A Place of Hope

by Anna Jacobs

  He waited but she shook her head.

  ‘And just to sugar the pill, I’ll let you both live in your house. It’s bigger than my mother’s cottage, so there will be plenty of room for two. I can rent her house out. She won’t mind where she lives as long as it’s with you.’

  Emily could only repeat slowly and clearly, ‘No, George. I won’t do it.’

  ‘I think you will. For my mother’s sake. You’ll see.’

  She was afraid of what he might do to her sister, more afraid, though, of letting pity for Liz ruin the rest of her life, most afraid of all of being totally in George’s power. She shook her head obstinately. ‘No.’

  He smiled again. Was he even listening to what she was saying?

  Toby arrived at The Drover’s Hope out of breath from running, but stopped abruptly, ducking behind a dry stone wall, when he saw another car parked outside.

  Who was here? Had they sent someone to take him away? Well, he wasn’t going back. He would go into the hiding place. He could stay there for days. Even if he didn’t have anything to eat.

  He peered through a barred wooden gate, which was always left half open, and when they weren’t looking, he slipped into the house through one of the rear doors. Miss Penelope had hidden the key. She’d told him not to tell anyone, and he hadn’t. He locked the door carefully behind him and put the key in his pocket. He’d put it back in the outside hiding place later. You always had to put it back.

  He was making his way towards the flat when he heard a man’s voice, loud and harsh. He stopped to listen, frightened by the voice, and then he heard Emily crying out. She sounded hurt.

  He didn’t know what to do.

  Emily began shouting for help, so Toby moved forward quietly till he got into the rear bar and could see through into the front.

  A big man with a red face was holding Emily and shouting at her, shaking her, hurting her. She was trying to get away and yelling.

  Toby wanted to help her – he did, he did! – but he didn’t dare. The man looked nasty. Mrs Corrish got the same look on her face sometimes. She liked hurting people. This man was much bigger. Toby was frightened of him.

  He shivered as he listened and watched, not understanding what the threats meant, only understanding that the man was upsetting Emily, that she had been shouting for help, was still trying to pull away.

  What should he do? He couldn’t help her. Couldn’t fight.

  Should he fetch Chad and Oliver? Could they stop the man hurting Emily? They might get hurt too. Toby didn’t like people getting hurt.

  He remembered another of the things Miss Penelope had taught him in case she fell or got ill. Dial 999 and ask for help.

  Johnny at the group home had dialled 999 once. He wanted to see what happened. He’d got into big trouble. Mrs Corrish had hit him.

  Toby didn’t want to get into trouble. Then he remembered the special phone number from when Emily was teaching it to Chad and Oliver.

  He was good at remembering numbers. Even when he didn’t understand them. Should he phone that one?

  Emily cried out again and he knew he had to do something.

  There was a phone in the pub kitchen. He could go there. What if the horrible man saw him, though? He looked round. He could bend down. They wouldn’t see him. Not behind the bar.

  But would the people on Emily’s phone number get angry? Not if he told them the man was hurting her.

  He swayed to and fro. Should he try to help Emily? She’d been kind to him.

  Or should he hide in the secret place? It was safe there.

  What should he do?

  Fifteen

  George heard a car draw up outside the pub and dragged Emily back into the flat.

  ‘Who’s that?’ he asked.

  Marcia was already at the window. ‘Someone from Barton & Halling, according to the logo on the car.’

  ‘Damnation. I told them not to come till later. Go and tell them I’m not free yet. Ask them to come back at the agreed time.’ He grabbed his aunt as she tried to slip past him. ‘Oh, no, you don’t.’

  He turned to Rachel and his mother. ‘And if you two know what’s good for you, you’ll stay quietly on the couch and not make any noise.’

  After a terrified glance at her son, Liz kept hold of Rachel’s arm.

  As Marcia left the room, Emily could only stand beside George, her senses alert for an opportunity. If she’d thought there was any chance of the people outside hearing her, she’d have been screaming already, but the walls were thick and the two people were some distance away.

