Deliberately, she asked, ‘How’s your mother?’
‘Much better. They’re talking about her coming home the day after tomorrow.’
‘What? Here?’ With bitter sarcasm, she added, ‘You mean they’re actually going to let her come back here where I might try to poison her again?’
‘Oh, I’ve explained all that to them at the hospital. I told them it was all a dreadful accident. Mam must have somehow been mixing up the weedkiller and then gone back to her baking. They seemed to believe me. Now, come on in. I’ve got a lovely meal ready for you to welcome you home. See, I knew they’d have to let you go. They can’t prove a thing.’
They were walking towards the house as Maddie said thoughtfully, ‘But your mother never touches the outside work. She never has anything to do with the weedkiller.’ She stopped and stared at him. He had moved ahead of her a little before he turned to glance over his shoulder at her and said, ‘I know that and you know that. But they don’t.’
‘That’s not the point. How did your mother come to get arsenic in her system, then?’
Nick shrugged and spread his hands. ‘Your guess is as good as mine.’
‘You mean, you think I did it?’
‘’Course not.’
‘Then how . . .?’
He came towards her again and put his arm about her shoulders and tried to draw her towards the house. ‘I’ve told you. Somehow, it was a dreadful accident. Do stop worrying about it, Maddie. I’ve got you home and all to myself. I’ll look after you. I won’t ever let anyone take you away from me again.’
For the moment, Maddie allowed him to usher her into the house, through the wash-house and the kitchen and into the living room where, she had to admit, a wonderful spread awaited her.
‘Oh Nick,’ she was moved to say. ‘You’ve done all this? For me?’
For the rest of the evening, Nick laughed and joked and kept the conversation away from what must have been at the back of both their minds. Maddie tried to respond, was grateful for his efforts in trying to take her mind off things, but she was worried for Adam and anxious about the impending post-mortem. As Theo had said, it wasn’t over yet.
As he locked up for the night, Maddie was surprised to see Nick take the shotgun from its usual corner behind the door in the living room and place it on the kitchen table. ‘Just in case we get any unwelcome visitors from the village,’ he said, winking at her.
‘Nick, you can’t do that. Oh, don’t let’s cause any more trouble.’
‘It’s all right. It isn’t loaded. It’s only just to frighten them off. You go up to bed, Maddie. I think I’ll stay down here and keep watch.’
‘You’re making it sound like a siege.’
‘It may well be. You’ve never been on the receiving end of these folks’ viciousness. But me and my mam have.’
‘Whatever do you mean?’
‘It’s a long time ago now, but I tell you, you don’t know ’em and what they can do. Not like I do.’
‘But, Nick, you need your sleep. We’ve a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow.’
‘I’ve kept up with it pretty well. And I can doze in the armchair. I’ll be all right, honestly. You go up and get a nice bath. There’s plenty of hot water. I’ve made sure of that for you.’
She knew she ought to thank him for all his efforts to welcome her home, to pamper her, but somehow the words stuck in her throat. There was something unsettling about his attitude. Something she could not quite put her finger on.
Maddie was thoughtful as she went up the steep stairs, wishing for once that there was a door to the bathroom with a good, sturdy lock.
She need not have worried. Nick remained downstairs whilst Maddie bathed and washed the smell of the police station cell from her hair, but once in the bedroom she had shared with Frank, she heard Nick’s footsteps coming up the stairs and along the passageway, nearer and nearer.
She knew a sudden irrational fear as he tapped on the door and said in a soft voice, ‘You all right, Maddie?’
Her voice sounded high-pitched even to her own ears as she said, ‘Of course. Thank you, Nick. Good night.’
‘Good night, Maddie. Sleep tight.’
As the sound of his footsteps moved away again, she let out the breath she had been holding. She was imagining it all. The events of the previous two days had shattered her nerves and left her unable to think straight.
Nevertheless, for some reason she could not have explained, before she put out the light and climbed into her bed, she took the ladder-backed chair from beneath the window and lodged it beneath the door knob.
