by Anna Jacobs
Chapter Eighteen
Eunice arrived in Brighton, deeply worried about what she had to do. The older Carlings lived in a suite at the Brighton Rathleigh and she was shown straight up to it.
To her dismay she found Dennis Carling visiting his parents.
He stood up and gave her a dirty look, not even having the common politeness to suggest that she sit down.
‘Perhaps it’s as well you came, Mrs Tolson. We need to do something about the vicious attack on Mr Judson.’
She was startled by this and had to catch her breath before she could respond. ‘It’s the other way round: it was he who attacked a young woman.’
‘He told me about her claim. They always say that. It’s only her word against his. I’m afraid she’s taking you for a fool.’
Maurice Carling cleared his throat. ‘Just a minute, Dennis. You’ve only heard one side of the story, and that was on the telephone, not face to face. And what a way to greet a visitor, who’s also an old friend. My dear Eunice, do please sit down. May we order some tea for you?’
‘I’d rather settle this matter first, if you don’t mind, Maurice.’ She looked at him and his wife. ‘Have you ever known me lie to you?’
It was Lois Carling who answered that without hesitation. ‘Never. Nor are you a fool.’ She frowned at her son when he started to speak and he snapped his mouth shut.
‘There was a witness to what happened,’ Eunice said. ‘Judson didn’t know about that when he concocted his tale. Unfortunately, the witness was too frightened of him to intervene.’ She explained what had really happened.
Dennis sat frowning. ‘It’s still the young woman’s word against that of a man I know and respect. And I gather she was rather lax in morals.’
‘She was not! She was a quiet and hard-working young woman.’
‘She had you fooled there. She was leading Mr Judson on all the time.’
‘He’s lying. I’ve known him for several years, have worked with him before, and he’s annoyed other young women during that time. I’ve had to speak to him about it more than once. Some of them even left our employment because they were frightened of him.’
‘That’s a very serious allegation, Mrs Tolson. Are you quite sure of this?’
‘I’d stake my life on it being true.’
He was speechless for a moment.
‘Is the young woman all right?’ Lois asked. ‘Do we need to help her?’
‘She’s all right, though her face is somewhat battered from where Judson beat her.’ Eunice found the next lie came more easily than she’d expected. ‘She’s terrified of him, though, so I helped her escape to France, where she has a friend.’
‘France?’ Lois looked at her in shock.
‘I was afraid Judson would go after her. After all, his job is at stake … surely?’
‘He can hardly go after anyone at the moment,’ Dennis said. ‘His injured eye needs attention. That’s why he telephoned me from the hospital to ask my help. And, I might add, what sort of woman slashes a man’s face with a piece of broken glass? That’s not a sign of respectability.’
‘On the contrary. Irene had no other weapon and was in danger of being raped. I’d have done the same myself.’ She saw Lois suck in her breath at this blunt speaking, so pressed the point. ‘I firmly believe he’ll go after her again once he recovers.’
‘Of course he won’t!’ Dennis glared at her.
‘He said he would when I went to see him in hospital. He was … very unreasonable.’
‘Well, I’ll believe you over him any time,’ Lois said. ‘You have no reason to lie to us and we’ve known you for more than thirty years. That poor girl! I can’t bear to think of this happening to her in our hotel.’
‘Judson must be dismissed,’ Maurice said. ‘We can’t have such people working for us. What if he attacks a customer?’
‘He’s a good manager,’ Dennis insisted. ‘I’ll talk to him about it, make sure he changes his ways.’
‘I’ve already talked to him more than once and so did Mr Greaves. When Judson was younger and working at the various hotels in a lesser capacity, he spent some time at the London Rathleigh. Mr Greaves spoke to you then, I believe, Mr Carling, worrying about him, without telling you his name. And you said to give him a second chance.’
‘I’d forgotten that,’ Maurice said. ‘Was it him? Are you sure?’
‘Yes. It was at my instigation.’
She looked at Dennis as she added, ‘Each time we spoke to him, he promised not to behave like that again, but he didn’t change much, simply became more cunning.’
