Dead of Winter

by Rennie Airth

  They had reached the front door of the cottage and they turned to look at the view.

  ‘And you won’t have heard either of the invasion we had three weeks ago.’

  ‘The invasion … ?’

  ‘John’s old friend Nelly Stover brought her grandchildren down for a week, and since I’d been wanting to have Billy and his family for some time I invited them too. We’d forgotten what it was like to have a houseful of small children, and really they behaved very well, at least until Lucy arrived. But she got them going. First she taught them all to play Up Jenkins, then the older ones Racing Demon, and before long there was pandemonium every evening. John and I loved it, but Nelly was most disapproving. For a while at least; until she softened up. She’s a wonderful character, tough as old boots, but then she’s had to be. I’m hoping we’ll see more of her.’

  ‘And what about Lucy?’ The chief inspector put the question to Madden, who had just joined them at the door. How much longer will she stay in the Wrens?’

  ‘About as long as it takes her to find a way to wriggle out, I should think.’ He chuckled. ‘She’s not cut out for military life, I fear. There’s far too much discipline. But I’ve warned her not to desert. We won’t harbour any fugitives here.’

  Helen was listening with a smile.

  ‘We probably shouldn’t tell you this, but we finally discovered what she’s been up to in London all these months. It was a man, of course. I should have guessed.’

  ‘A man?’ The chief inspector was taken aback. He wasn’t sure how to react. ‘But isn’t she a little young … ?’

  ‘That’s exactly what John said.’ Helen had seen her husband’s scowl. ‘You men …’ She laughed. ‘But there’s no need to wring your hands, or reach for your shotguns. He was a perfectly respectable naval officer temporarily posted to the Admiralty and now he’s safely back at sea. It seems to have been more in the nature of an experiment, at least as far as Lucy was concerned, and anyway it’s over. She’s an adventurous spirit and there’s nothing I can do about that. Except applaud it, perhaps. The best thing was we talked, and that was lovely. It was like finding a new friend.’

  She glanced at her watch.

  ‘Angus, dear, I have to dash. I’m going to leave you here with John. I’ve got surgery in half an hour. Here’s the frontdoor key.’ She put it in his hand. ‘Stay as long as you like. Have a good look round. You can walk back whenever you feel like it. We’ll meet at lunch, if not before.’

  She paused on the point of going.

  ‘We’re so pleased you’ve decided to settle here.’ She touched his cheek with her hand. ‘Though of course things will have to change between us.’

  ‘I beg your pardon.’ Caught off balance by her remark, he had failed to catch the teasing note in her voice.

  ‘You’ll be my patient from now on, Angus. At least, I assume so. That’ll put an entirely new complexion on our relationship. For instance, I noticed you were hardly limping at all when we walked along here. Is your gout better?’

  ‘Not altogether.’ Sinclair frowned. The subject wasn’t one he liked aired. ‘It comes and goes.’

  ‘That’s usually the case. There are a number of remedies we can try. But in the meantime, prayer and fasting have been known to work wonders.’

  ‘I’m not sure I fancy either.’

  She was already walking to the gate as he spoke, and she turned.

  ‘That’s what I was afraid of.’

  Pausing to run her fingers through her hair, she shook her head in a gesture that reminded him, with a surge of pleasure, of the young woman he had first known twenty years before.

  ‘I can see already you’re going to be a difficult patient. I shall have to keep a close eye on you.’

  With a wave to them she went off, and the two men watched as she walked down the stream, her fair hair bright in the sunlight, moving with a grace that was almost a girl’s.

  Madden grunted. He turned to Sinclair.

  ‘Well? Shall we go inside, Angus?’

  ‘Why not?’

  But the chief inspector dallied for a moment. Her last words had sounded a reassuring note and he wanted to dwell on them. There were many reasons for the choice he had made, but one in particular seemed to matter more than any other as he watched her figure disappear round a bend in the stream. He knew now that however long his life lasted, she would always be a part of it.