Fifty-One
The following morning – Saturday – Jenny and Steven brought Adam to the farm as they had promised. The boy rushed into his mother’s arms, hugging her tightly around the waist. ‘We’ve come to help you in the fields. Me and Jen, that is. Steven’s got to go to Peterborough this afternoon to meet someone, but we can stay, Mam.’
‘There’s no need,’ Nick interrupted, coming up behind her. ‘Everything’s under control.’ He nodded towards Jenny and Steven. ‘Me and Maddie can manage.’
Steven gave a hearty laugh that to Maddie’s ears sounded forced. ‘You mean you’re going to pick that lot on your own? Just the three of you?’ He nodded in the direction of the field where this year’s crop was planted. Row upon row of tulip heads waved and danced in the breeze. Maddie’s rainbow field of vibrant colour. Steven shrugged. ‘Oh well, if you’re sure.’
‘We’ll manage,’ Nick said again.
‘Are you staying to lunch?’ Maddie asked Jenny and Steven.
‘No, no,’ Steven said, a little too quickly. ‘I must get going if I’m to get to Peterborough for one.’ He glanced at Jenny and Maddie saw them exchange a secretive smile.
‘I’m staying all day,’ Jenny said brightly. ‘Until Steven gets back.’ Then she looked at Nick as if daring him to defy her.
Maddie was astonished. She would never have believed it of her little Jenny Wren. But what was it Theo had called her? A tigress. That was it. A tigress in defence of her own.
But Nick was not to be defeated easily. ‘I really think you’d be helping Maddie most if you took Adam back to Mrs Grange’s and kept him there. Out of harm’s way.’
‘Out of harm’s way? What on earth are you talking about, Nick?’ Jenny retorted. She put her head on one side and stared at him. Levelly, she asked, ‘How can Adam possibly come to any harm here?’
‘We might very well get a visit from some of the villagers. The ones,’ Nick said pointedly, ‘who think Maddie is guilty. Mr Frank was very popular around here. They might take it upon themselves to form a lynching mob.’
‘Don’t be silly, Nick. We’re not living in the Wild West.’
‘Huh, you don’t know these folk like I do,’ he muttered.
Quietly, but with a sureness Maddie had never heard before, Jenny said, ‘Oh but I think I do, Nick. Yes, I think I know the village folk very well now. Probably a lot better than you, stuck out here at Few Farm.’
Churlishly, he said, ‘Stay if you must, but I have to go into town this afternoon to see my mother and while I’m gone, I want Maddie to stay in the house and lock the doors.’
Suddenly, Maddie realized how she was allowing everyone else around her to make decisions for her. Of course, she had needed Theo’s help – still did – but she was not going to allow Nick or anyone else to dictate to her what she could or could not do.
‘I’ll come with you to the hospital. I’m not going to barricade myself away here. I’ve nothing to feel guilty about.’
Jenny gave her another quick hug. ‘That’s the Maddie I know.’
She saw Adam glance quickly at Jenny and Maddie had the strange feeling that there was a kind of conspiracy between them, between the three of them, if it came to that: Jenny Steven – and Adam. ‘Can’t we all go, Mam? I’d like to see Mrs T.’
Without any further reference to Nick, Jenny said, ‘Right, that’s settled then
. Off you go now, Steven, or you’ll be late.’ Again, a special look passed between them and for a foolish moment, Maddie felt excluded and so alone.
Then Jenny was tucking her arm through Maddie’s and glancing over her shoulder, but Nick had moved away. ‘It’ll be all right,’ she said in a low voice as they waved Steven off. ‘I promise you, Maddie. Everything’s going to be all right.’ And then, obviously deliberately changing the subject, she said in her normal voice, ‘Steven’s brother has finished the metal frame for your float for the Parade. It’s not long now, is it?’
Maddie sighed. ‘Oh Jen, I really wanted to be a part of the first real Parade, but now . . .’ She left the words hanging in the air. It was a question she could not – dare not – even try to answer.
Harriet was sitting up in the end bed when they entered the ward. It seemed to Maddie that there was a lot of whispering as they passed between the row of beds on either side, but she kept the smile fixed on her mouth and her eyes on Harriet.
‘How are you feeling?’ she asked at once as they drew near the end bed.
