‘So we stay here incognito for the rest of our lives? Shall I put my daughter’s name down for a Blackpool school? This has to end sometime, Lily. We’ve already run almost the length of England – do we try Wales or Scotland next?’
‘No. We wait. According to the newspapers, three men are being questioned. If they sing – isn’t that the word criminals use for confessing? – the authorities will be on to Clive. Hopefully, he’ll be stopped.’
Babs threw the remains of a sandwich at her friend. A brave gull swooped and snatched it away before Lily could wrap it for disposal. ‘He’ll be stopped,’ Lily repeated.
But Babs, a lover of lurid fiction, had other ideas. ‘There’s a whole network, you know. Anyone in prison can find someone to do their dirty work. He can try again as soon as he likes.’
‘There you go, then,’ said Lily. ‘All the more reason to stay here for now. Hoist by your own petard, Babs.’
‘What?’
‘Never mind. Be quiet and eat your choc ice.’
Babs groaned. The trouble with Lily was that she had rather too much common sense. For someone with an enormous gift for artistry and decoration, she displayed a total lack of imagination when it came to other areas of life. Babs liked to take chances, but Lily always weighed the odds. When it came to the prospect of being murdered, Babs had to admit that only Lily could act as maker of decisions. Nevertheless, she felt trapped and contained, her natural energy forced into a straitjacket of Clive Chalmers’s making.
‘I’d like to visit the Lakes,’ was Lily’s next statement.
‘Not yet,’ groaned Babs. ‘Just a few more days in Blackpool, please. Cassie loves the sand and the sea.’
Lily smiled. Babs had played the trump card. Where Cassie was concerned, Lily was a walkover. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘But your ice cream’s dripped all over your T-shirt.’
Babs mopped her front with a baby wipe. ‘Anyway, you,’ she said, her tone engineered to sound cross. ‘You always ask the questions like a teacher, while I have to be the good girl and produce the right answers. So it’s my turn now. I get to ask a question. OK?’
‘Goody,’ said Lily. ‘I can scarcely wait.’
Babs took a deep breath. ‘You and Mike,’ she said quickly, as if spitting out medicine that tasted bad. As soon as she had said the words, she wanted to take them back, because they were even nastier out than they had been inside. ‘Sorry. But there’s something, isn’t there?’ She half dreaded the answer, since Lily’s love life had been spectacularly awful thus far, and the poor girl needed more trouble like she needed a hole in her head.
Lily nodded. ‘There’s something, but God knows what.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘What I mean is I don’t know what I mean.’ But she did know . . .
A breeze, made cooler by the sea over which it had passed, made both women shiver. They packed their bags, placed Cassie in her pushchair and began the difficult walk through sand back to the car. Halfway, Babs stopped, released the child and folded the chair – it was easier to carry than to push. ‘Lily?’
‘What?’
‘It won’t be long now, will it? Until we can go home, I mean.’
Lily frowned and concentrated. ‘I shouldn’t think so, but I’m not sure. If those three men crack, they’ll still go down for the attack, but Clive will be charged as having instigated it. He’ll be in court, and perhaps that will teach him a lesson.’ She didn’t believe the words she had just framed and expelled. She knew him. Once he got the knife in, he twisted it. Sometimes, she believed that the sexual jealousy that was the cause of all the trouble had literally sent him mad.
‘Will we be safe after that?’
Lily was certain about nothing. ‘Like you said, Babs – anyone can find anyone if they’re determined. But, you know, I do rather like living in Eagleton. Once this particular issue is resolved, we’ll think about what to do next.’
‘I really do miss Pete.’
‘I know.’
Babs piled bags and pushchair into the back of the estate car. ‘And you miss Mike.’
‘Yes.’
‘Bloody hell, Lee. We are a pair of idiots, aren’t we? Falling in love within five minutes of relocating, hearts on our sleeves, forever teenagers.’
Both women stood on the pavement and laughed helplessly. Neither was completely sure why she was amused, but glee took over and rendered them useless. Cassie joined in. She giggled until she got the hiccups, and the hysteria started all over again.
