What Happens In Cornwall...

by T A Williams

  He reached out and took her hand in his. She was surprised, but she didn’t object. He was nodding slowly to himself. ‘Of course, of course, I suppose I knew the whole thing had to be shrouded in secrecy.’ His face cracked into a gentle smile. ‘I also knew, deep down, that you were a person with strong moral values. For you, a promise is a promise, and I respect that.’ Out of the corner of her eye, Sam spotted James and Ryan as they climbed out of the launch onto the jetty. As they turned and walked off, Sam saw James glance across at the two of them. He raised his arm and she responded with a little wave of her free hand.

  After a few moments Miles Vernon released his hold on her and sat back. ‘You’re quite right.’ He seemed to have come to a conclusion. ‘We are academics and we have to behave as such. I’m sorry, Samantha, I’ve been letting my personal life interfere with my professional ethics. Please forget I spoke. You’re quite right, and I’ve been behaving like a child.’ He looked across at her. ‘And, trust me, Samantha, I would never dream of doing anything to compromise your career which, by the way, according to Virginia looks very promising indeed.’

  Sam felt a rush of relief. A thought occurred to her. ‘Miles, there is one thing, if you really want to help Karen. She told me she badly wants to go to university to study journalism and get the right bits of paper; you know, the proper qualifications she needs to make a career in it. The thing is she’s desperately looking for money to allow her to take time out. Maybe you could lend her some money to help her do that.’

  ‘I didn’t realise.’ Miles looked surprised. ‘I knew she was thinking about university, but she never said anything to me about money.’

  ‘Well, for what it’s worth, she told me she needed financial help to get to university.’

  Miles Vernon looked delighted. ‘How sweet of her not to ask me. She really is a very dear girl. You see, Samantha, just between the two of us, money’s not a problem in our family. As the only son, I receive an allowance that would be more than enough for me not to need to work.’ Sam nodded to herself. She had rather thought that there might be something like that. After all, Georgian villas and expensive sports cars are not normally to be found among university history professors. Miles was grinning now at the thought of the solution she had offered. ‘That’s perfect, Samantha, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll help her get to university.’

  He jumped to his feet. ‘Thank you so very much Samantha and, please, accept my apologies once again. I just got so caught up in the Karen thing.’ He looked abashed. ‘I must have appeared to be acting like a lunatic.’

  Samantha stood up and found herself smiling at him. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I know what’s going on.’ He held out his arms and she allowed herself to be on the receiving end of a big hug. Over Miles’s shoulder, she briefly caught James’s eye. They both looked away hastily.

  ‘Now, Samantha, I would love to offer you dinner some time, just as a way of saying I’m sorry.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I’m afraid I’ve got to get off very soon tonight, but maybe we could at least have a quick drink to cement our friendship.’

  Sam knew that a whole evening of listening to his voice would be too much to take, but a cold glass of cider had distinct attraction after a hot day on the dig. ‘I would love a drink, Miles. Thank you. And please call me Sam.’

  They walked back along the jetty and Becky turned towards them. James said something to her and set off along the road to the car park. Sam watched him walk off and felt a sense of regret.

  Miles treated Becky to a broad smile. ‘Sam and I are going to the pub for a drink. Would you like to join us?’

  Becky looked surprised at this turnaround in their relations. She glanced at her watch. She was expecting to go out with Giancarlo that evening, but she had time. Sam could also see that she was very keen to find out what had transpired between them.

  ‘I’d love to, Miles. Thank you very much.’

  Chapter 34

  When Samantha came up out of the dig at teatime the next day, she was surprised to see Ryan and Becky huddled together, deep in conversation. They had hardly spoken a word to each other since their arrival at the Island View Guest House and Becky’s introduction to Giancarlo. Maybe this renewed intimacy was an indicator that all was not well between her and her Latin lover.

