg and we realised he was wearing thigh-length waders, the usual accoutrements of the eager fishermen.

He disappeared from view, as had the boat, which had drifted out of sight. The silence took over. It seemed like some time as we waited.

‘Do you think he’s coming back? Did he mean it?’ asked Meg. ‘Maybe he can’t get the boat.’

I only knew that once again he was to be my rescuer. And there he was, wading across, ten yards away, coming closer, treading water. But no boat.

Stepping ashore, he shook his head. ‘Boat’s leaking, I’m afraid, and sinking fast. Your combined weight must have been too much for it. Fortunate it didn’t fill up while you were crossing.’

He smiled at Meg. ‘Hello.’ And to me. ‘You don’t have much luck with water, do you?’

Ignoring that I asked sternly: ‘What do we do now?’

He seemed very tall as, hands on hips, he looked down on us grinning. ‘Well, I shall have to carry you across.’

‘Both of us? Isn’t that going to be difficult?’

He smiled. ‘Only one at a time. I’ll take the little lady first.’ He knelt down. ‘Up you go!’ And setting Meg on his shoulders, her arms about his neck he stood up. ‘Comfortable, are you? Hang on tight.’

Meg laughed. She was enjoying this adventure.

As they stepped into the water, he looked back at me. ‘Don’t go away, miss. I’ll be back shortly.’

‘How—?’

‘I’m coming back for you, of course.’

I watched them go, Meg laughing merrily as he waded
steadily through the water. On dry land, she waved to me and then he was coming back. I waited.

Reaching my side, thoroughly drenched, he regarded me solemnly. ‘I don’t think my shoulders would be quite appropriate. I’ll carry you. Here we go.’ I gathered my skirts modestly about my legs and he lifted me up. ‘You’re as light as a feather.’

I was in his arms, close to his beating heart. Smiling, he looked down into my face.

‘Rescuing you is getting to be a habit.’

‘Thank you. We were lucky you were passing by.’

He laughed. ‘I decided to do a little fishing. I was told the trout was good here. I didn’t expect the catch to include two damsels in distress.’

I could think of no clever rejoinder. Every step listening to that heartbeat, his warm breath, his closeness, my head under his chin, deprived me of speech. I just wanted it to last. I felt so safe, so comforted.

My feet set on dry land again, I felt chilled without his warmth and looked round for Meg.

‘She didn’t want to wait. She thought Thane might be back by now. What’s this about? Him being poisoned?’

‘Meg and Rowena saw a rat in the garden. Aiken had poison put down. He must have got some of it.’ I could feel the tears, the agony of it all welling up again.

He put an arm around me. ‘Don’t worry. Thane will be all right.’

‘How do you know that?’ I sobbed.

His smile gave his eyes that strange light. He took my chin in his hand, said softly, ‘Like I told you, Rose. Remember? I know everything.’

He had never called me Rose before. It seemed so intimate that my heart gave a little leap.

The cottage was in sight. ‘Safe home, at last.’

‘Thank you.’

He bowed. ‘Glad to have been of service. I bid you good day.’

I looked at the cottage. No sign of Vince or Thane. Turning to say thank you again, he was gone. No sign of him, either. He had an extraordinary way of just disappearing that was quite unnerving.

As I opened the door, there were voices. The last one I wanted to hear. Inspector Gray was sitting opposite Mabel, the table between them.

‘Ah, Mrs Macmerry.’ He didn’t get up. Looking across at Mabel, her expression angry, eyes turned stonily towards the window, Gray indicated an envelope: ‘Some documents for Miss Penby Worth’s attention. We are legally bound to pass on copies of death certificate and so forth for the young woman’s next of kin – if they can be found – before the necessary arrangements for her interment can proceed.’

It was an irresistible chance to drag more information out of the inspector. ‘The case is closed, then?’

‘Of course.’

‘Nothing further about the stable boy Biggs, either?’

He sighed deeply. ‘You have heard the facts, Mrs Macmerry, and that case too is closed.’

‘You never discovered who he was on the way to meet when the horse threw him?’

He shrugged. ‘That is irrelevant whether he met someone or not, we are satisfied that this was an unfortunate accident. Perhaps it was yourself, Mrs Macmerry, since
your bicycle tyres were on the scene of the accident,’ he added smoothly.

‘I have told you why, Inspector, you know my reasons and I’m not going over that again.’ I paused. ‘Have you had any success in discovering Miss Penby Worth’s attacker?’

He didn’t want that one. He frowned across at Mabel who was now eyeing the tabletop very intently, giving it her full attention as if it held some hidden message for her.

‘We are still working on that.’ He stood up. ‘Now, if you will excuse me.’

‘There is something else you might like to work on, Inspector. It is possible that someone tried to poison our deerhound Thane, a very valuable animal.’