  Besides, that woman lawyer seemed to be on George’s side, not hers.

  All Emily could hope was that Chad and Oliver would return soon and save the situation.

  George couldn’t force her to do anything if she held firm against him. And she would, whatever he did to his mother.

  Why was he so confident of succeeding?

  That worried her. A lot.

  Chad and Oliver were approaching The Drover’s Hope on foot just as a large four-wheel drive pulled into the car park. There was already a strange car parked near the old pub. They stopped to check things out.

  ‘Not that lot from Barton & Halling back stirring up trouble again,’ Oliver grumbled at the sight of the logo on the doors and bonnet of the new vehicle. ‘And who does the other car belong to? I’m not staying here doing nothing if the women are in danger.’

  He walked across to intercept the man and woman who got out of the company vehicle. One of them was the lawyer. ‘I thought we’d agreed that you people would only come here by appointment, Ms Ryling.’

  ‘We do have an appointment,’ she said with a snooty look. ‘Not with you, though. We had a message from the man handling the contract exchanges to meet him here.’

  ‘May I remind you that as Ms Mattison’s lawyer, I am the one handling any business to do with my client and this house.’

  ‘Actually, you’re not. She’s been giving you the wrong information. Perfectly understandable in the aftermath of a coma. We do understand that she’s still confused and we’ll treat her gently.’

  ‘She is not confused.’

  Ms Ryling gave him a cynical smile. ‘I think her nephew would know about that better than a stranger. And, just to set the record straight, our CEO has had a handwriting expert check Miss Mattison’s signature and he says it’s definitely hers.’

  ‘It can’t be. She didn’t sign it.’

  ‘Her nephew has assured us that she won’t deny it today, because she’s starting to remember things a little more accurately now he’s taking care of her properly. Comas can do strange things to people.’

  What the hell had Pilby been up to now? Oliver wondered. How could the fellow hope to persuade Emily to agree to selling?

  ‘Let’s go and check that with Emily,’ Chad put in quietly.

  ‘What authority do you have to interfere in this?’

  ‘I’m her fiancé.’

  Oliver hoped he’d hidden his surprise.

  There was a pregnant silence, with Ms Ryling looking suspiciously at Chad, then glancing at her watch. ‘We’re not going inside yet. We’re a little early but as we were in the district, we decided we could walk round the outside of the buildings again, check a few things out. We don’t want to disturb Miss Mattison till she’s ready to see us. You go inside and sort this out with Pilby. You’ll see that I’m right. Then you can leave us to complete our transaction.’

  The front door opened and Marcia came out. She stopped dead when she saw Oliver and Chad, who were standing to one side, out of sight of the living room window. Then she walked across to the two people from Barton & Halling, ignoring the others.

  The three of them moved apart and held a low-voiced conversation.

  At one point Marcia stared at Chad in shock, then shook her head. Oliver could read her lips. She was saying it wasn’t true. It had surprised him that the engagement had happened so quickly, but he wasn’t surprised about Emily and Ch
ad’s feelings. It was obvious to everyone that they loved one another.

  ‘We’ll come back in an hour’s time, then,’ Ms Ryling told Marcia.

  They got into their car and drove out of the car park and down the road.

  ‘My husband is having an important discussion with his aunt,’ Marcia said to Oliver. ‘They both asked me to say they’d appreciate it if you left them to talk about this on their own. He is her nephew, after all.’ She walked towards the pub without waiting for an answer.

  ‘I don’t believe that. Do you, Chad?’

  ‘Definitely not.’

  As they started to follow her, Marcia glanced over her shoulder. With a panic-stricken look, she ran up the steps and slammed the door on them.

  They got to it in time to hear bolts sliding on the other side.

  ‘What the hell has she done that for?’ Oliver looked at Chad. ‘She must know we’re staying here.’

  ‘Keeping us out means Pilby’s up to something. I don’t trust him an inch. And why hasn’t Emily come out to see us herself?’

