‘I do hope you don’t think me interfering, having Madame Marguerite call Mr Lawson for the car, my dear Madam Madeleine,’ Sir Jonas was saying. ‘I wanted to be sure that you would be comfortably catered for.’
Jasper answered for her. ‘No problem, boss, we’ll be quite happy with the Rolls Royce.’
Alan smiled. John shook his head. Sir Jonas cleared his throat rapidly. Daisy glared.
‘You’ll put up with what you’ve got and be grateful!’ she said.
‘It’s very kind of you, Sir Jonas,’ said Maddie.
He looked at her gratefully. ‘I was so very nervous that you might be fobbed off with that dreadfully small vehicle that you took to Cornwall in the summer. The roads are much too treacherous, my dear. One can never be too careful.’ He adjusted the eyepatch and fiddled with his pen. ‘And Mister Charles has booked a suite of rooms in the very best hotel. You cannot possibly stay in lodgings under such circumstances. I insist upon it. Your comfort and safety are of paramount importance, paramount importance. ’
‘Not to mention the sauna, pool and room service,’ muttered Jasper.
Sara nudged him sharply.
‘We’ll be fine, sir,’ Maddie assured him.
‘We’ll only be gone a few days and we’ll be back before you know it,’ said Jemima.
‘I’m so sorry about spoiling your weekend off, Daisy,’ said Maddie.
‘Don’t worry, it’ll keep,’ she replied.
‘I’ll help you, Daisy,’ offered Sara.
‘My dear, that is quite out of the question!’ protested Sir Jonas.
‘No, it isn’t. It’ll help me get my bearings before I start in the library on Monday.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ agreed Daisy, watching the biscuits rapidly disappearing from the plate in front of Caz. Their eyes met briefly. He heard the rush of panic pounding her heart. Outside, the early evening twilight was already deepening over the rose garden.
‘And what are the arrangements for the horses, my dear Madame Madeleine?’ asked Sir Jonas.
‘That’s our department,’ answered Alan, nodding to Sara who had already had her first riding lesson and was becoming very good friends with Nanna.
The old man was immediately anxious. ‘Are you quite sure, my dear Lady Sara? This does seem rather a lot to put upon you so directly.’
Jasper rolled his eyes and sniffed. Sara pinched his hand under the table.
‘It’s all part of the job, sir,’ she answered.
‘Then you must stay here at the house for the duration, my dear,’ he said firmly. ‘I can’t bear to have you driving back and forth at all hours. I absolutely insist upon it!’
Sara looked at him directly. ‘And I absolutely insist that I stay at the lodge, sir,’ she said, equally firmly. ‘I like my space and the house will be better kept warm for when they come home.’
The blue eye widened. Her would-be benefactor was momentarily abashed but determined not to be offended.
‘I hope we’ll only be away for a few days, sir,’ said Maddie quickly.
‘But we must plan for the worst, my dear Madame Madeleine,’ he replied, patting her hand. ‘Caspar, are you happy with the arrangements for the horses?’
‘They’ll be in good hands.’ He picked up the coffee pot and headed for the kitchen. ‘I need a refill.’
Daisy leaned towards Sir Jonas. He caught the beam of the glare over the edge of her glasses as she said pointedly, ‘There’s the house to secure and still a lot that needs doing down in the kitchen before I go home tonight, sir. Have we said all that needs to be said?’
‘I do believe so, Madame Marguerite,’ he said, hastily closing his notebook and returning the gold pen to his waistcoat pocket. ‘Perhaps Mister John and Mister Alan would care to accompany me to the study for a glass of port?’
Daisy pushed back her chair. ‘In that case I might as well let you others out of the front door,’ she said determinedly, brandishing the heavy iron key.
Caz was still eating when she came back to the kitchen alone.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked nervously. ‘Did I do enough?’
‘You did fine.’
‘I did extra, just in case.’
She took an envelope out of the pocket in front of her apron and emptied a fat roll of notes on the table. ‘Mister Charles has authorised me to give you this.’
‘Why?’
‘He says you’re to have all the help you need.’
‘But why so much?’