Once settled in the car, Lily mopped her eyes. ‘He loves me, Babs.’
‘Right.’
‘And he’s amazing.’
‘Right.’
‘Stop saying right.’
‘OK. Wrong, then. He’s a priest, my lovely. They have to be – what’s it called? Celibate. They can’t have a wife or a mistress.’
‘But they do. It’s quite common.’
‘Common as in cheap and nasty?’ Babs turned and looked at her daughter, who had already fallen asleep. ‘Is he any good in bed?’ she asked in a stage whisper.
Lily closed her eyes, opened them, looked up to heaven. ‘Don’t go all vulgar on me, Babs.’
‘Is he?’
‘Is Pete?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. I’m very pleased for you.’ Lily started the car. She pulled into the traffic and aimed the car in the direction of their rented holiday flat. Babs’s question hung large in the air like a balloon that hadn’t lost all its helium. The subject would be raised again later, of that Lily was certain. So she bit the bullet. ‘He’s very good. End of.’
Babs giggled. ‘Well, you certainly take the whole Ryvita, don’t you? Nothing as ordinary as a custard cream, because you’re too keen on your figure – but Lily, how can a Catholic priest be part of your daily diet?’
‘He isn’t. It happened just once. And if it doesn’t happen again, I’ll be very sad, but I dare say I’ll survive. Don’t tell anyone – not even Pete. Mike has issues with his faith, and I’m not a part of that. If he leaves the Church, it won’t be for me. It’ll be for himself.’
Babs was suddenly sober. ‘If he leaves the Church, the village will blame you. They love him. Even the non-Catholics think he’s an asset. Look at what he does – arranging for the elderly to be fed and helped, going out of his way for the panto – they’ll say it’s your fault, kid.’
‘Perhaps. Just don’t ask your horse to jump before you reach the gate, Barbara Cookson. Now shut up and let me concentrate. There’s a tram behind us and a horse and cart in front.’ She edged out to overtake, trying hard to avoid startling the placid animal, although its stolid plodding seemed to indicate that it had long come to terms with the nuisance of the internal combustion engine.
They drove the rest of the way in silence, and Lily was relieved. Back at the flat, she made supper while Babs bathed her daughter. It was an undeniable fact that they couldn’t stay here for ever. Apart from anything else, Babs had started to work again and was enjoying it, while Lily had been forced to pass a couple of weddings to another florist. The business had to be dependable, or it would fail.
Then there was Mike. Yes. Father Michael Walsh, who wanted to quit the priesthood and spend his life with a woman he scarcely knew. This should be the time during which they could become better acquainted . . . A smile played on her lips and she stood still, a fork in one hand, a plate in the other. The wondrous thing was that neither she nor Mike needed to know more about each other, because it was already there. Whatever ‘it’ was . . . Hadn’t Prince Charles used something like that line when trying to define the term ‘in love’? But whatever existed between Lily and Mike was overpowering, and it had to be love. Real love. She placed the cutlery on the table and crossed her fingers. ‘This time, let it be real, God,’ she whispered.
‘Are you setting that table or dreaming about bedtime with Mike?’
‘Shut up, Babs. Did she eat her banana?’
‘Yes
.’
‘Have you cleaned her teeth?’
‘Yes. Honestly, Lee, anyone would think she was yours— Sorry, love. You know I didn’t mean—’
‘It’s all right. It’s always been all right.’ It would never be all right, yet it had to be.
Babs sat down and awaited the arrival of the gourmet meal – fish fingers and baked beans followed by fruit salad from a tin. ‘Sometimes, I could cut out my tongue. After all you’ve done for me, after what I did to you, I should know better.’
‘Stop it, Babs. You did nothing to me. You’re my best friend, so be quiet or I’ll hit you with this serving spoon.’
They spent the rest of the meal fighting about which bit of the town they might visit tomorrow. Babs wanted to go to the top of the tower, which was, as she reminded her friend yet again, a grade one listed building and a piece of history. ‘It’s a half-scale version of the Eiffel,’ she said.