‘But he’s such a good manager,’ Dennis protested. ‘Makes the hotel very profitable.’
She glared at him. ‘Don’t you care about the women he’s upset, or the women he’ll continue to upset?’ When he didn’t answer, she said firmly, ‘I regret to tell you that if Judson continues to work at any of the Rathleigh hotels, I shall tender my resignation.’
‘She’s right, and I’ve spoken to you before about this,’ Maurice told his son. ‘Money isn’t everything. The man must go. And if I ever hear of anyone else in our employ molesting the young women who work for us, I shall myself take action against them.’
‘Think if it were your sister, Dennis dear,’ Lois said.
He turned to Eunice. ‘You’re sure of your facts about this incident?’
‘Absolutely certain.’
‘Then Judson was lying to me.’
‘We can’t leave Miss Fuller on her own overseas, surely?’ Lois asked. ‘She must be brought back and reinstated.’
‘I think it’d be best to leave her where she is. She’s with friends who’ll protect her. Even if he’s dismissed, I fear Judson will still seek revenge if he can find her.’
Eunice stayed the night at the hotel, dining with the older Carlings. In the morning she went back to London. Dennis accompanied her. He was to go and see Judson at the hospital and dismiss him, then take over at the hotel till a new manager could be appointed.
Eunice watched him bustle around. She could have done the manager’s job, knew more about it than Dennis, but even Mr and Mrs Carling would never consider a woman for that post. Life wasn’t fair.
Two days after their arrival at Oakdene, Mr Mortlake sent a messenger with a letter from Chapman’s lawyer, again demanding a share of the inheritance. Mr Mortlake’s note said: I was so sure of what you would want me to do, I’ve written back to say we do not accept their view of the situation and you won’t be paying out any of your inheritance to Chapman.
Gil told the others what had happened, then frowned. ‘Why do I feel we’ve not heard the last of this?’
‘Because Chapman’s a villain,’ Horry said.
The next day Gil was accosted by Chapman in the village. The fellow must have been waiting in the garden to speak to him when he went out for his usual early morning stroll.
‘What do you want here?’ he demanded.
Chapman glared at him. ‘I want my inheritance.’
‘You’re not legally entitled to anything.’
‘I’m morally entitled. I was her only close relative.’
‘So closely related that no one can trace the connection.’ Gil turned to leave.
Chapman moved to bar his path. ‘You may find you change your mind. You wouldn’t want those you love getting hurt, would you? Think about it.’
He smiled, then walked off without a backward glance, leaving Gil still gaping in shock.
He hurried to tell the others what had happened, adding, ‘Don’t go outside in the garden on your own, Renie, or let Beth go, either.’
A few days passed and nothing happened, but Renie took care not to leave the garden when she played with Beth because she couldn’t bear it if anything happened to such a delightful little girl. Just before teatime on a day of showers and cloudy skies, the sun came out.
‘Can we play catch?’ Beth begged.
Renie looked outside. ‘Just for a while.’
When she grew breathless, she insisted they needed a sit down. ‘I’m not young like you.’
‘I’ll go and pick us an apple each,’ Beth said. ‘It’s still a long time before dinner and they’re delicious straight from the tree.’ She didn’t wait for an answer but hurried off down one of the narrow paths through the garden.
Renie had just sat down on the bench when she heard the child cry out. But the cry was cut off abruptly.
Had Beth fallen?
‘Beth? Are you all right?’
There was no answer, but there was a scuffling sound beyond the bushes.
Worried, Renie rushed down the path Beth had taken. ‘Beth? Beth, answer me!’
As she turned into an open space near the kitchen garden, she saw Beth struggling in the arms of a man who had a sack over his head with eyeholes cut in it. ‘Stop that! Let her go, you brute!’
He picked up the child, still keeping one hand over her mouth.
‘Help! Someone help me! He—’
Someone grabbed Renie from behind and a heavy hand was clasped over her mouth. She tried to kick the person, but it wasn’t possible to kick hard enough in a backwards direction and the man was so big, he was easily able to control her.