‘Better, but it’s no thanks to you, is it?’
Maddie’s heart sank. So, they had told her. But her next words seemed to belie this. ‘Sat here day after day with not a visit from either of you. Not even young Adam’s been to see me. And me own son . . .’ Her reproachful gaze rested on Nick now. ‘You haven’t been near me for three days.’
‘We’ve – er – been a little busy, Mam.’
‘Ah well, yes, of course work comes before anything or anyone else, doesn’t it?’ She sniffed. ‘Always has done. Even when poor Frank was alive.’
Nick fetched a chair and placed it beside the bed for Maddie. As she sat down, he rested his hand briefly on her shoulder and Maddie saw at once the startled look in Harriet’s eyes as her glance went from one to the other.
‘We’ve had a spot of bother, Mam, but everything’s going to be all right now.’
‘What sort of bother?’ Harriet’s tone was sharp with fear. ‘Not – not Adam? Nothing’s happened to Adam, has it?’
‘No, no. He’s waiting outside with Jenny. They’ll come in to see you in a few minutes.’
‘What’s she here for?’
The explanation came haltingly from Maddie’s lips. ‘Adam’s been staying with her. At the shop. Just for a night or two.’
‘Maybe that’s just as well until I get home.’ Harriet sniffed again. ‘You two can’t look after him properly, you’re always too busy. What that lad would do without me, I don’t know.’
Nick sat on the edge of the bed and took his mother’s hands in his. ‘Well, when you come home, we’ll just be one happy family again, won’t we?’ He turned and winked at Maddie, who managed a weak smile. For once she was lost for words. Anything she might say to Harriet, even though the woman seemed ignorant of recent events, would have a hollow ring even to Maddie’s own ears. She almost wished now that Harriet had been told the truth. To deal with her anger would have been far easier. But to sit here, trying to make polite conversation and, worse, plans for an uncertain future was impossible.
Behind her the whispering went on. Well, the rest of the ward seemed to know something even if Harriet didn’t, Maddie thought wryly. No doubt one of their visitors had come in with the choice bit of gossip but no one had had the nerve to tell Harriet Trowbridge.
‘So, when are they letting you out?’ Nick asked and Maddie shuddered at his choice of words.
‘Monday morning. I thought it would be tomorrow, but the sister says the doctor must see me before they can discharge me.’
‘Right-o,’ Nick said cheerfully. ‘I’ll come and fetch you home in the truck. I’ll ask the sister on the way out what time you’re likely to be ready.’
They chatted spasmodically for another half an hour, but when the silences became longer than the periods of talk, Nick stood up. ‘We’d better be going. Come along, Maddie . . .’
‘You go, Nicholas,’ Harriet said, ‘I want a word with her. And then you can send Adam in for a minute.’
Nick frowned. ‘What do you want to talk to Maddie about?’
‘Never mind, just run along.’
Still, Maddie thought, she speaks to him like a little boy and she could sympathize with the scowl on Nick’s face as he left the ward without another word to his mother.
‘Now then, you,’ Harriet began and Maddie’s heart sank. So she did know after all. For a brief moment she closed her eyes and steeled herself against the expected onslaught. But in the next instance, her eyes flew open as Harriet said, ‘Is there something going on between you and Nicholas, because there’d better not be?’
‘What – what do you mean?’ Now she was more than ever puzzled.
Harriet reached out and grasped Maddie’s arm. Her grip, in view of her recent debilitating illness, was surprisingly strong. ‘There can’t ever be anything between you and Nicholas. You hear me, girl?’
‘There isn’t . . .’ Maddie began, but she was shocked into silence at Harriet’s next words.
‘Because you’re his half-sister.’
Fifty-Two
Maddie felt as if she had been punched just below the ribs. Her legs threatened to give way beneath her and her head began to swim.
‘What – what did you say?’
‘I said – you’re half-brother and sister. You, girl, are the bastard of my husband and that little trollop at the Hall, Amelia Mayfield. But you’re not to say a word to Nicholas. I don’t want him knowing what bad blood he’s got in his veins. You hear me, girl, not a word to him.’
