‘No.’ Jeff glanced worriedly at Leah and Feena. Hannah was in such a state, should he tell her the whole truth?
Hannah gripped his neck and swung his head round to her. ‘What happened to him? Was it Daniel?’
Jeff nodded grimly. All Porthellis had been waiting for Daniel Kittow to hurt Hannah or Matt and he had managed it in a particularly nasty way. News of the attack had filtered down to the moored boats at the same time that the police had swooped on the Sunrise. After a violent fight, Brinley, Eric and Merv had been taken away in a van. Daniel had sat on a mooring cleet on the quay and watched, seemingly totally unconcerned, while he fed a small dog on his lap with scraps of meat and bread. One of the policemen had spoken to him but had soon left as though satisfied he had had nothing to do with the crime. Jeff was certain the cocky red-haired man had ordered his crew to beat Matt.
One of the fish buyers had offered to drive Jeff to Porthellis so that he could tell his daughter the bad news in person rather than over the telephone. Jeff had accepted gratefully but regretted it hadn’t given him time to wipe the smirk off Daniel Kittow’s face.
He prised Hannah’s grip from his neck and held her hands firmly. ‘He was set upon by Kittow’s crew and they’ve been arrested and taken off by the police. They tried to deny it but the police said they were given their descriptions by more than one member of the public.’
‘Never mind them.’ Hannah was hardly aware that the hall was now full of people, including Greg, Patrick and all the servants. ‘How badly is Matt injured?’
Jeff had glimpsed Matt’s wounds before getting into the fish buyer’s car. He would let her see the awful truth for herself. ‘Cuts and bruises mostly, a couple of broken ribs, the ambulance men said.’
‘But he can come home?’ Hannah asked hopefully. She looked pleadingly at Greg. ‘Can we fetch him home?’
‘I don’t expect he’ll be able to come home for a few days, Hannah,’ Jeff said. ‘But you can go and see him.’
‘I’ll get the car ready,’ Greg said quietly. The look he gave Patrick said that he sensed Jeff was holding more back. Patrick nodded, and before Feena could push herself forward and organize things as best suited her, he joined Jeff kneeling before Hannah and squeezed her arm. ‘I’ll slip down to the village and fetch Mrs Penney. I daresay she’d like to see her son. Where’s Nathan?’
‘He’s with my mother.’
Hannah needed Patrick’s gentle strength and loyalty now more than Feena’s overbearing fussiness and Leah felt no compunction about pulling Feena’s wheelchair further away from Hannah. Feena was incensed and took it out on Miss Benson.
‘Go and order tea or something,’ she snapped.
‘Yes, Mrs Opie.’ Miss Benson hastily gathered an abnormally quiet Lily and a weeping Angie back to the kitchen.
Greg returned and beckoned Hannah to him.
‘Dad, tell Mum to fetch anything she needs for Nathan and you’ll stay with her and Nathan, won’t you?’ Hannah asked in a worried voice.
Jeff patted her chilled hand. ‘Course I will, my handsome. You can trust me.’ He stood aside to let her rise.
As Hannah made her way towards Greg, her body was gripped by an agonizing pain.
Chapter 15
It seemed a terrible weight was crushing her. Her tongue felt stuck to the roof of her mouth. She couldn’t move, swallow or breathe without pain. Each time a glimmer of light threatened to seep into her hazy black world, Hannah allowed the sweet darkness to engulf her again. She didn’t want to see the shadowy figures that moved about her, she didn’t want to respond to their touch or gentle voices. Then something important impressed itself upon her fleeting mind, something so dreadful it demanded her immediate attention and she began to resist the darkness that beckoned her.
‘Matt… Matt!’ As her eyes slowly focused, her memory returned sharply and she pictured herself in terrible pain soon after her father had told her Matt was badly hurt and needed her.
‘Hush now, Hannah, dear. You’re going to be all right.’
It was Mrs Opie’s voice and she realised with a start that she was lying in her old room at Roscarrock. She moved her eyes from the ceiling and met the sympathetic gaze of her real mother. Wetting her dry lips, she moaned, ‘Matt… he needs me.’
‘Yes, dear, but you’re too weak to go to him now,’ Feena said soothingly, patting her hand. ‘You must get your strength back first.’
