A Daughter's Journe

by Anna Jacobs

  Fumbling to unbutton his flies, he came closer and studied her face, letting out an exclamation of rage. ‘What the hell are you doing here? I sent them to get Tess!’

  She opened her eyes fully and got ready to use the knife the men had missed finding in her waistband. ‘Well, they kidnapped me instead.’

  ‘I don’t want you tonight. You’re too old.’ Then he shrugged. ‘But as you’re here, you’ll have to do.’

  ‘You’re a pervert!’ she yelled at him, trying to edge into a position to make a run for it. ‘Not a real man at all. A rotten creature who should be locked away from normal people for good.’

  Rage made his face even uglier and he raised one arm to strike her. ‘I’ll show you how much of a real man I am. If you’re the only one available, I’ll make do with you tonight.’

  She brought out the knife and slashed at him, managed to catch the arm that was reaching out to her, at the same time trying to get towards the door.

  But he caught her skirt and yanked her back.

  Outside Deemer let the two men who’d come out of the house move away from it, then signalled to his men to stop them.

  They were about to fight when they suddenly recognised the two uniforms. Hobbs groaned and stopped dead. ‘It’s the police.’

  ‘It’ll make things easier on you if you give yourself up,’ the sergeant said as the men hesitated. He unhooked the handcuffs from his belt and shook them suggestively.

  Hobbs sighed and held out his wrists.

  The other man tried to run away and ran into Piper’s fist instead.

  Deemer pointed to Larry. ‘You and Piper keep an eye on these two. If they make any noise, knock them senseless.’ He turned away and crept up to the nearest cottage window, in time to hear Rathley threatening Jo and trying to grab her. But she pulled a knife out of her waistband and slashed Rathley with it, buying a little time and heading for the door.

  Unfortunately the kitchen door was locked. The constable didn’t wait to be told but threw himself against it and the door burst open.

  As Deemer entered the cottage he yelled out, ‘Leave her alone,’ and Rathley whirled round with a shocked expression.

  Jo moved quickly across to stand near Deemer, shuddering and gulping.

  Rathley stilled as he saw who’d come in, then had the nerve to smile. ‘I’m so glad you got here, sergeant. I was just trying to rescue this young lady and was afraid her kidnappers would return.’

  ‘He’s not rescuing me; he’s the one who arranged to have Tess kidnapped, only his men captured me instead by mistake,’ Jo said loudly.

  Everyone was standing still, watching Rathley.

  Deemer scowled at him. ‘Don’t try your lies on me, Rathley. I heard your threats just now and so did my constable.’

  ‘You mistook what you heard.’

  ‘No. We didn’t. And there are two of us who heard you.’

  Just then another car drove up and braked hard in front of the cottage. They heard Nick’s voice yelling, ‘Keep your eye on him, Tess.’

  The front door was flung open and Nick pushed in past Larry, now standing in the hall.

  He paused briefly to scan the scene in the kitchen, sagging in obvious relief when he saw that Jo was all right.

  As she ran into his arms, he pulled her close, saying, ‘Can someone go and keep an eye on the man we captured on the way here, please sergeant? He’s in the car and Tess is holding him at knifepoint. She wants to ask Rathley a few questions about her mother’s death.’

  Nick glared at the older man, who looked down his nose at the lot of them and said scornfully, ‘You’ll not be able to prove anything, sergeant. I was not kidnapping this young lady. I was rescuing her from these villains. And who’d believe anything a whore’s daughter said?’

  Deemer jerked one thumb at his constable. ‘Go and keep an eye on the prisoner in the car and send the girl in. Nick will help me if Rathley tries to escape.’

  When Tess walked in, she had eyes only for Rathley and no one tried to stop her going towards him, knife still in her hand. ‘I’m sure you killed my mother because I saw you arrive that night before I escaped through the kitchen window. And Big Donny saw you, too.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I admit I visited your mother regularly, but she was alive when I left that night.’

  ‘Then why were your clothes covered in blood?’ Deemer asked.