‘From what your daughter told me’ – Meg must have gone to her room – ‘it was an accident with rat poison. Unfortunate, but we cannot risk vermin in the cottage.’

‘Thane would never have taken poison. He is a very intelligent animal and not greedy.’

Gray held up a hand. ‘Intelligent or not, dogs will eat anything if the package appeals to them. I would suggest that a large rat might have been acceptable to a hungry dog.’ With a bow to Mabel, who without a word to me, obviously still bearing in mind our exchange of words regarding Thane that morning, was heading in the direction of her room.

As he departed, Meg dashed downstairs. ‘He told me I wasn’t needed and to make myself scarce. What a rude man!’

I could not but agree as she poured herself a glass of milk. ‘I like that Mr Elder a lot. He is nice, isn’t he?’

So he had told her that his real name was Elder. She had made some advance on short acquaintance but I wasn’t sure that ‘nice’ was quite the description I had in mind. ‘Wasn’t it lucky for us that he was there, Mam? We might have still been marooned on the island for hours and hours—’

The sound of a motor approaching cut her short.

We dashed out.

Vince stepped out. Alone.

Meg ran to him, screamed. ‘Thane! No! No – he-he-isn’t—?’

Vince picked her up, took her in his arms. ‘No, Meg. He’ll be better soon.’

I could see she didn’t believe him. He looked across at me. ‘He’s going to be fine, Rose, but he’ll stay with the vet for a day or two. Bain wants to keep him, that’s the usual procedure with poisoning. Wants to be sure it’s all out of his system.’ And to Meg, ‘Now wipe your tears, dear. It’s just like being in hospital, being looked after.’

‘Are you sure, Uncle Vince?’

‘Sure, I’m sure.’

Later he said to me: ‘Thane has a charmed life. Bain said there was enough rat poison in him to kill a dozen dogs.’

With not much time left before we left for Edinburgh, another problem. Would Thane be fit to travel? But to my delight, even as I worried, Vince brought him back to the cottage the next day.

I regarded him anxiously but he seemed to have taken no lasting ill effects from the poisoning, which was usually fatal. Once again I felt he had missed death by inches. As Vince said, he did indeed have a charmed life, maybe even more than one!

I gathered that the vet had been very impressed. He had been so ill that he had felt there was little hope of survival, that his digestive organs might have been destroyed, and was amazed at such a complete recovery.

Vince stroked his head proudly. A remarkable dog indeed.

‘We must watch his food, Rose. It seems that he had
been tempted, as any normal animal would be, by a rat which unfortunately had just consumed the poison. Where’s Meg? She’ll be so pleased.’

‘She’s at the castle with Rowena. There’s a children’s picnic tea.’

The royals were very fond of having their children mingle with those from the household. The Queen was very enlightened in this respect and considered that knowing and understanding the ‘common people’ would be very useful in days to come, an idea fully appreciated by her husband who enjoyed mingling with his subjects, particularly if they were female, young and pretty.

I was so glad to have Thane back, restored to health, such a sense of relief that I knew would be shared by Meg. Such a pleasant surprise for her at six o’clock, when she came home for supper.

But six came and passed and seven too. She was later than usual. That didn’t worry me particularly until at seven-thirty I opened the door to be confronted by a terrified Yolande.

‘Where is Rowena? Is she not here with Meg?’

As I explained about the picnic, her eyes were darting round the room as if they might be hiding somewhere, then she cried: ‘No. I knew about that and when Rowena didn’t come home I decided to go and collect them both.’ She put her hand to her mouth. ‘And what did I find? Neither of them had been to the picnic party.’

I stared at her, anxiety was catching. I did a quick calculation. In other words, they had been missing since midday. Where were they? My turn for panic, mild
compared to Yolande’s who screamed: ‘Why are they not here? Because they have been kidnapped, that is what has happened!’ and she sat down heavily on a chair, looking ready to faint.

I said with a calmness I was far from feeling: ‘That is nonsense. Who would want to kidnap two little girls? They aren’t royals—’

She gave a shriek: ‘But there are strange stories about here just now. Haven’t you heard, bad things happening at the castle?’

I was no longer listening; trying desperately to think of a logical reason why Meg and Rowena would miss an event regarded as such a treat. I had a sudden flash of inspiration.

‘Could they have gone to the gipsy camp?’

‘Why would they miss a picnic for that?’

I thought about Rowena and the gipsy camp again. She never talked of her father, perhaps he was there. At the mention of him, Yolande began to cry again. ‘I do not know where he is. He left years ago. I do not even know his real name – he worked on the estate, that was all. He wanted to marry me, so he said, but when he knew I was pregnant, he departed and I was forbidden to return to my family for associating with a gringo. And so was his child.’

