‘Oh, sis, your timing is perfect . . .’
A loud wail from Lou cut her off.
‘Maggie, you’ve got to come! My babies!’
There was so much background noise that Maggie could hardly hear her.
‘You need to speak up. What’s going on?’
‘The house . . . it’s, oh God!’
There was a loud bang and the sound of glass shattering. Maggie’s knees buckled.
‘The house,’ Lou sobbed. ‘It’s on fire.’
44
Maggie fought her way through the crowd of rubberneckers, screaming ‘Police!’ and shoving her badge into the face of anyone who objected to being elbowed out of the way.
Two fire engines and an ambulance were blocking the street outside Lou’s house and the acrid stench of smoke filled her lungs long before Maggie reached them. She staggered to a halt outside number seventeen. No flames were visible but the white facade of Lou’s house was blackened with soot and the windows on the ground floor smashed. Water pooled around the open front door where two hosepipes snaked inside.
Maggie’s heart caught in her throat and she looked around frantically until her gaze landed on the ambulance parked a little way down the street. Two children were huddled together on the steps.
‘Jude?’
Her nephew looked up, his shell-shocked face streaked with tears. Slumped against his side was Scotty, his small, filthy hand clinging to the blanket that covered them both. Maggie ran over and flung her arms round them, letting out a sob of gratitude that they were both safe. It was a few moments before she could bring herself to let go.
‘Where’s Mae?’ Her voice wobbled as she tucked the blanket firmly round them.
‘In here,’ said Lou’s voice from inside the ambulance. Maggie craned round the door to see her sister sitting on a bench attached to the ambulance wall with Mae, an oxygen mask covering her tiny face, lying across her lap. Maggie’s eyes filled with tears as Lou began to cry.
‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,’ she said.
‘It’s okay, you’re safe and the children are safe,’ Maggie reassured her.
‘You can come inside,’ said the paramedic watching over her sister and niece. Maggie realized she knew him.
‘Roy, isn’t it? I’m DC Neville, with Mansell CID. We’ve met before.’
‘Oh yeah. I thought you looked familiar.’
‘This is my sister. Can you give me a minute with her? Keep an eye on the boys out here for me?’
‘Sure.’
She stood aside to let him down the steps and watched as he crouched down next to Jude and Scotty and asked if they wanted some more water to drink, to which they both nodded. Maggie climbed into the narrow space he’d vacated.
‘What happened?’ she asked Lou.
Her sister closed her eyes and nuzzled her lips against Mae’s forehead. Aside from the mask, the sleeping toddler appeared remarkably unscathed.
‘Lou?’
‘It was some cauliflower cheese, in the microwave.’ Tears dripped from Lou’s chin, wetting Mae’s fine blonde hair. ‘I forgot you can’t microwave foil containers and it caught fire. I . . . I tried to get it out with a tea towel, but that caught fire and . . .’ She exhaled with a shudder. ‘It all happened so quickly.’
‘But you’re all okay?’
Lou nodded. ‘Jude got Scotty and Mae out before it got too bad. Oh, Maggie. The house. The kitchen’s gutted and the smoke’s got everywhere.’
‘Houses can be fixed, lives can’t. Be thankful you and the kids are okay.’
‘But where are we going to stay?’
‘With me,’ said Maggie firmly. She’d already decided on the drive over that she’d take her sister and the kids in until the house was habitable again. ‘You and Mae can have my bedroom and the boys can sleep in the spare room. I’ll use the sofa.’ When Lou began to protest, Maggie cut her dead. ‘We’ll manage. I’ve called Mum and Dad too. They’re on their way.’
Lou was horrified. ‘Why did you do that?’
‘Because they want to help.’
Maggie wasn’t surprised by her sister’s reaction: Lou had an uneasy alliance with their parents and rarely asked them to lend a hand. Yet Jeanette and Graeme Neville’s immediate response to Maggie’s call was to get straight in their car to make the journey from the outskirts of Portsmouth to Mansell. If the roads were as clear as they should be at that time of night, they’d be there in a couple of hours.
Maggie called outside to Roy.
‘Are you going to take them to A&E to get them checked out?’
