On the third landing, Ellie had to catch Rose as she was about to fall.
‘Just a bit faint. Be all right in a moment. Can’t think what’s the matter with me.’
Ellie held Rose up, wondering if it would be possible to knock on the door of another flat and ask for protection. Decided she couldn’t risk it. Everyone here seemed to live in fear of the gang, and the people in the flats would probably send for the gang and not the police.
She prayed a bit. And then a bit more. Lord, help us, we’re worn out and in pain and can’t do this in our own strength. She realized she was still wearing wellington boots, which were hampering her own movements. She slid them off and put on her own shoes.
Ellie’ s ears stretched, expecting at any minute that someone would see them on that brightly lit staircase, and call up the gang.
‘All right now,’ sighed Rose. ‘I keep thinking of dear Miss Quicke. How on earth is she managing without me?’
‘She’s dead worried about you. Can’t get Channel Five without you fiddling with the set.’
‘You should get a new set. We saw some splendid ones the other day.’ Rose was being very brave, but her voice faded out on her.
Ellie had to almost carry her down the next flight of steps. Another rest. Ellie looked at her watch. Aunt Drusilla must be getting herself off to bed now. Roy might be having a last drink at the bar. Armand and Kate would be chasing one another round the bedroom.
They stumbled down the last flight of stairs. Rose’s eye was completely shut and tears were running down her cheeks.
‘Where are we?’ Ellie asked. ‘Is this the back entrance? Is there a public phone box nearby? No, silly question. Of course there isn’t. Or if there is, it’ll be out of order. Rose, don’t give up yet. Which way to the nearest road?’ They were in the brightly lit foyer of the staircase. Anyone passing by would be able to see them clearly, but they could hardly see what was happening outside in the darkness.
Was there anywhere they could go which would take them out of that bright light?
Rose slipped down the wall. ‘Just … rest … a bit.’
‘Not here, Rose! It’s too dangerous! Look, there’s a car coming. Perhaps if I flag it down, the driver might help us.’
Or not. Anyone driving a car into this part of the estate must live here and therefore acknowledge the supremacy of the gang.
One car, two cars … the driving rain made it difficult to see, but why was there a procession of cars driving around the block? Four … six cars?
Six cars in a row? There was nobody else in sight. No gang. No ordinary people going about their business. It was a foul night.
Could they be hunting for Ellie and Rose? No, because the gang didn’t know they’d escaped yet, did they? And would those teenaged lads be able to rustle up so many cars?
The leading car was disappearing out of sight, but the last car was lagging behind. The rain was blinding, but Ellie thought she could see the driver peering out, looking for something … someone …
The last car stopped and the driver leaned on the horn. The car reversed. The driver wound down his window. Someone shouted out to them.
‘Mrs Quicke! Here!’
Ellie knew that voice. She knelt down beside Rose and tried to pull her upright. ‘Rose dear, it’s that nice man from the minicab firm. Come along, we’ll soon have you safely wrapped up in bed.’
The other cars were returning, circling around. Armand got out of the first car, followed by another minicab driver. Together they swooped on Ellie and Rose, and lifted them into the last minicab.
‘About time, too,’ said Aunt Drusilla, ensconced in the back. Hatted and gloved, Aunt Drusilla was wearing her most imposing tweed coat, and had her neatly furled umbrella with her. ‘We’ve been round and round seven times, looking for some clue as to where you might be. Even then it took an old woman like me to spot you! Driver, dial nine–nine–nine!’
Aunt Drusilla explained how she’d organized the rescue party as soon as they’d got off the estate and could phone for the police and an ambulance. Armand and Kate had not believed the gang when they’d been told that Rose was ill and Ellie staying to take care of her. Only when the gang had started to rock their car did they realize they had to drive away for their own safety. As soon as they were off the estate they phoned Ellie’s home number and managed to convince Aunt Drusilla that Ellie and Rose were in danger.
Aunt Drusilla had heard enough about the gang from Rose to realize that it was not a good idea to go down there without back-up – and in any case, would the police believe her story? Especially after they’d arrested Diana.
Not to be defeated, Aunt Drusilla mobilized her troops. Roy was summoned by mobile phone from the golf club. Aunt Drusilla knew which minicab firm Ellie used – the number was in Ellie’s phone book, so she called them for help. Every single minicab driver not already out on a call was summoned to join in the manhunt. Only, no one knew precisely where Ellie had gone. Armand and Kate had left Ellie in front of the block in which Mo Tucker had lived, but Kate said that wasn’t where Rose lived. So they’d all driven slowly round and round the three tower blocks till Aunt Drusilla had spotted Ellie and Rose at the bottom of the emergency stairs.
The police and the ambulance dead-heated. Rose was taken off to hospital, with Aunt Drusilla at her side. Only then did the other minicab drivers return to their usual duties. Ellie told her story, showing the police the red rubber feet which she still had in her pocket. When she led them up to Rose’s flat, the wires were still in place to prove her story … the vandalism inside did the rest.
