They were in pitch darkness but he knew her location from her voice and pounced on her. ‘I manage to do most things effectively with one hand, wouldn’t you say?’
Mary opened the kitchen door flooding the area with light. ‘Supper will be on the table in half an hour.’
Ellie hid her face on his shoulder but he nodded. ‘Righto. This gives us time to wash up and change.’
They raced upstairs like naughty schoolchildren. ‘If you think we’re going to make love right now, Squadron Leader Reynolds, you’re sadly mistaken.’
‘Worth a try, sweetheart. But we can have an early night.’
‘I’m in the middle of my monthly cycle.’
He detected some hesitation. ‘It’s okay, we won’t take the risk if you don’t want to.’
‘It’s not that. We’ve made love at the right time before and I didn’t get pregnant. The more this happens the more I believe that I can’t have children. I know we said we don’t mind but I find that I do.’
‘So, what you’re saying is that to avoid disappointment you want to stop trying?’
‘I think I do. I don’t want to stop sleeping with you but want you to use one of those things you told me about – a prophylactic?’
‘All the time or just in the middle of your cycle?’ He tried to make his question neutral but she detected his reluctance.
‘No, I’m being selfish. What’s meant to be will be and I’m going to try not to worry about it. Most women can have a baby but most can’t fly an aeroplane.’
‘Did you know that I’m going to be in charge of the roster?’
‘I don’t think that sounds very difficult – after all you just have to count thirteen days from each day off for each pilot.’
‘You’re missing the point, sweetheart. You’ve got Christmas day and Sunday the twenty-sixth as your leave. You have to work on Boxing Day. Frankie said I can have both days off as well as I’m walking wounded.’
‘Isn’t that nepotism or something? I’m not sure I want to have those days free if it means I’m taking someone else’s…’
‘Don’t worry, you’re having those two days instead of the leave that you’re due next week so you will actually be two days light. I don’t think anyone can object to that.’
‘Apart from me – that means I’ll be working twenty-six days straight.’ She reconsidered. ‘No, of course I won’t, because I had two days compassionate leave whilst you were in hospital.’
Mary was cross that they’d been so long getting changed. ‘I was going to start without you but decided I wouldn’t as there’s a favour I have to ask you both.’
She exchanged a glance with Jack. It would be the winter solstice on the twenty-second and they both knew this was an important day for pagans.
‘Is it about the twenty-second?’
‘How clever of you, Ellie, to guess. It is indeed. I would like to hold our… our special meeting here. Afterwards I’d like to invite the ladies in for a cold collation and punch.’
‘How many of them are there?’
‘There are six of us including myself. You’ve probably met one or two of them walking around the village.’
Jack helped himself to more of the delicious hotpot. ‘If it’s supposed to be secret, surely they won’t want to be introduced to us?’
Ellie laughed. ‘You’re a bit slow on the uptake tonight, my love. Mary is asking us in a very roundabout way to go out that night so she can have the house to herself.’
He frowned and she thought he might refuse outright. ‘What time does this thing finish? We’re not staying out until the small hours as Ellie has to work the next day.’
‘Good heavens, young man, they will have gone before nine o’clock.’
‘In that case I’m okay with it, if you are, Ellie?’
‘I might well be away that night anyway, but if I’m home we can go to the pub. It’s bound to be jolly just before Christmas.’
‘Come to think of it, I might well be on fire watch. I start after the weekend.’
‘Thank you so much, both of you. As far as the husbands are concerned, we are a sewing circle. We are making a patchwork quilt and we always spend some of the evening sewing frantically just in case anyone wants to see what we’ve been doing.’
‘On another subject entirely, Mary, did you read that everyone is to get a double ration of dried eggs this month. Also, and I’m not so bothered about this, it seems we can have as many wrinkled peas as we want from December the twelfth.’
