‘What’s this Rufus Carlyle like?’ I asked her.
‘I don’t really know. He’s always called at dusk, like a vampire. A bit brusque, deepish voice, quite tall, late thirties.’
‘Fliss must have had her fling with Baz a couple of years before he and I became an item, if Rufus is his,’ Debo said. ‘I wouldn’t have looked at him if I’d known she’d got there first.’
‘According to that newspaper article, it was only a brief encounter in a storage cupboard at a well-known restaurant,’ Judy said.
‘She certainly put it about a bit,’ Debo said disparagingly.
‘So did you,’ pointed out her friend with brutal honesty.
‘I had relationships – one at a time – and I was fond of them all,’ Debo said indignantly. ‘I still am and they’re all still good friends. That’s what makes Baz’s betrayal over the will so much worse – and I don’t think I could bear it if Fliss moved in to Sweetwell, too.’
‘Oh, I shouldn’t think she will. I’m sure she has her own place in London and that must be much more her scene. In fact, she said Halfhidden was Hicksville and she couldn’t imagine how we could stand living here,’ Judy said.
‘Good, because I’d have to kill her if she did move in. Where could we hide the body?’
‘We’d think of somewhere,’ Judy said.
Debo sighed and said gloomily, ‘I don’t think any son of Fliss Gambol can possibly be nice. And moving my sign without asking, then complaining about the kennels just shows you what he’s going to be like.’
‘I expect Dan Clew has been poisoning his mind against us,’ Judy said, turning to me. ‘That man’s been all bitterness and bile since he made that heavy pass at Debo and she turned him down in no uncertain terms.’
‘As if!’ Debo said scathingly.
‘After the accident, he took against me, too,’ I said. ‘Remember how he told me when I got back from Daisy’s not to try to contact Simon, when the thought hadn’t even entered my head?’
‘He got the wrong end of the stick,’ Debo said. ‘It was Simon who tried to contact you when you were still in hospital, but you weren’t well enough at the time. And then afterwards, Dan sent him to stay with his sister in Durham till his college term started.’
‘You never mentioned that before,’ I said, staring at her. ‘I wonder what he wanted to see me about.’
‘I think he blamed himself for not realising his drink had been spiked that night, but of course it wasn’t his fault,’ Judy said. ‘He was distraught after the accident, so I suppose you can’t really blame Dan for trying to protect his son, in his own misguided way.’
‘Simon was always a nice boy, so his mother must have been lovely, because he can’t have got his good nature from Dan,’ Debo said.
‘Is Dan still going round with a shotgun under his arm, pretending he’s the estate manager?’ I asked.
‘Yes, darling,’ Debo said, ‘but don’t worry because it’s unloaded. He knew Baz would have sacked him instantly if he attempted to shoot even a rabbit on his land, because he was only easy-going up to a point.’
‘Dan’s a horrible man,’ I said, taking another slice of cake. There is something perfect about the union of coffee icing and walnut halves …
Debo suddenly sat up straighter. ‘What if this Rufus isn’t like Baz and thinks Dan ought to shoot any loose dogs running round on his property?’
Judy thought about it. ‘Oh, I don’t think so. He seemed all right really.’
‘Maybe it would be an idea to invite him to tea and try to win him over to our side?’ suggested Debo cunningly.
‘Good idea! I can stuff him full of fairy cakes to sweeten him up, and you can exert your charms on him,’ agreed Judy. ‘He must have some of Baz’s genes, so it might just work.’
‘True, and I expect once we’ve had a chance to explain what we’re doing, he’ll understand how vital it is to rescue these poor dogs,’ agreed Debo, brightening up in her usual mercurial way. ‘Maybe he’ll even help support our work.’
‘I think we’d better get to know him a little before suggesting anything like that,’ Judy cautioned her. ‘And there are bound to be some changes. Tom’s worried that he’ll want to alter the way things have always been at the Lady Spring.’
‘We’ll just have to wait and see,’ I said. ‘Meanwhile, you said you had a huge financial crisis, Debo.’
‘We certainly do,’ Judy said grimly. ‘I’ve only just found out the half of it.’
‘The thing is, that when Baz promised to leave me the Lodge, I sort of borrowed some money against it,’ Debo confessed. ‘It was when I had that enormous vet’s bill for Benjy, though we had to try the operation, and then afterwards the pills cost hundreds a month … And in the end the poor old boy died, though we had a lovely few extra months with him.’
‘I don’t think borrowing against a house that wasn’t actually yours was a good idea,’ I said with restraint.
‘I know, but I’d got behind with Sandy’s wages and then the suppliers said they wouldn’t send me any more dog food until I’d paid the bill in full for the last lot …’
‘And now we keep getting final demands from the electricity company, plus we ran out of oil for the central heating in February,’ put in Judy.
‘I thought you’d turned if off a bit early this year!’
‘Luckily it’s been quite warm, except in the evenings,’ Judy said.
‘I managed to get a couple of donations from friends to tide us over, but I suppose I am in a bit of a hole,’ Debo admitted.
‘You can say that again,’ I said. ‘How much do you need?’
