Midnight Capers

by Rebecca King

  Or an intruder trying to kick the door down.

  Her heart pounded as she slowly returned to the hallway. Once there, though, she couldn’t gather the courage to venture into the back of the house, to the sitting room overlooking the garden, because she was scared at what she might find.

  “But I have to because I am supposed to be looking after Mavis’s house,” Pheony whispered.

  Strangely, the sound of her own voice wasn’t as comforting as she had hoped it might be. It echoed around the empty hallway and made her feel even more isolated and vulnerable.

  “That is the major problem with living here, I am isolated. Alone.” Her chin quivered. Anything could happen to her and nobody would be around to hear her scream. “I don’t know how Mavis has enjoyed living here for so long. The cottage is delightful or would be if it were somewhere else.”

  Ever since she had arrived, Pheony had spent her days rattling around the remnants of someone else’s life, painfully aware that she didn’t belong in the property. She had felt alone, helpless, vulnerable, scared, confused, and hopelessly lost.

  “Now, I am scared because there are strange noises out here every night and I have no idea where they are coming from, or who is out there,” Pheony whispered miserably.

  During the first night she had wondered, and indeed hoped, that it might be Dean but a steady perusal of the garden surrounding the house from the upstairs windows had proven that it wasn’t. Besides, she could see no reason why Dean would want to scare her, or even bother to come to see her.

  “Face it, he won’t come anywhere near me because he is worried that I do care.” Pheony winced when the heavy silence of the house fell over her like a shroud, suffocating her and stopping her from enjoying life. “I really must stop talking to myself.”

  “Pheony!”

  Pheony spun around to face the door so quickly she almost fell over and stood clinging to the sitting room door frame for several moments while she stared blankly at the front door.

  “Bert?” Her voice quivered when she heard Bert call her name again.

  “Open the door,” Bert demanded, rattling the latch.

  Pheony hurried into the kitchen and stood on tiptoe to peer out of the window. Bert was staring at the front door and didn’t see her, but now that she could be sure it was him, Pheony rushed to let him in.

  “Was that you?” she demanded when she yanked the door open.

  A chilled Bert stomped into the house with the collar of his jacket pulled up to his ears and his hands tucked beneath his armpits for warmth. He closed the door behind him and scowled at her. “Was what me?”

  “That thudding out back just now,” Pheony prompted.

  Bert looked at the sitting room door. “You heard thuds? Is someone out there?” Before she could answer, he stepped around her and stomped toward the sitting room. Shoving the sitting room door open, he checked the locks on the back door and hurried to the window. “It’s too damned dark to see anything.” Slamming the shutters closed, Bert drew the curtains then turned to look at her. “Is everywhere locked? Have you seen someone out there?”

  “No, I haven’t seen someone, I just heard odd thuds,” Pheony replied. “Do you know something? You are hardly comforting to have around.”

  Bert sighed but didn’t smile. He stared at her as if contemplating whether he should tell her his news.

  Pheony slid into a chair beside the door and braced herself. “What is it?”

  “There has been a murder,” Bert announced bluntly.

  Pheony blinked at him. “Who?” She felt sick at the thought that Dean might have been killed.

  “The victim was a young woman who lived in the village,” Bert announced. “You don’t know her, but she has been a local in the village for a while now. My cousin knows her family. She lived with her grandmother initially but stayed in the house when her grandmother died.” Bert looked uncomfortable. “The victim was found by the Star Elite.”

  “They are here?” Pheony was delighted yet horrified at the same time. It hurt to think that Dean had been in the village but hadn’t bothered to call by to see if she was alright.

  “Apparently, the victim had something to do with this Morton fellow the Star Elite are looking for. They think that Morton is the killer.”

  “They will find him,” Pheony announced, confident of that fact.

  Bert looked worriedly at her. “They – the Star Elite – think that her killer, Morton, is in this area.”

