Creature Comforts

by Trisha Ashley

  ‘Yes, thank goodness, and now I’d better get back.’ Lulu got up and Dusty, who’d been snuggled up to the inanimate fur rug that was Babybelle, followed suit, tail wagging.

  ‘It’s just as well Dusty’s having a decent walk this morning, because I think I’m going to be too busy later to meet you and Belle. We’re short-handed and I really want to finish setting up my Victorian photography studio today, too.’

  ‘Where are you going to have it?’

  ‘In that little room next to the reception, the one Mum and Dad always call the library, just because it’s got two bookcases full of novels left behind by visitors.’

  ‘I didn’t even know it was there,’ I confessed. ‘I thought that it was a big cupboard.’

  ‘It’s barely big enough to swing a cat in, but I’ve rigged it up with a clothes rail and a curtained changing corner. There’s that old chest from the attic, the one I found full of clothes, too. I’ve filled it with hats, mob caps, shawls and bonnets. Cam’s ace at eBay now, so he got me a few more bits and pieces.’

  ‘Was it still raining when you walked up?’ I asked, as she pulled on her scarlet mac.

  ‘Only a bit, and the forecast said it would clear late this afternoon and tomorrow should be cloudy, but dry.’

  ‘That sounds perfect for the Morris dancing, not too hot.’

  ‘If the weathermen got it right.’

  ‘Fingers crossed.’ I saw her out and said I might walk down later with Babybelle, in which case I’d have a quick look at her photography studio. But first I needed to stocktake and then put in an order for anything I thought I was likely to run low on.

  ‘If not, I’ll see you at the pub later anyway and you can have a quick look at my studio then.’

  I shook my head. ‘We’re not going to be there tonight, or not unless we call in on the way back. Rufus is taking me out for dinner.’

  ‘What, like a proper date sort of out?’ Lulu demanded eagerly.

  ‘I don’t think so. He sent me a message earlier saying he felt like a change of scene, and did I fancy eating out somewhere. And at least it’ll give you and Cam a chance to get all smoochy without us cramping your style.’

  ‘It still seems odd to me that I’ve fallen in love with Cam, after all these years as friends,’ she said, her face taking on a now-familiar dreamy expression. ‘I mean, we’ve known each other from infants’ school.’

  ‘I know, it seems odd to me, too, and it has changed things between the three of us a little – but in a good way.’

  ‘I don’t think all the change is entirely down to me and Cam,’ she suggested, with a grin. ‘Not now our trio has turned into a quartet!’

  I did my stocktaking and ordering, and then felt like a bit of air, even though there was still no sign of the rain stopping.

  Babybelle had deigned to go for a walk with Debo, Judy and some of the Desperate Dogs, so I set out alone. I quite like walking in the rain, when I’m not wearing a leaking mac.

  As I passed the kennels, I could hear Sandy having a long conversation with Henry, a yellow-eyed lurcher who’d come in the day before. She seemed to have taken a particular fancy to him, even though he bared his teeth whenever anyone went near. Sandy reckoned he was smiling, but I’m not entirely convinced.

  When I reached the pub, I found Lulu slightly shattered after a stint of emergency chambermaid duty, and ready for a break. She got us both coffees and we carried them into her new photography studio, which was indeed little bigger than a cupboard.

  There she got me to put on a shawl and bonnet and sit in the Victorian wing chair she’d arranged in front of a scrap-screen and a black wooden column with a potted fern on top, while she took some trial photos.

  ‘These look good!’ she said immodestly, flicking forward and back through the pictures and stopping to show me the best. ‘I think this will turn out to be a nice little earner. And Cam’s going to run his regular art class every Thursday afternoon, so that will bring him a bit of steady income too. Luckily, Jonas is usually happy to mind the gallery.’

  Lulu still had lots to do and I wanted to go back and contemplate my wardrobe, in search of the perfect outfit for that evening … whatever it might bring. The jury was still out on that one, not to mention which way I actually wanted things to go …

  There were now a few breaks in the clouds that revealed ragged patches of pale azure blue, so it seemed as if the weathermen might have got it right after all, even if I did still need my hood up under the heavily dripping trees.