  He hammered on the door, but no one came to let them in. After a couple of minutes, he gave up. ‘Let’s see if we can get in round the back. Even if we have to break a window. I’m sure Emily won’t mind as long as we get to her.’

  Toby picked up the phone in the rear kitchen. He looked at it, then put it down again. What should he do? The horrible man had taken Emily into the flat. He’d dragged her.

  Chad and Oliver weren’t here, so Toby had to help her.

  Taking a deep breath, he dialled the number and waited. A voice told him to put the phone down and they’d ring back. It didn’t shout at him, so Toby did as he was told and waited.

  He watched the entrance to the kitchens. If he heard anyone coming, he’d hide. In the pantry would be best. It wasn’t very safe, though.

  He wanted to go to the secret room. Oh, he did. It was safe there!

  The phone rang and he snatched it up. ‘Yes?’

  When the phone rang, George scowled at it. ‘Don’t answer that.’

  Rachel had braced herself to run and pick it up, but it stopped after the second ring, so she sat down again.

  ‘Must have been a wrong number,’ George said. ‘If it rings again, I’ll answer it.’ He glared at Rachel. ‘If you move one inch towards it next time, you’ll regret it.’

  They waited but the phone didn’t ring again.

  ‘It was a wrong number then,’ George said. ‘Look out of the window, Marcia, and see what those two fools are doing.’

  ‘No sign of them. They must have gone round the back.’

  ‘They’d better not come inside.’

  ‘They’re living here,’ Emily snapped. ‘They have every right to come inside.’

  ‘They’re not living here any more, I promise you.’

  Liz took a deep breath and pleaded in a quavering voice, ‘George, please don’t do this. I don’t want you to force Emily to live with me.’

  ‘You’ll be grateful to me. And so will she once she settles down. She’s been acting in a very confused manner since she came out of hospital. She needs my help. And you’ll be able to keep an eye on her.’

  ‘I’m not at all confused,’ Emily said crisply. ‘You’re just trying to swindle me out of my money. As you’ve already swindled your mother out of hers.’

  She saw a tear run down Liz’s cheek, but wasn’t going to back off.

  George shouted, ‘I have not swindled my mother out of anything. Her money is all there in the bank, perfectly safe.’

  ‘She needs it to use now. You just want it to be left to you after she dies.’ Emily was frightened that he was going to thump her, but though he seemed to swell up with anger, he didn’t offer her any violence.

  ‘If you say anything like that again, you’ll be sorry, Auntie.’

  ‘I shall not do as you demand. And I shan’t stop speaking out on behalf of my sister. Whatever you do.’

  George raised one half-clenched fist and took a step towards Emily.

  Liz began to sob.

  ‘You are not acting normally, Auntie,’ he said. ‘As Marcia will bear witness.’

  Emily held her head up, her eyes challenging him. She didn’t let the sigh of relief out when he moved away from her but did say, ‘I’m acting so normally that I have a geriatric specialist’s word for it that I’m not losing my wits. She’s prepared to testify on my behalf.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. When did you see one? You haven’t had time.’

  She smiled. She’d caught him on the back foot there. But she still held herself ready to duck. She’d never seen anyone look so furious.

  Oliver and Chad went round to the back of the barn.

  ‘That door doesn’t look very strong,’ Chad said. ‘I’m going to see if I can kick it in.’

  He threw himself against the door, which rattled but didn’t give. Nor did a second attempt prove any more effective.

  ‘They make it seem so easy on crime shows,’ he said ruefully, rubbing his shoulder.

  ‘Let’s both try together.’ Oliver came to his side and they tried several times more, but the door held firm against them.

  ‘It’ll have to be a window, then,’ Chad said. ‘Which one do you suggest?’

  ‘Damned if I know.’

  They walked quickly along the rear of the strange assortment of outbuildings, once having to clamber over a low drystone wall. The windows had old-fashioned wooden frames, with small panes of glass, which would be much harder to break into. At last they found one which was in a very poor condition by any standards.