  “They haven’t arrested him yet?” Pheony asked.

  “They are still looking for him. Everyone is.”

  Pheony physically shook as she lifted a hand to point it at the door once she realised what Bert was trying not to tell her. “Do you think that he was thumping on the door to get in?”

  Bert sighed heavily. “I think that you are unsafe here. I am sorry to say it, but I would be saying the same to Mavis if she was here. This man has already killed one woman who lived alone. If he sees you are here by yourself, he could target you because this house is isolated. You aren’t safe. If I were you, I would move.”

  “But to go where? I don’t have anywhere to go,” Pheony protested.

  Bert’s scowl deepened. “I thought you were going to make a few decisions about what you wanted to do while you were here.”

  “I was. I have been.”

  “And?”

  “And I don’t know what to do. I don’t seem to know how to make decisions. It is ridiculous because I have wanted to be in control of my own life for a while now and be free to make my own choices in life, but now that I have choices, I don’t know what I am supposed to be deciding upon. I can’t go anywhere because I have no money to purchase or rent somewhere. I don’t have any transport to take me anywhere, and I have no connections to help me move. I don’t even know where I should be living. Where is the best place to live? How do I find out? If I can secure accommodation, what do I do with my time while I am there? How does one live?” Pheony cried. “It’s a silly question, isn’t it?” she prompted when Bert looked astonished and then confused.

  “It is because you have always had someone tell you where you are going to live, and what you are expected to do with your life. The person who told you what to do as a child has now gone. Augusta, who took over your guardianship from your father, has also told you what to do, where to go, what to think, say, and do. This is the first time that you have been allowed to make your own decisions. I suppose it would be confusing.”

  “It is a little overwhelming. I mean, I have always been told what to eat. Now that I have a choice, I am not sure what I should be eating. Something so simple is just so overwhelming, I am confused. It was agreed that I could stay here while I decided what to do, but I don’t know how to decide.” Pheony scratched her head and struggled not to cry.

  Bert rubbed his chin. “Well, I think Morton has forced you into a situation where you can’t stay here. Now that I look back on it, maybe staying here isn’t the wisest thing to do.”

  “Where can I go?” Pheony asked.

  “I don’t have anywhere else you can stay,” Bert muttered. “My cousin isn’t married and so won’t accommodate you. It would cause so much gossip he would be out of business in a week.”

  “It is far too much to expect from you. I am sorry, Bert. There is just nobody around for me to talk to, to seek advice from,” Pheony muttered.

  “Well, I am not going to tell you what to do,” Bert snorted. “Or what would be the point of me bringing you here?”

  Pheony sat on the chair with her shoulders slumped dejectedly and a miserable expression on her face. She looked so unhappy that Bert wondered if he would have done better leaving her with the Star Elite. “Do you want me to take you back to them?”

  Pheony immediately thought of Dean, and how eager he was to get rid of her and shook her head vehemently. “I can’t go back there, or to Augusta’s house.”

  “Have you been to see the solicitor yet?”

&nbs
p; “No.” Pheony sighed feeling useless.

  “It might be a place to start, miss. I mean, you don’t even know if your guardianship is still legal. I have heard that Augusta has now been arrested for not paying her bills,” Bert informed her.

  “They arrested her?” Pheony was shocked that the Star Elite had done it so quickly.

  “She is behind bars with her brood,” Bert informed her with a roguish grin. “It serves the bloody woman right. However, I don’t know how long she is likely to stay behind bars. The gaol warder might want her releasing just so his prisoners don’t get tortured anymore.”

  Pheony clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter, but her grin broke free. This was what she wanted – needed – companionship. Someone to talk to. Someone to share a home with. “I have learnt that while I don’t miss Augusta and her daughters, and have no sympathy with them for their predicament, I don’t enjoy life on my own. I need someone to talk to. While they did squabble and bicker, there were occasions when I could sit down and talk to Carlotta at least.”

