‘My loss will be worth it if we can be friends from now on. Can we, Tressa?’
She dried her tears and found a smile for him. ‘Yes, Harry.’
Hesitantly, he reached out a hand to her.
She clasped it tightly with both of hers.
Chapter 36
Laura tossed and turned once more then admitted defeat. She opened her eyes and stared at the patterns the moon made through the net curtains on the wardrobe mirror. This was going to be another night when she wasn’t going to get much sleep.
‘Want me to go downstairs and make you a drink?’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Spencer.’ She faced him. ‘I’m keeping you awake again.’
He turned on his side and put his arm over her, whispering so close to her ear it made her shiver delightfully. ‘I can think of another way to make you tired.’
She asked herself if she wanted to make love. The pale silvery light cast exotic shadows over Spencer’s bare muscular torso. She allowed her eyes to travel along the sinewy line of his arm, over his shoulder, lingering at one of her favourite places, the part where his throat met his chest. Her lips automatically parted and she put them there. Spencer didn’t waste any time. He started to remove her nightdress. Laura sat up and took over from him then smiled down at his handsome face. She liked being close to him at any time, but it struck her then just how irresistible she found her husband.
She bent over him, about to kiss him. A creature on the moor let out a long, haunting shriek. She stopped.
‘What’s the matter?’ Spencer said, pulling her face towards his.
‘Just for a moment I thought Vicki cried out in her sleep. I forgot she’s staying with Felicity tonight.’
‘Forget everyone but me,’ he said gruffly, claiming her gently.
Laura slept for an hour but woke again, feeling tense and tearful. She tried not to move about or to sigh; Spencer was so tuned in to her every mood these days. But it wasn’t long before he was awake holding her once more.
He caressed her hair away from her brow and kissed it tenderly. ‘Is it the accident again?’
She nodded. ‘I can’t get it out of my mind, even though Tressa and Harry are making good progress.’
‘It’s understandable, darling. It must have been a terrible thing to come across.’
‘I thought they were dead at first. I was terrified, Spencer. I knew it was up to me to get help quickly or they all might die. And with Tressa losing her baby, and me having to run fast with Guy, I was scared I’d lose ours.’
Spencer put his palm gently over her tummy. ‘Dr Palmer keeps reassuring you that everything is all right with our baby, darling.’
‘I know.’ Laura wiped a single tear away. ‘He says I just need a little time to get over it. I keep thinking how I’d feel if I found Vicki in similar straits. I love her so much I couldn’t bear it.’
Spencer knew it was unkind but he couldn’t stop himself from asking, ‘And how would you feel if you found me like that?’
Laura shuddered and clung to him as if she was drowning. ‘I’d hate it!’
He hugged her. It was just what he had hoped to hear.
After a while she relaxed in the comfort of his arms but feeling it was unfair to keep him awake – he had a very early start and a heavy day’s work ahead of him – she eased herself away. Sitting up, she put on her nightdress and slipped out of bed.
‘Where are you going?’ he yawned.
‘Downstairs to make some hot milk. You go back to sleep.’ She intended to get a spare blanket and curl up in her chair by the hearth in the kitchen; the embers in the range would have kept the room cosily warm. Putting on her dressing gown she went to the door, then on impulse she went back to the bed and kissed Spencer on the cheek. That little gesture stopped him dropping off to sleep and he lay thinking about what it meant.
Laura plodded carefully downstairs by the light of the lantern. All her movements were slow and exaggerated since Tressa’s loss; she was determined to hang on to her baby. She put the lantern on the kitchen table; it would give her enough light to see the milk jug in the cold cupboard in the back kitchen.
Her hand was on the jug when she heard a noise, a low scuffle, but she took no notice, there were always noises in the country, especially on a farm. A fieldmouse trying to gather something before its winter hibernation probably. Laura marvelled that although she had lived most of her life in London she had forgotten how the hustle and bustle of the big city sounded.
The next instant she knew something was wrong. There was someone behind her. More than just the sense of a presence, there was also a horrible unwashed smell and heavy breathing. Dropping the jug, her heart frozen in dread, she spun round. A large black shape reared over her, and before she could scream to alert Spencer, something wet and dirty was clamped over her mouth and she was pulled into the kitchen.