  Closer to Samantha, Ann was discussing the finds with Virginia. Gradually, over the past hours, they had cleared almost the whole floor area, and the scale of the haul of bones was beginning to emerge. Four almost complete skeletons had now been found, along with body parts of as many as three or four others. Each was meticulously plotted, photographed and marked before removal. As each piece was disinterred, it was laid out on a series of trestle tables, erected to one side of the pit. The collection was now very impressive.

  ‘So, you’re happy with what you’ve found?’ Ann was keeping an eye on Henry, who clearly couldn’t believe his eyes as the piles of bones grew ever higher.

  ‘Very definitely, Ann. It’s one of the most significant finds we’ve made locally. Especially since we found this.’ Virginia pointed to a little silver crucifix Becky had found earlier in the day among the bones.

  Beside her, Sam could see that Becky was doing her best to concentrate. She was looking more rested than previous days, but Sam knew she was far less happy. Last night Giancarlo hadn’t taken her out for dinner. It appeared that he had left her, ostensibly for an appointment with another wildlife photographer in the village. He had never spoken about this person before and something had struck her as suspicious. Sam had been woken some time after midnight by a despondent Becky and they had discussed the Italian for well over an hour before going to sleep. At least Giancarlo’s absence had resulted in Becky getting a more restful night than of late, but she told Sam over breakfast that she intended to sit down and have a good talk to him after work. Something wasn’t right.

  Sam looked back down into the pit. Another day’s work and the dig would be over. Although she, like the others, was pleased with the results, she knew she would be very sorry to leave Cornwall and this magnificent island. She looked up again and decided to ask the question on everybody’s lips. She caught the head of department’s eye. ‘So, how long are you going to keep us waiting for the result of the radiocarbon testing, Virginia?’

  Becky joined in. ‘Are they Vikings like I said? And maybe with heaps of treasure buried beneath?’

  Virginia gave them a smile. ‘Well, the text from the lab with the radiocarbon result for the original bone arrived a short while ago.’ She looked around. Sam followed her eyes. They were all there, including James, with whom she hadn’t been able to exchange more than a few words all day. Ann had been enthusiastically helping at the dig for most of the time and Sam couldn’t help noticing that she and James were doing a lot of chatting together, much to Sam’s annoyance. She glanced across at them, still side by side, and snorted silently.

  Virginia nodded to Ann. ‘Well, if we’re all ready, here are the results. I’m afraid I didn’t win. My guess was too recent.’

  Ryan dropped his head. His date had been even later than hers. Becky perked up. Could they really have been Vikings? Virginia’s eyes ran slowly round the different members of the group until they landed on James.

  ‘We have a winner. The radiocarbon dating of the bone shows a range around the middle of the fourteenth century. It’s not that precise, but we’ve provisionally put a date of around 1350 on the thigh bone. James, I believe that makes you the lucky winner.’

  There was a ripple of applause. He stood up and beamed. He glanced across at Ann and launched into his acceptance speech. ‘I would like to thank the director, the producer, my agent and, of course, my public, without whom I would never have made it this far.’ There was a chorus of boos and cries of ‘rigged’.

  Ann wiped the laughter from her eyes. ‘Dr Courtney, I look forward to the pleasure of your company for dinner tonight. Dress code is casual.’

  ‘Would jeans and dir
ty fingernails be acceptable?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  Virginia held up her hand. ‘However, something else occurred to me last night, something we all forgot yesterday. This dating seems to lend credence to it. Now that we have a date around the middle of the fourteenth century, I would suggest that these men may not have died as a result of building accidents. What other significant event took place around then? Does the year 1348 ring any bells?’

  Ryan nodded, as comprehension dawned all round. ‘The Black Death. Of course. This could be a plague pit, a mass grave.’ He looked round at the others, particularly Becky. Sam couldn’t miss the expression of delight on his face. This wasn’t just because of the success of the excavation. While they were digging earlier, he had told her he was delighted on two scores. First, because it would appear that things were not going well between Becky and that bloody Italian. Second, because she had come to him for support and advice. And she had even laid her hand on his forearm. After almost five years of knowing each other, that was just about the first spontaneous physical contact between them. Sam, who had been predicting this moment for years, was delighted for both of them.