Her tears were now accompanied by a wringing of hands. ‘My precious little one! What will I do without my Rowena?’ I put a hopefully comforting hand on her shoulder. ‘Please, don’t upset yourself. We will find them.’ Adding confidently: ‘They can’t be far away.’

She stood up, the clock had struck the hour. ‘I must
go. I am on duty in the kitchen and if I am late I will be discharged. That is the rule. All my years there will mean nothing. It is a strict regime, be late and be sent off without a reference. Lateness will not be tolerated, even minutes. Unreliable.’

I said, ‘You must go. I will get my bicycle—’

‘Will you please tell the policeman?’ she interrupted.

I presumed she meant Inspector Gray. I didn’t know where to find him and he wouldn’t thank her or me for raising the alarm for two little girls missing on the estate since midday.

Ignoring her plea, I said: ‘I’ll take Thane – we’ll find them.’

Thane had come to my side as if he understood the conversation and the urgency. She eyed him doubtfully. ‘He is only a dog. It is a man, a policeman you need.’

There was a logic in that but the clock was ticking relentlessly. I told her again not to worry, that I would find them both, and pushed her towards the door. As she stood there wavering, torn between losing her job and finding Rowena, I made a promise I was far from certain I could keep. I would find them, while reason told me that with several hours’ start, they could be far away indeed.

As I was closing the door, Mabel appeared. ‘What was all that dreadful noise about? That servant screaming her head off about children being kidnapped?’

She had overheard the conversation and instead of consolation said grimly: ‘After my attack, anything is possible. Dark forces are at work,’ she added, echoing Yolande’s sentiments. ‘Would you like to take the pony cart? Where will you start searching?’

I had no idea but there were hours of daylight left. ‘My bicycle is easier to negotiate than the cart over rough ground.’

Thane had been listening. I said to him, ‘We’ll find them, won’t we?’ and he gave me that eager look, that almost human response. I decided I would have to rely on his instincts that were more appropriate to a shooting party and retrieving game than finding little girls who had gone astray.

And I was by no means as confident as I had sounded.

‘The gipsy camp, Thane.’ I decided that would be the first place to look, but where was it now? Would it still be by the roadside en route to the castle as we had seen it on our journey almost a month ago?

Retracing our steps took some time and I was about to give up in despair when smoke and the distant smell of peat fires indicated the road. The camp was still there.

Our approach had been noticed. I could have wept with relief as Meg and Rowena raced toward us.

They weren’t interested in me or in Yolande’s anxiety.

‘Thane! Oh, Thane!’ They shrieked, laughing with delight, Meg tearful with emotion at her precious pet restored to them.

They flung their arms around him, ignoring my stern remonstrations about Rowena’s mother being out of her mind with worry.

It got through to them at last. Meg looked up and said: ‘It was for Thane we came here, Mam. Rowena knew that her great-grandmother who is the chieftain of the Faws here would have a cure for him. She has wonderful remedies. Rowena says she has cured people who were hurt in battle long ago or poisoned. Isn’t that so?’

Rowena nodded and took my hand shyly. ‘I am sorry to have upset Mamma, but I knew if we told her she would not allow us to come here. I would like you to meet Great-grandmother Katya.’

She led the way through the camp to an exquisitely painted caravan and sitting on the step enjoying a clay pipe was a very, very old woman, her long white hair in braids. Once, when young, she had been beautiful and the remnants of that lost beauty still lingered in her finely carved features.

The introduction was in Romany, I presumed. I wasn’t sure whether a curtsey was indicated. There was no doubt about her regal manner, she was still Queen to her tribe.

After Rowena finished speaking, Katya, who had been observing me closely, nodded and in perfect but halting English, indicated Meg. ‘You are not her mother.’

Rowena looked embarrassed. ‘But she is—’

Katya held up her hand. ‘Be silent, child.’ And pointing to Meg she said: ‘This child you call your daughter, but you did not carry her and bring her into the world.’

I looked at Rowena, I doubted that Meg had ever told her that I was her stepmother.

Katya had not taken her eyes off me. She shook her
head. ‘She is not your child, she is Romany.’

That was absurd. I thought of Jack her father, of how like him she was and then I thought of her mother, a woman he met in a Glasgow bar about whom he knew nothing, about whom he never spoke, just as he never spoke of that brief marriage of necessity.

Katya was saying: ‘We keep track of our Faws, those who are the highest in the tribe. This child’s mother and sister did not keep to the rules so they were sent away. Margaret, the child’s mother, and her sister Pam were wilful and disobedient. They wanted a different life but neither had any knowledge of what it was like to be a Faw living in a great city like Glasgow.’

She paused, sighed. ‘It was soon apparent that there was only one means of staying alive. In the age-old tradition of starving women, by selling their bodies. They had good looks to offer. Pam was fortunate, she met a working man who offered her marriage. Margaret met a gringo who set her to work in his public house.’

