Authors: Kaye C. Hill
Lexy wasn’t inclined to tell him that, in her experience, Rowana was perfectly capable of doing as well as thinking.
“But then they’ve got different mothers, haven’t they?” she said. “I guess they must each have inherited some characteristics from them.”
“Rowana mentioned that, did she?” he said, looking taken aback.
Lexy regretted saying it immediately. Steve thought she and his daughter had only just met the previous night.
“It came up.” She managed to change the subject, and it was only when the girls had returned from their exploration that Lexy realised she’d forgotten even to try to discover
Steve’s whereabouts on the night before Elizabeth died.
“It’s a really nice place,” said Gabrielle. “Except that neither of us wanted to go in Elizabeth’s bedroom. You know, where she fell out of...”
“Find anything interesting?” Steve asked.
“Nothing worth anything,” said Gabrielle. “She didn’t seem to have much at all. But it has potential to be done up. It could look really amazing if it was decorated
properly.”
“She’s made a little art studio.” Rowana’s eyes were shining. “And it looked like she was pretty good with oils.”
“Just like you, sweetheart.” Steve started to smile at his younger daughter, then his expression changed. So did hers. Did her eyes begin glistening? She suddenly ducked out of the
room.
“Well, I’m off to Clopwolde to get those window locks and some bits for the van,” said Steve, after a momentary silence. “The last thing we need now is for our only
transport to give up the ghost.”
“Like mine.” Lexy glanced out of the window to where the lime green car stood.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“You mean other than being a Fiat Panda? It’s just a bit erratic at the moment. Refused to start the other night, the next day it went again, except now it just sounds like
it’s only firing on three cylinders.” Bit like she was, in fact.
“Got the keys?” Steve held out his hand. “I’ll take a look.”
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “Dad...” she began. “We’re never going to get back at this rate.”
“Would you really?” Lexy located her jacket and handed them to him. “Thanks ever so much.”
Every woman’s dream. A keen amateur car mechanic.
She gave Gabrielle her best smile, and began washing up mugs.
The girl wandered over to the window. She glanced down the hill and gave a little start. “I’m going for a walk.”
“You do know it’s raining?”
Gabrielle shrugged. Donning a bright red mackintosh that she had brought in with her, she set off, leaving by the front door.
“I’ve never known her to voluntarily take a walk,” said Rowana, coming back into the kitchen, her eyes slightly red.
“Perhaps the countryside is working its magic on her.”
“What do you mean – magic? Have you found something...”
Wrong word.
Steve put his head around the kitchen door, cutting Rowana short.
“She just needs some new spark plugs,” he said. “And an oil change wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Is that all?” Lexy felt a surge of relief.
“I’ll get new plugs while we’re out. It won’t take me long to sort it out.”
“Thanks. That’s brilliant.” Lexy fumbled for her wallet.
“Pay me when I get back. Can you come along, Rowana? I need someone to navigate.” Steve left without waiting for an answer.
Rowana exclaimed in annoyance.
Lexy listened to the van roar away, then sat alone in the kitchen.
It was an odd thing, but she could have sworn Steve had been in Four Winds Cottage before, even though he claimed otherwise. When he first came in, he’d made straight for the kitchen, and
he hadn’t been looking around him either, like Gabrielle and Rowana. When he excused himself to go to the loo, he’d gone directly upstairs to the bathroom. Might just have been lucky
guesswork, but he seemed somehow to know his way around the place.
Unnerved, Lexy stared out of the window, wondering how long Gabrielle intended to stride about in the rain. The girl wasn’t exactly good company, but at that moment anyone would do. It
wasn’t as if Kinky was the life and soul. He was pacing around the kitchen, throwing her anxious glances. No one could accuse him of being relaxed in Four Winds Cottage.
The sound of the garden gate slamming made her look up sharply. Feet pounded up the path.
Lexy grinned. “Here she comes. Rain must have got worse.”
Her expression changed at the terrific hammering on the front door.
“All right, Gabrielle, keep your arse on.”
Kinky shot into the hall like a greased ferret.
The frenzied knocking came again.
“I’m coming, all right?” Lexy bundled down the hall and turned the handle.
The door was shoved open so hard that it bounced against the wall.
Ward Gallimore burst in, and slammed it behind him.