It rained on and off for the next fortnight and then when the hour went forward, the rain turned to April showers. The hours of daylight grew longer, and you could get out for a brisk walk if you took an umbrella with you.
Ellie took a turn round the park and came back via the church to see if it might be open. Tum-Tum was sometimes to be found, pottering around there before Evensong.
He was sitting on his favourite seat outside, hands clasped across capacious stomach, appreciating the scent coming from a bed of darkred wallflowers nearby.
‘Do you want to borrow the key again?’ She smiled and sat down beside him. ‘What it is to have time to sit and stare.’
‘I don’t believe in rushing. Bad for the digestion. Got the house to yourself again at last?’
‘Aunt Drusilla and Rose went off on a fortnight’s cruise round the Mediterranean today. It seems very quiet without them. They did ask if I wanted to go with them, but our old friend Gilbert is hosting a cruise round the Bible lands in a couple of month’s time and I said I’d go on that.’
‘Have a banana? No? Are the baddies all safely rounded up?’
‘Some on bail, some locked up. Tracy and Jase are being held on remand. Tracy’s boy’s been taken into care. A bad start in life and not much of a future, I’d say. The rest of the gang will probably just get their knuckles rapped.’
‘Too young to know what they were doing?’
‘So they say.’
Tum-Tum resettled himself on the bench so that he could see her face. ‘And your daughter?’
Ellie shrugged. ‘She’s keeping her distance at the moment, and I’m not sorry that it should be so. As soon as she was released she moved back in with Derek Jolley and sees her son at weekends. She’s busy redecorating a large house she’s bought – ripping out all the old fireplaces, cornices, ceiling roses – all the original features. She says she’s aiming for the young-professionals market. Perhaps she’s right.’
‘And how do you feel about her now?’
‘A mixture. Sometimes I feel so cross about her selfishness that I could shake her. At other times I just ache for her, because I can’t see much happiness for her in the life she’s chosen. I do realize that she doesn’t think of leaving Stewart as being wrong, but I still do, and that makes it difficult to talk to her about it. Children! When you bring them into the world, you have such dreams for them �
�� and then they go their own way and you can’t stop them making mistakes, can you?’
‘What about your son-in-law Stewart? Has he moved in with his girlfriend?’
‘No. He’s scared to step out of line, in case the courts take Frank away from him when the divorce comes up. He sees a lot of Maria. I don’t know what to hope for in that direction, and that’s the truth.’
‘So you’re at a loose end?’
‘Not exactly. Roy – my architect cousin – is drawing up the plans for the conversion of Aunt Drusilla’s garage into two flats, and her old servants’ quarters into a separate unit. It’ll be like a small house. Rose can take her pick when they’re finished. One of the units is to be let to a friendly soul who can help them out in the house – Maria says she knows just the right person. The conversions are a lot of work. New plumbing, wiring, everything. Then redecoration, keeping the old features, of course. It won’t be finished by the time they return from their cruise, but Aunt Drusilla has agreed to move into one of her riverside flats till it’s done.’
‘I heard you were doing battle with the local Housing Association for someone?’
Ellie smiled.‘For Norm and old Mr Tucker.They really do need a groundfloor flat and he needs a new wheelchair. They’re entitled to it, but neither of them is much good at dealing with authority and forms, so I said I’d help them out. Mr Tucker’s looking forward to getting down the pub again, once he’s got his new wheelchair.’
‘I hear they’re running a book on which of your suitors you’ll take on a trip down the aisle.’
‘Absurd!’ said Ellie, going pink. ‘Silly gossip. I’ve got far more serious things to worry about than that. Something’s been eating my geraniums for a start, my guttering’s not been mended, and the loo still doesn’t flush properly.’
‘Ah. There’s always something, isn’t there? Have a banana?’
Clerical Crime Titles From Ostara Publishing C A Alington: Archdeacons Afloat 9781906288 068 Victor Whitechurch: Crime at Diana’s Pool 9781906288 051 D M Greenwood: Clerical Errors 9781906288099 D M Greenwood: Unholy Ghosts 9781906288 105 D M Greenwood: Idol Bones 9781906288242
D M Greenwood: Holy Terrors 9781906288236
Veronica Heley: Murder by Suicide 9781906288 143 Veronica Heley: Murder at the Altar 9781906288 136 Veronica Heley: Murder of Innocence 9781906288 327 Veronica Heley: Murder by Accident 9781906288 334 Kate Charles: Drink Deadly Wine 9781906288 112 Kate Charles: Snares of Death 9781906288 129 Kate Charles: Appointed to Die 9781906288259 Kate Charles: Dead Man Out of Mind 9781906288 266 Kate Charles: Evil Angels Among Them 9781906288273
All Ostara titles can be ordered from our website www.ostarapublishing.co.uk or from your local bookshop All titles also available from
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Murder By Accident Page 28