She couldn’t believe this was happening a second time. Had Judson tracked her down? Or was this to do with Chapman?
Her attacker threw her to the ground and pressed her face down so hard she got a mouthful of earth. She struggled in vain, half smothered, as he tied her hands behind her back, then he stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, still keeping her face down. All she could see of him was his boots, heavy working boots, one tied with a piece of twine.
She waited, terrified of what he was going to do next, but nothing happened. When she rolled over, there was no sign of her attacker … or of Beth.
It was difficult to get to her feet with her hands tied behind her back and it took her a while. The cloth was tied so tightly she couldn’t remove it to call for help, even when she rubbed her face against a tree.
Staggering, shocked, terrified for little Beth, she stumbled along the path towards the house, moaning in relief when she heard someone cry her name.
Within seconds, Gil was there. He managed to untie the gag, but the twine that tied her hands was knotted so tight it was digging into her flesh.
‘Never mind me. They’ve taken Beth.’
‘What?’
‘She went to pick some apples and I heard her cry out. When I ran to see what was wrong, I saw a man carrying her away. Another man pushed me to the ground and tied me up. I didn’t even see his face.’
Gil lost every vestige of colour. ‘Let’s get that rope cut off your hands.’
‘You get Horry and go after her. Someone else can help me.’
He insisted on going with her to the kitchen. ‘Help Miss Fuller. She’ll tell you what happened.’ Yelling for Horry, he hurried off back towards the path.
Lizzie, who was having a cup of tea with Madge, got a sharp knife and cut the twine. It took a while. ‘The brutes! They didn’t need to tie it so tightly. It’s dug right in and cut you. You’ll have bruises on your wrists.’
‘I don’t matter.’ Renie explained that someone had kidnapped Beth.
There was dead silence in the kitchen, then Lizzie stood up. ‘I’m going to look, too.’
‘You can’t do much against a strong man,’ Renie said. ‘You might make it worse.’
Lizzie stopped for a moment, frowning in thought, then said, ‘I can get my brothers out looking, though. If my little love is still in the village, they’ll find her, if anyone can. They’re into everything, the little monkeys.’
She was gone before anyone could stop her.
Gil followed Horry into the village, unable to keep up. When he got to the green, he found Horry questioning an old man.
‘No one came this way,’ the fellow was insisting. ‘I’d ha’ seen ’em, for sure.’
‘But they must have come through here.’
‘There are all sorts of ways through the village, zur. In and out of gardens, through the back of the churchyard. All sorts.’
Gil laid a hand on his friend’s arm. ‘We’ll go straight to see Chapman. We’ll beat it out of him if we have to.’
‘He’s in the pub,’ the old man called. ‘Went in there an hour or more ago. Hasn’t come out that I’ve seen.’
‘That means he’s got someone else to do the dirty work,’ Gil said.
‘What’s the matter?’ the old man asked.
‘Someone’s kidnapped my niece.’
The man jerked upright. ‘That little lass as ’as lost her parents?’
‘Yes. My fiancée saw someone kidnap her, but they tied Renie up so she couldn’t follow them.’
‘Dear-oh-Lord, whatever will happen next?’ He raised his voice. ‘Jem? Jem, get out here this minute.’
A man looked out of the smithy, a burly fellow with a big hammer in his hand. ‘What’s up, Granddad?’
Gil left the old man to explain and led the way into the pub. Chapman was sitting there with a couple of men from the village.
Gil marched up to the table. ‘What have you done with her?’
Chapman gave a knowing smile. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘My niece. What have you done with her?’
The landlord came across to join them. ‘We don’t want no trouble, Mr Rycroft.’
‘This fellow’s kidnapped my niece. If she’s hurt in any way, I’ll make sure he pays for it.’
Chapman laughed. ‘You couldn’t fight a scarecrow, let alone someone who can fight back. And if you continue to threaten me, I’ll complain to the police.’
The landlord frowned. ‘When did this happen, Mr Rycroft?’
