Sleepwalk

by Ros Seddon

  ‘So is she blind David or just rude?’

  ‘Mum, please. We’ve just come from her burnt out cottage. She’s in shock so just leave it eh?’

  His mother decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and waved as he piled Oliver into the car and made a hasty retreat down the driveway.

  ‘Daddy?’

  ‘Yes Ollie, mate.’

  ‘Oozat Daddy?’

  ‘Sorry mate, this is Flick. She’s my friend.’

  ‘Oo izzit Daddy?’

  ‘Flick, mate. It’s Flick’

  ‘Vic.’

  ‘Yes its Vic.’

  Felicity seemed to wake up then and came back to reality. She looked at David and then turned around to where the little boy was sitting in his car seat in the back; a small threadbare teddy in his hands. He beamed at her from his chair and then put his hand over his eyes as she smiled.

  ‘Hi Ollie. I’m Flick.’

  The boy remained still, his hand still covering his eyes. He kept it there for a few seconds and then slowly opened his fingers until he could see her. Eventually his

  fingers moved, slowly at first and then he dropped his arm and relaxed as she turned away. When she turned back the arm instantly came up again until either his arm was aching or he was bored with the game but the next time she turned he was smiling at her and his cheeks were quite red. Felicity laughed then and looked at the road ahead.

  ‘Vic.’ said a little voice in the back and he instantly covered his eyes again but the tell tale smile beneath his wrist told her that everything was going to be okay. By the time they arrived in Rose Lane some ten minutes later they had counted to six numerous times and she had taught him his nought times table. Nought times nought is nothing. Naughty nought’s nuffink. His hand no longer covered his eyes when she smiled at him and Oliver seemed to have easily accepted that Daddy had a new friend called Vic.

  Slim picked his way expertly through the overgrown brambles and back onto the path that led to his temporary home, a little black mongrel at his heels. He called him ‘Bits’ because that’s what he was. Terrier cross labrador cross spaniel cross lurcher. Bits of everything; although he looked mostly terrier and was quite small. The sun was coming up; emerging beneath a mass of grey white sky and beyond it was vivid blue. It was going to be a nice day. They walked this way every morning and the dog would be leaping and bounding in the undergrowth beside him but today something was holding him back. Slim turned and saw he was eating dried up faeces, possibly from a fox or another dog.

  ‘Bits! No! ….. Bad dog! Leave it!’

  Bits was hungry. They both were; but not for much longer. They’d managed to get to the skips before the Prentice’s today. Slim had just had his best find in weeks; two whole packs of streaky bacon, three tins of baked beans, a dented tin of creamed mushroom soup and nine stale hot cross buns. The rats had been chewing a corner of one of the packs of buns but they were mostly good.

  ‘Come on mate. Today we’re going to eat like kings.’

  He’d gathered up a pile of dried sticks as he made his way home to the bridge and now he laid them under the barrel and felt around in his pocket for the four lumps of coal he’d managed to liberate from the blue plastic bag on the garage forecourt. Hopefully two lumps would be enough to give them a well cooked feast and perhaps the other two would give them a little comfort later in the small hours of the night. Slim laid the bacon over the blackened pieces of wire stolen from the fence behind Sainsbury’s. He was proud of his barbecue and even more proud on a day like today when he had such a feast to adorn his wire tray. Slowly the flames began to rise higher and higher and eventually, the bacon began to turn a darker shade of brown and the smell of it was driving Bits insane as he danced around under the viaduct; the overhead traffic which was gradually becoming heavier as daylight kicked in, now a distant irritation.

  But neither Slim, nor Bits got to share their feast. The scream could be heard from a long way off and before you knew it the wasteland was swarming with uniforms; police, paramedics and the local river authority officer, Vanessa Gordon who Slim had had dealings with before and his face was known to her. He had to abandon their hearty breakfast, although he managed to grab his rucksack containing the majority of the fruits of his labour that morning. As he and Bits made their escape and climbed through the broken fence at the foot of the bridge the familiar sight of colourful striped socks pulled out over the legs of dirty blue jeans met them and Slim came face to face with Jonquil, a skinny blonde girl whom he’d once had under the bridge at midnight. He knew it was midnight precisely because she’d made such a point about them having to climax as the clock struck twelve. Of course he hadn’t managed it. You can’t just come to order at a specific time. That’s nonsense. And because he hadn’t managed it she’d gone really weird on him and they hadn’t spoken since.