She whispered urgently. ‘You can’t risk having another one of those queer turns when you’re so far away from home! This way you can get food delivered wherever you are and you can tuck yourself away in a corner to eat it. And there’s enough to get a taxi, day or night, if you need to come home in a hurry.’
Caz counted the notes and grinned. ‘How about a helicopter?’
‘Get away with you!’ said Daisy, flapping her apron at him, persuaded at last to smile.
In the study, Alan refused the port and built up the fire and swept the hearth. John clutched his glass, perched awkwardly on the edge of the green club chair, having been ordered to sit down and make himself comfortable.
Sir Jonas paced around the desk in the centre of the room in silence.
‘The act of dying can lend a remarkable lucidity to many a tongue and not always for the benefit of those who must live on after them,’ he observed eventually.
John gulped a mouthful of port. Alan watched the fire. Neither of them commented. Sir Jonas turned on his heel and continued pacing in the opposite direction.
CHAPTER 40
Jemima pulled the headphones out of her ears. She stared irritably at the blank screen on the back of the seat in front of her. ‘I can’t be bothered to watch a film and I didn’t bring enough music.’
‘You’ve got hours of music,’ said Jasper. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Nothing I haven’t played a hundred times already. How many rooms are there in a hotel suite, Ma?’ she asked.
‘I have no idea,’ said Maddie.
‘We’ll find out soon enough,’ said Jasper comfortably.
Maddie sent the car speeding past a heavily laden lorry. ‘No, we won’t. I cancelled it. I can’t stay in the city. We’re staying in Cawsand. I booked us into the hotel at the beach.’
Jemima was the first to break the disappointed silence. ‘That’s good.’
‘Pity about the pool though,’ muttered Jasper.
Caz took off his seatbelt and sprawled across the back seat.
‘I’m sixteen today,’ he remarked generally.
‘We know,’ said Jemima. ‘I’ll get you a present in Plymouth.’
‘Happy Legally-Sanctioned Sizzling Day, bro,’ said Jasper. ‘A whole new world awaits you. Titan’s up for it, that’s for sure.’
Jemima rolled her eyes. Caz ignored him.
‘I don’t have to go back to school any more,’ he said.
Maddie glanced at him in the rear view mirror. ‘Yes, you do.’
‘No. I don’t.’
Jasper checked the map spread out on his knees. ‘Forget the Satnav, Ma. Take the second turn at the next roundabout, it should be quicker.’
‘Oh no!’ protested Jemima. ‘Not another Jas shortcut! We’ll never get there!’
‘Yes, we will, Fats. Trust me!’
‘Don’t start calling me that again!’
‘Why not? Now that Loz is out of the way, I can get back into practice. Old Pardon won’t mind.’ He licked his lips savouring the word. ‘Fats. Fats. Fats!’
‘That’s enough, Jasper!’ said Maddie. ‘There’s no need to start that all over again.’
He made a face at Jemima. ‘True, after two years of enforced abstinence it doesn’t come so naturally, but give it time.’ He turned round to Caz. ‘You can’t get out of school. You’re committed to the end of the summer exams whether you like it or not, bro.’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘Yes,
you are,’ said Jemima. ‘Ma’s not ending up in prison because of you.’
‘She won’t go to prison!’ scoffed Caz.
Jemima folded her arms and stuck out her chin. ‘She will if you don’t go to school. Our tutor group had a lecture about it. You’ll just get told off but Ma will go to prison.’
‘Okay, I’ll quit in the summer then.’
‘You’re going to sixth-form college, Caz,’ said Maddie firmly.
‘No, I’m not.’
‘Yes, you are,’ said Jasper. ‘How else are you going to do your retakes?’
‘I’m not doing retakes.’
‘So you’re going to pass everything first time, are you? I don’t think so!’
‘Why do I have to pass anything at all?’
‘So what are you going to do? Live a permanent cop-out like the boss?’
‘He lives for what he believes in. I don’t see what’s wrong with that. He’s got a couple of degrees. I’d probably learn more with him than I do at school. I’ll do home education.’
‘You most certainly will not,’ said his mother.
‘Why not?’