  James nodded in agreement. The hypothesis that this was a burial pit for victims of the plague was compelling. ‘Even a closed community of monks wouldn’t have been immune to the Black Death. All it would have needed would have been some fleas. Remember, the plague was spread by fleas. Rats carried them, but, in those days, so did humans. The delivery man, a passing fisherman, a visiting churchman, anybody could have brought the fleas and, within them, the disease.’

  Ann had a thought. ‘But, if they died of the plague, could we catch it from touching the bones?’

  Virginia shook her head. ‘No, we should be all right handling the bones after all this time.’ She gave a smile. ‘But, just to be on the safe side, I would advise against eating them.’

  Ann looked across at James and grinned. ‘I’d better see that cook knows that. I’ll also ask Freddie to dig out the case of champagne I promised to the winner. See you later, James.’

  ‘I look forward to it very much. Thank you, Ann. I’ll come over at close of play.’

  Sam felt a distinct stab of jealousy that James was going to spend the evening with the beautiful film star, but she did her best to hide it.

  Chapter 35

  Back at the guest house, all was not well. Becky and Giancarlo were in the middle of a flaming row. As far as Samantha could tell, it was all to do with Giancarlo’s absence the previous night. His story of visiting a friend, who was also interested in wildlife photography, wasn’t standing up to serious cross-examination by an increasingly shrill Becky. Even through closed doors, Sam, and presumably everybody else in the guest house, including Doris the dog, couldn’t miss the fact that this friend was female and she worked at the Smugglers Arms. Samantha left them to it and headed for the shower. She planned on eating at the Smugglers Arms that evening with Becky and the others, so it promised to be an interesting, although probably not quiet, evening.

  She tried not to think of James over on the island with Ann. What they might or might not be doing, she told herself sternly, was no concern of hers. But, however hard she tried, she couldn’t get him out of her head. Their brief conversation in the seclusion of the old church had brought her a lot closer to him. The discovery that he was not already in a relationship had been heartening. To hear him commenting on how she looked, even calling her gorgeous, had come as a shock. But not as much of a shock as hearing herself telling him he was handsome. As she emerged from the shower, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She had put on a few pounds since her running days, but she was still in pretty good shape. The sun was gradually bleaching her hair lighter and lighter and her face and arms were a good, healthy colour. Grudgingly, she admitted she looked OK, but she knew she was no match for a Hollywood A-list film star.

  She was just pulling on clean underwear and a top when her phone rang. It was Karen.

  ‘Hi, Karen, I hope you’ve forgiven me for thinking the worst of you the other day.’

  ‘Nothing to forgive, sweetie.’ Karen sounded very buoyant. Sam wondered if this was because Miles had already made the offer of financial help. She soon discovered that he had. ‘Sam, I don’t know what to say. Miles told me he’s been talking to you about us. Now he’s offered to sponsor me through university, and I know it’s all down to you. You’re a wonderful, fabulous girl and I’ll love you forever.’

  ‘Nothing to do with me. It’s pretty clear you’ve made a conquest with Miles. He seems very keen on you.’

  ‘And it’s oh so mutual.’ Karen prattled on at length about how much she loved both of them before grinding to an uncertain halt. There was a pause. ‘Sam, I was going to phone you anyway. This is nothing to do with what Miles told me last night. Listen, I’ve got some news, rather unsettling news.’ Sam pricked up her ears.

  ‘What sort of news?’ She couldn’t miss the serious note in Karen’s voice as she replied.

  ‘I think the cat’s out of the bag. I was talking to a friend this afternoon. He works for one of the biggest celebrity gossip magazines in the world. I’d better not say the name. He told me he’s been contacted by a paparazzo who told him that Rock Island has been bought by Ann Cartwright.’