  I passed Spring Cottage, where, unsurprisingly, no one was to be seen, for it was now past four o’clock and the enclosure officially closed, and I’d just reached the spot where the narrow, steep path down to the lower pool divided off from the main one, when I suddenly had that horrible feeling that I was being watched again.

  I stopped and looked round, but there was no one in sight, though I did hear a sudden sharp sound, like a branch snapping underfoot.

  Slightly spooked, I set off again, but faster – and then, as I turned the bend, I came on the unwelcome sight of Dan, leaning against the wicket gate and smoking a roll-up.

  ‘It’s you,’ he said, sounding surprised. ‘I thought you were Lulu, with that red mac on and the hood up.’

  ‘We’ve both got them – and what are you doing here?’ I asked. ‘Didn’t Rufus tell you not to come onto his property?’

  ‘Public footpath, isn’t it?’ he said insolently. ‘I was showing a friend round and he’s—’

  He stopped dead and his eyes widened in alarm as he looked beyond me, back the way I had come.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ I said, then felt, rather than heard, heavy footsteps coming up fast behind me.

  ‘No!’ Dan said urgently. ‘No, Guy, it’s not her, it’s—’

  I swung round, got a brief glimpse of a face engorged with rage, and a raised hand clutching a stick, then I ducked and ran for my life – only to stumble over a tree root, striking my forehead as I fell into deep, enfolding, familiar darkness.

  Somewhere far above me a bright pinpoint appeared, drawing me upwards into light, heavenly colour and celestial music.

  ‘Oh, not you again!’ said an exasperated voice that I somehow recognised as my mother’s. And all at once, I was hurtling back into the black depths.

  Next time, I swam more slowly back up towards the light – not a heavenly one this time, just a mellow, greenish glow, filtered through freshly washed leaves.

  I could hear Babybelle barking from what seemed like miles away, and something, or someone, was crashing away into the bushes.

  ‘What the hell …?’ exclaimed Rufus’s voice. ‘Dan, get away from her! And Izzy, don’t move. You’ve had a bang on the head,’ he added as I stirred, but since I seemed to have a tree root pressing painfully into my side, I rolled over anyway.

  ‘Izzy, tell him it wasn’t me that chased you, but Guy,’ Dan’s voice said urgently.

  ‘He had a stick and he was going to hit me,’ I whispered, clutching at Rufus’s arm.

  ‘Who, Dan?’ he demanded.

  ‘No, of course not! It was Guy.’

  ‘See, it’s like I said,’ Dan said eagerly. ‘Guy stayed with me and Fliss in the cottage last night and then he said he just wanted to talk to Lulu, so I told him she often came up here, and I was showing him the paths when Izzy came along. Only she had her hood up and he must have thought it was Lulu … I didn’t know he’d do that, did I?’

  ‘I’ll be round to speak to the lot of you later – unless Izzy presses charges for assault, in which case it’ll be the police,’ Rufus snapped.

  I sat up, slowly. ‘I’m OK … though I think I’ve got a bump coming up on my forehead. I bet I have a black eye tomorrow.’

  ‘Should you be moving when you’ve had a previous serious head trauma? I really think we should get you checked out,’ he said worriedly.

  ‘I’m not going to hospital,’ I stated firmly, just as Pearl and Babybelle appeared, looking pleased
with themselves. I suspected they’d just seen Guy off and I hoped they’d bitten him somewhere it hurt.

  Babybelle turned her attention to Dan and began to advance in a menacing fashion, growling deeply. Looking terrified, he slowly backed away and then, when his nerve failed, turned and ran like a rabbit.

  She didn’t chase him, but swaggered over and tried to lick my face. I fended her off.

  ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ I asked her.

  ‘She suddenly appeared at Sweetwell earlier, probably looking for you, so I thought I’d walk her and Pearl down to the Lodge. Then all at once they raced off down the side path and I followed and found you out cold, with Dan bending over you.’

  ‘I get the scenario, but it wasn’t really his fault. Help me up. I’m fine now.’ I added, but instead he scooped me into his arms and carried me all the way to the Lodge – and then to my bedroom, with Debo showing him the way.

  Judy insisted on calling a doctor out, even though I assured them I felt fine, except for a sore head and a slightly swimmy feeling.

