Clothes were scattered across chairs, books had fallen to the floor, boxes that looked as if they had been partly filled with foodstuffs then forgotten, were on the couch, from which cushions and covers had been removed. Cath had gone.
* * *
Late that night, Jeremy couldn’t sleep and in the eerie moon-light, he went out. Justin didn’t hear him and for once he was glad to be alone. His mother’s car was there but he ignored its tempting presence. Earlier that day he had heard his parents arguing about it, his mother accusing his father of using it without telling her. Best they forget their night—time rides for a while.
He walked to the cliff end and wandered along the path towards the house where Meriel lived. Not far from the path, a large shape loomed and, seeing the transit van he was curious. It hadn’t crashed, it looked in good order, and as he leaned against it to look inside, he saw that the keys were swinging gently in the ignition. He opened the back. It was enormous, and empty apart from a few blankets folded and piled in one corner. Temptation was rising by the second. He didn’t need Rupert to tell him when he could drive.
He hesitated, panic touching him and making him start as though to run back to home and safety. Had it been stolen? Would he be stopped and accused of the theft if he were seen? He could surely outrun any policeman? He knew the fields and paths better than most, they had been his playground since he could walk.
He turned on the engine and moved off. It was very different from driving the Fiat. The van, with its lack of windows made driving it seem as though he was being followed by a brick wall.
Reaching the Sewells’ house, he left the engine running and threw some gravel up at Rupert’s bedroom window. Aware of someone running towards him, he prepared to run but, just in time, recognized his brother.
‘Why didn’t you wake me,’ Justin panted angrily.
The four boys drove along the quiet lanes, laughing, comparing their skills with those of the few other drivers they passed.
‘Whose van is it?’ Oliver asked.
‘I think it belongs to Meriel, Mum’s friend.’ Justin said.
‘Funny place to park it then,’ Jeremy laughed.
Because the van was more of an adventure, they didn’t take much notice of where they were driving, going down the narrow Gower lanes, further and further from home, stopping sometimes and changing places, taking it in turns to drive. It wasn’t until the number of cars on the roads increased and dawn began to show over the horizon, that they began to panic about getting back in time to be back in bed before their parents missed them.
Taking a road they didn’t know in the hope of a short cut was a mistake and when they came to a village they didn’t recognize, their alarm increased. A detached house was showing lights and Oliver got out and asked for directions.
A woman answered the door with a little girl at her side, both dressed in night clothes. Before he could ask directions, a man appeared.
‘What is it, darling?‘ he asked, picking up the little girl and hugging her. Then he recognized Oliver. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ he demanded. ‘Who told you about this place?‘
‘I — er — we’re lost, Mr Morgan. We want to be put on the right road, that’s all.’ Oliver stared at Jeremy and Justin’s father, with wide, startled eyes.
‘Just get out of here and don’t discuss this, d’you here? You don’t understand and I have no intention of explaining it to you. Say nothing, are you clear about that?’
The child in his arms asked, ‘What is it, Daddy?’
‘Nothing to worry about, pet, let mummy get your breakfast, eh?’ He handed the child back to the woman and, stepping out of the gate, gave brief directions on getting back on to the right road. If he had looked into the van, he would only have seen Rupert. His sons were cowering in the back.
When Oliver got into the van he was trembling. Justin was crying.
‘My dad is leaving us,’ he sobbed, ‘He’s living with another woman.’
‘I didn’t say definitely,’ Jeremy said, also choked with misery, ‘I only said it looked like it. Perhaps he broke down too and stopped to ask the way.’
They drove home, less worried about being caught and more worried about what they had discovered.
The house was filled with lights when Rupert and Oliver reached home and running up the stairs they saw with relief that their mother was just going into the bathroom. Forty minutes was the time she took, before emerging perfectly groomed.
The two boys showered together, arguing about the soap and the towels, and they quickly dressed. At intervals they told Marcus to ‘Shut up!’
Although they had been out most of the night, they were too hyped up to feel tired. They were very hungry and ate a breakfast that pleased Millie, who insisted that a good hearty breakfast was the sure way to good health.
Leaving the van more or less where they had found it, Jeremy and Justin were in their beds as Joanne’s alarm clock began to rouse her. They got up without being called, and ate their breakfast in silence. Justin was still trying to hold back sobs. They dared not say anything and both badly needed to be reassured.
Joanne seemed distracted and Jeremy whispered to Justin, wondering if she knew and was hiding it from them. Justin was desperately trying to convince himself it hadn’t happened. If he managed to forget it, perhaps everything would be all right, so he kicked his brother every time Jeremy tried to discuss it.
When the boys left for school, Joanne noticed how red Justin’s eyes were. She watched him as he set off a long way behind Jeremy, kicking the ground, not wanting to leave, afraid that nothing would be the same when he returned.
‘Justin? Is something wrong?’ she asked and he shrugged his shoulders, lowered his head and hurried on to catch up with his brother.
‘I hate Dad!’ he called back.
‘Come here, tell me what’s wrong,’ she called but Justin ran faster and soon he and Jeremy were too far away to hear her.