‘I’ve already got this week’s extra eggs but I’ve donated it to the food boxes we’re getting together for those who are struggling. I hope you don’t mind – but as we’re still getting two or three eggs from our chickens every day, we don’t really need it.’
‘They can have the wrinkled peas too as far as I’m concerned,’ Jack said with a grin.
‘It would be wonderful if we could have some of the largess that the Yanks have on their bases. I wish I could have the excuse to land one of them again.’
‘Pity there are no bases around here.’
*
The next two weeks literally flew by and she and Jack settled comfortably into their new routine. They had every morning together and most nights. She only had to stay away twice.
That morning it was too grey to fly and everyone was hanging about. She went in search of Frankie and found him in his office, which was a pleasant surprise as he was rarely there.
‘How can I help you, Ellie?’
‘It’s about me having the festive period free. I’m not comfortable taking my leave then if there are men with children having to work.’
‘Stuff and nonsense! You’ve given up two days already and deserve to spend your first Christmas together. I can assure you that nobody has complained.’
‘If you’re quite sure, then thank you very much.’
‘I hope you and Jack are coming to the Christmas do we’re having at the local on the twenty-second?’
‘We certainly are.’ When she and Jack had heard about it, they’d been delighted as it meant they didn’t have to hang about anywhere waiting for the witches to leave their home.
The German air raids were now occasional rather than regular so there was really no necessity for Jack and the others to spend night after night on the roof of a house looking out for incendiary devices.
She tried to avoid sneaking into his office when he was working – she thought it rather unprofessional to do so – but with no flying likely today no one could object if she took him a mug of tea.
He looked up when she walked in and his smile made the tea slop over her fingers.
‘Tea, exactly what I want. Why haven’t you brought some for yourself?’
‘I don’t want to disturb you for too long. I’m sure you’re busier than I am.’
‘Take a pew for a bit – deadly dull stuff I’m doing today.’
There was only room for a desk and chair in the tiny office he’d been allocated so she perched on the edge of the desk.
‘The Met office don’t expect it to lift at all. I was flying the taxi so I hope no one’s stranded because I’m not there.’
‘Most of the country is covered with fog and rain so I doubt that anyone’s waiting.’
Frankie appeared in the open doorway. ‘Nothing doing anywhere, Ellie. Report back as usual tomorrow.’
‘Would it be permissible for me to help Jack get this paperwork done?’
‘Fire away, Ellie. As soon as it’s done you can both go. Find yourself a chair from somewhere.’
*
After eating lunch in the canteen, they collected their bicycles and were ready to head home. ‘I think it might be better if we pushed these, Ellie, the fog’s got worse.’
‘It’s a good thing we don’t have to turn any corners as I doubt we’d find them. Lucky we know there’ll be no raids in either direction today.’
It took twice as long to get home and, despite her thick greatcoat, gloves an
d scarf, she was frozen stiff. They propped their bikes up and groped their way to the back door.
‘It’s locked. Why would Mary go out in this dreadful weather?’
‘Haven’t the foggiest,’ he said and chuckled at his joke. ‘It’s going to be tricky finding the key in the shed. Stay here and I’ll get it.’
She could barely see his outline and he was only standing a couple of yards from her. He vanished and she pressed herself against the door. For some reason her heart was thudding uncomfortably, the hair on the back of her neck stood up.
She heard him walk into several things and swear loudly. Then he yelled that he’d found it and was on his way back. ‘Keep talking to me, then I can follow your voice as I can’t see a bloody thing.’
She did as he requested and he stumbled into her a few minutes later. ‘I’m a bit worried that Mary’s not here. There’s nothing we can do about it but hope she has the sense to stay wherever she is until this lifts.’
The house was blissfully warm after being outside for so long. They went around putting on the lights in each room and then closing the blackout curtains. This was usually done the other way around but the fog made it unnecessary. Fires were laid but not lit and Jack did this whilst she riddled the range and put on the kettle.
