It made a change for Stel to aim high, thought Caro, though she didn’t say it. Stel had had a succession of crap boyfriends when she was younger. Then she took some time away from the dating scene when Viv came along. Then she got lonely and ran back to it with open arms and an open heart when Viv reached school-age. Her luck hadn’t got any better for the thinking time. And as for that Darren she’d lived with – ugh. Stel was overdue someone who was as kind and sweet as she was. Such as Al next door. He was big and solid and just what she needed and wasn’t it just sod’s law that they’d never got together.
‘Just be yourself,’ said Caro, covering Stel’s hand with her own. ‘And enjoy it. And don’t offer to pay for anything on a first date.’
‘He might think I’m tight.’
‘If he is a proper gentleman he won’t. You’re worth being treated. If you don’t see your own worth, how do you expect a man to?’
Stel grinned. ‘I wish I were as sensible as you, Caro.’
You wouldn’t have wanted to go through what I did in order to learn sense, Caro thought to herself, but said instead, ‘I have high hopes that one day you will be, Stel.’
Chapter 23
There was little warning of the heavy stable door opening, just the squeak of the iron ring handle being twisted and the judder of the wood as it caught in its frame then a tall, slim woman appeared feet away from Viv. It had to be Victoria Leighton, the mother. She was wearing jodhpurs and an oversized brown jumper, and her black hair had been loosened by the wind from the pins which served to secure it. She looked casual-chic and elegant. Her jaw tightened as she caught sight of the intruder, and with one smooth movement she swept a crop from the wall.
‘Who the hell are you?’ she demanded loudly.
‘I’m sorry, I got caught in the rain. The lightning scared me,’ returned Viv. She was soaked through, which lent truth to her account.
‘This is private property,’ said Victoria Leighton, her hand gripping the crop tightly, ready to use it if necessary. ‘The shower has ended so you can get out.’ She stood aside so that Viv could pass. ‘You’re trespassing. There are security cameras, you know.’ Even though she spoke with an English public school accent, there was a slight skimming over her Rs, a vestige of her first and formative years in Germany.
‘I swear I only came in to escape from the weather. I noticed the stable as I was looking around for somewhere to take shelter.’
Victoria Leighton’s blue eyes narrowed as she scrutinised the interloper for a few moments before she snapped, ‘What’s that in your pocket? What have you taken?’
Viv quickly pulled out the notebook and held it up for her to see. ‘It’s just a pad. I haven’t stolen anything.’
‘Why are you even up here in this area? Where are you from?’ Victoria’s eyes were almost boring holes in Viv’s face.
‘I was just out walking.’ Viv’s answer was deliberately evasive. She knew she had to get out fast before Victoria put two and two together and realised that she was the one responsible for throwing the contents of a rancid mop bucket over her husband and daughter.
As Viv took a step towards the stable door, Victoria flicked out her crop, temporarily barring Viv’s exit. ‘Wait a minute,’ she said. ‘I want to know who you are.’
‘No one,’ returned Viv, pushing past her and walking hurriedly away. ‘I’m no one at all.’
Chapter 24
Viv now couldn’t wait to get back to the sanctuary and half walked, half ran away from the castle estate. She heard a vehicle coming behind her on the road. She gave it a cursory glance over her shoulder and saw that it was Heath in his black pick-up truck. At first she thought he was going too fast to stop, but he screeched to a halt half a metre behind her. She heard the whirr of the electric window being lowered.
‘Want a lift?’ he called.
‘Please,’ Viv replied, opening the door and catching a drift of something pungent and metallic. She paused before getting in. The pick-up was clean as a whistle inside and she was wet through with mud all over her boots. ‘Have you got something I can sit on and some newspaper? I’m covered in—’
‘It’s fine,’ he said, beckoning her in impatiently. ‘Come on, hurry up.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, clicking her seat-belt into place and hoping that she didn’t totally saturate the seat. ‘Sorry for any mess.’
‘What were you doing up here anyway? Smelling things?’ His nose was wrinkled up as he asked. He wouldn’t be so sniffy if he knew how much her nose earned her, she thought with a huff.