Hannah tried to sit up but pain surged through her body. ‘Why do I feel so weak? What am I doing in bed here? Matt’s hurt. I must go to him.’
‘You became ill, dear. Too ill to be taken home.’
Hannah closed her eyes in the effort to think. Had she fainted again? Instinctively her hands reached for her stomach. It was flat. She let out an anguished wail. ‘I’ve lost my baby.’
‘I’m sorry, dear.’ Feena stroked her face tenderly. ‘We called the doctor and midwife but there was nothing they could do.’
Hannah was filled with panic. She had to forget her terrible loss for the moment. ‘But Matt! I should be at the hospital. What’s happening to him? How long have I been lying here?’
‘You must be brave, dear. It took thirty-six hours for the baby to come away and since then you’ve slept deeply for two days. Mrs Penney and Patrick are staying at a hotel in Penzance and have kept vigil at Matt’s bedside. They’ve been phoning regularly with news.’
Hannah wanted to scream and protest that it wasn’t fair that she couldn’t be with Matt, that he couldn’t be with her when she needed him, that their baby had perished through the shock of the news. Choked with tears, she murmured, ‘What did those men do to him to make him stay in hospital for so long?’
Feena held her hand tightly. ‘Matt’s got a fractured skull and broken ribs. One of his lungs collapsed but the doctors have treated it successfully. He’s been sedated for most of the time so he’s not in much pain.’
‘Oh, dear God.’ She licked her dry lips. ‘Is he asking for me?’
‘Yes, dear. Mrs Penney has explained you’re poorly and that you’ll see him as soon as you can.’
‘How long will he have to stay in hospital?’
‘For a few weeks at least.’
‘Weeks!’ Becoming frantic, snatching her hand from Feena’s, Hannah tried to push back the bedcovers. ‘I have to get up. Will Greg take me to the hospital?’
She was so weak Feena needed little effort to cover her again. ‘Wait for a little while, dear. The doctor’s coming later this morning. He’ll tell you when you’re well enough to travel.’
‘It’s not fair.’ Huge tears rolled down her flushed cheeks. ‘Matt and I really need each other and we’ve been kept apart. Daniel Kittow must have had something to do with those men beating him.’
‘Don’t think about that now, dear. Those men are in prison and they’ll be given a long sentence. If Kittow is involved, he’ll be arrested too. Just concentrate on getting your strength back.’
‘Where’s Nathan? He must be missing us both.’
‘He’s staying with your Aunty Janet. She’ll bring him here to see you when you’re a little stronger. She and Prim are taking turns looking after him and Prim and your father have called here regularly to see you.’
Hannah was desperate for sleep again. She couldn’t bear being separated from Matt and Nathan. It was Daniel Kittow’s fault. He had terrified her in her own house and weakened her. And she was being forced to lie in the bed where he had nearly raped her. She hated him, oh, how she hated him. A strange sense of strength flowed through her. She would use that strength to get well and reclaim the two most important people in her life. Then she would go after Daniel Kittow and get even with him.
* * *
‘The doctor said I can get out of bed today, Mum.’
‘I know,’ Prim smiled. It was the following day and Hannah did seem stronger. Prim put another log on the fire crackling in the wide fireplace. ‘Just for a little while. You lost a lot of blood. You must
take things easily for a long time.’
‘But I’m feeling so much better,’ Hannah said almost brightly. She had put the tragedy of her own situation to the back of her mind and thought only about recovering enough to see Matt. ‘I had a good night’s sleep.’ She watched her mother tidying up the large bedroom, straightening the towels at the sink, sweeping back the long curtains to let in more light. She seemed perfectly at home. ‘I hope you and Mrs Opie are getting on all right.’
Prim was keeping busy because she could hardly bear to look Hannah in the face. She had received a letter this morning, written on prison notepaper, from Brinley.
Their lovemaking had been a fumbling lumbering affair but Prim had thought him satisfied and she had felt a little of what drove Jeff to seek that side of life so often. Then he had asked her to go away with him and take Josh with them. Prim had overlooked his raucous behaviour, believing a gentleness lay hidden under his wild exterior. But that man had been responsible for the death of her grandchild and the near murder of her son-in-law. Now he was asking for her forgiveness and understanding, writing that he regretted attacking Matt and had called an ambulance. He pleaded with her to go away with him after he had served his prison sentence, promising that he would reform and live a settled life. But she would never forgive him. She had torn up the letter and burnt it. As well as her distress over Hannah’s plight, there was a personal heaviness in her heart. She had looked forward to starting a new life away from her loveless marriage. She was also a loser in what Brinley had done.