  Rathley looked shocked, then said quickly, ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘We have the clothes. Evidence.’

  ‘You can’t have. I told them to burn—’ Rathley stopped, suddenly realising that he’d betrayed himself.

  ‘You might be richer than most criminals,’ Deemer said in great satisfaction, ‘but you’re just as stupid when cornered. Out of curiosity, why did you kill her?’

  ‘I didn’t. She pulled a knife on me and when I shoved her away, she fell on it.’

  Deemer blew out a puff of disbelief. ‘Was that the best story you could think of? No one is ever going to believe such a feeble tale.’

  ‘But it’s the truth .’ He looked at Tess. ‘You must know that your mother carried a knife.’

  She looked at him, a long slow look, then smiled and shook her head. ‘Mam didn’t approve of violence. She would never have carried a knife, let alone threatened to use it on a customer.’

  Rathley turned back to Deemer, saying frantically, ‘This girl is a liar. I told you the truth! Moira’s death was an accident. She fell on her own knife.’

  ‘Tell that to the jury. See if they believe it. I don’t.’ Deemer looked at the others. ‘We’ll take them all away and lock them up now. Will you see that the young ladies get home safely, Nick?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  Deemer called in the other men.

  ‘If you leave first, Nick, I can lock up and make sure nothing here is touched. Who knows what else we’ll find. In my experience perverts do like their toys. Perhaps there’s even something from that other young girl who went missing.’

  He had been watching Rathley and saw the fear leap into his face, saw him turn pale and start sweating. Knew there was something to find.

  ‘You’ll not get out of this,’ Deemer told him. ‘I’d not be surprised if they hang you for murder.’

  That thought gave him intense satisfaction. He’d like to see justice done to this rotten excuse for a human being.

  At the station, he woke Big Donny, who took one look at Rathley and cowered back.

  ‘He can’t hurt you,’ Deemer said gently. ‘We’re going to lock him up and let you out.’

  When that was done, Donny lingered. ‘He can’t get out, again, can he?’

  ‘No, he can’t.’

  ‘He won’t kill me like he did Moira?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I saw him. He killed her. There was a lot of blood. It was on his clothes. He killed my Moira.’

  Deemer nodded to his constable in great satisfaction. ‘Donny’s calmed down. If we can keep him calm, he’ll make an excellent witness. Take him into the house. My wife will look after him.’

  He turned to Rathley and smiled. ‘Another witness.’

  ‘You can’t take that idiot’s word against mine.’

  ‘I don’t think Donny is clever enough to lie. And as I said before, there are the bloodstained clothes.’

  ‘I want to see my lawyer.’

  ‘Oh, we can’t wake the poor man up in the middle of the night. We’ll call him after we’ve brought in the inspector and a magistrate. They’ll let you see your lawyer when you’re safely in prison.’

  ‘But it really was an accident.’

  Deemer rolled his eyes. ‘You can say that till the cows come home but no one’s ever going to believe you.’

  He closed the door on the area where the cell was and went out into the reception area. He felt tired but thoroughly satisfied with his night’s work.

  Murder should not go unpunished. And this one wouldn’t. The evidence was too
strong. Even if Rathley didn’t hang, he’d be locked up in prison for life. As he deserved.

  As for the men Rathley had employed, he’d find them tomorrow, if they were still in the valley. If he’d had more men, they’d be here in handcuffs now.

  Nick drove the two cousins back down the hill. ‘That’s done, then. You’re safe now, Tess.’

  ‘Yes. Thank you for all you’ve done.’ She hesitated then went on, ‘I still won’t be able to live in the valley, though, will I? No one will ever forget what my mother was.’

  ‘I’m afraid you’re right,’ Jo said sadly.

  ‘I’ll find somewhere else to live. Mam had some money saved and I know where she hid it, so I’ll be all right, Jo. You two mustn’t spoil your life for me. You don’t really want to go back to Australia, Jo, and Nick doesn’t want to leave his business.’

  ‘You’re too young to be left alone. Family look after one another. We can all go to Australia and make a new life. No one will know about your mother there.’