‘More or less,’ she said.
‘That’s a ridiculous gift to have,’ said Heath, slowing down for a sheep to cross the road.
‘There are worse ones,’ Viv answered, noticing how large his hand was on the gearstick and the dark hairs on the back of it.
The sheep reached the other side of the road and the pick-up began to speed up again. ‘It’s a very pretty place,’ said Viv, trying to fill the silence with some sort of conversation.
‘It won’t be shortly, when the valley is full of Leighton’s houses. Dammit.’ Heath growled as he changed gear and it crunched. ‘It’ll be ugly as hell, totally spoiled.’
Viv realised she had inadvertently put him in a bad mood and tried to rectify it.
‘With any luck it won’t happen.’
Heath gave a dry laugh. ‘We’ll need more than luck. And I’ve never believed in miracles. Gerry’s stuck on the spirits saving us and who am I to smash her hopes but someone is going to. And soon.’
‘Have you nothing left up your sleeve to try?’ Viv asked as they turned into the drive for the sanctuary.
He looked aside at her, his eyes narrowed. ‘You’re not a journalist, are you?’
‘Pardon?’
Heath made a rough spin into his parking space and braked so hard that Viv yelped as she was thrown forwards.
‘You heard.’ He clipped off his seat-belt and turned to her.
His full-on attention was so uncomfortable that Viv gave a nervous chuckle.
‘You think I’m some sort of a spy?’
‘Are you?’ His green eyes were glittering.
‘No, I’m not,’ replied Viv. ‘Why would you think—’
He cut her off. ‘You see, I just don’t buy that you’re here to work in a sanctuary. For “experience”.’
‘Well, I am. Why else would I be here?’
She was lying and he knew it. ‘I don’t know why. I hope I’m wrong with my suspicions about you, but I will warn you, Miss Blackbird, if I find out you’re working against us . . .’ He left the threat hanging in the air.
He got out of the pick-up, walked to the back of it and waited for Viv to alight.
‘Of course, Vivienne, if you really are here for experience, you can help me cut this up for the birds.’ He ripped off the green tarpaulin covering his cargo: a dead deer, blood staining its pelt as if it was paint. The wind changed direction and blew across the carcass punching Viv with the full impact of the metallic smell she’d caught a hint of earlier. Much to Heath Merlo’s amusement, Viv bent double and threw up her poached egg breakfast on the grass in front of him.
Chapter 25
Back in the folly, Viv changed and gave her hair a blast with her hairdryer and within the half-hour was in her car, driving back up the hill and on the road to Mawton. She had a parcel to send to Hugo and wanted it to get there by the fastest possible service. Ironmist Stores had a post office but the larger one in Mawton had more collections and besides, she didn’t want anyone in the village to know what she was doing. She passed the castle again and wondered if Victoria Leighton had gone back to her husband and told him about the intruder she had found in the stables. The more she reflected as she drove, the more she realised that she had probably brought even more trouble to the front door of the sanctuary.
Mawton was an unspectacular town with run-of-the-mill shops. She parked up on the road at the side of a small and very old church built,
she suspected, at a time when Mawton had a tiny population which a church of that size could easily serve. She queued up in the post office, paid for her parcel to go by guaranteed delivery and pushed it through the hatch for the counter clerk to take. She felt ridiculously light-headed when she went back outside into the fresh air and thought some carbs might be in order. There was a café a few doors away. The menu displayed in the window showed limited fare but enough for her needs. Inside, the café was clean and Viv sat at the only vacant table in the corner and ordered a pot of tea and a baked potato with cheese and coleslaw.
She took out her phone and texted Hugo.
AM SENDING YOU A PARCEL SPECIAL DELIVERY. POSTED IT TO YOUR WORK ADDRESS. XXX
A text came back within the minute which made her groan.