  ‘It’s the Colonel. They must have found him.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The Colonel. He’s dead. I heard them say. A woman walking her dog along the river bank has stumbled upon the body of an old man. I know who did it.’

  ‘The Colonel is dead? Are you for real? How do you know it was him?’

  ‘You think I was out of it don’t you? Ok I was stoned but I saw her and I’ve seen her before. She drove right at him.’

  ‘Jonky we need to get out of here. Vanguard’s here. She knows both of us. Come on!’

  ‘The angel of death; in her black chariot. She’s quite mad.’

  Slim took the girls hand and gently pulled her to encourage some kind of movement and then he ran through the undergrowth, the little black dog in hot pursuit.

  A rustling at the other side of the fence seemed to stir Jonquil into action and she pushed herself away from the stone face of the bridge support and ran after him.

  Vanessa Gordon poked her head through the broken fence and looked into the wilderness of long grasses and brambles, their leaves swaying gently in the morning breeze.

  ‘Who’s there?’

  The traffic passing on the motorway over her head was deafening and each vehicle left a thud in her ears and an echo and a sudden gush of wind that seemed to rush around the side of the bridge and flow toward her under the viaduct.

  ‘I know you’re there!’ she called. But the trees just swayed gently back at her. Of course if there was someone in there they wouldn’t be stupid enough to come out and show themselves, and she wasn’t stupid enough to go in. There were snakes in that long grass and God knows what else. She made her way confidently back to civilisation.

  ‘Have you checked the fenced off area Miss Gordon?’

  ‘Of course. I’ve checked it thoroughly. Whoever made this fire is long gone.’

  The uniformed officer reported back and Vanessa Gordon went about her duties checking the water for any signs of contamination; dead fish etc. She knew who was responsible for the barrel fire, and probably for the death of the old man. Stephen Williams……. Or Slim as he was known on the streets. He resented her and she would catch him one of these days. Just because she had her authority issue land rover and her little tied cottage by the river and was paid to drive up and down the county’s rivers keeping them clean and free from pollution; and he had nothing. He was a waster. She knew he had been helping himself to the log pile at the bottom of her garden to fuel his little breakfast mornings; feasting on discarded supermarket waste. People like him should be locked away and if she had her way he soon would be.

  Monday morning had seemed almost surreal to Felicity. It had started out that way when she’d woken up in David’s spare room and got ready for work. By the time she got downstairs they were waiting for her in the kitchen. David was dishing up cereal for himself and Ollie and he poured her a coffee and tried once more in vain to talk her into staying home. After dropping Ollie at his parents he drove her to work and said he’d meet her for lunch at the Bad Rock. East Barton was quite a big market town and she’d been under the impression that by the time word got around
of her misfortune it would be yesterday’s news, but after a thousand and one questions from Karen and Graham the phone calls started. Friends and work colleagues from other branches all wanting to know what had happened. She would be lucky to get any work done today and then the final straw came with yet another internal call.

  ‘Hi Felicity speaking.’

  ‘You bitch!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I thought you were a really nice girl when I first met you. Clearly I was wrong.’

  ‘Peter? Peter? Is that you?’

  ‘How could you Flick? The police came and arrested me; took me to the station for questioning in relation to a fire at your house. How could you dob me in for something like that? What the hell do you think I am? ……. arsonist….. cat killer …. for Christ’s sake!’

  ‘Peter I……… I’m sorry. I had no Idea. I didn’t mention you to the police, I swear.’

  ‘Oh right! Who did then……. The cats mother? .......... such a cow!’ The line went dead then and she looked up to see Karen trying to stand between her and what was obviously a press reporter.