‘Well, we can, but your sister isn’t keen on them being admitted. None of them are suffering from smoke inhalation – we’re only giving the baby oxygen as a precaution. They got out well before the fire took hold.’
Maggie swung back to face her sister.
‘I think you should all go to hospital, just to be on the safe side.’
Lou shook her head violently. Mae woke up and tried to pull the oxygen mask off her face. As she grew distressed, Maggie went to her aid.
‘Let’s take this off for a sec, sweetheart,’ she said, removing the mask. Mae gazed up at her aunt, her eyes like huge orbs. Maggie gently stroked her cheek with the tip of her index finger until Mae’s eyelids drooped again and she settled back into sleep. Then she replaced the mask.
‘I really think you should have a doctor look them over,’ she said to Lou in a low voice. ‘The boys are clearly in shock.’
Her sister’s face drained of colour.
‘We can’t go,’ she whispered.
Maggie grew exasperated. ‘Why ever not?’
‘Because the doctors might ask questions and I can’t risk it.’ Lou grabbed Maggie’s hand. ‘Can’t you tell them we’re fine and that we just want to go back to yours?’
Maggie knew her sister as well as she knew herself. She could tell in a heartbeat whether Lou was troubled, sad, pissed off or – as she was right now – hiding something.
‘Not until you tell me the truth. What aren’t you saying?’
‘I can’t tell you here.’
Maggie glanced outside. Roy was sitting with his back to them on the step alongside Jude and Scotty, showing them a piece of ambulance equipment that looked a bit like a water pistol. Both boys were enthralled, their ordeal forgotten for a moment. The ambulance’s other paramedic, a short, stout woman with cropped dark hair, was a short distance away, chatting to one of the firefighters.
‘No one’s listening now,’ Maggie hissed to her sister.
There was a long pause before Lou spoke. Her voice was soft and low.
‘I wasn’t at home when the fire started.’
Maggie’s jaw dropped. ‘Tell me you’re joking.’
Fresh tears streaked Lou’s face.
‘I’d gone out and left Jude to babysit. I thought they’d be okay. I was only down the road at the Crown,’ she said, referring to the pub at the bottom of her street, a horrible dive frequented by surly locals who threw dirty looks at any outsider who dared to venture inside. Maggie hated it.
‘Scotty didn’t know that foil containers can’t go in the microwave, so when he tried to heat up the cauliflower cheese it caught fire. Jude tried to put it out but couldn’t. So he got Scotty and Mae out of the house and called me. I was back in less than a minute,’ said Lou desperately as Maggie shook her head in disbelief. ‘None of the neighbours saw me. They only came out of their houses once the fire engines turned up. Everyone thinks I was here when the fire started.’
Maggie was so angry she had to clench her fists to stop herself raising her voice.
‘How could you be so irresponsible?’ she whispered angrily. ‘What did I say about leaving Jude in charge of Scotty and especially Mae? She’s only fourteen months old for God’s sake.’
‘I know, I just . . .’ Lou trailed off, aware that no excuse in the world would cut it. ‘Please don’t say anything.’
‘We have to.’
Lou flared up at her sister. ‘So it’s okay for you to keep it a secret that Rob’s moving to Spain and marrying that cow, but when I need you to keep quiet for me, you won’t?’
‘Is that what you meant on the phone the other night? For crying out loud, Lou, it’s not the same.’
‘It is,’ said Lou stubbornly.
Maggie tried to think logically. As furious as she was with Lou, her instinct was still to protect her and the kids. Her sister wasn’t a bad mum but social services might not see it that way if they found out where she’d been that evening and what she’d done. It would mean putting herself on the line, but in that moment she couldn’t see any other alternative. Shielding her family was her only consideration.
‘Roy?’ she called out. The paramedic swivelled round, as did Scotty and Jude. ‘Is there any chance you could ask one of the neighbours to make my sister a cup of sweet tea? I know it’s not your job, but she doesn’t want me to leave her.’
Luckily for Maggie, Roy was the amenable sort.
‘Yep, I can do that. Won’t be a tick.’