  “Then it is best that you move on, probably into a village somewhere. But before you make any decisions you had better visit the solicitor, eh? Now that Augusta has been arrested, you can use it to prove that she isn’t a worthy guardian,” Bert announced. “For now, if you must go anywhere, make sure it is in daylight. It might not be a bad idea if you found yourself somewhere else to stay while you are in town tomorrow, eh? I know Mavis won’t be back for a few weeks, so she isn’t going to be in any danger. Hopefully, Morton will have been arrested by the time Mavis returns.”

  “Can I stay here for a few more nights? If I keep everywhere locked up tightly, I should be all right, shouldn’t I? I mean, there is no reason for Morton to even know I am here, is there?”

  “Just make sure that nobody sees you leave or enter.” Bert stared across the room for a moment. “Look, how about I come to the house and fetch you in the morning in my cousin’s cart? I could take you to Oakley Bridge at first light. It means that you will have a good hour or so before the solicitor is in his office, but you will at least be there. Once you have seen him, you are going to have to make your own way back though, but there might be a public coach you can catch. I know there is one that runs through Willershaw, I just don’t know when.”

  “I am going to have to do that because I feel as if I am living in some sort of quicksand that is going to suck me under at any moment. There is no certainty in life anymore,” Pheony whispered.

  “Have you thought about writing to that boss of the Star Elite and asking for his advice? He seems to know what is what. Maybe he can give you a few ideas,” Bert muttered.

  “About what?”

  “I don’t know,” Bert sighed, wondering if indecision was contagious. “It is just a suggestion.”

  “They are hunting a murderer. The Star Elite will be far too busy to care about me, don’t you think?”

  Bert’s answer came in the form of a brisk smile. He pushed to his feet. Pheony looked at him in dismay. “Are you going already?”

  “I will return to pick you up in the morning, if you can be ready for six,” Bert replied, making his way to the door. He didn’t relish the long walk home but needed some time to think. Because he felt responsible for getting her into this mess, he felt that it was up to him to get her out of it. If taking Pheony to the solicitor helped to fix things then he didn’t mind the long journey to town. “I don’t like Augusta, you know that.”

  “I know, Bert. Neither did I very much,” Pheony sighed.

  “Now that she is behind bars, I can tell you that she had left many taverns without paying.”

  “You knew about every tavern she stole from, didn’t you?”

  Bert nodded. “Well, most of them. It took a conversation with my cousin to make me realise that as the coachman driving her away from the scenes of her crimes, I would have been arrested for helping her. It helped me make the decision to leave my position at her house.”

  “How long has she been doing it?”

  “For about the last twelve months, I reckon. Like I have said, I wasn’t aware of what she was doing at first,” Bert muttered. “Who knows how long it was going on before I realised what she was doing, but it is the reason why she never stayed at the same coaching inn twice.”

  “I never stopped to think about it. She always seemed to find fault with everything no matter where she went.”

  “It is because she could argue against having to pay for their ‘questionable’ services,” Bert reasoned. “If the inn keepers challenged her before she left, she could list endless faults and problems and try to get the amount she owed them reduced.”

  “We could have all been arrested for it,” Pheony whispered.

  “I was maybe a bit too hasty dragging you away from the Star Elite. You see, when I learnt that they intended to arrest Augusta, I knew she might try to blame you. She always seemed to blame either you or her daughters for anything she felt was wrong. I knew she would try to blame you for her crimes and then I saw you with that man from the Star Elite.” He shook his head. “I followed you and thought that they had arrested you, but I know you were innocent.”

  “I wanted to get away from her, from them,” Pheony admitted. “Augusta and her daughters, that is.”

  “But not the Star Elite,” Bert pressed. He was really asking her if she had wanted to stay with the man who had stared so lovingly at her.

  “No, I had to leave the Star Elite too,” Pheony replied firmly. “But for entirely different reasons. I was in danger in either house.”