  ‘Felicity Breen?’ shouted the man and as he did so a photographer slipped around the side of them and snapped her shocked expression as she hovered in her office doorway and then the phone was ringing again and Graham was saying, ‘Yes Mr Denton sir, I’ll put you straight through to her’ and a feeling of nausea washed over her as the enormity of it all suddenly hit her. Felicity closed the door, drifted dreamlike to her desk and picked up the call.

  ‘Hello Mr Denton’

  ‘Felicity. Charles dear, please call me Charles. Now then. What on earth are you doing at work after such an horrific weekend my dear? Why didn’t you call me?’

  ‘I’m sorry Mr Denton I…… I just wanted to get back to normality.’

  ‘Nonsense Felicity. You need to take some time off. Take a couple of weeks…….. as long as you need and I don’t want you to come back to work until everything is back to normal, understood?’

  ‘Thank you sir……… but I think I’m better off at work. It takes my mind off things.’

  There was a deathly silence on the line which went on a little too long and then he spoke, ‘Felicity. I understand there are some issues regarding young Peter Hendford’

  ‘Well……… no, not really Mr Denton……… issues?’

  ‘Felicity dear. I surely do not need to spell it out for you? Now I want you to stay at home and sort your house out and we’ll talk again in a couple of weeks ok?’

  ‘But Mr Denton, I……….’

  ‘And try to steer clear of the press Felicity. Peter is a valued member of staff at our head office and his contribution to the new web site is proving to be invaluable to us.

  We wouldn’t want any bad press to jeopardise his career now would we?’

  ‘No sir.’

  ‘Good. I think we understand each other. Now then Felicity, we’ll talk again in two weeks and if you need any help, please do not hesitate to call.’

  ‘Thank you Mr Denton’.

  The rest of the morning was a blur. She was at the Bad Rock waiting when David arrived at lunch time, her little overnight bag on the floor beside her and her handbag on the chair next to her. She looked pale.

  ‘Hi babe. You ok?’

  ‘Well……… not really, No. I’ve been told by my boss to take a couple of weeks off work………. Actually, scrap that. I’ve been ordered to take time off until this all blows over.’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘David……… how could you?’

  ‘What? What is it Flick? What’s happened?’

  ‘You told the police what I told you about Peter didn’t you?’

  David moved her handbag and sat down next to her. He had a very stern, distant look on his face that she hadn’t seen before and wouldn’t want to see again and that bothered her.

  ‘Peter? The guy from your work? The one that came on to you not so long ago; that wouldn’t take no for an answer?’

  Felicity sat back in her chair and studied his face. Maybe that look was more one of concern. He was worried about her. Why shouldn’t he tell the police everything he knew? It was, after all the truth.

  ‘I’m sorry I…….. It’s just that I’ve just had the third degree from Charles bloody Denton warning me off his little blue eyed boy and earlier……… earlier Peter phoned and he was really cross with me. They apparently dragged him down to the police station and questioned him and he’s obviously told Charles who isn’t at all impressed with me and has now sent me home and I……..’

  ‘I didn’t tell the police about Peter. You didn’t tell me about that until after I’d spoken to the police. They must have got that from someone else. I did tell them what Sandy told me about the cat, but that’s all. I was worried about you Flick. I still am.’

  ‘Sandy… Oh God ...… and Mark……. Oh…….. I’m so sorry David.’

  ‘Don’t be; because if I had known I would have told them anyway. Your life is more important to me than your friend Peter’s job.’

  ‘He’s not my friend.’

  ‘Flick, listen. I know we haven’t known each other that long but I………. I’m very fond of you. You must know that?’

  ‘Yes I……… I’m very fond of you too.’

  ‘Flick, I truly believe that someone is trying to hurt you and that really bothers me. Now until this person is caught I would like you to stay with me……… with Ollie and me. I can look after you. Make sure you come to no harm. I’ll take some time off work so I can help you with the house. I’m due some time off. What d’you think?’