‘Mrs Opie has been very civil to me,’ she said, using her hanky to wipe at an imaginary greasy mark on the window pane. ‘She was good enough to suggest I sleep here the first two nights. In times like this you forget your differences. I’ve sat with Leah a lot of the time. We didn’t want her being upset.’ Prim coloured and fussed with Hannah’s dressing gown. ‘Come on, my handsome. I’ll help you into this.’
‘Poor Leah,’ Hannah said as she sat up gingerly and Prim pulled back the bedcovers. ‘Greg told me she’s pregnant and I ruined the lovely surprise she had for me. I must talk to her when she pops in to see me next. Because I’ve lost my baby I don’t want her to think I’m not interested in hers.’ When she was settled comfortably in the armchair at the fireside she said, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing Nathan this afternoon. I’ve missed my little boy.’
‘He’s missing you and his dad but he’s been good as gold,’ Prim crooned, smoothing the damask cover on the bed.
‘Tell me again what the hospital said about Matt this morning,’ Hannah said anxiously.
‘His breathing is a little easier and he’s progressing slowly.’ Prim picked up Hannah’s brush to attend to her hair.
‘That doesn’t tell me much,’ Hannah complained miserably. ‘Let me have my hand mirror, Mum. Good heavens! Look at me. I’m so pale and the bags under my eyes are enormous. I look at death’s door.’
Prim brushed her hair with a grim expression; there had been one or two anxious moments when the doctor thought she might slip away from them.
‘I must look better than this when I see Matt. It’ll frighten him.’ She put the mirror down on her lap. ‘Mum, does Matt know about the baby?’
‘No, ’twas thought better not to tell him until he’s stronger. Wouldn’t do him no good to be worrying over you.’ Tears prickled Prim’s eyes and she was glad she was standing behind her daughter. Matt had occasionally cried out Hannah’s name but he’d been unable to understand anything anyone said to him.
‘Mrs Opie wants Nathan to stay here in the nursery but I’ve said you’ll soon be well enough to go home.’ Prim and Feena hadn’t quarrelled but had exchanged strong words over the matter. Prim had argued that Hannah would probably recover more quickly in her own home. Feena had made the point that with Mrs Penney away, Seaview Cottage would be cold and empty. ‘Course, it’s up to you, Hannah. Nathan’s your son. I could stay with you at home for a while. Josh would be useful keeping Nathan occupied.’ Prim didn’t think her own cottage was a good option; it didn’t have a proper bathroom or inside toilet.
‘I can’t think that far ahead, Mum. I just want to see Matt and have Nathan near.’ Hannah knew it would be a hard decision, both options had their advantages and one of her mothers would be disappointed.
Two days later Patrick Opie entered her room carrying an enormous bunch of roses. ‘From the walled garden, Hannah,’ he beamed at her. ‘Summer’s slipping away from us but they’re still at their best.’
He put the roses down on a table for Mrs Opie to arrange them in a silver bowl, then he sat down opposite Hannah. She was dressed in a skirt, blouse and cardigan and, because it was a cool day, a lightweight coat. In a few minutes Greg, Leah and Mrs Opie were going to drive with her down to Penzance.
‘Thank you, Patrick,’ Hannah smiled, the first smile she’d given in six days. ‘You must have missed your garden. It was good of you to stay at Penzance and run Mrs Penney to the hospital each day.’
‘I was pleased to be of service to her, Hannah,’ Patrick said humbly, twiddling with his moustache. ‘I made sure Mrs Penney had someone to talk to and that she ate regular meals.’
‘How is she?’
‘Rather tired. She says she won’t come home until Matt is properly conscious.’ Patrick shifted uneasily and his weathered face suffused with colour. ‘Um, I hope you won’t be offended if I bring up the subject of money, Hannah, my dear, but can Mrs Penney afford to stay long at the hotel?’
‘She has some savings, Patrick. They should last a week or two longer. I’m going to join her.’
‘Do you think that’s wise?’ Patrick frowned. ‘I mean, are you well enough?’
