A Vow Of Silence

by Veronica Black

  No need to ask for what, Sister Joan thought. For a sick and twisted chance of revenge, offered him by an unbalanced woman and her little group of hero-worshippers.

  ‘You were the Gabriel,’ she said.

  ‘I was so damned convincing that I almost believed it myself,’ he said. ‘They were wittering on about a second Holy Child and a new Madonna and all I knew was that there was one virgin less in a convent.’

  ‘Did you know that Sister Magdalen was pregnant when she died?’

  Her question had struck home. He stared at her.

  ‘They told me she left,’ he said slowly. ‘Now there are tales going around of a nun being found dead. Nobody mentioned—’

  ‘It isn’t something that’s going to be broadcast,’ she told him. ‘They didn’t tell you then. After you had your sick pleasure she miscarried of your child. Maybe Reverend Mother Ann hesitated about telling you in case you decided not to carry on with what she wanted. That novice you crept in to see died, Mr Tarquin. She had nothing to do with the death of your wife and your unborn child. She was just a romantic girl, trapped by her vow of obedience into going along with what the Prioress wanted. And she miscarried and died. And you have to go on living with that.’

  ‘You think I won’t find some way to forget?’ His smile was defiant.

  ‘Nobody,’ said Sister Joan out of the hardness within her, ‘cares much what you do. The game’s over and nobody won.’

  For an instant he raised his hand and she gripped Lilith’s rein more tightly, fearing he intended to pull her down, but his hand dropped again to his side and he flung himself behind the wheel of his car and drove off as if the devils of hell chattered in his ear. She wished she could feel pity for him but there was nothing within her but a sick and weary thankfulness that it was over.

  The following week the school would reopen after the unexpected holiday and she and Sister David would divide the teaching between them. The election of the new prioress would be over, and—

  Musing she trotted slowly back down the broad track, concentrating upon the flowers that carpeted the moor, laying aside the image of a vengeful man chased by his private demons, a nun babbling of second Comings, a novice laid in earth.

  ‘Have you taken Lilith for a ride?’

  Sister Perpetua always stated the obvious. She stood now at the gates, her reddish brows knitting together furiously, blossom in her hands.

  ‘For the chapel?’ Sister Joan dismounted, looping the reins over her arm.

  ‘Sister Katherine is to share the duties of sacristan with me for the time being. I always thought it one of the nicest jobs in the convent,’ Sister Perpetua said. ‘I have a feeling that everything is going to be very different from now on, more like my old convent.’

  ‘Shall I come with you to the chapel, Sister? I’ve some praying to do on my own account,’ Sister Joan said.

  For a man who wasn’t really like Jacob at all, and an old nun who had seen more than she had had strength to tell, and a young couple making their way north. For them in particular.

  ‘The rain’s stopped,’ she said. ‘Summer’s on the way. Isn’t that grand?’

  THE END

  ALSO BY VERONICA BLACK

  SISTER JOAN MYSTERY SERIES

  Book 1: A Vow of Silence

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  GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH SLANG FOR US READERS

  A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital

  Aggro: Violent behaviour,
aggression

  Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets

  Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers

  Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)

  Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings

  A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18

  Auld Reekie: Edinburgh

  Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.

  Barm: bread roll

  Barney: argument

  Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids

  Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle

  Benefits: social security

  Bent: corrupt

  Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)

  Biscuit: cookie

  Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town

  Bloke: guy

  Blow: cocaine

  Blower: telephone

  Blues and twos: emergency vehicles

  Bob: money

  Bobby: policeman

  Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)

  Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead

  Bun: small cake

  Bunk: do a bunk means escape

  Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant

  Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit

  Charity Shop: thrift store

  Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket

  Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for

  Car park: parking lot

  CBeebies: kids TV

  Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments

  Chemist: pharmacy

  Chinwag: conversation

  Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food

  Chips: French fries but thicker

  CID: Criminal Investigation Department

  Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)