  David looked lovingly into her eyes and held her hand and once again she was overcome by his closeness and she felt the desire rising up within her. Then a shadow appeared beside them and the waitress was standing at their table, a note pad in her hand asking them if they would like to order and all that Felicity could think of was that David was very fond of her…….

  ‘Flick! Thank God you’re ok. We’ve been so worried about you. I’ve left messages on your home phone but I guess you’re staying with your mum and dad?’

  ‘No…….. actually I’m staying with David; just for a couple of weeks until we’ve sorted the cottage out. He’s helping me. He’s been a rock these past few days. I don’t know what I’d have done without him.’

  ‘I’m sorry hun. I should have come over but we’ve been having problems with our car. It’s in the garage at the moment and you know what the buses are like. I did phone your Mum but I didn’t think to phone David before now……..’

  Felicity and Sandra had been friends for a very long time and whatever Sandra had said to the police, deep down Felicity knew that she’d had her best interests at heart.

  ‘Sorry Sandy. I should have phoned you. To be honest I was a bit cross with you at first. I thought you would have told me about the cat. It was a bit of a shock when we went to look at the damage in the cottage and found the police had dug up the poor little thing and taken it for a post mortem. Poor little cat can’t even rest in peace.’

  ‘Oh my God Flick……… That’s awful. I’m so sorry…….. I just didn’t have the heart. You were so upset when it happened. Mark didn’t tell me until we were on our way home that day, after he’d buried it and then it just……….. didn’t seem appropriate.’

  ‘It’s ok. I’d have probably done the same. I’ve had plenty of time to think about it since they sent me home from work.’

  ‘They’ve given you some time off then? That’s Good.’

  ‘No it’s not good Sand. I was ordered to stay away because Peter Hendford has been implicated and the police arrested him so I think my job is on the line, so to speak.’

  Neither girl spoke for a minute but then Sandy could not bear the icy silence and confessed to her friend.

  ‘That’s………. That’s my fault Flick. I told them about him. I was worried about you. I’m sorry. God you must hate me.’

  ‘Don’t be silly Sandy.
You’re my closest friend and I know you worry about me. You did the right thing. David said he would have done the same. I’m just a bit gutted that Charles Denton could cast me aside for that arrogant bloody IT graduate. He’ll probably have him running the East Barton office soon.’

  ‘God forbid. How are you managing hun? I was hoping we could get together soon and have a chat. How bad is the damage?’

  ‘Pretty bad.’

  ‘I can maybe get Mum to have Josh for a couple of days and help you clean the place up if you’d like…… and I’d like to help.’

  ‘I wish cleaning it up was that easy. The bottom of the stairs are gone. We’ve got to have a new staircase made. The Sitting room is gutted as is the front bedroom and part of the roof is exposed at the front. If you stand in the corner by the bay window you can see daylight through the roof where the pressure has blown off some roof tiles. Most of the joists are ok but the bedroom floor and ceiling and sitting room ceiling have had it. Oh and the whole house has got to be re-wired.’

  There was a long silence before her friend spoke.

  ‘Oh God Flick. I’m so sorry. I…… I thought maybe some scrubbing and decorating but…… Jesus. Was your house insurance up to date?’

  ‘Yes but until the police find the person responsible I doubt they’ll pay up. I’ve taken out a small loan so that work can start on the renovation but I don’t think it’ll go far. The builders start on Thursday morning. David has taken next week off work and we can’t really do anything until they’ve made the place safe anyway.’

  ‘It sounds like you’re getting on well with David.’

  ‘Yes…… yes we are getting on, really well.’

  ‘Well at least one good thing has come from this then.’

  The two girls arranged to meet in town the next morning to go shopping together. Felicity had lost most of her clothes in the fire. The spare bedroom and the bathroom at the back of the house had escaped the worst of it having been hit mostly by smoke damage but the clothes she kept in there were of little use to her now, being too small or too tatty, although an old pair of once much loved jeans and some vest tops had been a welcome find. Some new clothes were a necessity for her and a shopping trip with Sandy could be the therapy she needed to help lift her spirits and right now Felicity’s spirits needed lifting.