Kinky barked savagely.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lexy backed up the hall. As if she didn’t have an inkling. This was it. He was going to deal with her. He must have been watching the cottage.
Seen the others leave.
How would he do it? A knife? A blunt instrument? Well, she wasn’t going easily. She tensed, ready to give him a right hard kick where it would hurt the most.
But Ward strode straight past Lexy, giving her an odd look as he did so.
“Bloody bull’s escaped,” he said through gritted teeth, before turning sharply into the kitchen, and yanking the cord at the window. The blind shot up as if electrified.
A burst of laughter escaped Lexy.
“Where is everyone?” Ward demanded. His dark hair glistened with rain.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean where are the Patersons? I saw them drive up here an hour ago.”
“Rowana and her dad went out again in the van. Gabrielle...” The significance of an escaped bull finally hit Lexy. “Oh, hell – she went for a walk.”
“Where?”
“Don’t know. Down the path towards the farm, I think.”
“When did she go?”
Lexy checked her watch. The hands looked meaningless. “About ten minutes ago?”
Ward’s face was very close to hers. Close enough for her to feel the drips from his wet hair running down her cheek.
“Stay here,” he said. “Don’t leave this house. As soon as I’ve found Gabrielle, I’ll be in touch.”
Bit belt and braces, but Lexy wasn’t going to argue with him. “You can’t miss her,” she said. “She’s wearing a bright red raincoat.”
“Right.” In two strides he was at the kitchen door, and after a quick look around, he was gone.
Lexy sped upstairs to the front room, grabbed up the binoculars and pulled open the windows, sweeping the parts of hillside that weren’t obscured by trees. If she knew where Gabrielle was,
she could dash out and get her back.
Lexy had a healthy regard for bulls, having encountered enough of them during her childhood wanderings in the countryside. She’d had a couple of close shaves, too, but that was from bulls
confined in fields that she, strictly speaking, shouldn’t have been in. She’d never faced one that had got loose. She imagined Gabrielle, standing still and white-faced on the footpath,
while in front of her a huge, angry shape pawed the ground and lowered its head. The girl wouldn’t stand an earthly. Especially not dressed in bright red. An important little detail, she
recalled, that seemed to have escaped Ward Gallimore. Puzzled, she brushed a remaining drop of water from her cheek.
Five minutes of anxious scanning was rewarded by the sight of two figures down near Pilgrim’s Farm. It was Ward and Gabrielle. He had his arm around Gabrielle’s waist, and she was
limping slightly. They disappeared into the farmhouse.
Lexy ran down the stairs and opened the front door, slipping down to the gate with Kinky. She stared down the rutted track that led through the woods, her ears straining for the sound of the
Land Rover. It was illogical, but she felt somehow responsible for dumb, irritating Gabrielle. She should have thought to tell her that the land was private, and right now she wanted to make sure
she was back before her father, preferably in one piece.
Nothing happened for five minutes, then Lexy glimpsed a movement from the path that led past the cottage. Grabbing Kinky, she dashed back to the front door, and pushed him in, ready to jump
inside herself and slam it shut if a Minotaur head suddenly appeared around the corner.
But it was Tyman Gallimore. He had a canvas bag slung over one shoulder, and wore a deep, preoccupied frown. Django followed him in similar mode, but without the bag.
Lexy shut Kinky inside and called to Tyman. He looked up with a startled expression.
“Have you found it?” she yelled, running to the gate. Angry, muffled barks followed her.
Tyman shifted the bag. “Found what?”
“The bull, of course. Ward managed to get Gabrielle back to the farm.”
Tyman paused uncertainly. He looked rumpled and exhausted. “What’s happened, exactly?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Lexy took a quick look around, and opened the gate. “You’d better come in the garden. It’ll be safer.”
Tyman came in, his eyes narrowed in puzzlement. Django padded in behind.
“Ward came up to the cottage,” Lexy said. “About a quarter of an hour ago. One of your bulls has escaped and Gabrielle was out walking. Ward went after her, and I saw him take
her back to the farm. I’d go down there, but Ward told me to stay here until it was safe.”
Tyman rubbed his forehead. He set his bag on the ground, and Django sniffed at it, then looked up at Tyman and broke into a series of excited yelps.