A painful grip was kept on her arm and her assailant warned in threatening tones, ‘Don’t make a noise. I won’t hesitate to hurt you.’
The man had a balaclava pulled down over his face. He was wearing an old Army greatcoat; Jacka Davey had mourned the disappearance of his two weeks ago and Laura recognised some mending on the collar. She didn’t know whether to be more or less afraid at having recognised the intruder’s throaty drawl.
‘Bruce!’ She kept her voice low. ‘So you were the thief all this time. What are you doing here?’
He pulled off the balaclava. ‘Stealing food. I gotta eat, don’t I?’
‘I thought you’d left the area.’
‘That’s what you’re supposed to think. I hung around to get some money together. When my dear mother threw me out,’ he sneered, ‘how did she think I was going to make a fresh start? The ten quid you gave me wouldn’t have got me far. I need enough to get abroad.’
Laura was terrified. The Canadian police were hot on Bruce’s trail for murder and Chief Inspector Whitehead was suspicious he might have had something to do with Mrs Noon’s death. Bruce could be a double murderer.
She decided to be helpful, to try and keep him sweet. ‘I – I’ll get you some food. All that you need.’
Bruce pushed her down on a chair at the table and put a grimy hand round her throat. ‘And some money, Laura. Lots of it. You’re a rich woman. I don’t know why I didn’t think of you before.’
‘I’ve got fifteen shillings put aside for the insurance man, about one pound, ten shillings in my purse and I keep ten pounds upstairs for emergencies. I’ll fetch it for you.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ Bruce hissed, looking as if he was going to strike her and she flinched. ‘I need a lot more than that. You can go to the bank tomorrow and get me a couple of hundred at least. And if you don’t co-operate I’ll hurt that bloody little kid you’re so fond of.’
‘Vicki’s not here!’ The thought of someone hurting Vicki appalled her.
Bruce slapped her face. ‘Keep quiet. I’ll see for myself later. Never mind though, I’ve got you and that standoffish husband of yours. And I’ve got a little insurance to make sure you do just as I say.’ He put his hand inside his coat and produced an Army pistol. He jeered as Laura’s eyes grew wide with fear. ‘A little souvenir from the war. I know how to use it. I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ve killed before.’
‘I – I know. The man in Canada.’
‘And that old bitch, Ma Noon.’
Laura’s breath came in a shallow little gasp. She felt the animosity and hatred emanating from Bruce, it seemed the room was pulsing with it. She broke out in a cold sweat. She had never been in a more desperate situation. Trying to keep a grip on her fright and revulsion, she attempted to play on his natural fear.
‘The police have their suspicions that it was you, Bruce. You must get away from here at once. Take the money I offered you. I’ll get you some clean clothes. There’s some petrol in Spencer’s car. I’ll give you his coupons. You can get far away from here.’
He sneered, screwing up his bullish features, twisting his once neat be
ard, now grown rough and wiry. ‘Oh, I will, Laura, depend upon it, but I need lots of money and you’re going to get it for me. I’ll have this gun pointed at Spencer’s head while you drive into town and bring it back, and if you bring the cops into this I’ll kill him and that disfigured chap who works for you. He’s bound to come knocking wondering why his boss isn’t working.’ Barney hadn’t barked to warn them someone was creeping about. Laura was almost too scared to ask. ‘What have you done with the dog?’
‘Nothing. It wasn’t about anywhere.’
Laura sighed with relief, Barney sometimes spent the night in Pawley’s tent. ‘Where have you been living? By the look of you, out in the open. The police have been searching the moor for days.’
‘You forget that I used to live here before. There are many natural hiding places on the moor. I’ve been moving from one to another, putting my old Army training to use.’
Noises overhead told them that Spencer was getting out of bed. Bruce gazed up at the ceiling. ‘Sounds like your old man’s coming down to look for you. We’ll make a cosy little threesome through the night.’ He pointed the gun at Laura’s head. ‘Don’t try warning him.’
Spencer appeared in his pyjama bottoms. ‘Laura—’
‘Come and join us, Jeffries, and do it nice and easily.’