  ‘That one needs replacing anyway,’ Chad said.

  ‘I’ll just nip back to check whether his car is still out front,’ Oliver said. ‘We don’t want to cause any damage unless we have to.’

  He came back a couple of minutes later. ‘His car is still there.’

  ‘I’m not leaving Emily alone with him any longer than I have to, so . . .’ Chad hefted the stone he’d picked up near the wall, a big, uneven chunk that had fallen off it. He hurled it into the window with all his strength, smashing several of the small panes and cracking one of the connecting struts.

  It thumped to the ground inside in a shower of glass shards, but the wooden struts were still intact.

  ‘They certainly built these houses to last,’ Oliver said ruefully. ‘I’m surprised no one’s heard the noise.’

  ‘If they have, I hope they won’t come to investigate till we’re inside.’ Chad studied the ruined window. ‘I think we can get in here. Some of the wood at this side is rotten. See.’ He took off his jacket and used it to grip the struts and wrench them out.

  He clambered up on the window sill and used a stone to knock the remaining shards of glass away from the frame. Even so, as he clambered through, he cut his hand and cursed. ‘Can you get in after me? Be careful of the glass.’

  Oliver clambered up on to the window sill, moving much more slowly than Chad had done.

  ‘Catch me up.’ Dropping his jacket full of splinters and wiping the cut on his shirt, Chad ran off towards the front of the house.

  All his thoughts were centred on Emily. He wasn’t letting that bully hurt her.

  Ms Ryling sat in the car, a frown on her face. ‘I’ve had the office making enquiries and Tapton is a well-respected lawyer round here. I should have checked that earlier, but I was too busy settling in. Talk about being thrown into the deep end. This is a devil of a thing to happen in a new job.’

  Her companion frowned. ‘You mean, you’re not sure Pilby’s telling the truth?’

  ‘Not as sure as I was. He’s very plausible, but today his wife seemed . . . a little furtive, don’t you think?’

  ‘She did look worried, I must admit.’

  ‘But the handwriting expert told the CEO it was Emily Mattison’s signature.’ Ryling shook her head in bafflement as she stared at the inn. ‘If this wasn’t the best prospect for our new housing development, I’d be suggesting we look e
lsewhere for land. Family quarrels aren’t only the devil for garnering bad PR, they can cost the earth in legal expenses.’

  ‘The CEO’s very set on this project. It’s his final one with the company.’

  Ryling rolled her eyes. ‘Beware men departing the company and wanting to leave their mark.’

  ‘Are you really going to advise the CEO to back away from it?’

  Ryling paused, then shook her head. ‘Not without more proof. After all, the handwriting checks out. But I’m going to scrutinize everything extremely carefully and move forward as slowly as I can.’

  ‘Rather you than me if you have to tell the CEO to back off.’

  ‘I’m paid to tell him when to back off. And if he doesn’t like what I say and gets me fired, I can always find a new job. I only accepted this one to be near my husband’s elderly parents. I’d far rather live in the south.’

  Toby listened to the man on the phone. He said ‘Yes’ when he understood. He said ‘I don’t understand’ sometimes. Miss Penelope had told him to say that.

  The man began to speak more clearly. He didn’t use long words. Toby listened carefully.

  ‘Do you understand that, Toby? We can be there in an hour. Can you tell Emily that?’

  ‘I don’t know. Not if that man’s with her. I’m frightened of him.’

  ‘Well, do your best, lad.’

  ‘Yes, I will. I always do my best.’

  ‘You were right to phone us. Well done.’

  As he put the phone down and stared at it, Toby heard running footsteps. He peeped out of the kitchens and saw Chad. Thank goodness!

  But Chad went into the flat and then the big man started shouting again.

  He was a very bad man.

  Toby stayed where he was.

  George swung round. ‘How the hell did you get into the pub?’

  Chad pushed between him and Emily, slapping the other man’s hand away from her. ‘Are you all right, darling? He hasn’t hurt you?’