  Tess gave her a sad smile. ‘I don’t really want to go so far away.’

  ‘I don’t think you’ll have much choice,’ Jo told her gently. ‘People have long memories. But the final decision about where exactly to go is for another day.’

  ‘When Jo and I get married,’ Nick told the girl, ‘we’ll be a family wherever we are.’

  ‘But you’ve only just started that business,’ Tess protested. ‘I can’t ruin your lives.’

  ‘There is no choice,’ Jo repeated.

  ‘I can save up and start another business,’ Nick said. ‘The people you care about are more important than anything else.’

  They didn’t speak after that till they got back to the car yard, then Tess said she felt too exhausted to stay up any longer if they didn’t mind and went to bed. The other two sat quietly for a while.

  Jo yawned but wanted to tell him one thing. ‘You won’t have to wait and save up again, love, even if you can’t get your money back from what you’ve spent here. My father left me quite a lot of money, you see. There’s enough to set up a business in Perth and buy a house.’

  ‘I can’t take your money.’

  She reached out to put one finger across his lips and stop him talking. ‘Once we’re married, what’s mine will be yours and vice versa. The money isn’t important. As you said, it’s the people who count.’

  He looked at her, then kissed the finger and pulled her close. ‘Then it’s not going to be as bad as I thought.’

  ‘No.’

  Later she admitted to him, ‘I don’t really want to go back to Australia. I’ve met some lovely people here, but there you are. You can’t always have exactly what you want.’

  ‘Well, we both agree that Tess deserves a better life, my darling. We won’t be able to go anywhere until after the court case, and by then we’ll be married.’

  She yawned and he pulled her to her feet. ‘Go to bed now. I’ll check that everything’s locked up then follow you upstairs. Sleep well, my darling.’

  32

  A man got off the train in Rivenshaw two days later and made his way to the rooms of the lawyer who’d written to him.

  He was shown into Henry Lloyd’s office and hardly waited for polite greetings to be exchanged to ask, ‘Does she know?’

  ‘No. I thought you might like to tell her yourself, Mr Litten. When I got your telegram yesterday, saying you would be able to come, I told her I had her mother’s will and asked her to come and see me about it. Let my secretary get you a cup of tea while we wait for her.’

  At two o’clock promptly, they heard the outer door open and the voice of the secretary.

  The man looked at Henry. ‘I’m feeling rather nervous. She has no idea I even exist.’

  ‘No, none at all.’

  They stood up as someone tapped on the door and looked in.

  ‘Show them in, please, Miss Lawton.’

  Jo and Tess came into the room, followed by Nick.

  Henry moved forward, his attention mainly on Tess. ‘I’m so sorry about your mother, Miss Tayner. Come in and sit down and I’ll explain about her will and what she asked me to do if anything happened to her. She knew she was ill and wouldn’t have long to live, you see.’

  When they’d done that, he said, ‘I’d like to introduce you to Mr Litten, who is involved in your mother’s will. He has something important to tell you.’

  The stranger nodded and said in a deep voice, ‘I received a letter from your mother a couple of months ago, Tess. We’d known one another in London when we were both much younger. She told me she was dying, which grieved me deeply, but she also gave me some very good news—’ He broke off, looking suddenly nervous. ‘I believe it’s good news anyway and I hope you do, too – she told me that I had a daughter, that I’m your father.’

  Tess gasped and turned chalk white. ‘ My father! She always said you were dead.’

  ‘Your mother and I had a serious falling out and before we could resolve our differences, she left London. I don’t think she knew then that she was expecting our child. I came to the north to search for her, but she apparently went elsewhere for a few years before returning to Rivenshaw. And by then I’d given up searching, given up hoping, too.’

  Tess swallowed hard. ‘That’s what she meant.’

  They all waited, looking at her, waiting for her to explain.

  ‘She said if anything ever happened to her, I was to read a letter she’d left and do as she asked in it. I was going to look for her letter in our house in the same hiding place as she kept our savings, only I felt too exhausted to do anything yesterday.’