  Dr Jilly Patel, an old school friend of mine, agreed I’d probably be all right. There was no sign of concussion, she said, though if any symptoms developed I was to go to the accident and emergency department of the nearest hospital.

  ‘But I think a good night’s sleep and you’ll be OK, apart from the black eye and a lovely bruise,’ she assured me, handing me a couple of pills and a glass of water. I swallowed them obediently.

  When she’d gone downstairs with Judy, I felt suddenly drowsy. ‘I want Rufus to stay with me for a bit. He hasn’t gone, has he?’ I asked Debo, and she gave me her puckish grin.

  ‘No, I’m sure he’s still downstairs, pacing about like an expectant father. I’ll send him up, darling.’

  Rufus, reassured that I was going to be all right, was all set to go and do something of a violent nature to Guy.

  ‘You can throw him out in the morning,’ I said, ‘when you’ve cooled down a bit. Stay and talk to me for a while, instead.’

  I held out my hand and he took it and sat on the edge of my narrow bed, looking down at me with concerned eyes. ‘I think it would be wiser if I left you to sleep.’

  ‘I’d sleep better if you were here …’ I said drowsily, then added, as the thought occurred to me, ‘Where are the dogs?’

  ‘Being fed with Vic and Ginger. And I’ve rung Myra to tell her where I am and that Pearl’s here too, in case she wondered.’

  ‘Good …’ I murmured, and after that I must have dropped off, because I woke much later feeling better, apart from the tender spot on my head.

  The room had gone dark. Rufus was now sitting on the window seat, looking out at the sky. The shape of his head and the set of his shoulders were all at once familiar and dear to me …

  ‘Rufus?’ I said softly, and when he turned his head, I knew he was smiling, even though I couldn’t see his face clearly.

  Rufus went downstairs to tell the others I was awake, fine, ravenous and wanted to get up, but instead Judy brought me dinner on a tray and made me take two more of the pills the doctor had left. I suspected they had sedative properties, since the last one had put me out like a light.

  ‘You’re much better off in bed till morning, darling,’ she said. ‘Rufus is staying for dinner, but he’ll come back up to say good night before he goes home.’

  When he came up, I said, ‘This was not quite the evening I thought it was going to be.’

  ‘Nor me. And I had all sorts of interesting plans,’ he said, a hint of devilment sparkling in those sea-washed green eyes.

  ‘I told Lulu that we might call into the pub on the way home, but I don’t suppose she and Cam will have missed us.’

  ‘It’s OK, she rang earlier to say Kieran’s staying at the pub again, booked in for two nights. I told her then.’

  ‘Is he? I expect it’s because Cara’s husband’s home, so he can’t go up to Grimside,’ I explained, suddenly starting to feel drowsy again.

  ‘I’d better go now and let you get a good night’s sleep,’ Rufus said, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking down at me with that smile. ‘You look lovely, even with a bruise the size of an egg on your forehead – and I suspect you’ll even look pretty with a black eye tomorrow.’

  Then he gave me what I think was meant to be the lightest of goodbye kisses … except that I wound my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a long, gentle smooch that went on and on until, at some point, held fast in his arms, I fell fast asleep.

  Chapter 33: Dream On

  Simon, who had suddenly stopped singing, managed to get out just before throwing up. Now he wrenched open the driver’s door.

  ‘I c’n drive, ’m all right now,’ he slurred, and started to climb in.

  ‘Wait a minute, Simon – let me get out, first,’ I said, trying to push him back out again. ‘And you should all walk from here, because it won’t take a minute.’

  ‘No way,’ Harry said, and pulled me onto his lap. ‘Get a move on, Simon.’

  ‘No, let me out!’ I protested, trying to release myself and panicking all over again.

  ‘Yes, let Izzy go home, we don’t want her now,’ Cara agreed.

  ‘Who says we don’t?’ Harry said with drunken stubbornness. ‘Simon – put your foot down!’

  ‘Oh, sweet!’ said Debo’s voice, then I heard the bedroom door quietly close and opened my eyes to find the morning sun lying across the patchwork coverlet – and, so too, was Rufus.

  In fact, I was still wrapped in his arms as he lay, fast asleep, his face relaxed and peaceful. All at once, I wanted to run my fingers over that cleft in his chin and …

  His green eyes suddenly snapped open and gazed into mine, then he smiled.