  Before Sam could confirm or deny, she carried on. ‘Don’t say anything, please. Listen, what this photographer phoned to say was that he hoped to have a series of intimate photos of the island and of Ann Cartwright on his desk by Monday. That’s the word he used, “intimate”. Apparently he’s already been on the island, but he got chased off by some huge evil guard dog.’ In spite of the seriousness of the news, Sam couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Henry the Labrador being described as a huge evil guard dog. ‘By the sounds of it, the guard dog is going to find himself being fed poison, or at least some sort of drug.’

  ‘When did he say this was going to happen?’ Sam realised that Ann should be informed as soon as possible.

  ‘The paparazzo just said he hoped to deliver the photos on Monday, so any time this weekend, I suppose.’

  ‘Thanks, Karen. You’re a star. I’ll get straight onto them now.’

  ‘Thanks again to you, Sam. Bye.’ She blew her a kiss.

  Sam dialled the abbey number. The phone was answered almost immediately by Freddie Griffiths. Sam recognised his voice.

  ‘Hi Freddie, it’s Samantha from the university. Listen, there’s been a development.’ She went on to tell him everything Karen had told her. He waited until she had finished before commenting.

  ‘Right, thank you Samantha. We’ll get onto it now. Just one thing, can you trust this friend of yours?’

  ‘I think so. She sounded dead serious.’

  ‘Got it. Right, I’ll go and talk to Ann now. And thanks again.’

  Seriously concerned, Sam pulled on a skirt, picked up a jumper and opened the bedroom door. Becky and Giancarlo had spilled out into the day room, but were so immersed in their argument, neither of them gave any sign of noticing her. Mrs Pendennis’s big old dog, Doris, had sensed the atmosphere and was barking hysterically in the kitchen. Samantha was glad to get away. She slid open the French door and let herself out.

  It was a fine evening and the air was still warm. A not unpleasant smell of seaweed and salt wafted up from the beach on the gentle breeze. Along with the smell of the sea came a strong perfume of lavender from Mrs Pendennis’s flower beds. As Sam set off down the hill, she breathed in deeply. The sun was setting over the island and in the clear air, the Cornish coast stretched out for miles in both directions. Three palm trees in the garden next door were crowned with pink haloes. Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight, Sam found herself remembering. The weather looked set fair for a sunny weekend. She paused to admire the view and, to her annoyance, found herself wondering yet again what was going on over at the abbey.

  Behind her, at the Island View Guest House, Becky and Giancarlo’s brief romance ground to a
n acrimonious end. Becky finally ran out of breath and emerged into the fresh air about five minutes after Sam, determined to have it out with the woman down at the pub. Sam had just bought herself a glass of cider and was still at the bar when Becky appeared, steam coming out of her ears.

  ‘Who’re you going to kill?’ Sam tried to lower the tension, but Becky looked furious.

  ‘Myself most likely. Oh, Sam, I’m such a fool. Do you realise Giancarlo has been having an affair with one of the girls from here, all along?’

  ‘The one he says is a photographer? I must admit that sounds a bit far-fetched. Here, let me get you a glass of wine.’ While Becky’s eyes searched the pub, Sam ordered a large glass of Chardonnay.

  ‘Here, drink this. It’ll make you feel better. Any idea who the photographer could be?’ In fact the options were seriously limited, as the only people who worked full time at the Smugglers were two men, an elderly cook and Lorna the barmaid.

  By this time, Becky’s eyes had homed in on Lorna, clearing tables on the far side of the low-ceilinged room. Becky downed the glass of wine in one gulp just as Lorna came across with a laden tray, a cloth over her arm. Becky waited until she put the tray down on the counter and then stepped towards her aggressively. Sam looked on, ready to step in if either girl totally lost it.

  ‘Are you Lorna?’

  The girl looked up and smiled. ‘Yes. You’re one of the archaeologists, aren’t you?’

  Becky did her best to choke back her rising anger. ‘I need to speak to you about our mutual photographer friend.’ Sam saw the girl’s expression change.

  ‘Giancarlo? Has something happened?’