As he went off, Maggie called the boys inside the ambulance. ‘Come and sit here,’ she said, gesturing to the bench next to their mum. ‘I want to talk to you about this evening.’ She waited until they were settled, then crouched down in front of them. ‘It’s really important neither of you tells anyone that Mummy wasn’t at home this evening. Do you understand? The fire was an accident but Mummy shouldn’t have left you on your own and she might get into trouble if anyone finds out. So it’s our secret, okay?’
Maggie’s insides churned as she spoke. She hated having to get the boys to lie when she’d always encouraged them to be honest. It was also a secret that could potentially mar her career.
Both boys nodded. She turned to Lou.
‘How many people were in the pub tonight?’
‘Why does that matter?’
‘Were you seen by many people?’
‘No, no, I don’t think so. We sat outside under one of the heaters. I only went to the bar once, right when we got there. The place was virtually empty then.’
‘We?’
Lou flicked her head towards the boys. ‘Please, not now.’
A man. Someone Lou hadn’t told her about. She’d find out why later.
‘Aside from whoever you were with,’ said Maggie, rolling her eyes, ‘are you sure no one else saw you?’
‘Pretty sure.’
‘That’s not good enough, Lou,’ Maggie snapped again.
‘Stop it, Auntie Maggie, you’re upsetting her.’
Jude, always the defender. He glared at Maggie.
‘I’m not trying to upset her, buddy. I’m trying to make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.’
‘I know, but don’t tell her off when she’s already crying.’ Brow furrowed in anger, Jude put his arm round his mum while Scotty got up and moved to Lou’s other side so he could do the same. The sight of them protecting her sister, little jaws jutting out defiantly, made Maggie want to cry too.
Instead, she tried to keep calm. One of them had to think and act straight.
‘Right, I’m going to talk to the fire crew, see what they’re saying. Stay here, all of you,’ she ordered. ‘I won’t be long.’
Jude squeezed his mum tighter.
45
It didn’t take Maggie long to find the sub-officer in charge of the two crews, identifiable by the two black stripes on his yellow helmet and the matching silver bands on the collar of his tunic. He was intrigued by Maggie’s presence – she introduced herself by showing him her warrant card – until she explained her relationship to Lou.
‘Your sister’s bloody lucky,’ he said. ‘Because they all got out quickly and called us, the damage is a lot less than it could’ve been, not to mention no lives were lost. The kitchen’s scorched, but the rest is mostly smoke damage.’
Maggie looked up at the small terraced house and had to swallow hard to stop herself from welling up. She couldn’t bear to think what the outcome might’ve been had Jude not reacted so quickly.
‘My sister said the fire was caused by a foil container being put in the microwave by accident.’
‘Yep, that’s what it looks like. The seat of the fire is in the corner, on one of the worktops.’
‘Maggie?’
She turned at the sound of her name and was stunned to see Craig, a firefighter she’d dated briefly the previous year, coming towards her. In all the drama it hadn’t occurred to her that he might be among the crews answering the shout.
‘You two know each other?’ asked the sub-officer.
‘Yeah, sort of,’ said Craig, smiling. He removed his helmet and his short dark hair was slick with sweat. ‘You all right?’ he directed at Maggie.
She nodded, embarrassed. Their romance had been short-lived because her heart hadn’t been in it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Craig – he was lovely and kind and he made her laugh – but after a few weeks she’d been forced to admit to herself that she simply wasn’t sexually attracted to him. Lou had howled with laughter when she’d told her. ‘He’s a six-foot-tall firefighter with a six-pack and his own hose,’ her sister had giggled, ‘how can you not fancy him?’ But when they kissed there was no spark, at least not for Maggie. Craig had been gracious when she broke it off, although she’d stopped short of telling him the truth. The line she’d spun him was that work was too busy for her to fit in a relationship as well. Bad timing, and all that.
‘It’s your sister’s house, isn’t it?’ said Craig.
‘Yes, it is.’
‘I thought I’d recognized it, and her.’
Maggie remembered he and Lou had met once, when she’d brought him round for Sunday lunch.
‘I want to take my sister and the kids home,’ she said to the sub-officer. ‘They seem fine but they’re exhausted. They need sleep.’