‘Tamblyn!’
Bruce waved the gun at him. ‘Sit down next to your wife.’
Spencer raised his hands in the air. ‘If you’ve hurt Laura I’ll—’
‘Forget the bravado,’ Bruce said harshly. ‘If you both do as I say I’ll be up and out of here by mid-morning.’
Spencer placed a chair beside Laura and sat on it. She clutched his hand.
‘How sweet,’ Bruce sniggered. ‘I’m starving. Make me something hot to eat, Laura, and I want some water so I can have a wash. Don’t try any funny business or you’ll end up the same way as Ma Noon and I’ll finish you off quicker than I did her.’
With fear-swollen eyes Laura looked uncertainly at Spencer and he nodded. ‘Better do as he says, darling.’
‘Glad you’re being sensible, Jeffries.’ Bruce pulled some rope out of his coat pocket. ‘Put your hands behind your back. I’m going to tie you up as tight as a tart’s pursestrings. I’m not risking any trouble from you.’
Laura got up shakily and made her way to the fireplace. She put a log into the range and raked at the embers to encourage a blaze. Spencer was trussed up when she went to the cold cupboard to fetch bacon and eggs. Bruce took Spencer’s cigarettes off the dresser, lit one, and sat down in his armchair at the hearth, watching Laura closely as she prepared the meal.
‘Mrs Noon’s death must have been an accident,’ Spencer said, sounding sympathetic; knowing this man would be cruel if antagonised, he was using the same tactics that Laura had.
‘I don’t think a judge and jury would think so,’ Bruce replied, his voice gloating. ‘I went to her smallholding the same day you thought I’d left the village. It was always said she was rich, had money stuffed in her mattress. I was in no mood for beating about the bush. Her front door was locked so I went straight round the back. She was in her kitchen, the great fat maggot. Sitting there like the bloody queen holding court even though the place was no better than a pigsty. That didn’t put me off. You hear tales of these stinking rich old misers, hoarding their money. The moment she saw me she began cursing and swearing. When I demanded money she laughed at me, said I could search the house and I’d be lucky to find a brass farthing. Then she started calling me names, poking fun at me, saying I was no good and never would be. I’d never heard language from a man like she used, and all in that hoity-toity accent.
‘I told her to shut up, but she wouldn’t.’ He thumped his clenched fist in the palm of his other hand. ‘The bitch shook her hand at me, she threw things at me. I’d had enough. I warned her, but she wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t bear to see that fat red face a second longer so I moved behind her settle, pulled her shawl up round her neck and I strangled her. She fought like a wild animal but she was too fat to get up and do anything to hurt me.’
The kettle whistled to the boil and Laura jumped. To hide her fear, she looked away from Bruce and poured water into the teapot. Her hands were trembling and water splashed and hissed on the range.
Spencer felt helpless and prayed Laura wouldn’t lose the baby. Every bit as scared as she was, he gulped and carried on with his ploy. ‘You can’t blame yourself for that, Bruce. No one likes abuse, even from an old woman.’
‘I know what you’re trying to do,’ Bruce snarled. ‘Hurry up with that tea!’ he shouted and Laura jolted forward, spilling it over the clean tablecloth. ‘I murdered that old bitch and I enjoyed it. And she was telling the truth. I found nothing in that dirty old house! No cash, silver, porcelain. The only piece of jewellery was that cameo brooch she wore and I wouldn’t get far on the sale of that.
‘I spent the night in a cave on the moor, intending to go and force my cow of a mother to get me some money, lots of it. But you ruined everything.’ He threw the cigarette butt violently at the fender. ‘You brought her here and by the time she had moved into the Angrove cottage the old woman’s body had been found and the village was full of coppers. I decided to stay where I was, wait for the police to come to a dead end and leave. They would never believe I was still around here.’
Laura put a mug of tea down beside Bruce. He grabbed her wrist and she cried out. ‘A pity for you that you found me stealing your food, Laura. But now you can be my passport to freedom.’
‘I’ll d-do anything you say,’ she stammered, ‘just don’t hurt us.’