‘Because there’s one big difference between you and the boss,’ said Jasper. ‘He’s rich and he can do what he likes. You can’t. It’s as simple as that.’
‘Are you saying you can only live your own life if you have money?’
‘Money’s freedom, bro.’
‘The only freedom?’
‘Ultimately yes, in this sinful world.’
‘That’s not true!’ exclaimed Jemima.
‘What do you know about it, Fats?’
‘What do you know?’
Maddie gripped the steering wheel. ‘Please! All of you! Can we talk about this later? I need to concentrate on the road!’
‘No problem, Ma,’ Jasper replied. ‘They know I’m right. I’ll take over when you’re tired.’
Caz closed his eyes and smiled. ‘That’s settled then. I quit in the summer.’
‘Caz, I said enough!’ said his mother warningly. ‘And put on your seatbelt!’
He shook the empty thermos by way of reply. ‘I’m out of coffee.’
Jemima leaned over the seat and pulled another thermos out of a bag in the back. ‘There’s loads more. Daisy sent enough to float a boat.’
The hours and the miles of dull brown and grey countryside slipped by. A strong northerly wind whipped up and buffeted the car, slapping sleety rain across the windscreen. The road wound through villages tucked into a folded, plateau-land dotted with the remains of ancient earth workings and long barrows. Sheep grazed the last of the corn stubble in patchwork fields in the valleys, while tantalising glimpses of a grey and troubled sea began to appear between the hills. Maddie took a firm hold on the steering wheel and fought to keep the car straight on the road. Every sign they passed read Plymouth.
‘We’re nearly there,’ said Jemima quietly.
The traffic slowed, inching along bumper to bumper. Orange warning lights flashed ahead.
‘Take the next left turn, Ma,’ said Jasper. ‘We don’t want to get jammed up in road works and queues. We’ll go to Dad’s old watering-hole for lunch.’
They breathed a collective sigh of relief when at last they drew level with the turning and Maddie swung out of the queue. The car picked up speed again, following the narrow muddy road towards the horizon that was always brighter, even on a day of wind and storm, because of the sea.
Caz spotted a group of horses gathered together under a hedge in the corner of a field, their heads down and their tails to the wind. One grey mare galloped along the fence, trying to keep up with the car. She stopped at the corner of the field, calling after him as the car moved away.
She’d be good for Hag Night, he thought. Pray to be chosen, brave girl!
He had his Guardians’ knife rolled up in the cloak at the bottom of his backpack and the thick wad of bank notes stuffed in his back pocket.
There’s an old God with his finger on my life and there’s no way I’m going to waste a minute of what’s left of it stuck in school. Whatever Ma says, the Bank’s got to be persuaded to set me up with a tutor. I’ve got to get out before the end of term. I just need a good excuse.
Jasper’s accent slid comfortably back into West Country mode in a heated discussion with a group of locals in the pub – only one of them a true Devon man. The argument went back and forth for nearly an hour as to the particular merits of the various ales on tap behind the bar in the thatched, thirteenth-century pub in the middle of the village.
Jemima giggled. ‘Listen to him. He’s already saying buye instead of boy, like that old man. It’s like he never left.’
When he was finally reminded of the urgency of their errand, he walked briskly back up the road to the car park, satisfied that he had made his point. The others followed, bracing themselves against the wind. Behind them, the sea was dark under a leaden sky.
‘I want to look at the church before we go,’ announced Jemima.
‘What for?’ asked Caz.
‘I just do. It’s ages since I’ve seen it.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Maddie.
‘That’s fine,’ said Jasper. ‘We’re late enough already. Bro and I’ll wait out here and freeze to death. You can get us cindered alongside the old man when he’s snuffed it, and dump us all in the drink together. It’ll save on the cost of hiring a boat.’
‘You can wait in the car,’ said Maddie. ‘Do you want the keys?’
‘No, we’ll keep ourselves alive looking at the graves.’
They found a seat beside an old yew tree looking out over the village towards the sea.
‘I don’t remember it ever being this cold when we were living here,’ Jasper grumbled, turning up his collar and shoving his hands into his pockets. ‘Do you reckon Grandpa’s dead yet?’
Caz shrugged, watching the sea. ‘No. That would be too easy.’
