Willow Tree Bend

by Kaye Dobbie

  ‘His friends got him bail and he went up to his place in Golden Gully to escape the press. By then he must have known it was only a matter of time before he went to jail, too. Avery had it all set to go. And then Dalzell was gone, just vanished. That finished him, I think. Avery, I mean. He gave up after that. Dalzell was the only reason he was hanging on.’

  Hope was trying to integrate this story with her own, and meshing the pieces together made her feel quite dizzy. She wiped her palms on her jacket.

  ‘Did Dalzell know it was Faith who helped the police? Was he ever told?’

  Kitty looked away, chewing her lip, and that was enough for Hope. Quite suddenly, everything about that hot summer’s day, everything she’d believed to be the truth, was turned on its head.

  ‘What?’ Kitty’s gaze was back on her face. ‘What have you thought of?’

  Hope said the first thing that came into her head. ‘Sam thinks Faith has gone up north to meet up with Dalzell.’

  Kitty gave her a disbelieving look. ‘No way. Never in a million years. Do you know he tried to strangle me once? Dalzell. Had to wear a scarf for weeks until the bruises faded. It was supposed to be for his birthday, and Jared caved in—Dalzell must have had something over him—and asked me if I’d do it. For a favour. Only it wasn’t just sex, he wanted a bit more than that. I’ve thought about it since and maybe it was the only way he could get off. Ejaculate, you know?’

  Hope’s hands were shaking and she squeezed them hard together, trying to calm herself.

  ‘Shocked you, did I, Hope?’ Kitty asked, looking pleased.

  ‘Not in the least.’

  Kitty smiled, and then seemed to come to a decision.

  ‘You were asking a minute ago why I would want to see Jared again, and I told you there was a connection. We share a past. Maybe that’s what Faith is doing up north. Maybe she’s still got a connection.’

  ‘That’s not enough,’ Hope retorted. She was feeling angry now. Kitty knew the truth and Hope was damned if she was going to let her get away with fobbing her off with this philosophical crap. She needed answers, for the sake of Sam and Joe, but more than that. She needed to know for her own peace of mind.

  ‘Tell me who this “connection” is. Who could have such a hold over my sister that she’d drop everything and fly from one end of Australia to the other, all for a single phone call?’

  She really didn’t think Kitty was going to answer. The room was quiet, apart from the passing traffic, and then a dog finally wandered in. It was an old golden labrador, and he slumped down by Kitty’s feet, awkwardly arranging his arthritic paws. Automatically, she reached to gently stroke his head and he closed his eyes.

  ‘I always wondered,’ she said to herself, ‘whether that particular problem would come back to haunt her. I hoped not, I really did. Joe was perfect for her, and only Faith couldn’t see it. I used to get a bit jealous when he came down to Melbourne to visit her. Not that Joe thought much of me. After she went home, she stopped phoning me. That was Joe, I reckon. He blamed me, but I only wanted to help her. That’s all I ever wanted to do.’

  ‘Maybe they just needed to put the past behind them,’ Hope said, using her sympathetic voice, yearning for it to persuade her cousin to confide.

  The dog sighed and lay down and almost immediately began to softly snore.

  Kitty made her decision.

  ‘All right. I’ll tell you what you want to know, Hope. But don’t blame me if you end up wishing you’d never asked.’

  FAITH

  November 1969

  Avery said she was to behave as normal, so Faith went and bought some milk to take back to the house. The queasiness was worse than ever and she wondered if she’d caught the tummy bug that some of the staff had complained of. Or was this the consequence of playing God with people’s lives? Anxiety always did go straight to her stomach.

  She could hear the radio before she opened the door—‘La La’ by the Flying Circus—and Kitty singing along. She wasn’t keeping in tune, but she was enjoying herself. Faith bit her lip, feeling a hysterical laugh welling up. It would be all right—she had to believe that—and then she strode into the kitchen when all she really wanted to do was go up the stairs and climb into bed and pull the covers over her head.

  ‘Milk,’ she said, opening the fridge to put it in.

  Kitty looked up, her face sweaty and dirty. She was working in the oven now. ‘You took your time.’