The sub-officer nodded. ‘We’re pretty much done here too. Does your sister own the property?’
‘Yes, it’s hers.’
‘Well, the house is structurally safe so we don’t need to let the council building control know, but your sister will need to call a glazier out to secure the windows, then call the utility suppliers to make sure everything stays switched off for now. Don’t turn anything on until they’ve come and done a proper assessment, understand?’
‘I do. Thank you.’
‘Not a problem,’ he said, shaking her hand. He marched off, leaving her, Craig and an awkward silence in his wake.
‘I should get back to my sister,’ said Maggie after a few moments.
‘Aren’t you even going to ask me how I am?’ he grinned.
Although it hardly felt like the time for a catch-up, Maggie didn’t want to appear impolite.
‘Yes, of course. How are things?’
‘Great. Really great,’ he said. ‘I’m engaged. Set the date for next May.’
Maggie was pleased for him; he was a nice guy and deserved to be happy.
‘That’s good news, congratulations.’ She allowed a few more seconds to lapse before saying, ‘Right, I really do need to get them home.’
‘Right.’
‘Well, bye then.’
Craig titled his head to one side.
‘I don’t suppose you fancy a drink sometime?’
She stopped. ‘A drink?’
‘Yeah, a catch-up for old time’s sake.’
He made it sound like they were exes of a few years and not just a few weeks.
‘Now’s not the time, Craig. My sister . . .’
‘No, you’re right, it isn’t. You’ve got my number though, give me a call.’
She gave him a bemused smile. ‘What about your fiancée? Won’t she mind?’
‘It’s just a drink, Maggie,’ he said mockingly. ‘Just two friends having a drink.’
Flustered and embarrassed, Maggie told him that’s what she thought he’d meant. ‘A drink would be nice. I’ll give you a call.’
Craig smirked as s
he walked away.
Back inside the ambulance Scotty had fallen asleep with his face pressed against Lou’s side while Jude was also close to losing his battle to stay awake, his head jerking as his chin drooped towards his chest. Roy, the paramedic, nodded his consent when Maggie said she was going to take them home.
‘Just be mindful that they might suffer from delayed shock. If they do, either take them to their GP or call 111 for advice,’ he said.
‘I will, thank you.’
A couple of neighbours came forward to help Maggie get Lou and the children out of the ambulance. One, a genial Irishman in his sixties named Frank who lived three doors down from Lou, lifted sleeping Scotty and carried him to Maggie’s car parked down the street. Maggie put her arm round Jude and led him in the same direction, while Lou followed with Mae.
‘Shit, I haven’t got their seats,’ said Maggie as she unlocked the vehicle. The baby seat for Mae and the booster for Scotty were in the charred wreck of their house.
‘I don’t think you need to be worrying about that,’ said Frank, laying Scotty down on the back seat. He ushered Jude in after him and shut the door as softly as he could. ‘You get these babbies home as quick as you can. They’re flah’ed out. Their mum too,’ he added, nodding to Lou, who had climbed in the front passenger seat with Mae in her arms. ‘I knows a fella who does windows. I’ll call him now and get him round to fix some boards up. We’ll keep an eye on the place until the morning.’
The tears Maggie had fought so hard not to shed for the past hour suddenly sprang from her eyes. She laid her hand on his arm.
‘Thank you, Frank,’ she said, overcome. ‘That’s really kind of you.’
‘It’s the least we can do, lassie,’ he said gruffly as he patted her hand. ‘That’s some lucky scrape they’ve bin through tonight. It’s a miracle they’re here at all.’
46
Bea never walked to school with Esme if she could help it. It wasn’t cool to be seen hanging out with a younger sister, even if the journey took less than ten minutes from their house. Usually she ditched Esme at the end of their drive to walk with her friends, or if she was alone she’d make her sister walk on the other side of the road from her. Trying to persuade Bea to let Esme accompany her was a battle their mum had long given up trying to wage, so her shock was evident when, as casually as she could manage, Bea announced over breakfast on Friday morning that she’d walk Esme to and from school that day.
Wrong Place Page 20
