Kathleen was increasingly nervous about imparting her news. She feared that the true series of events that had led to John being killed would fire huge shame and disgust not only in everyone here, but also in others, who would likely learn of it when the newspapers got hold of the story. Inevitably, their reports would include all the sordid details leading up to the violent death of a well-respected and much-loved family man. But no one would feel such tearing pain for John Tanner as did his devoted daughter, Rosie.
Kathleen’s tender gaze again fell on Rosie, still in deepest thought. After a moment, and totally unaware that Kathleen was watching, Rosie bent her head and discreetly wiped away her falling tears.
Having noticed Kathleen watching Rosie with love, Patrick leaned over to take hold of his wife’s hand. ‘Don’t fret, sweetheart,’ he assured her in the softest whisper. ‘Rosie will be all right. She’s not alone … she has us.’
His kind words were most reassuring to Kathleen, who thanked her own lucky stars for the love and companionship of this solid, gentle man, whom she loved with every fibre of her being.
Before Kathleen could say anything, Rosie sat up to look straight at her and, as though she had been going through the dark matters in her own mind, she said in a quiet manner, ‘I need to go and see Mother. I need to know what really happened.’
‘Of course you can see your mother and ask her whatever you need to,’ Kathleen assured her gently. ‘But for now it’s best to leave her to deal with the police. Afterwards, I’m sure it would do no harm for you to ask her any questions that might be bothering you.’
In answer, Rosie gave a little nod of her head. ‘So when do you think I can see her?’
‘Not for a while, I suspect. Why don’t you go and see if Barney’s all right? He looked all in.’ Kathleen gathered herself to impart news of the recent development while Rosie went off to find her dog.
‘Molly rang me again while you were all away,’ she told Patrick and Harry. ‘She confided in me that the police had been asking her so many questions about the accident and how John met his death that she felt threatened, and decided to call the family lawyer. I’m guessing he’s on his way to the police station at this very moment.’
‘Why does she feel threatened?’ Patrick asked. ‘It was an accident, wasn’t it? If so, all she has to do is report what happened. There should be no need for endless questions, but then I know little of the law, so I might be wrong.’
‘As you know,’ Kathleen went on, ‘we were led to believe that it was an accident, but I now know, because Molly explained to me, that it was not actually an accident. She also told the police, and that’s why there were more questions. It’s also why she thought to call the lawyer.’
‘But if it was not “actually an accident”, what the devil was it? I mean, what did happen in that barn, eh? What I can’t fathom is why Molly should be frightened or think the police might blame her. Why would they?’ Either way, Patrick cared nothing for his sister-in-law, but he was anxious to get to the truth about John.
‘Well … she seems to think they might put the blame on her somehow.’
‘Hmm, I think she might be paranoid. But if it was not an accident, what happened then? How was John killed?’
Kathleen now revealed the truth behind Molly’s worries. ‘Apparently, Molly did a bad thing. She told me it was because of her that a vicious fight kicked off between her boyfriend and John. John caught them together … in the hay barn in a state of undress.’
‘What! Good Lord, is there nothing your sister won’t get up to, given the chance?’
‘It seems not. The thing is, the man she was with is none other than Tom Stevens, an old sweetheart of hers. She was courting him when she met John. For a while they were inseparable but it gradually became clear to me that he doted on her, while she loved the attention, but sometimes treated him terribly – standing him up when she was bored and had a better prospect of a good time with someone else, getting him to take her all over the place on his motorbike, as if he was her unpaid driver, openly flirting with other men just to make Tom jealous and bring him to heel if he showed any sign of objecting to being used. In the end, for material reasons of course, she dumped Tom and married John soon after.’
Patrick laughed. ‘We all know why she dumped Tom. It was because he had nothing material to offer, while John had just inherited a farmhouse, with all the land and buildings. We all know your sister is nothing but a gold-digger. She doesn’t care who she climbs over or who she gets into bed with to further her own ends.’ From the first meeting with Molly, he had neither respect nor liking for her.
‘What I still don’t know is what caused John’s death,’ Patrick went on, ‘and why Molly is so worried about answering questions from the police. She must know it’s the regulation after a fatality.’
Kathleen relayed what Molly had told her. ‘Apparently, when John found them together like that, he went crazy. A vicious fight broke out between the two men, and that’s when John was fatally hurt. Molly says she thought John was just knocked unconscious when she called the ambulance. She says she tried so hard to revive him, and then realised that Tom had killed him, although he claims he didn’t mean to and it truly was an accident.’
Rosie, who had been hovering by the door unseen, came in looking shocked and angry. ‘So, it is her fault he was killed! She didn’t come home from work, and Daddy was worried … and all the time she was with another man. She caused his death! I hate her! It’s her that should be dead, not my father!’
With a gesture of his head, Patrick indicated for Harry to take Rosie away, but she insisted on staying. ‘I need to know what she said to you, Auntie Kathleen … please?’ Quietly sobbing, she pleaded, ‘I have to stay. I have to know the truth!’
And so it was agreed, although she was glad when Harry put a supportive arm about her while she listened to what else Kathleen had been told.
