by GJ Minett
He’s here. The risks are even greater for him but he’s here.
When she nods at him, he looks as confused as everyone else. Kate looks across at her, then follows her gaze to see who it is she’s nodding at. Sam taps her on the shoulder and asks if something’s wrong. But she ignores everyone else and when she nods again, this time holding out her hand, he gets slowly, uncertainly to his feet, casting an anxious glance around him at the sea of faces now peering in his direction, their curiosity undisguised.
He can’t reach the aisle without squeezing past several others so he exits the pew on the far side and walks round the back, joining her as she reaches the start of the aisle. He falls into line next to her and they leave the church together, eyes fixed firmly on the coffin in front of them. Once they’re outside, he whispers to her.
‘What are we doing?’
‘I’m not sure,’ she whispers back out of the corner of her mouth.
‘How are we going to explain this?’ he asks, as if he expects her to have this all thought out, when the truth is she hasn’t the faintest idea. For once she has no action plan, no short-term, intermediate or long-term proposals or costing exercises to support them. And it feels right.
She says nothing. Instead she reaches across as they step outside and takes his hand – the gloved hand. As she does so, she hears the loud exhaust of a car turning into Church Lane. She frowns as she watches a dark blue shape draw to a halt opposite the main entrance, where the hearse and funeral cars are waiting in a line. She can’t see the driver from here but there’s something about the way he sits hunched over the wheel that sets her teeth on edge and sends her thoughts racing back to that first afternoon in Oakham, when she stood with Liam Sharp outside Primrose Cottage, watching the dark blue Escort disappear down the High Street and for a moment . . . just for a moment . . .
Then the driver gets out of the car and reaches across to retrieve something from the back seat. He emerges with a little girl and they cross the road hand in hand, heading for one of the cottages opposite the church.
Ellen realises she’s been squeezing his hand more tightly than she might and wonders if she’s hurt it. She looks at him and smiles as reassuringly as she can.
‘We’ll think of something,’ she says.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Until recent months I never really gave much thought to the support structures that have to be in place for an author to produce a novel. Now I know better. So, with humble apologies to anyone whose name I have inadvertently omitted, my gratitude goes to:
•My parents for those Saturday-morning trips to the library which fostered my love of books in the first place, and to my family as a whole for constant support and morale boosts whenever I needed them. There were plenty of times when the events of the last few months must have seemed like wishful thinking
•The staff of the Creative Writing MA course at the University of Chichester, especially Stephanie Norgate, Dave Swann, Karen Stevens and Alison Macleod, for helping me to understand the difference between being a writer and being someone who writes
•My fellow students on the course, especially Jill Campbell and Ellie Piddington for feedback of the highest quality on the earlier parts of the novel
•Baden Prince Junior for his perceptive advice and the enthusiastic way he embraced the novel in its early stages
•Friends who have always taken an interest in my writing over the years, in particular Elaine, Sue, Carrie and Gemma, whose willingness to drop everything so that I can have instant feedback is appreciated more than I can say
•David and the Headship team at The Angmering School for enlightened and sympathetic leadership which has enabled me to chase a pipe dream
•Everyone at The Ampersand Agency, The Buckman Agency, whitefox, Midas PR, Bonnier and Twenty7 for all their help and expertise
Grateful as I am to the above however, particular thanks must go to:
•Peter Buckman, agent sans pareil, who opened the doors of The Ampersand Agency to me and made this all possible
•Mark Smith, CEO of Bonnier Publishing Fiction in London, for falling in love with the manuscript and taking a chance on me in the first place
•Joel Richardson for guiding me through the entire editorial process with intelligence, acuity and no little sensitivity towards my feelings
•Gemma, Alex and Leah . . . the best.
•Elaine . . . without whom none of this or anything else would be possible and to whom this novel is dedicated with love and gratitude.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G.J. Minett studied at Cambridge and then spent many years as a teacher of foreign languages. He studied for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Chichester, and won the 2010 Chapter One Prize for unpublished novels with the opening chapter of The Hidden Legacy.
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Twenty7 Books
Twenty7 Books
80-81 Wimpole St, London W1G 9RE
www.twenty7books.co.uk
Copyright © G.J. Minett, 2015
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The right of G.J. Minett to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Paperback ISBN: 978 1 78577 014 2
Ebook ISBN: 978 1 78577 008 1
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Twenty7 Books is an imprint of Bonnier Publishing Fiction, a Bonnier Publishing company
www.bonnierpublishingfiction.co.uk
www.bonnierpublishing.co.uk