Maddie’s mind was in turmoil. It couldn’t be true. The woman had gone mad. Her illness had turned her brain. She pulled herself free from Harriet’s grasp and staggered the length of the ward, reeling like a drunkard, unheeding now that the eyes of all the other patients were watching her.
They were waiting for her in the corridor. His hands thrust deep into the pockets of his trousers, his forehead creased in a petulant frown, Nick asked, ‘What was it she wanted?’
‘I – er – oh – nothing, just – just, you know . . .’ Maddie floundered.
‘No, I don’t know. That’s just it. What’s the matter? You’ve gone white. What’s she been saying?’
Jenny was at her side in an instant. ‘Sit down, Maddie. I’ll get a nurse to get you a glass of water.’
Maddie swallowed and leant against Jenny. ‘I’m all right.’
‘What’s she said?’ Nick demanded again. ‘Tell me or I’ll go back and . . .’
‘No, no,’ Maddie said swiftly. ‘Leave it, Nick. Please. It’s nothing – nothing. Just . . .’ She latched on to the first thing that came into her fuddled mind. ‘She wants me to do some shopping for her. Women’s things, you know?’
‘Is that all?’ His face cleared. ‘Why didn’t she say so then instead of making a big mystery out of it. I thought for a moment someone had told her about what’s been going on.’
He tried to take hold of her arm, almost as if trying to prise her away from Jenny. Maddie flinched at his touch. ‘Don’t,’ she said, before she thought to stop herself. As she saw the frown on his face once more, she made herself say, ‘I’m fine, really. Come on. Let’s get home.’
‘Can’t I see Mrs T?’ Adam asked, casting a forlorn glance at the door leading into the ward.
‘Just run in and have a quick word with her then,’ Jenny said, taking the lead. ‘But only a minute, mind.’
The boy sped away but by the time they had walked out of the hospital and towards where the truck was parked, he had caught them up. ‘She ses the first thing she’s going to do when she gets home is bake gingerbread men for tea.’
‘You sure you’re all right in there, Adam?’ Jenny asked as she helped him climb into the open back of the truck. ‘It must be a bit draughty.’
The boy grinned. ‘I’m fine. I’m just glad it’s not raining.’ He looked towards Nick. ‘Just don’t go fast round the corners, Uncle Nick. I might get thrown o
ut.’
Nick laughed, his face creasing into lines of laughter. ‘Well, that’s one way of getting rid of you.’
Despite the recent shock, Maddie thought, why can’t Nick be like that all the time? Laughing and joking, he was so much nicer. But now, suddenly, she was seeing him through very different eyes.
Was he really her half-brother?
As they got out of the battered old truck in the yard of Few Farm, Jenny held out a hand to help Adam climb out. ‘You’re still with us then?’
He grinned cheekily at her. ‘You don’t get rid of me as easily as that.’
‘Well, I hope not,’ Maddie thought she heard Jenny murmur.
That night, after Jenny had gone back to the shop taking Adam with her, Nick locked all the doors and double-checked the windows.
‘I think if the villagers had been going to do anything, they’d have done it by now,’ Maddie remarked.
‘Can’t be too careful,’ Nick said, laying the shot gun on the kitchen table again.
The following day, they laboured side by side in the fields. Maddie worked automatically for her mind was still reeling from Harriet’s revelation. She had hardly slept, going over and over Harriet’s bitter words.
Was she really Amelia Mayfield’s daughter? Perhaps that explained why she had felt so drawn to the poor woman. Maddie drew her hand across her forehead with a sigh as another thought struck her. And if she was, then Theo was her uncle.
She stood quite still for a moment wondering why the realization did not bring her the expected pleasure. She admired and liked Theo. Very much. So why did the thought that she was related to him bring a strange stab of disappointment?
As dusk fell and they packed up for the day, Maddie turned back and stood gazing at the field of tulips, glowing bronze in the setting sun.
‘Isn’t that the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen?’ she murmured, a catch in her voice, but Nick was already too far away to hear. Tears blurred her vision. ‘I don’t want to lose it all,’ she whispered, suddenly filled with dread at what the coming week might bring.
The Tulip Girl Page 32