‘About a quarter of an hour ago.’
‘Well, then, there’s one thing certain: Mr Chapman couldn’t have done it. He’s been sitting here for an hour or more. I’d ha’ known if he even went out to the privy.’
‘Then he’s arranged for someone else to do it.’
‘I can see you need convincing.’ Chapman stood up. ‘Let’s go to my house. You can search it from top to bottom and you’ll find no one there.’
Which meant, Gil guessed, that Beth wasn’t being held there. But he still had to search, in case it was a bluff. ‘Very well.’
Chapman turned to the landlord. ‘I’d be grateful if you’d come with me, Ozzie. I don’t intend to put up with being manhandled, and I want this matter settled once and for all.’
In grim silence, the group of men walked out of the pub and across the green, then down a short lane to Chapman’s house. To his chagrin, Gil again couldn’t keep up.
‘Oh dear, walking too fast, am I?’ Chapman threw his head back and laughed. ‘As if a cripple like you could look after anyone.’
‘Mind your mouth or I’ll mind it for you,’ Horry growled. ‘And Mr Rycroft has a lot of friends who feel the same.’
‘If they’re all like you, heaven help him.’
They were at the house by then. Chapman flung open the door and stood with arms folded. ‘Go on! Search. I’ll wait for you here.’
By that time, others had joined them, including some women, one telling another what had happened.
‘We’ll all go inside,’ Jem said.
It took half an hour to search the house, which they did from the attics to the cellars. When they’d finished, Horry and Jem went to find Gil, who was pacing up and down the hall.
‘She isn’t here.’
‘Then he’s got her hidden somewhere else.’
‘Are you sure it’s him, sir?’ Jem asked.
‘As sure as I’m breathing,’ Gil said. ‘No one else would have kidnapped that child.’
‘But why would he do it?’
‘He’s claiming a share of my inheritance. He threatened me the other day, though he made sure there were no witnesses. Said I’d regret it.’
Jem frowned and looked thoughtfully at Chapman.
‘Wouldn’t hurt to search the whole village. I don’t like to think of a child being took.’
‘You go and wait on the village green, sir,’ Horry urged. ‘We’ll all report to you and then you can keep track of what’s going on.’
Bitter that he couldn’t do more to help, Gil went to sit on a wooden bench given to the village by Miss Bennerden. He sat rubbing his aching leg as people gathered at doors and garden gates. Some scowled at him, clearly on Chapman’s side, others gave him sympathetic looks.
A woman came hurrying down the path leading from Oakdene. Renie. He felt better just to see her.
She came to sit on the bench beside him and he picked up her arm, looking at the weal on her wrist.
A woman who’d come to join him stopped to look. ‘Whatever happened to you, miss?’
‘Someone tied me up when they kidnapped Beth.’
‘I’ll fetch you some goose grease, and my daughter’s got the kettle on. I’ll bring you a cup of tea. It’s a comfort, a cup of tea is.’
Mrs Wyndham made her way across to join them, with one or two of her friends. Most of the men were still out searching.
One by one they came to report their inability to find any sign of the little girl.
They gathered in groups, murmuring, jerking round when any new person came into view.
‘Do you want to come and sit in my front room, sir?’ Mrs Wyndham asked. ‘You and the young lady.’
Gil realised most of them didn’t know Renie, so introduced her, adding, ‘We’re engaged to be married.’
‘That’s a blessing for you.’
‘Heaven help her with a husband like that,’ someone called.
Jem marched across to the smaller group of men and shoved one so hard, he stumbled backwards.
‘Here, what do you think you’re doing, Jem Rossley?’ The man shoved him back.
‘Making you mind your manners, Shep Horton.’
It looked as if a fight was about to erupt, with other men taking sides.
Renie had been staring at them idly, more concerned about Gil’s feelings than the crowd around them. Suddenly she noticed Shep’s boots and bounced to her feet. Most of the men were wearing very similar footwear, but one of his was tied with twine, the same sort of twine that had been used on her wrists.