  Clock: punch

  Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake

  Cockney: a native of East London

  Common: an area of park land/ or lower class

  Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school

  Cop hold of: grab

  Copper: police officer

  Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit

  CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward

  Childminder: someone who looks after children for money

  Council: local government

  Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic

  DC: detective constable

  Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block

  Deck: hit (verb)

  Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character

  DI: detective inspector

  Digestive biscuit: plain cookie

  Digs: student lodgings

  Do a runner: disappear

  Do one: go away

  Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole

  Donkey’s years: long time

  Drum: house

  DS: detective sergeant

  ED: accident and emergency department of hospital

  Eagle: boys’ comic

  Early dart: to leave work early

  Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg

  Enforcer: police battering ram

  Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)

  Estate agent: realtor (US)

  Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982

  Fag: cigarette

  Father Christmas: Santa Claus

  Filth: police (insulting)

  Forces: army, navy, and air force

  FMO: force medical officer

  Fried slice: fried bread

  Fuzz: police

  Garda: Irish police

  Gendarmerie: French national police force

  Geordie: from Newcastle

  Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold

  Gob: mouth/ can also mean phlegm or spit

  GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community

  Graft: hard work

  Gran: grandmother

  Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s

  Hard nut: tough person

  HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck

  HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents

  Home: care home for elderly or sick people

  Hoover: vacuum cleaner

  I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise

  Inne: isn’t he

  Interpol: international police organisation

  Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services

  Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman

  ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital

  Jane Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous

  JCB: a mechanical excavator

  Jerry-built: badly made

  Jungle: nickname given to migrant camp near Calais

  Lad: young man

  Lass: young woman

  Lift: elevator

  Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.

  Lorry: a truck

  Lovely jubbly: said when someone is pleased

  Luftwaffe: German air force

  M&S: Marks and Spencer, a food and clothes shop

  Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie

  MOD: ministry of defence

  Mobile phone: cell phone

  MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area

  MRSA: A strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

  Myra Hindley: famous British serial killer

  Naff: lame, not good

  Naff all: none

  National Service: compulsory UK military service, ended in 60s

  Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain

  NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK

  Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)

  Nowt: nothing

  Nutter: insane person

  Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)

  Old bag: old woman (insulting)

  Old Bill: police

  OTT: over the top

  Owt: anything

  Pants: noun: underwear adjective: bad/rubbish/terrible

  Para: paratrooper

  Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance

  PC: police constable

  Pear-shaped: go wrong

  Petrol: gasoline

  Pictures: movie

  Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence

  Pillock: fool

  Pips: police insignia indicating rank

  Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.

  Pissing down: raining

  Playing field: sports field

  Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)

  Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.

  Post: mail

  Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property

  PNC: police national computer

  PSNI: police service of Northern Ireland

  Prat: silly idiot

  Premier League: top English soccer division

  Proms: concerts held at the Albert Hall

  Public Analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes

  RAF: Royal Air Force

  Rag: newspaper

  Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window

  Randy: horny

  Recce: reconnaissance

  Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter

  Resus: resuscitation room

  Righ
t state: messy

  Ring: telephone (verb)

  Roadworks: repairs done to roads

  Rozzers: police

  RSPB: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

  RTC: road traffic collision

  RV: rendezvous point

  Royal Engineers: British army corps dealing with military engineering etc.

  Rugger: rugby (posh American football)

  Sarge: sergeant

  SCO19: Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command

  Scrote: low life

  Section: to have someone committed to a mental hospital under UK mental health laws

  Semi: Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only

  Shedload: a large amount

  Shop: store

  Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way

  Sickie: day off work pretending to be ill

  Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years.

  SIO: senior investigating officer

  Skell: tramp or homeless person

  Skip: a large open container used for building waste

  Slapper: slag

  Smackhead: heroin addict

  Snout: police informer

  SOCO: scene-of-crime officer

  Sod: an annoying person

  Sort: to do or make

  Solicitor: lawyer

  Sparky: electrician

  Spook: spy