Kathleen began, ‘I won’t deny that what Molly did was shameful. And I do agree with you, Rosie. If she had not gone into the barn with Tom Stevens, there would never have been a fight, and your father would still be here. But life sometimes takes dark and dangerous turns, and we have no control over what happens.’
She wisely omitted the information that Molly had relayed: that Tom had swung a spade at John’s head. It was the fatal blow.
‘I’m sorry you had to hear any of this now, Rosie,’ Kathleen said.
Feeling cold and empty inside, Rosie asked quietly, ‘Who is this Tom Stevens?’
‘He was your mother’s sweetheart years ago,’ Kathleen explained. ‘Before she met your father.’
Rosie was curious. ‘What does he look like … this man?’ Her mind went back to the man in the barn … the man who had been so very sad.
‘Well, I don’t know what he looks like now, Rosie dear. But he was never a truly handsome man. Nice enough, I suppose. Ordinary, unassuming. Rather thick-set … with fairish hair … but that was a long time ago. To be honest, if I saw him now I don’t suppose I would even recognise him.’
She felt deeply for Rosie. ‘I wish to God you did not have to know all that, but I suppose it could get into the papers, and I wouldn’t want you finding out that way.’
‘I understand, Auntie Kathleen. And I would rather know the truth from you.’ Suddenly Rosie felt as though she had changed … grown up somehow. It was odd, but now she could see the danger and ugliness in this world, when before, apart from being the butt of her mother’s spiteful nature, she had never felt the world to be cruel.
‘Auntie Kathleen?’
‘Yes, sweetheart?’
‘Will they put her in jail?’
‘I’m not sure. I don’t see how they would, because even though the fight was about her, she apparently took no part in it. She told me that Tom Stevens confessed it was he who struck the fatal blow. She claims that she tried to stop him but he was beyond her control.’
‘Why didn’t she help my father?’
; ‘She said she was afraid to get between them … that the two of them were in such a wild rage she was forced to keep her distance. Tom Stevens has told the authorities that he and he alone is to blame for what happened, and that Molly has nothing to answer for.’
‘Well, he’s wrong, because she has a great deal to answer for, and she ought to be locked away alongside him.’ Rosie was certain about this. Her mother was the cause of the fight; she had cheated on Rosie’s father, and now she had caused his death. Rosie would never forgive her, not for as long as she lived.
Rosie brought her attention back to what Kathleen was saying to answer some question of Harry’s.
‘All I know is what she told me, Harry. Tom Stevens confessed to what he did. He told the authorities that he was entirely to blame for what happened, but that he never meant to kill John. But whichever way you look at it, he swung out, John was killed, and you may depend on it that with Molly as witness to what he claims, he will surely be made to pay the price.’
‘So, what will happen to him?’ Harry asked.
‘According to Molly, there will be further investigations,’ Kathleen explained. ‘In the meantime, Tom Stevens will remain safely behind bars.’
Rosie, along with everyone else, was glad of that.
Though Stevens had confessed that he was the one to blame for her father’s death, in her deepest heart Rosie continued to believe that her mother was every bit as guilty.
‘She should be in prison as well!’ she remarked bitterly. ‘She’s the one who cheated. It was her who caused Daddy to be killed. I hate her. I never want to see her again … never!’ Scrambling out of the chair, she ran outside, to hide in the garden shed; to be by herself and let it all sink in. She thought of how treacherous her mother was. She recalled how concerned her father had been last night, when he had gone out to look for her mother, and how blindly he loved her although she behaved in this terrible way.
Her daddy was such a gentle man – how could he love such a woman? Why did he not find a warm and lovely soul who would give him the love and devotion he deserved?
Rosie’s heart ached for him now. She so needed to see him, to hear his voice and hug him tight. She needed so much to tell him that she would love him for ever and she would never forget him, not for as long as she lived. And she longed to see his bright and lovely smile and hear his laughter just once more. Oh, what she would give for that!
Deep in thought, she was startled to hear Harry’s voice outside. ‘Can I come in, Rosie?’
‘No, Harry. Just now, I’d rather be on my own.’
‘I’m worried about you.’
‘I’m all right, really I am.’ But she wasn’t. Maybe she never would be again.
‘Please, Rosie, either let me in or come with me to the sun-room, and we’ll just sit and talk together. I just want to help you, Rosie.’
Knowing that he also must be devastated by the loss of her father, Rosie opened the door. ‘I don’t want to go to the sun-room,’ she told him. ‘I just want to stay here for a while.’
‘So, can I come in?’
‘Yes, all right. Come in, if you really want to. I’m not good company just now, though.’ Having opened the door wider, she returned to where she had been sitting on an old wooden bench.
‘Thank you, Rosie.’ Harry followed her to the bench. ‘I didn’t like the idea of you being here all alone.’ He sat down beside her, while gingerly sliding his arm about her shoulders. ‘I just want to be with you … to hold you, and let you know that I’m here when you need me. I’m always here for you, Rosie, always. We all are.’
Rosie smiled up at him. ‘I know, and I appreciate that.’ She plucked up the courage to tell him what was haunting her. ‘It’s just that I have things on my mind … to do with Daddy … and Mother and … certain other things.’