I whistled when she told me. ‘It’s just as well I’m going to be around from now on and I’ll bail you out with what remains of the money my father left me. It should clear the major outstanding debts, at least. That’s a start.’
‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Judy said firmly. ‘Debo’s made sure your money was safe all these years, to give you something to start you off when you settled down.’
‘That’s right. I’ll just have to squeeze my friends a bit harder and maybe take more work when it’s offered, even if I do hate going away so much,’ Debo said. ‘That legacy was for you, to start your own business, or buy a place of your own. Didn’t you tell me that Kieran wanted you to use it as a deposit on your first home together?’
‘That was never going to happen and I’ve told him so. We’ve had a few arguments lately and … well, I’ve made up my mind that I’m staying here, in Halfhidden,’ I told them. ‘I’ve already bought the first stock and I can start my business in a small way in the studio and then, when it takes off, buy a place of my own. So you see, I don’t need the rest of that money.’
‘But … what about Kieran? I mean, you were going to get married and although I know you didn’t take to his parents—’ Judy began.
‘Understatement of the year,’ I said, and then told them what had brought me home earlier than expected, and my resolution to face the past and forge a new future here in Halfhidden.
‘That Douglas man sounds like a complete tosser,’ Debo said critically. ‘And as to Kieran’s mother – well, Judy and I were planning the sweetest little economy wedding in the Halfhidden church, with a tent on the Green for the reception. I know a sheep farmer with a big marquee who would lend it to us for the day. He uses it to put his in-lamb ewes in when the weather’s cold and wet.’
‘That was exactly what I wanted and I’ve already made my own wedding dress,’ I agreed.
‘It could still happen because you might feel differently when Kieran turns up on the doorstep,’ Judy said thoughtfully. ‘Once he’s seen sense, that is.’
‘If he sees sense, and I’m not convinced he ever will. But one thing I am certain of is that I’m home for good, so even if we did have a future together, he’d be the one making the concessions and moving up here.’
‘Attagirl,’ Debo said. ‘All those years of negotiating with stubborn village
elders and minor officials has given you a bit of attitude!’
‘And I want you to have the money, Debo – think of it as a loan.’
‘A loan I’d probably never be able to pay back,’ she said honestly.
‘Oh, I don’t know. Just think how much they paid you for that cameo part in a blockbuster film a couple of years ago! That would have practically been enough on its own. But I do have one or two conditions for lending you the money …’
‘Conditions?’ Debo echoed, her large grey eyes widening.
‘Yes. I know that Judy runs the household affairs and pays those bills, and I don’t want to mess with that – though I’d like to know where she gets the money from,’ I added, the thought only just occurring to me.
‘Oh, Debo puts a bit into the joint household account whenever she earns anything,’ Judy said. ‘We’ve got to try and keep a roof over our heads and eat, after all. But I’ve got a small income and my pension too, though it never seems to go far enough.’
‘You shouldn’t have to put all your own money in! Wasn’t Debo paying you a wage at one time?’ I asked.
Judy shrugged. ‘At first, when you were a baby and I looked after you full time, but later … well, I live here too, so it was share and share alike.’
‘But if anything happens to Debo, you won’t even have a roof over your head now, have you thought of that?’
‘I hadn’t!’ Debo exclaimed. ‘How awful of me! Judy darling, we should be paying into a pension for you, or something, just in case!’
‘Too late, and in any case, you’re the thin, rangy sort who’ll live for ever, while by now my heart is probably totally encased in fat,’ Judy said. ‘Anyway, leaving aside the household expenses, what are your conditions, Izzy?’
‘That I take over the kennels paperwork,’ I said. ‘The office looks as if someone removed the ceiling and tipped in a lorry-load of scrap paper. I know the only thing Debo’s kept in order are the dogs’ records, and those are out in the shed, so that’s probably partly Sandy’s doing.’
‘She does keep them updated and runs a tidy shed,’ Judy agreed.
Sandy Lane, a local farmer’s daughter, was by nature taciturn and solitary, apart from the dogs, and liked to eat her lunch, drink her tea and do her paperwork in a converted shed, where she had a comfy chair, radio, table and smelly paraffin stove.
It was there, when they did manage to rehome a dog, that she made the new owner pay a small fee and buy a suitable collar and lead before letting them leave.
‘I don’t mind in the least if you want to take the office side over, because it’s a nightmare – I mean, I’m a charity,’ Debo said, as if that excused her from any form of paperwork. ‘I shove all the receipts into a box and once a year the accountant comes here and sifts through them, but he says he despairs of me.’
‘I’m not surprised. If ever the taxman decides to do a complete inspection of the books, they’ll wipe the floor with you.’
‘Is that it – you just want to help me with the paperwork?’ asked Debo.
‘Pretty much. I think we need to find better ways of ordering things and making ends meet, but I’ll work on it. And you have to admit you have way too many dogs!’
‘I don’t like to turn them down,’ she said sheepishly.
‘I know, but some of them are not desperate dogs at all, they just need rehoming, so you could pass those on to larger rescue places where they can find new owners more easily.’