Bruce wolfed down his meal then stripped to the waist and washed. ‘Get me some clean clothes,’ he demanded, kicking his dirty ones across the room.
‘I’ll h-have to go upstairs,’ Laura said meekly. She had been sitting next to Spencer, leaning against him, and got up reluctantly.
‘Be quick about it.’ Bruce aimed the gun at Spencer’s forehead. ‘And be a good girl if you don’t want to see your handsome hubby looking like your farmhand.’
Her legs were wobbling and Laura clutched the banister on the way upstairs. In her bedroom she pulled some of Spencer’s clothes out of the wardrobe and chest of drawers. She had no doubt that Bruce was as ruthless as his threats, but through her terror she tried to think of a way of alerting Pawley to run and get help when he entered the yard for the milking at four thirty, in two hours’ time. Vicki and Ince’s old rooms overlooked the yard; maybe she could open a window and dangle something outside to warn Pawley.
Bruce shouted up the stairs and she was filled with renewed panic. Racing across the landing she paused on the top step to take a deep breath. It punched her lungs and made her choke.
‘Hurry up!’ Bruce snapped angrily again.
She went down fearfully. He snatched the clothes from her arms before she reached the last step, nearly overbalancing her. ‘I’ll get dressed then I’ll climb those stairs and see for myself if the kid’s here or not.’
He didn’t smell so bad now but he looked coarse and ugly with his straggly beard, unhealthy flesh and hate-filled eyes. He put on Spencer’s shirt and jumper and rammed the gun into the waistband of his trousers. He lit another cigarette then motioned for Laura to go up the stairs in front of him.
She climbed up with him breathing down her neck. She opened the door to Vicki’s room and he pushed past her and stared at the little girl’s empty bed. He looked under it, then in the wardrobe and behind the curtains. In case Laura was lying, he searched the spare room then the big double bedroom, taking her with him.
‘Where is she?’
Laura didn’t want to tell him. She said nothing.
Bruce caught hold of her by the hair and yanked her against him. ‘You’ve got no choice but to tell me.’
There was no way Laura would risk her precious daughter. ‘Sh-she’s staying the night at a schoolfriend’s house. They often play together.’
He stroked her
face and she turned her head away from him. ‘Things will work out well for you if you co-operate with me. You’re a beautiful woman, Laura. Cousin Billy thought so and so do I.’ He threw her on the bed and she screamed. ‘Like I said, it’s going to be a long night. We might as well stay up here for a while.’
Spencer had been working to loosen the rope round him. He became frantic when he heard Laura’s scream. He knew what Bruce was up to and he had to do something fast. Shouting Laura’s name at the top of his voice, he kicked over the chair beside him, then using his feet shunted the heavy table across the room, hoping the commotion would bring Bruce downstairs to investigate. He heard Bruce utter an oath and then his heavy feet, running.
Spencer had an idea. He was near the door that led directly to the staircase, as was common with old farmhouses. With his feet he picked up the fallen chair and, hoping and praying, he waited.
Bruce had ripped open Laura’s dressing gown but had left her when he’d heard the noise downstairs. Thumping down the stairs, he pulled out the gun and hurtled through the door.
Spencer was ready. He thrust the chair at Bruce’s feet, the effort making his own chair fall over with him tied to it. Taken by surprise, Bruce felt himself falling and he fired the gun.
Laura screamed. ‘Spencer!’ She scrambled off the bed. Having no thought for anything but Spencer’s safety, she hurled herself down the stairs and into the kitchen. He was lying on the floor with blood pouring out of a wound to his head. Bruce was sprawled out in a daze several feet away.
Her first instinct was to run to Spencer but she saw the gun, an inch away from Bruce’s hand. She ran, reached out for the gun but his hand shot out and beat her to it. She backed away as he got to his feet and pointed it at her.
‘The bastard! I’ll make sure I finish him off for that.’
Laura suddenly felt deadly calm. She rasped, ‘If you do, you’ll have to kill me too and you’ll never get your hands on my money.’
He hesitated, then grinned evilly. ‘What the hell. I’ll kill you both then get the hell out of here. You can go and join Billy. Goodbye, Laura.’
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