‘And I go dizzy on a thick carpet, so you can go on your own.’ Lily longed to visit the Grundy Art Gallery, but she realized that both Babs and Cassie would be bored, so a compromise was reached. They would go to Blackpool Sea Life Centre and watch all the weird creatures that lived there. She had already half promised Cassie, anyway, so that was an end to the argument. The Grundy would be a solo trip, and— Lily glanced through the window to the opposite side of the rather broad avenue on which the flats stood. ‘Babs?’
‘Yes, ma’am?’
‘That car. It’s come back again – it was there last night.’
Babs peered out. ‘Yes. And there’s a man sitting in it.’
Lily swallowed a mouthful of fear. Not yet, surely? Weren’t people being charged, wasn’t Eve only just out of hospital, hadn’t Clive been interviewed by police? And no one knew about Blackpool – no one except Paul. Even after the trick he had played on Mo’s wife, Lily believed in him. Paul knew what it was to be hurt and disappointed; Paul would never tell a soul where she was. ‘Did you tell anyone?’ she asked.
‘No.’ Babs was cross. If Lily didn’t trust her now, she never would. ‘I haven’t even phoned Pete. I promise you, Lee, I—’
‘All right. You pack, I’ll watch.’
‘But where are we going?’
Lily turned and looked at her best friend. ‘No bloody idea. But I have our passports, took yours with me by mistake when I moved across the road, because they were both in one envelope.’
‘No, Lee.’
‘It may be the only way.’
‘No. I’m not going abroad. My daughter is English and she’ll remain English.’
‘Who said anything about emigration?’
Babs had taken enough. She raised her voice and both hands in order to emphasize her words. ‘It’s inevitable. Blackpool for a week, not far enough. We can’t go back to Somerset, so where do we go? When will we be safe – in five years, ten? Might as well go the whole hog and shift to Canada, because at this rate you’re going to be running for the rest of your life.’ She stilled her arms by folding them. ‘Sorry. You’re on your own, sweetie. I’m taking Cassie back to Eagleton. There are two of me, you see.’
‘Yes.’ Lily blinked away some tears.
‘I know that hurts, but I still need to emphasize it, love.’
‘I understand.’
‘She needs a proper and predictable life. I’m not dragging that poor child from pillar to post. I want her settled. I want her to have friends, school, college, university.’ She caught her breath. ‘And I need Pete. I think he’s the one, Lee.’
Lily sat down, her eyes fixed on the car outside. She asked Babs to turn off the lights before coming to sit nearby, and, in near-darkness, they ate a little of the fruit salad Lily had served. Everything Babs had said made sense, but it didn’t eliminate the fear. Clive was crazy enough to try almost anything, because he had no fear of a longer sentence, didn’t care about anything beyond his ideas for revenge. She reached out a hand and touched Babs. ‘Do what you have to do,’ she said.
‘You know I can’t leave you on your own. You know I won’t abandon you.’
Lily stared at a wall and looked into the past. She opened a door in her mind, plus a door in the house she had shared with Clive Chalmers. At the other side stood an angry, russet-haired woman. The uninvited guest asked to see Clive . . .
‘Lee?’
‘What?’
‘Don’t go there. Don’t think about that.’
This was how well Babs knew her now. Their first contact had been made at that front door, and it had involved a slap from Lily that had left the slighter woman reeling and in tears. These days, Babs knew what Lily was thinking about, understood her better than anyone. Lily blinked. She could hear the screams now behind the door she had slammed. ‘I’m pregnant,’ the little woman had yelled. Down the years those words echoed, as clear now as they had been on the evening of their birth.
‘Stop thinking about it, Lee,’ repeated Babs softly.
Lily stabbed a bit of pineapple and forced herself to eat. She needed energy, because she had to do this thing, and she had to do it right away. It was time to stop running, and perhaps Babs was right. Returning to Eagleton had to be an inevitability.
‘Where are you going?’ Tired of eating in the dark, Babs switched on a lamp and closed the curtains. The man in the car was still sitting there. ‘Lee? What the devil are you up to now? Good God – Eve was nearly killed! What if he’s come from Liverpool like the first lot did? Lee!’