* * *
‘I can’t think what’s upset Justin today,’ she told her friends as they sat with their first cup of coffee. ‘He was angry with John but wouldn’t tell me why. They do get some funny ideas sometimes, don’t they?’
‘The twins were so tired this morning that they didn’t look fit to go to school,’ Cynthia said. ‘I worry that they aren’t getting enough sleep. I know they wake up sometimes in the night and talk and play games. I’ve even seen them slipping out of the house. I wondered whether they met Jeremy and Justin. What could they be doing?’
‘Nonsense. When I tell Jeremy and Justin to go to bed they stay there!’
‘Why don’t you ask them for heaven’s sake, Cynthia?’ Vivienne asked. ‘They’re young to be wandering around at night, aren’t they? I’m sure I’d want to know where Toby was if he started leaving the house at night, even at the age of fifteen.’ The others exchanged looks of amusement. Vivienne was not the most anxious of mothers.
‘Did the Antiques Fair do well?’ Joanne asked Meriel, to change the subject.
‘Yes, we sold a few items, covered our costs more or less, but Cath seems to have disappeared. Have any of you seen her?’
‘What d’you mean, disappeared?’ Helen said.
‘She saw someone she knew while we were eating our lunch and she just ran off. I’ve been to the chalet several times and she has definitely gone. She took the van too and if it hadn’t been for Mike Thorpe, I would have been stranded.’
‘Who’s Mike?’ Joanne, Cynthia and Helen chorussed, sensing a budding romance.
Meriel explained that he was the man from whom Cath had run.
‘Thank goodness I didn’t trust her to look after Toby,’ Vivienne said. ‘It just shows that you can’t tell what people are really like. Who’d have thought she’d behave like that?’
‘You did ask her, remember, and she refused. You might have had a narrow escape there,’ Helen said warningly. ‘Perhaps you’ll be a bit careful who you ask in future.’
&nbs
p; ‘Definitely,’ Vivienne agreed.
The others weren’t surprised, however, when, as they were leaving, she was seen asking one of the girls serving at the counter if she would Toby—sit for the following Saturday evening.
Vivienne had a serious decision to make and dancing was a way of forgetting it for a while.
* * *
Joanne had arranged to meet Dai Collins that afternoon. She sat in her car in the lay-by as arranged but although she waited an hour, he didn’t come. She wondered whether she had misunderstood. They met at so many different places she could easily have got it wrong. Driving slowly, still hoping to see him, she made her way to the Gingham Cafe where they had first met, and, opening the side door leading up to the rooms above, she went in. The place was the same as when she had last visited, but there were ornaments and some photographs on the room divider separating the dining area from the lounge. She picked one up idly and saw a pretty young woman. A sister perhaps? Then on another one the same girl was shown head to head with Dai, the expression on their faces no longer giving the impression of brother and sister. She shrugged. She couldn’t expect him to have a past without women. She was married and hardly in a position to be jealous. But she was.
It hurt her to imagine him making love to another woman. He was in love with her and it was now, the present moment on which she should concentrate. He was going to take her away from her miserable life with John, he had said so many times. It was no longer just an affair, an arrangement that could end at any time. There was deep and mutually involving love.
She sat there for a while, wondering what had happened. Then her thoughts drifted to her sons and the odd behaviour of Justin that morning. John hadn’t been home for three days, so what had he done to upset Justin? He hadn’t forgotten a birthday or been unable to attend some event at school. She could think of nothing to explain Justin’s anger.
A glance at her watch told her it was time she left. Going quietly down the stairs she went to where she had left the car and drove home. An affair could hardly be expected to continue without a few hiccups.
Justin was subdued as she prepared their meal. When Jeremy went upstairs to do his homework, she asked her younger son what had been the reason for his outburst that morning.
‘Why are you angry with Daddy?’ she asked, neatly dicing carrots and adding them to a pie filling with the meat and onions. ‘He’ll be home tonight and you can sort it out with him, whatever it is, can’t you?’
‘I don’t want to talk to him. I won’t talk to him.’ Tears threatened, and he turned away to follow his brother.
‘Justin.’ Joanne caught hold of him. ‘Tell me what this is all about, now, at once.’
‘He’s leaving us for that fat woman and her kid,’ he shouted and, pulling free of her, he ran up the stairs.
Joanne called them both down and, sulkily, they stood before her, Jeremy holding Justin’s arm and squeezing it as a warning to say nothing more.
‘What is all this?’
‘Nothing!’ The lips came forward in a pout and the stubborn, closed down expression warned her that little would be achieved at that moment.
‘Homework,’ she said firmly, ‘Then I’ll talk to you one at a time. Right?’
A car pulled up outside and she looked up in relief. John was early and he could take over the inquisition since he appeared to be the cause of the problem.
She explained briefly that the boys were in a funny mood and seemed to blame him.
‘What’s the matter?’ he demanded irritably when she had called the boys down once more.
‘That woman and that girl!‘ Justin shouted, struggling to be free of Jeremy’s painful grip. ‘You’re leaving us for them and we’ll be a one parent family. That’s what.’