OH DARLING, AM IN ICELAND. COUNTRY NOT SUPERMARKET. NEEDED HOLIDAY. FOUND A DEAL TOO GOOD TO MISS. WILL RING SOON AS WE GET BACK. XXX
Through the window she could see a post van draw up. A few minutes later, her lunch arrived at the table and she saw the postman load a bag of parcels into the back of his vehicle. The one she had sent to Hugo would be in with them. Viv felt her stomach begin to churn. She looked down at the potato and knew she wouldn’t be able to eat any of it.
Chapter 26
Half an hour before Ian Robson was due to pick her up, Stel was so agitated that if she’d had his telephone number, she would have rung to say she was ill and couldn’t make it. As the hands on the clock nudged towards seven o’clock, she thought she might throw up. Ian was a nice fellow and she was grateful to him, but once the euphoria of having Basil back had died down, she was starting to curse herself for being so impulsive in agreeing to a date with him.
Her ears registered the sound of an engine and her heart began to thump. A red car came into sight. Oh God, he’s here, she thought and nervously smoothed down her blouse. But the car drove past, it wasn’t him. She glanced up at the clock again. Three minutes had elapsed since she last looked at it but it felt like an hour. Another car, moving slowly then stopping. This time it was definitely him. She swallowed, picked up her summery blue jacket and slipped her arms into it. She dropped the key as she was locking up the front door and as she bent over to pick it up, had a sudden comedy vision of her trousers splitting down the back.
‘Hello,’ called Ian and waved. He had got out of the car and was holding the passenger door open for her. He was wearing jeans, a blue shirt and a black leather jacket. He looked smart, as if he’d made an effort for her.
‘Hi,’ replied Stel. She walked towards him and stumbled slightly as her heel landed on a pebble.
‘Steady there,’ said Ian, his concern making her feel like a fool. She wished he hadn’t said anything, then she could have imagined he hadn’t seen her do that. Why the hell had she worn heels anyway? She could never walk properly or elegantly in them like her friends did. Caro always said she’d been born in heels. It was a portent of disaster, she could just tell it was.
Chapter 27
Viv was awoken the next morning by a heavy pounding on the folly door.
She leaped out of bed and peeped through the curtains to see Heath Merlo looking up at her. She jumped back quickly. What the heck did he want at – she checked the time – stupid o’clock on a Sunday morning? Viv threw on the first clothes that came to hand and hurried downstairs. Heath Merlo, she suspected correctly, was a man who didn’t like to be kept waiting.
She unlocked her door and opened it to find him standing there, glowering. Behind him, sitting on her black horse which was stomping on the spot as if impatient to be off, was Antonia Bloody Tell-tale Leighton.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ she said, giving Viv a piercing stare as a parting present.
Heath turned and nodded at her. He made the gesture look like an intimate one, thought Viv with some fascination. As if that nod held the words: ‘Thank you, I’ll see you later, darling.’ It made Viv prickle with something in the ballpark of jealousy.
As soon as Antonia had thundered off on her impressive beast, Heath crossed his arms in front of his wide chest.
‘Find many smells of windy willows in stables, do you?’ he asked.
Viv felt herself stiffening with annoyance. Whatever happened to being innocent until proven guilty? Even if she wasn’t all that innocent really. Not that Heath Merlo could know that.
‘If you mean by that, what was I doing up at the castle yesterday then just say it,’ she said, with a surprisingly brave snap in her voice.
‘Okay, let’s try again. What were you doing up at the castle yesterday?’
‘I took shelter there. I got caught in a thunderstorm. There was nothing to stand under but a big tree and I didn’t think that was particularly sensible. So I climbed over a gate and went into the stables until the lightning stopped. Then I walked down the hill and you picked me up. You saw how wet through I was.’ Indignation laced every one of Viv’s words. Who did he think he was? She might have had to explain her actions to Victoria Leighton, but why did he have to know?
Heath looked her directly in the eye. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘I don’t give a toss if you do or not. What business is it of yours?’
She was amused to see Heath’s mouth drop open with a momentary display of astonishment. Then she saw his Adam’s apple rise and fall as he gulped down a huge ball of expletives probably. When he spoke again, his words were slow, deliberate and squeezed out through lips pulled thin by irritation.