“Shut it, will you?” Tyman nudged the dog out of the way with his foot, and hoisted the bag up on the wall.
“What have you been doing?” Lexy eyed the bag. A dark stain covered the bottom of it.
“Just seeing to the sheep.”
“Lucky you didn’t run into the bull yourself.”
“Yeah.” He squinted down towards Pilgrim’s Farm. “Look, I’d better get down there. They’ll need help if it’s still loose.”
“But you can’t just walk back – you might get gored. Ward should be driving Gabrielle up here any minute. Why don’t you wait?”
“No – I’d better go.” He swung out of the gate and strode over to the path that led to the farm. “Just make sure you stay here,” he called back over his
shoulder. “We’ll let you know as soon as things are safe.”
Lexy watched after him until he was out of sight. As she turned to go back in, she spotted the bag, still sitting on the wall. Lexy eyed the stain. As if hypnotised, she moved slowly towards it.
She’d just have a quick look...
But as she reached out and touched the flap she heard the sound of running feet, and Tyman reappeared.
“Forgot my bag,” he gasped, grabbing it.
Lexy turned and walked slowly up to the front door.
“There’s something mighty peculiar about all this,” she said to Kinky. He looked as if that was what he’d been trying to tell her all along.
She sat at the kitchen table, trying to recall the hazy conversations of the night before.
Keep Tyman away from her. You know what he’s like.
Why had Bruce said that? Was Tyman the wild card? The one who would be most likely to crack under pressure and reveal whatever it was they were trying to cover up? If that was the case she ought
to get him on his own.
Lexy rushed to the door at the sound of an engine.
A Land Rover came to a gravel-spraying halt at the gate. Gabrielle descended carefully from the passenger seat. Ward leaned over and spoke to her briefly, then turned and drove off.
“I’ve been rescued from a bull!” trilled Gabrielle, limping up the garden path. “It was really exciting.”
“Did it chase you?”
“No. I didn’t actually see it,” she admitted. “But Ward suddenly rushed up behind me – nearly scared me to death – and told me it was loose. I panicked, of
course, and started running, then I fell over a wall.”
“Fell over a wall?”
“A low one.” She giggled. “I cut my knee, and Ward said we might as well go back to Pilgrim’s Farm, as it was nearer, and he helped me back, and patched me up in their
bathroom. The farmhouse is awfully nice. There’s an Aga in the kitchen, and real slate floors, and the bathroom’s got proper antique fittings and a ... ”
“Was Bruce there?” Lexy cut in.
“Oh, no, he was out trying to catch the bull. We were all on our own.” Gabrielle looked at Lexy as if she was going to say something else.
“Does your knee hurt?” Lexy asked, looking at the neat bandage.
“It stings a bit. Ward said he’s pretty experienced at bandaging legs, but they usually belong to ducks or sheep. He said... oh, never mind.” With a half-giggle, Gabrielle, who
was very bright-eyed, limped into the kitchen, and sat down.
“I think I need a drink,” she breathed.
The front door banged, making Lexy and Gabrielle jump. It was Steve, Rowana and an exhaust silencer.
Gabrielle immediately regaled them with the story of the rogue bull, with full and dramatic embellishments.
Steve’s jaw set as he listened.
“Right. I’m going down there to sort this out,” he said. “I’m not going to run the risk of my family being gored to death by some crazed bovine, even if it is a
rare breed.”
“Oh no, Dad – too embarrassing,” wailed Gabrielle, obviously regretting her spirited re-telling of the tale. “I’m perfectly all right. It wasn’t like anything
happened.”
Steve was unmoved. “They need to damned well take more responsibility.” And off he went in the van.
So – he had a tough side, too.
“Bloody hell, Gabby, you’re such an idiot,” snorted Rowana. “Why did you tell him all that stuff? You know what he’s like.”
But her sister was already making for the stairs, climbing a little awkwardly with her bandaged knee. “Let’s try and see what happens down there.”
“There’s some binoculars in the front bedroom,” Lexy volunteered.
“Binoculars?” Rowana pounced on the word. “Do you think Elizabeth was watching the farm?”
“Reckon so,” said Lexy.
“Why?” demanded Gabrielle.
“I think she was concerned about how they were treating the animals.”
“So she was a bunny hugger.”