  ‘I had a chat with the boy in the shop.’

  ‘Nice for some,’ her cousin muttered. ‘When’s Ray coming back?’

  She opened her mouth to say today, just as someone started pounding on the door.

  Kitty stood up, clutching at the stove top to keep her balance. ‘Who the hell is that?’ she demanded, startled.

  ‘Do you want me to get it?’ Faith moved in that direction, but Kitty was brushing past her.

  ‘No, I’ll do it.’

  She heard her cousin’s bare feet on the wooden floorboards, and then the sound of the door opening. There was silence while Faith held her breath, and then …

  ‘Get out of here!’ It was a screech. Kitty was running, going for the phone, but Avery was behind her. Faith huddled into the corner, out of the way, as they careered into the kitchen. Avery got there first.

  Straight away, Kitty turned around, making for the open door, but he caught her arm and held her, slamming her back against the fridge hard enough to make her breath oomph out. The recipe books that had been resting on the top thumped down onto the floor, scattering around their feet.

  ‘You’re hurting her!’ Faith cried. ‘Let her go.’

  She wasn’t sure he was hurting her. Kitty looked red-faced and furious rather than injured, but Avery was crowding her, intimidating her.

  ‘Jared’s in custody,’ he growled. ‘Are you listening? Lover boy has been arrested.’

  Kitty went still, her eyes on his. ‘What?’ she seemed confused. ‘He hasn’t done anything! You can’t just—’

  Avery sounded annoyed and very weary. ‘Oh come on, love, we both know that’s not true. He helped Bert Dalzell dump Melanie’s body. And then he helped him cover it up.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Kitty was shouting, and the radio was still blaring. Avery went over and turned it off. The silence was a relief, but only temporarily. The detective was leaning against the doorjamb, blocking the way out, but Faith doubted that would stop Kitty. This wasn’t what Faith had thought it would be like, this violent confrontation. She’d thought they would talk in a civilised manner. Persuade her cousin with words and argument, not this hostility. She might as well not even be here. She was a ghost and Avery hadn’t looked at her once.

  ‘I know you have information,’ he was saying. ‘You can help Jared. At the moment, your boyfriend is going to be charged with Melanie’s murder because Dalzell will say Jared killed her. You know he will. He’ll expect Jared to take the blame for him.’

  Was that true? Faith didn’t know. Kitty was shaking her head, not wanting to believe it either, but she didn’t seem quite as full of conviction as before.

  ‘Jared wouldn’t take the—’ she began, her voice shaking with fury and frustration.

  ‘Oh, but he would. Dalzell has friends who’ll back him up. Jared knows this. That’s why he has his little book of secrets, isn’t it? Just in case?’

  ‘How do you know—’

  ‘If Jared goes down, you know what will happen, don’t you, Kitty? You’ll be all alone and unprotected, won’t you? With Dalzell.’

  Kitty was staring at him as if he was a snake and she was the rabbit. Faith was staring at him, too, because she’d only just realised just how much Avery actually knew. She’d thought herself so clever, feeding him little bits and pieces, protecting her cousin, and all along he had known everything.

  For the first time he looked at her, swinging his eyes towards Kitty and back again. Faith knew what he wanted and she felt like refusing, but it was too la
te. They had come too far. And besides, she knew Avery was right, despite the way he was going about it. Without Jared to protect her, Kitty could end up dead.

  She extracted herself from the corner. Her head was spinning and that sick feeling was still twisting her stomach, but she couldn’t worry about that now.

  ‘Kitty,’ she said, and slid an arm around her cousin’s waist. She fully expected to be shoved aside, hard, but Kitty stood stiffly at her side as if she wasn’t even aware of her. ‘Maybe he’s right,’ she went on, with a glance at Avery and then away again. ‘I mean, without Jared there … You told me that was the only reason you were safe, remember? So, if Jared goes to jail …’

  Kitty gave a shudder—it seemed to be coming from deep inside her. She ripped off the scarf she’d used to bind up her hair, and the fair locks came tumbling down around her face.

  ‘You want the book,’ she said matter-of-factly.

  Avery nodded. ‘I want the book.’