‘We’ll have a job finding someone to ferry us out with the cinders if this weather goes on like it is,’ observed Jasper. ‘Old Jeb Hardy’s probably pushing up the daisies himself by now and he was the only one left in the village with a decent enough craft.’
He kicked at a loose brick lining the edge of one of two narrow and long neglected graves under the tree. The brick rolled out of place and down the path. He picked it up and put it back, wiping the grime from the worn slate headstone to read the name: Ernestina Wylde, born October 21st 1833, died September 18th 1889. He bent down to the second headstone tracing the faint lettering with his fingers: Georgia Wylde, born March 25th 1841, died November 6th 1866.
‘It looks like we’ve got a couple of long-lost rellies here, bro,’ he said surprised.
Caz shook his head dismissively. ‘They could be anybody.’
‘The name’s spelt the same.’
‘That doesn’t mean we’re related.’
When Maddie and Jemima came out of the church, Jasper waved to them, calling out, ‘Hey! The Wyldes are over here, if that’s what you’re looking for.’
Jemima came running up the path. ‘What Wyldes? Where?’
‘There,’ he said, pointing to the headstones under the tree.
Jemima was disappointed. ‘But it doesn’t say anything about them.’
‘It tells you when they were born and when they died,‘ said Jasper. ‘What more do you want?’
‘Do you know anything about them, Ma?’ she asked.
‘No,’ replied Maddie. ‘It’s the first time I’ve seen them, but then I never had a reason to look for any Wylde gravestones here. Your dad only came down to the pub, as far as I knew. He never mentioned them. Neither did Grandma Em.’
‘They must be our family,’ insisted Jemima eagerly. ‘I wonder what they looked like?’
Jasper sighed. ‘They were probably just a couple of crones, dressed in black and covered in warts.’
‘Of course they weren’t! Georgia was only twenty-five when she died, so she must have been ill. I be
t Ernestina nursed her, and then she came to the grave every day with fresh flowers until she died herself.’ Jemima tried to picture the two Victorian ladies walking around the village. I wish I could see more than just clouds and fire-pictures, she thought crossly.
‘Could we find out about them, Ma?’ she asked.
‘Maybe one day we will,’ said Maddie. ‘Right now, there’s another Wylde we must concern ourselves with. We can’t put the hospital visit off any longer.’
CHAPTER 41
Franklin Wylde lay in a bed in a small room set apart from the main ward. The curtains at the window were closed. A bag on a stand above his head dripped clear liquid down a tube into his arm. Another bag, half filled with dark urine, hung discreetly by the side of the bed. The room smelled of stale breath. Caz wanted to choke.
‘He can hear, so do talk to him,’ said the nurse. ‘I’m sure he would appreciate it.’
They stood around the bed, staring down at the shrunken figure flattened under the white cotton coverlet. The nose and cheekbones were starkly prominent and blotched with tiny purple veins. The chin was covered with white stubble. His once thick white hair was sparse over a scab-encrusted scalp. Maddie shuddered involuntarily and immediately checked herself with an apologetic look at Jemima.
Jasper took charge. ‘Well, we’re here and we might as well do this properly,’ he said. ‘I’ll stay with him while the rest of you go and sort out the hotel. Let me know what’s going on.’
Caz looked at the clock on the wall. Three forty-five – less than an hour to sunset.
‘How long are you good for, bro?’ he asked Jasper.
‘Until I’m starving, I suppose.’
‘Then I’ll stay in town and eat early, and do tonight.’
The figure in the bed opened his mouth, his breathing rasping in his throat. Jemima shrank up against her mother, terrified that he might speak. The boys looked at each other.
Jasper grimaced. ‘He doesn’t look like he’s going to last much longer. There’s no need for us all to be here. I’ll see you later, bro.’
As soon as they were gone, Jasper checked his messages and sent one to Sara: All alone far from home, G looks dead is smelly still breathing, dont get drunk without me, jucy smackrs js. He deleted the last line and sent the same message to Tristan. Then he deleted the first two lines of the amended text, inserted obey your leader and sent it on to Laurence. That’s the boys sorted!
Second Night Page 18