  ‘Good morning! I can’t believe I fell asleep and didn’t wake up all night.’ He disentangled himself, wincing, and then stood up to stretch.

  ‘Me, too, but I feel fine … except that the bump on my forehead is sore.’

  ‘And you really are going to have a black eye,’ he told me.

  ‘Oh, great,’ I said. ‘I think Debo just put her head in, by the way. That’s what woke me up.’

  ‘How inhibiting,’ he said, stooping to kiss me, long and hard, so Debo’s recent presence didn’t seem to be holding him back that much … and then, as he released me, last night’s dream came rushing back to me, memories sliding into place like beads along a waxed string.

  ‘Rufus, I’ve remembered what happened after I stopped at the Lodge. I know everything! Well, practically everything,’ I qualified, then described how I’d tried to get out of the Range Rover and Harry’d held me back. ‘Simon drove off … and presumably he caused the accident!’

  ‘So you’ve felt guilty all these years for something you didn’t do?’ he said, coming back to give me a comforting hug. ‘And Cara let you carry on thinking that!’

  ‘That does seem cruel,’ I agreed. ‘But oddly enough, although it should be a huge relief, I still feel guilty that I drove them up the hill that night and almost went off the road several times. So it could easily have been my fault.’ I sighed. ‘There are no happy-ever-afters, even with the truth.’

  ‘Oh, I think we might pluck one of those out of the air, eventually,’ he promised mysteriously. ‘But for now, I suppose I’d better go down and see what’s happened to Pearl.’

  ‘I’m sure Debo and Judy will have taken her and Babybelle out for a run with the other dogs, and I can smell bacon, so breakfast must be almost ready.’

  ‘Then I’ll collect her and get up to Sweetwell, because I need a shower and a shave before I finally see what the hell this Guy character thought he was up to yesterday.’

  ‘I’m not certain he was going to hit me with that stick, you know,’ I said. ‘And in a way, he’s done me a good turn, because I think the shock must have sparked off that last memory. And what’s more,’ I added, sitting up straighter, ‘now I do remember what happened, I deserve a resolution.’

  ‘Wha
t kind of resolution?’ he asked, blankly.

  ‘I want everyone who was closely involved in the accident to come together on the spot where it happened, and for there to be no more lies and secrets.’

  ‘That’s a big ask.’

  ‘There’s more: I want the Middlemoss vicar to be with us and say some prayers for Harry – and for Howling Hetty, too.’

  ‘You want to exorcise my drive at the same time?’

  ‘Not really, it’s just I feel a blessing might lay all the old ghosts to rest.’

  ‘I’ll help you, if that’s what you really want, but it won’t be easy to arrange. I hope you’re not expecting some kind of Hercule Poirot moment, when someone breaks down and sobs, “It was me what done it”?’

  ‘No, because I already know what happened, I just want everyone there when I tell them I do, especially Cara, Dan and Simon.’

  ‘When do you want to do it?’ Rufus asked. ‘I mean, it’s the Morris dancing thing today, so I expect the whole of Halfhidden will be overrun with spectators and Haunted Holidaymakers.’

  ‘Of course, I’d forgotten! Blow, it will have to be tomorrow, if the vicar can fit it in between services. But he’s very nice, so I’m sure he will if he can.’

  ‘But no Morris dancing for you today,’ he insisted firmly.

  ‘I don’t usually dance, just walk up behind them from the pub and watch,’ I protested.

  ‘Not this time: take it easy, even if you do feel much better.’

  ‘I’ll only go out when they get to the Green, then,’ I promised.

  ‘OK, and now I really will have to go. I still want to speak to that lot at the cottage.’

  ‘You won’t do anything hasty, will you?’

  ‘Probably not, but I’ll have this Guy out of there, if I have to throw him out. I’ll see you later – but not at the Green, because Foxy wanted to watch the Morris men in her lunch hour.’

  ‘I’ll ring you when I’ve spoken to the vicar, and then, once that’s arranged, I’ll contact everyone and persuade them to come – one way or another.’

  ‘Well, I’ll make sure Dan turns up, at any rate,’ Rufus said grimly.