  ‘Who told you about it?’

  He shrugged. ‘Jared isn’t very smart, he lets these things slip out. People he thinks are friends, people he trusts. It’s a wonder Dalzell hasn’t heard about it and come looking for it. Although he wouldn’t dirty his hands, would he? He’d send someone else.’

  ‘There’s stuff in it about Dalzell. Dates and payments and to who, girls he wanted and who we had to persuade to spend the night with him in the Penthouse. Sometimes that wasn’t easy. His idea of pleasure isn’t everyone’s.’

  ‘What about you? Have you spent some time with Dalzell, Kitty?’

  Her jaw tightened, the corded muscles of her throat standing out, as if she was fighting the urge to scream.

  ‘I thought so,’ Avery said in a quiet voice that was sympathetic enough to reach through Kitty’s hostility.

  Faith felt the tension go out of her cousin’s body, felt her weight resting against her.

  ‘All right,’ she whispered. ‘You win.’

  Kitty insisted on washing her face and changing her clothes first. Halfway up the stairs, Avery said, ‘Don’t climb out of the window.’

  Kitty made a sound that could have been a laugh. ‘That’s not my style,’ she said, as Faith hurried after her.

  ‘I think you’re doing the right thing,’ she said, as her cousin scrubbed the filth from the oven off her hands, and splashed water onto her sweaty face. ‘I’ve seen Dalzell look at you.’

  Kitty reached for the towel, and Faith handed it to her. She dried her face slowly, deep in thought.

  ‘I’m trying to remember who I told about the book. Not many people. Lenny, probably, and you.’

  ‘But who did Jared tell?’ The words were out before she could stop them, and with them any thoughts she might have had about confessing the truth. Right now, the truth wasn’t going to help either of them. ‘Kitty, you’re scared of Dalzell, I’ve seen how scared you are. And if Jared is going to jail anyway, whatever you do, then why not try to help him and yourself?’

  ‘You sound like Avery. He’d say anything to get what he wants. The Angel is my life, it’s all I have.’

  Faith followed her into the bedroom, where Kitty began to undress. ‘It isn’t all you have,’ she insisted. ‘You have me.’

  She was feeling dizzy again, her head spinning worse than ever. Hot bile rose into her throat and she put a hand to her mouth, as if to keep it down. She reached out for the dressing table and nearly missed it, stumbling sideways. Kitty caught her arm and held her upright.

  ‘What is it?’

  Black shapes were flapping around the edges of her vision, and she thought in surprise, I’m going to faint! And then slowly the sensation began to fade, leaving her shaken and white-faced. At some point, Kitty had helped her onto the bed and she sat with her head down, breathing deeply.

  ‘You’re up the duff.’ Kitty’s voice was harsh. ‘You idiot. I told you, I warned you.’

  Tears sprang into Faith’s eyes as she shook her head, denying it, even as she knew it was true. ‘I didn’t have any breakfast, that’s all.’

  ‘It’s Ray, isn’t it?’ Kitty had dropped her voice, remembering Avery was listening in the room beneath them.

  ‘He loves me,’ was all that Faith could think to say.

  Kitty snorted. ‘So he’ll what? Marry you and buy a sweet little cottage for you and the baby to live in? Don’t be so stupid. He’s aiming for a career, and he won’t want a brat hanging around. How do you think the fans will feel about him being married and a father? Those screaming, squealing girls? The record company will put you away, out of sight. Ray will want to forget you exist.’

  ‘You’re wrong!’ She was angry and upset, with herself as well as Kitty. She had been stupid. She should have been more careful, she should have seen that Ray was more careful, but in the heady rush of love she hadn’t wanted to be practical and cautious.

  Kitty smoothed her sleeves and reached for her handbag. She was wearing a black skirt with a pale-blue cardigan, and black shoes with court heels. She looked as pretty as ever, but older and more serious. Her face was almost as pale as Faith’s, although with less of the sickly green tinge.

  ‘When’s Ray coming back?’

  Faith took another breath, finally starting to feel better. ‘Today,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure exactly when. He left a message for me with Gaz.’