Pausing, she glanced at Meg who was sitting a few yards away from us laughing happily with Rowena. Thankfully they were not interested in Katya and me as all their attention was on making a great fuss of Thane.

‘Margaret met a policeman.’ Katya pointed to Meg. ‘She became pregnant and he married her but she died shortly after the child was born. Her sister Pam took the little girl, and all was well until she died.’

‘Wait a moment,’ I interrupted, ‘how do you know all this?’

She smiled, a gap-toothed smile which did not mask the ghost of a once lovely face. ‘Because they were inheritors
of our dynasty, of the Faws – and we have means of keeping track of important members.’

I shook my head. All she said I knew was true but quite unbelievable. She saw my expression and said: ‘We do more than sell clothes pegs and tell fortunes, dear lady. We have still extra senses which we inherited from the nomadic races centuries ago, like the ability to see into the future, what the gringos call telling fortunes. We believed that everyone on earth was born carrying a map of their future in the palm of their hand.’

I looked at Meg. Was she some sort of a gipsy princess? Jack would never believe that and suddenly I wondered what this queenly old woman intended.

I said: ‘She is our daughter now. We love her, her father, who is a policeman of high rank, absolutely adores her. We had some difficulty tracking her down after her aunt died.’

Katya nodded. ‘Your activities on her behalf were noted, dear lady. We were glad to see her restored to her rightful father. Had the situation been different, then we would have moved in and brought her back to her rightful place in the tribe, where one day she would sit where I do this day.’

I wondered if that was where being kidnapped by gipsies originated, and watching Meg with new eyes, I could not imagine her being happy – and yet, she was fascinated by gipsies. Perhaps something in her being, a strand of recognition she had inherited. Suddenly I was afraid.

As if Katya read my mind, she stretched out a hand and touched me. ‘Do not fear, dear lady, the Faws are
happy that she has a good home, we have no intentions of taking her from her father.’ Pausing, she looked towards Meg and said: ‘She has a great inheritance and will go far in your world.’

‘She is very clever, so her teachers tell me.’

Katya smiled. ‘Ah yes, the good nuns. They mean well, but there are other spiritual forces at work as well as the ones they teach.’

I think I knew now how Meg was just a little different from her schoolmates, and had always been so. And seeing her with Rowena, why the two girls had an instant friendship.

Katya followed my gaze. ‘They are not related, except by their tribal origins.’ She pointed to Rowena. ‘Her mother Yolande was also sent away. She also brought disgrace upon the Faws by bearing a child to a gringo man who was already married. But Rowena has made her way back to us, and has been welcomed—’

She was interrupted by a commotion, laughter and shouts of greetings which erupted as a tall man strode across and my heart made its usual giddy jump.

Mr Brown or Elder again. Thane left the girls and raced over to him. A scene repeated of recognition between the man and the deerhound.

Then still stroking Thane’s head, talking to him, he saw Katya. She had stood up and held out her thin arms.

‘Tam, Tam, it is good to see you, son.’

So he had a first name that wasn’t Saemus, the Gaelic for Thomas.

She hugged him and they spoke in Romany, about me and the girls, judging by their glances in our direction.

He smiled at me, shook his head and sighed. ‘So we meet again.’

My thoughts were racing. ‘How did you get here?’

‘I met Yolande in hysterics. Rowena had been kidnapped, Meg with her, and that you had gone in search of them.’

‘And you just guessed that I had come to the gipsy camp.’

Again he smiled. ‘Just as I told you, I know everything.’ Then he added, ‘These people are old friends of mine, miss. And I guessed if the two lasses weren’t with them, they would certainly be the people to find them. Now, shall we go, get Rowena back to her mother as fast as we can?’

Katya had been listening, so he didn’t need to translate, she was nodding approvingly. Meg and Rowena came over, explaining about the cure they thought Katya would have for Thane, but it had taken longer than they thought. They had lost track of time but fortunately Thane didn’t need a cure.

Katya took my hands in parting. ‘It has been good to meet you, dear lady, and to know that you will be a good mother to our lost child. She will be happy and content with you and her father, a good man for a gringo policeman.’ And nodding vigorously, ‘We are very pleased with him. It seems that all worked out well in the end. Sadly, not at all well for poor Pam, whose husband is one of your people and a ne’er-do-well.’

And so we left them, the girls holding a hand each of the man whose first name I now knew.

This was the twilight hour known romantically in
Scotland as the gloaming where the world takes on a special glow and the tall trees settle down to sleep. It was a romantic night, for there was a full moon, and I felt a little isolated, listening to the gentle laughter of the trio in front, Thane and I walking behind as I pushed my bicycle through the narrow tracks in the wood.

Suddenly I realised we had missed the track back to the cottage. A moment’s panic. Where were we heading?