  Bert looked around the walls of the cottage. “And here too apparently.” He issued her with a pointed look. “I am sorry.”

  “Well, if you could escort me to the Oakley Bridge tomorrow, I will go and speak with Mr Abraham about the guardianship. It will help me to make a few decisions if I know whether I have any money or not. If I can’t get my hands on my inheritance, I am going to have to find myself a situation somewhere.”

  Bert wanted to urge her to ask the Star Elite for help again. He didn’t doubt that the boss of the Star Elite could move mountains if he chose to. The man had connections in high places. He had to have seeing as he worked with the War Office.

  “Can I ask you something?” Bert stared blankly at the narrow track he was going to walk. When Pheony tugged her shawl tighter about her shoulders and looked at him, Bert braced himself and asked: “What went on between you two?”

  Pheony shivered but knew that it was only natural that Bert was curious. “I asked him for help, but he refused to help me. But then his colleagues got involved. When they realised what Augusta was doing, they agreed to help me but only because Augusta is a criminal. Otherwise, I don’t think even the Star Elite would have helped me. Now that they have arrested her, they are focusing on Morton because he is the bigger problem and a threat to everyone’s lives. They are the Star Elite after all, Bert. Arresting criminals is what they do. They don’t want to get involved in the domestic problems of a nobody like me.” When Bert nodded but didn’t take his leave of her, Pheony asked: “Why? What did you think happened?”

  Bert shrugged. “I just saw the way that man, Dean, kept looking at you and wondered if there was something more between you two.”

  Pheony would have loved to say that if the circumstances that had brought them together had been different there might have been more between them, but she knew that Dean was averse to anything even remotely hinting at a more permanent union. She couldn’t stand for anything less.

  “No, there is nothing between us,” Pheony whispered sadly.

  Bert studied her carefully. Now, Bert wasn’t sure if he had done the right thing by wrestling her out of the clutches of the Star Elite. Further, he couldn’t be sure if he was now facing a stint behind bars for lying to them about where he and Pheony were living now.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Thank you, Bert,” Pheony called from the pavement. She watched Bert doff hi
s imaginary cap as he turned the cart around.

  “Let me know how you get on,” Bert called before flicking the reins.

  When he had gone, Pheony looked up and down the quiet street. Few people were up and about so early in the morning. With nothing to do, she wandered aimlessly around the market square. She had a good hour or so before Mr Abraham opened his office. With the tavern closed, and no market today, she had nowhere to go.

  “The only place I can go is to Augusta’s house. She isn’t there now. I can go and take one last look around.” Pheony wanted to find out what was going to happen to her belongings. If she turned up at the house once Augusta was released, she doubted the woman would let her have the precious possessions she had brought with her from her father’s house purely out of spite. “I am going to have to ask Mr Abraham if he can help me retrieve them.”

  “I am sorry, what?” An aged gentleman demanded of her as he shuffled past.

  “Nothing, sorry,” Pheony mumbled.

  “Ah, you are with that woman,” the man muttered, raking her with a dour look.

  “If you mean Augusta Snodgrass, no I am not,” Pheony snapped. “I had the misfortune of being her ward for a while.”

  “Escaped, eh? Can’t say that I blame you,” the man snorted before shuffling off.

  Pheony stared after him but wasn’t at all surprised by his attitude. Because others might recognise her too, Pheony tugged her hood up and looked around for somewhere she could sit and wait for the next hour or so. Even going to Augusta’s house to peer through the windows when she wasn’t there held little appeal to her now.

  Pheony was frozen by the time the solicitor opened his office door later that morning. So much so, Mr Abraham looked as concerned for her welfare as he was by her sudden appearance.

  “Good morning, Miss Storley. How are you this morning?” he asked gently. “You had better come inside. It isn’t the morning for you to linger outside. How are you today?”

  “I need to speak with you if I may, Mr Abraham? I have something I need to ask you.”