‘What woman? What are you talking about?’ Then he guessed that the van on that previous evening hadn’t contained just Oliver and Rupert Sewell. ‘Were you two joyriding last night when you should have been in bed?’ he demanded. He turned to Joanne and said angrily. ‘What are you doing that you can let these boys wander about at night in someone else’s van? I stayed with Dai Collins and his wife last night and presumably, these two saw me. That’s what happened. They saw me with Dai’s wife and daughter. Are you incapable of looking afier two boys while I go out and earn our keep?’
‘Dai Collins and his wife?’ she said, trying to control her voice. This couldn’t be true.
‘I went to the door when those irresponsible boys of Cynthia’s knocked to ask for directions. These two must have been in the van with them. Where were you? How could they wander about under age, driving a van at that time of the morning without you knowing? You must be more stupid than I thought!’
He turned to sit at the table. ‘I’ll let you sort this out. Any further details you want can wait until we’ve eaten, or do I have to go out and find myself a takeaway?’
‘Oh, do what you want!’ Joanne snapped. ‘Do what you damned well want.’
John didn’t stay and as soon as he had driven off, Joanne turned to the boys and asked them to explain the night time excursion in someone’s van.
Taking a lead from Jeremy, Justin supported the story that it was a once only event and they had been persuaded into it by Oliver and Rupert. Joanne sat looking at them in silence for a long time while they squirmed and wondered how long they would have to manage without pocket money.
Then she surprised them by offering no punishment. She hugged them both, told them they were wonderful boys and she loved them dearly.
‘Weird,’ Jeremy whispered when they went upstairs to their rooms. ‘Seriously weird.’
Eleven
When Christian opened his post one morning, he looked ashen.
‘Darling? What is it?’ Cynthia asked.
‘We’ve lost the contract to build the houses. And,’ he threw a letter across the table at her, ‘there’s little chance of us selling this house.’
She read the letter with growing alarm. The estate agents advised that, until the problem of suspected subsidence had been dealt with, they would not attempt to sell the property. It was politely worded, but the meaning was clear. They had an unsaleable house on their hands.
‘What will you do?’ Cynthia asked.
‘I’ve been in touch with a civil engineer, not the one we usually deal with but a different firm, one from outside the area.’
‘You think there’s something odd about all this?’
‘Someone seemed to have made sure I didn’t get that contract.’
‘You can’t mean it. Who would do that?’
‘It’s a valuable deal. In all there’ll be seven very large, high quality houses, within an enclosing wall. Three in the first stage then four more. It’s a damned good contract and there aren’t that many builders able to do the job, apart from the real big boys. And the specialist work involved means most of them wouldn’t be able to take it on. I have those specialists. Oh yes,’ he went on bitterly, ‘those who wanted this contract wouldn’t hesitate to deal in dirty tricks to get it.’
‘And you think one of your rivals is discrediting you?’
‘I can’t think of any other explanation. When we built these houses, we followed every guideline to the letter. I put down footings far stronger than the regulations require. There’s no way a building like this can subside. The ground was checked thoroughly by both my people and the council before building permission was granted.’
‘I’ll phone Ken. You need to discuss this.’
‘No!’ he shouted as she reached for the phone. ‘Not Ken. I don’t want to talk this over with anyone until I’ve made my own investigations.’
Cynthia stared at him. ‘Not Ken? You can’t think he’s involved? You and Ken built this business. You’ve been partners from the beginning when you built that tiny bungalow together and we lived in a caravan until you were paid. We weren’t even married then, d’you remember? We ran from our families and started living our own lives, and Ken was our fri
end. Please don’t let it be Ken.’
‘Say nothing. Pretend you haven’t heard any of the rumours. I’ll get on to this today.’
Christian spent much of that morning on the phone. When Ken rang with a query, he made an excuse not to see him and he said nothing about the damage to the house. They had discussed it previously and debated on the possible cause but he didn’t want to discuss it further, he didn’t even want to see Ken until he had some facts.
Cynthia didn’t go out. She did some paperwork and arranged meetings with the committee of one of her charities but she couldn’t really concentrate. The thought that someone was trying to destroy them filled her mind like a bubble, expanding, tightening, becoming more painful as the day went on.
The agony didn’t stop. The surveyor inspected the property but explained that nothing could be done until the following morning and even then, it might be a week before a full report came through.
The surveyor had tried to be reassuring but his expression was grave. Christian waved him off and ran in to tell Cynthia.
‘Nothing official until the results of all the technical stuff comes through, but he agrees it might be deliberate and misleading damage. It’s possible someone removed the tiles from the side of the steps, dug out some soil below the concrete and probably put something weighty on it. He wouldn’t have needed to do anything more.’
‘But who? And what about the cracked tiles?’
‘That wouldn’t be difficult with a bit of care and a hammer! We were in Greece when it happened, remember? Millie was visiting her sister. Ken had the keys to the house. If he is as short of money as I suspect, he had motive and opportunity. Isn’t that the suspicious combination?’
‘Not Ken. I don’t believe it.’
‘Like me, you don’t want to believe it. But if not Ken, then who?’
Friends and Secrets Page 19