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘Not really, no.’
‘It would be just me and you, no one else, I promise,’ he gently reassured her. ‘Whatever it is that’s worrying you, I’m sure it would help if you talked about it rather than fretting and getting upset. Look, Rosie, you must know you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone else … unless you want me to.’
She felt she could put her trust in him. ‘I saw things,’ she began. ‘I really should tell the police, especially about the man in the barn. Auntie Kathleen told us about the man who was Mother’s sweetheart all those years ago, so I was wondering if he was the man I saw in the barn. Before that, I saw him with her. They were outside the barn talking together.’
Harry was taken by surprise. ‘What? You mean you were actually there, near the big barn, last night?’
‘Yes, me and Barney. We were there, outside the big barn. But we didn’t hear a fight going on, or anything like that. We were just looking for Daddy.’
‘What do you mean, Rosie … why were you looking for him? And why was he out there in the first place?’
‘Daddy was worried about Mother. It was really late and she still hadn’t come home,’ Rosie explained. ‘He was so worried that he decided to go and find her. He told me to stay in the house with Barney, and I was not to answer the door or look out of the windows. But he was gone too long, and when I thought I saw him going into the yard, I took Barney with me and we went to find him.’
‘And did you – find him, I mean?’
‘No, but I saw my mother. She was outside the big barn with a man. They were talking, but I was too far away to hear what they were saying. And now I’m sure that man must have been the one who was with Mother, when Daddy found them together.’
‘Good grief, Rosie, so what did you do?’
‘We hid and watched, and waited to see if Daddy might turn up. But he didn’t. I saw the man, and I saw Mother, but I never saw Daddy.’ Rosie thought hard. ‘I thought he might be there somewhere, though, so when Mother was not looking, I told Barney to stay put and not make a sound, then I sneaked into the barn. I saw the man inside there, but I was careful not to let him see me. But … honestly, Harry, it was really strange.’
Harry was intrigued, but also concerned that Rosie had gone inside the barn on her own. ‘What do you mean, “strange”?’
Rosie mentally put herself back in the barn. ‘Well, I kept by the wall, and stayed in the shadows as much as I could. Then I saw him – the man. He was standing a short distance away from me in the middle of the floor – just standing there, very still, as though he was in deep thought. And when he stooped down I noticed that right near his feet there was a pile of what looked like old clothes or something … but it was shadowy and I couldn’t make it out.’
‘Oh, Rosie! Why did you put yourself in danger like that? You should never have gone in there. If he had seen you, who knows what he might have done?’
‘He didn’t see me. He never knew I was there because I was too careful. But I was a little afraid, and I couldn’t see Daddy anywhere, so I sneaked out again. But something strange happened just before I went. The man stooped down to pick something up off the ground. I couldn’t tell what it was, but in the hazy light I could see that it was a dark object. He turned it round in his hands, and he stared at it for ages, and suddenly he was crying – really sobbing – like his heart was broken.’
Remembering it now, she felt sad inside. ‘I wish I could have seen what the object was, but it was too shadowy. Then I crept outside as softly as I could.’
‘Why did you not say this before?’ Harry asked. ‘When we were back at the house together, why did you not tell my parents about all this?’
‘Because I was too afraid!’ She instinctively dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘I am still afraid, because if Mother knew I was telling you she would harm Barney … even kill him. That’s what she said.’
‘Why would she threaten Barney? When did she say that?’
‘When I got back outside I ran into Mother and she warned me to be quiet and go home. I could hear the ambulance coming.
She would have gone on, b
ut Harry was adamant: ‘You have to tell Mum and Dad what you told me; you have to tell them everything.’
‘I can’t. I won’t, and neither must you.’
‘What are you saying, Rosie? You have to tell them! It’s possible that what you saw could be crucial information about what happened.’
‘I don’t see how. I mean, I didn’t see anything special … except for the man who was crying. And, even if I wanted to, I daren’t tell your parents. I should never have told you either because if Mother finds out she’ll hurt me, and she’ll kill Barney.’
‘We will always protect you and Barney. You must know that?’
‘You wouldn’t be able to protect us. She’s wicked. She would find a way to do what she threatened. You weren’t there, you didn’t hear what she said. And she meant it, she really did. Just before the ambulance arrived, she warned me that if I told anyone that I had seen anything I shouldn’t have, or heard anything, then she would hurt Barney really badly. That’s what she said, and she meant it, Harry. I know she will.’ Her fears were very real. ‘Promise me, Harry, you will not tell your parents or anyone else. Please!’
Harry was torn. He could see how frightened Rosie was, and he understood. On the other hand, he realised that Rosie might well have seen and heard things that could maybe help the police get to the truth of what actually happened. Also, Harry was still unable to believe that John Tanner – that big, strong man – could ever lose his life in a fight.
‘All right then, think about this. What if the man you saw in the barn really was this Tom Stevens? What if he and your mother had already hurt your father, and he was still there somewhere? He could well have been, because you just told me that the ambulance came, and your mother chased you away. Think about it, Rosie. Why was the ambulance there? And why did she want you out of the way?’
Lonely Girl Page 19