  ‘You seem sure the people who broke in won’t have found it,’ Nick commented.

  ‘I am. Sergeant Deemer would have noticed if they’d found the place. We always knew her way of earning a living could be dangerous, so we always kept enough money there to run away.’

  She paused and looked at him. ‘You don’t need to worry about me, Nick. I’ll be all right.’

  Mr Litten joined in again. ‘Now that I know I have a daughter, I’d like to look after her.’ He turned to Tess. ‘I want to get to know you. I’m very happy that you exist, but I’ve missed so much of your life, it breaks my heart. I wish Moira had told me. And … oh, I’m so glad I have a child.’ His voice broke and he covered his face for a few moments with one hand, trying to control his emotions.

  Tess could feel tears welling in her eyes, too, because it was clear he meant this. ‘Won’t your family mind you getting to know me?’

  ‘I have no one at all close to me. My wife died a few years ago. After one stillborn infant, we never managed to have any other children. It was always a sadness to both of us. I wanted to come to see you as soon as I got Moira’s letter, but she said she’d take you away and hide again if I tried. She didn’t want to see me ever again and I was to wait till she died. She was always very stubborn. And I’d hurt her greatly. I never told her I was already married, you see, when we met. I let her hope for too much because I was a coward, because I didn’t want to lose her.’

  ‘Oh.’ Tess turned to Jo, looking as if she didn’t know what to say next.

  ‘I’m Tess’s cousin,’ Jo explained. ‘I’m from Australia and I was going to take Tess there to live with me. She clearly can’t stay in the valley, not in a place where she’s known as Moira’s daughter.’

  He turned back to Tess. ‘You could come to me instead. I live in a small village in Wiltshire. We’d have to say you’re my goddaughter, and you’ve been orphaned, in order to keep everything respectable. I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to have you with me. But you will need to think about it, perhaps.’

  Tess clutched Jo’s arm and a few tears escaped her control and ran down her cheeks. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

  There was silence, then Jo said, ‘You don’t need to decide now. Is it all right if she takes a little time to get to know you, Mr Litten?’

  ‘She can take as much time as she need
s.’ He turned back to his daughter. ‘But Tess, I really would love to have a daughter to care for and love. I get very lonely and don’t feel like getting married again.’

  ‘You can stay with me for a while, Litten,’ Henry offered. ‘Spend time with Tess. Go for walks. Talk.’

  Jo had been studying Tess’s father. She liked the looks of him, but thought he looked very sad beneath it all.

  She wouldn’t push Tess into anything, but perhaps, if everything went well, she and Nick need not give up their lives here.

  Tess stood up. ‘I don’t want to sound rude or ungrateful, but so much has happened, Mr Litten. I can’t take it all in, somehow, can’t take a decision that important yet. I need some quiet time to think. And I need to read my mother’s letter. She and I were very close, because we had no one else.’

  He inclined his head. ‘But perhaps you could spend time with me each day. If we get to know one another, perhaps it will help you to decide what you want to do.’

  She nodded and let Mr Lloyd show them out. At the front door of his rooms, he said, ‘I like the looks of Litten, Tess, if that’s any help. And he came here straight away when I let him know your mother had died. And don’t worry about your house. I can sell it for you.’

  When they got outside, Tess looked pleadingly at Jo and Nick. ‘I need to go home now, to my own home, and find Mam’s letter. Everything’s tangled up in my mind.’

  ‘We’ll go there straight away,’ Nick said. ‘But we daren’t leave you alone.’

  ‘Not even if I had Donny with me?’

  ‘I’m afraid not. He’s strong but not clever enough to think quickly.’

  She looked at him. ‘You hadn’t intended to go to Australia until Tess found me, had you? You’d saved up for years to open your driving school. I’ve heard you and Jo talking about it.’

  He shrugged. ‘I can start another one in Australia, I’m sure, now I know Jo has some money. So don’t let that influence you. Do what your heart tells you.’

  ‘I did like him. He seemed gentle and kind.’

  ‘Well, get to know him a little better before you decide. But it might be the best solution of all for you.’