Lily draped a cardigan across her shoulders. ‘I’m going to ask him why he’s there. If I can’t get a straight answer, I’ll tell the police to shift him. There are houses everywhere, and it isn’t completely dark yet. It’s time I faced my demons. He’s loitering with intent.’
Babs stood by the window and peeped past the edge of a green curtain. Lily didn’t often lose her rag, but when she did it was as well to be in residence somewhere at a distance. Like Jupiter or Saturn. Babs bit her lip, flinched when the downstairs front door slammed, watched round-eyed as Lily approached the parked vehicle.
She marched across the road and hammered on the windscreen of the silver-grey Vauxhall. She walked round to the pavement, standing with her arms folded until he opened the passenger door. ‘You’re being watched from many windows,’ she warned. ‘So don’t do anything stupid. Who the hell are you, why are you here, and when do you plan to bog off into the bloody sunset? Because I am sick of the sight of your damned car, mister.’
The man left the vehicle and came to stand next to her. ‘Miss Latimer?’
Shivering slightly, she stood her ground. ‘Who wants to know?’
‘I do.’
That wasn’t good enough, and she told him so. If he had come on behalf of Clive Chalmers, guest of Her Majesty the Queen, he could bugger off and tell said Clive Chalmers that she wasn’t afraid any more. Furthermore, loitering in a decent neighbourhood was never a bright idea, and the neighbours were all up in arms, especially those who were permanent residents of Blackpool. ‘I can die only once,’ she added. ‘So get it over with, because I don’t mind missing Coronation Street this time.’
He shook his head. ‘No wonder that priest’s going out of his mind,’ he said. ‘Have you any idea of the trouble you caused by buggering off without a word? People miss you.’
‘What?’
‘And Pete Haywood’s fretting like mad about your mate.’
‘What?’ she repeated stupidly. ‘Look,’ she said, drawing herself to her full height. ‘Lock that flaming car and come into the flat.’ She looked him up and down. ‘You look about as dangerous as a fish supper without vinegar. Get inside and I’ll put the kettle on.’
The man stood for a few moments before doing as he had been ordered. His cover was blown, just as Pete had predicted, so what was the point in worrying? After securing his vehicle, he followed Lily up to the flat. Like a man being led to the gallows, he hung his head, because he had some idea of what was coming to him.
Babs was waiting, roll
ing pin at the ready. ‘Unless you’ve come over all domesticated, put that away,’ ordered Lily. ‘He’s harmless. You can tell just by looking at him that he couldn’t crush a grape.’
The man edged in and sat at the uncleared dining table.
‘Who sent you?’ Babs asked. ‘I suppose it’s us you’re watching.’
‘Yes – sorry.’ He went on to explain that he was a retired police sergeant, that Pete Haywood had tracked the pair of them to Blackpool and that he was here for their own good. ‘My name’s Alan Burke,’ he informed them. ‘I’m in charge of you.’
‘God help us,’ uttered Babs.
‘How did they know we were in Blackpool?’ Lily asked.
‘Something Miss Cookson said to the child when they were in the taxi. I think she said she hoped it would be Blackpool.’
‘Sorry,’ Babs mouthed to her friend.
He continued. ‘It was just a matter of Pete getting some young PC to phone all the letting agents and find out where you were staying. I’m a private eye now. Pete and that priest are paying my fees. So I’ve been doing my job, no more than that.’
Lily sat opposite the detective. ‘We’ve been reading the papers. Is there anything we don’t know?’
He nodded. ‘Chalmers will be charged. All three sang like thrushes once they got going. It’s attempted murder for them, and Chalmers will get done for arranging the attack. Incidentally, I’ve met Mrs Boswell – she’s home, and she wants to see the pair of you. She needs her friends after what she went through.’
Lily asked after Eve’s health and was told that the steel plate in her head allowed her to pick up Radio Four as long as she stood at the top of the stairs, that she could change channels on satellite TV by wiggling her ears, and that her magnetic personality was interfering with reception on her mobile phone.
The Reading Room Page 26