‘Sandy and I have both told her that,’ Judy said. ‘We have contacts who could help, and they could always return the dogs if they can’t rehome them.’
‘I suppose you’re right,’ Debo conceded reluctantly.
‘If we do end up having to remove all the kennels outside the garden boundary, it’s going to be the only way we can carry on,’ Judy pointed out.
‘Well, think about it while I deal with the financial crisis and get things back on an even keel,’ I suggested.
‘I still don’t think you should rush into giving us your money, Izzy. You’ve had a shock and you’ve been working so hard,’ Judy said. ‘You need to rest and recover before you make a big decision like that.’
‘No, go with your heart,’ Debo urged me. ‘Not about the money, but about where you want to live and work.’
‘I’ve already made my mind up about all of those,’ I said, ‘and what’s more, now I’m back for good, I also intend facing up to my past head-on.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Judy.
‘That I’m on a mission to talk to everyone closely involved in the accident that killed Harry, so I can get as true a picture as possible of what happened that night. I should have done it years ago, because I’m sure when I have I’ll really be able to put it behind me at last.’
They exchanged worried glances.
‘I’m not sure that’s the best idea. It was so long ago, everyone has forgotten about it,’ Judy said.
‘But I don’t think they have, they just don’t talk about it. Even you two have never really discussed what happened with me, but now you’re going to have to.’
‘Well … we will if you really want us to,’ Judy said, and Debo reluctantly agreed.
‘I don’t think you should rake it all up again, but if you’re determined to do it, then we’ll help you, of course.’
‘We don’t even like to think of it,’ Judy said. ‘At one point we really thought we’d lost you, when the line on the monitor went flat …’
‘I expect that was while I was in Heaven, before I had to come back,’ I said. ‘I know neither of you really believe that I went there, but it was totally real – and anyway, if it wasn’t, then how did I know that Harry and Patch were both dead?’
‘That was odd,’ Debo admitted. ‘But the nurses might have talked about the accident and we may have mentioned Patch, so your subconscious probably absorbed the information.’
I gave up on that tack. ‘Apart from the visit to Heaven, the last thing I remember before waking in hospital was being in the car park on my way home from the pub and telling Harry I couldn’t go to the party with him and the others. There’s a huge blank to fill in, so I’d really appreciate any help you can give me.’
And they did answer my questions about that night, though of course by the time they’d arrived on the scene of the accident, everyone except Harry was out of the car and the ambulance was on its way.
It obviously upset them to remember it, but I also had the oddest impression that Judy was holding something back …
After that, I went upstairs to unpack my things, and then into my studio for a while. Whenever I’d returned I’d always been grateful that it hadn’t been turned into emergency kennelling but was always just as I’d left it, with my old sketchbooks, rolls of fabric and drawers of odds and ends awaiting me.
It felt comforting, even with the niggling worry about whether this unknown son of Baz’s would change things – or, worse still, that his mother would turn up again and start interfering, though from the sound of it she hadn’t found the quiet backwater of Halfhidden to her liking.
But I certainly did, and as the car had headed up the hill on my way home, I’d felt sure I was following my true destiny once again.
Now, that certainty folded softly round me with the downy warmth of angel’s wings.
Chapter 5: Hounded
‘Shut up, Cara – I want Izzy,’ Harry snapped, before turning back to me with the smile that always made my heart beat faster.
‘Dad’s away, so all our college friends are coming over to Sweetwell for a party. Come with us?’
After dinner everything suddenly caught up with me – the whistle-stop visit to the two workshops in India that were making the clothes for my new business, the increasingly acrimonious arguments with Kieran, the long flight home, and then Douglas’s accident. It wasn’t surprising that exhaustion hit me like an express train. When Judy ordered me off to bed, I slept right through until almost lunchtime next day.
The source of the Spring lay in a little cave set back in the rocky outcrop above it and then the water fell into what was once a natural pool. According to old Jonas Tamblyn, who wrote the pamphlet about the local legends that they sold in the entrance hut, it was for centuries a pagan site, and various objects have been found nearby, or washed into the lower pool, including a very pregnant clay figurine. I expect that’s where the local belief that the water is good for fertility came from.
It had always been called the Lady Spring, though the identity of the Lady in question has changed with the centuries, as the old pagan goddess was first absorbed into a Roman deity, and then later became identified with the Virgin Mary and Christianity. It was no wonder the clearing around it always felt heavy with history.
I jumped out of bed, put on jeans and one of the vintage Indian cotton tops from my extensive collection, on which I’d modelled some of my new range, and went down to find Judy already laying the kitchen table for lunch. There was a heavy, sullen-looking loaf of bread cooling on a wire rack. It was odd how brilliant she was at baking almost anything but bread …
‘There you are,’ she said. ‘We thought we’d let you have your sleep out and then you’d feel all caught up and yourself again.’
‘It worked, because I do, and I’m ravenous. Has anyone rung me?’
I’d already checked my mobile and there were no messages from Kieran, though of course he might still have been asleep.
Creature Comforts Page 5