‘Didn’t they tell you? Mrs Opie, Greg and Leah are going to stay too. Mrs Opie says she could do with the change and Greg will drive me and Mrs Penney to the hospital. Patrick,’ she became quietly serious, ‘I want to know the truth about Matt’s condition. All I’m told is he’s progressing slowly but I’m convinced the others are keeping something from me. If Matt is still in a critical condition I need to know. I don’t want to receive another shock. I don’t think I could stand another one now. It’s been nearly a week and he’s still unconscious.’
Patrick was a man of few intimate gestures but he reached forward and clasped her hands. ‘You mustn’t read anything into that, Hannah. People who have received blows to the head have recovered fully after being unconscious for several weeks. Matt was given a terrible beating and you must prepare yourself, my dear, for the fact he may never be as fit and well again.’
‘What do you mean by that?’ Hannah’s lips trembled and she gripped his warm, rough hands.
‘Matt’s ribs were badly broken, one was in splinters and had to be removed. He received internal injuries and the surgeon had to remove his spleen and one of his kidneys. It’s doubtful he’ll ever be strong enough to pull in a netful of fish again.’ Hannah was weeping but he felt she ought to know everything. ‘My dear, his face was badly cut. He’ll be scarred for life.’
‘Oh, God,’ she sobbed. ‘How could they do that to my Matt?’
Sitting on the arm of her chair, Patrick held her close. ‘That’s the worst of it, Hannah. Matt’s face is bruised and swollen at the moment but it probably won’t look so bad as time goes by. Great-aunt Feena thought you shouldn’t be told but I think you’re entitled to have your questions answered honestly and it’s best you have a little time to get used to the extent of Matt’s injuries.’
‘Thank you, Patrick,’ she sniffed, drying her eyes. ‘Your way is kinder in the end. I’d better wash my face before Greg comes for me.’
‘I’m sorry about the baby, Hannah,’ he said sadly as she made herself presentable for the long journey. ‘You will take care of yourself?’
‘Don’t worry,’ she smiled bravely. ‘I know I must get well and strong for Matt and Nathan’s sakes.’ She looked wistfully into the dressing table mirror as she applied a little face powder. ‘I’ll miss Nathan
while I’m away but I shall stay with Matt until he’s ready to come home.’
‘Perhaps your aunt and your mother would like to be brought down to the hotel to see you one morning,’ Patrick suggested.
‘You are so kind, Patrick.’ Her gaunt face wore a severe expression as she looked out of the window at the blue strip of sea. Somewhere out there was Daniel, working as free as a bird, healthy and strong. ‘The complete opposite of the man responsible for my troubles.’
‘Don’t you mean men?’
‘Those men might have attacked Matt but I’d stake my life it was on Daniel Kittow’s orders. I shall never forgive him.’
‘I can understand that, Hannah, but it would be better if you could try to forget it.’
‘There’s nothing on earth that will ever make me forget it,’ she vowed.
Leah and Mrs Opie stayed in the Castle Bay Hotel on the waterfront and Greg drove Hannah and Mrs Penney to the West Cornwall hospital. Greg remained in the waiting room while Hannah, clinging to Mrs Penney’s arm, crept nervously along the ward Matt was in. For a moment she thought they had approached the wrong bed. The man lying there appeared too small to be Matt, his upper body and head swathed in bandages and dressings. Drips and tubes were attached to him. Only the earth-brown colour of his hair told Hannah this was the man she loved.
Informed earlier of her medical history, a nurse pulled out a chair for Hannah. ‘Thank you,’ she gulped between her tears. ‘H-has he come round yet?’
‘He opened his eyes for a few moments just before you arrived, Mrs Penney. He calls your name every now and then. Try speaking to him. We’ll see if he responds.’
With her heart breaking for Matt, it took several attempts to clear her throat before her voice would come clearly. She took his limp, battered hand, his right hand with the top of the forefinger missing. ‘Matt. Matt, darling, it’s Hannah. Wake up.’ She pressed her lips to his hand. ‘Matt… Matt…’
Pale, weary and shaken, Mrs Penney sat on the other side of the bed in silence. She had spoken often to Matt but he had not stirred for her. If anyone could break through the mists engulfing his mind, it was Hannah.
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