‘The reason why it is my business is that the Leightons are looking for any excuse, any, to hasten our end here. You are handing them ammunition with which to shoot me.’
‘I didn’t steal or damage anything,’ returned Viv, with the same hostile calmness. ‘I didn’t sneak a horse out under my jacket or you would have seen it when I got in the truck. I was taking a walk and the rain started and I didn’t want to die.’
Heath’s dark green eyes waged a silent war with her blue ones. Who the hell did he think he was? Was she really going to put up with this crap for a pittance of a wage? She didn’t need to be here any more. She had got what she wanted. So when he said coldly, ‘I think you’d better pack your things and bugger off, Miss Blackbird,’ she replied, ‘I will be more than happy to bugger off, Mr Merlo.’ And she slammed the door in his face and headed upstairs.
Viv threw everything into her case like a manic Harlem Globetrotter. She didn’t bother folding anything, or separating any dirty clothes from the clean ones. She was, however, a little more careful when she came to packing away her mini laboratory. She was just checking to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything when she heard his unmistakable rap once again on the folly door. She marched over to open it, presuming he was there to ask how much longer she would be. Her none too polite answer was ready and waiting to be delivered.
But Heath Merlo stood on her soon-to-be-abandoned doorstep with no hint of anger on his face.
‘Miss Blackbird. Before you bugger off, may I ask you to hold the fort for a while? Geraldine has fallen down the stairs and I’m going to drive her to hospital.’
Viv looked past him to where his 4x4 stood, engine idling, and saw Geraldine in the passenger seat. She was mouthing the words, ‘I’m okay’ through the glass, but her face was pale and pained.
‘Yes, yes of course,’ replied Viv. What else could she say? Once they had gone, Viv went into the cottage, Bub the cat padding behind her, purring as if butter wouldn’t melt in his sadistic mouth. But as soon as she knew that Geraldine was all right, she would be off. And that was a definite.
Chapter 28
‘Well, come on, Stel, we’re all dying to know how it went,’ replied Linda, taking the cling film from the plate of goodies which Caro had brought, as it was her turn this week. Waitrose, guessed Gaynor and she was right. Yes, it would be.
‘Well,’ Stel began, but it was obvious from the width of her smile that good news was about to tumble from her lips. ‘It was a lovely evening. He picked me up from t
he door, almost literally because I put bloody heels on and nearly fell flat on my face. We went to the Imax’ – she saw mouths opening, all to ask the same question – ‘yes, he paid. And he bought us both a coffee to take in with us. Then afterwards we went across the road to the Chinese. And he wouldn’t take a penny. Then he drove me home.’
‘Did you invite him in for coffee?’ asked Linda, managing to make the word ‘coffee’ sound both innocent and salacious.
Stel thought back to the end of the date. She’d been so totally relaxed in Ian’s company until that last five minutes when she didn’t know what was going to happen. Her brain started firing questions at her. Are you going to kiss him then? Are you going to ask him out to repay him for all the money he’s spent on you? Are you going to invite him in for a coffee? She both wanted him to come in for one, and didn’t. The date had been perfect – she should leave it at that. But, as he pulled up outside her house, the compulsion to be polite was overwhelming.
‘Would you like a coffee?’ she asked. Hoping he’d refuse. Hoping he’d accept.
He turned to her and smiled. ‘Thank you, Stel, you’re very sweet but I don’t want to put you to any trouble. I think I’d just like to drive home smiling and float into bed, if you don’t mind.’
Stel mirrored the smile. ‘I don’t mind at all.’ She had walked up the path, aware that he was waiting until she got into the house safely, sure-footed as a goat on her heels. But then, her feet felt as if they were hovering above the ground.
‘Well?’ Linda’s prompt wrenched her out of her reverie.
‘He didn’t come in for coffee. I did invite him, but he didn’t want to inconvenience me.’
‘Oh, nice.’ Caro sounded impressed.
‘Yes, I had a wonderful evening.’ Stel let out a Snow-White-at-the-wishing-well sigh, unaware that her friends were exchanging winks and smiles.
‘And has he been in touch since?’ This from Gaynor.
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