  ‘Good old Gaz,’ Kitty muttered. ‘Okay, well here’s my advice, for what it’s worth. If you want to hold on to him then don’t tell him about the baby. Get rid of it and don’t ever tell him.’

  Faith stared at her, speechless.

  ‘You can go on as before and maybe you’re right and he does love you, and it will last, and one day he’ll marry you. Then you can have another one. But this one,’ and her eyes flickered down to Faith’s flat stomach and up again. ‘Let it go.’

  Kitty moved to the door. ‘And go in to work. If you stay away they’ll think you had something to do with all of this. Do your shift and keep your head down, and I’ll see you when I get home. We can talk about this then.’

  Was that regret she saw in her cousin’s face? Sorrow? Maybe. And other emotions Faith didn’t have time to read before the door began to close. She sat, staring at it, and then carefully rose to her feet. She was still a bit shaky but better now. When Kitty was gone she’d eat some toast …

  She went out to the top of the stairs just as the front door clicked shut, leaving her with the maelstrom of her thoughts.

  SAMANTHA

  17 January 2000

  I felt ridiculously happy.

  I know, I know. Why should a kiss mean so much? And yet it did. Despite all of the turmoil in my life, here was something really, really good, and I wanted to indulge myself by replaying it over and over in my mind.

  A video on rewind.

  Like when I decided I loved the movie To Sir, With Love so much I had to watch it every afternoon when I got home from school. It was made before I was born, and I’m not sure why I found it so endlessly fascinating, but I did. I think Mum finally hid it. From this distance I didn’t blame her, but at the time I was pretty upset.

  ‘Come on, forget about that.’ I remember Dad coming to fetch me from my room. ‘Help me with the garden.’

  So, grudgingly, I did. Was that where my love of plants had come from? Maybe.

  I’d rung Hope last night, but there was no reply. Now, when the phone rang, somehow I just knew it was her.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘It was late last night and I had things to do. How’s Mum?’

  I told her about Lincoln and the jelly babies, and heard her soft laughter.

  ‘I’m going to collect her a bit later.’

  ‘Good news, then.’

  ‘And Hope … more good news. Dad has heard from Mum and she’s on her way home. She was delayed or something very mysterious, and she will tell us all about it when she gets here.’

  I’d meant her to laugh again, only she didn’t. There was quite a long pause and I wondered what she was t
hinking. I wished I could see her face, so that I could read her expression, but then I’d never found my famous aunt easy to read.

  ‘That is good,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Really good, Samantha.’

  ‘Are—’

  ‘I spoke with Kitty last night. There are things I’ll need to discuss with Faith. I wish I could tell you what they are, but I don’t think it’s fair, not without her permission. You’ll understand soon.’

  ‘Not again!’

  ‘I know, I know. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Just tell me one thing. Was I right? Was Bert Dalzell involved?’

  I thought she wasn’t going to answer me and then she said, ‘I’m afraid to say he was.’

  ‘So, it was him Mum went to see!’

  ‘I didn’t say that, Samantha! You’re jumping to conclusions. I’m sorry, but I really can’t tell you anything more until I see Faith. I promise that I will do all in my power to persuade your mother to share this with you. I promise. And if she won’t then … I will.’

  I wanted to be cross with her, and yet I found my anger draining away. I believed her, and oddly enough, I trusted her.

  ‘By the way,’ Hope went on. ‘That photo left in Dalzell’s house. It isn’t Faith. It’s Kitty.’

  ‘I think I was beginning to realise that.’

  ‘And I have some more bad news.’ She sounded tired, as if her energy was at a low ebb.

  ‘You’re flying back to New York,’ I blurted out, and then wondered where that had come from, and when had her leaving become bad news?

  ‘Well, actually, no. I was aiming to come back to Willow Tree Bend today, but something else has come up. Out of my control, I’m afraid, so it will have to be tomorrow. I’m glad Lily’s okay. It means I can hang around that little bit longer and try to sort out this problem I’m having with the producers.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘We’ll talk soon, I promise,’ she repeated, and because it seemed so important to her, I said I was looking forward to it. I wasn’t sure that I was, really. It sounded as if we were going to have some long and intense conversations.