‘We can spend this afternoon putting up Christmas decorations. I was amazed that Mary had so much hidden away in the attic. It’s only five days until Christmas so we can bring in the tree and get that done as well. It will be a lovely surprise for her when she comes back.’
By five o’clock it was done, and they stood back to admire their work. ‘We won’t be lighting the candles on the tree until Christmas day, but it still looks very pretty.’
‘The paper chains and the giant tissue paper balls are very festive. I’m going to shut up the chickens. I think it might be a good idea for you to stand outside and keep yelling to me or I’ll get lost. It’s even worse now it’s dark as a torch is useless.’
Having safely accomplished this between them they retreated to the kitchen. ‘I’ll make us an omelette and bubble and squeak.’ They’d carefully avoided mentioning the continued absence of the other member of the household and she knew Jack was as worried as she about Mary.
‘We just have to assume she’s safely with one of her cronies. There’s nothing we can do about it tonight. I think we should apply for a telephone then at least we could have rung someone.’
She nodded. ‘It’s all very well for you to say that, Jack, but why would she go out in the first place? The fog was almost as bad when we left this morning.’
‘Probably something to do with the winter solstice. Don’t look so anxious, darling, she wouldn’t want us to worry on her account.’
They went to bed early but neither of them slept well. The next morning the fog had lifted and there was a faint glimmer of winter sunshine. Jack dashed down the garden to feed the chickens and ducks. They would enjoy the cooked potato and cabbage peelings.
The kettle was about to boil, the eggs were almost done, and the toast keeping warm between two plates on top of the range, when someone hammered on the front door.
Twelve
Jack was surrounded by clucking poultry and quacking ducks as he chucked out their morning grain and vegetables. There were three eggs, more than enough for this family. He gently placed them in the empty bowl, checked the run was secure, and headed back to the house.
He was halfway there when he saw the local bobby walking down the path. A visit by policemen was never good news. He covered the remaining distance in seconds and arrived at the front door just as Ellie opened it.
‘Constable, have you found Mrs Hatfield?’
Ellie stood aside so they could both go in. The entrance hall was the size of a normal sitting room, no heating, therefore not much warmer than outside, but was the best place to hear what was obviously going to be bad news from the expression on the policeman’s face.
‘You’ll be Mrs Reynolds, then, and you Squadron Leader Reynolds?’
Jack moved so he was standing close to her; she was trembling and he put his arm around her waist.
‘Yes, you know we are. Please tell us what has happened to Mrs Hatfield.’
‘It’s the worst possible news, her body was found at the side of the road a couple of hours ago. We think she was knocked down by a vehicle but they failed to stop.’
‘How absolutely dreadful. Poor, poor Mary. We prayed that she was staying with a friend and that she would turn up safely this morning.’ Ellie looked at him, her cheeks wet. He swallowed a lump in his throat.
‘Come into the kitchen, Officer, it’s too cold to stand about out here.’
‘I won’t, thank you, sir. I was just sent to give you the bad news. The inspector will be coming to see you shortly.’
‘I have to report to my ferry pool. I’m flying the taxi and have to be there. It’s going to be frantic after no deliveries yesterday.’ Ellie was talking to him as much as to the policemen.
‘It’s all right, darling, I’ll stay here and deal with whatever. Make sure you tell Frankie why I’m not in.’
‘I can’t believe she’s dead and in such a horrible way. How could the driver not have known?’
He turned to speak to the constable but he was already going out of the front door. Poor bloke – a rotten job to be given.
‘Let’s have some breakfast – we can’t let it go to waste.’
‘How can you think about food at a time like this? I don’t want anything. I’m leaving immediately.’
She pulled away from him and he was too shocked to move for a moment. This was supposed to be a happy Christmas, the first one they’d spent in the new house. He wiped his hand across his eyes and hurried after Ellie but he was too late.
In those few minutes he’d remained rooted to the spot, she’d grabbed her things and left the house. He could have stopped her by going to the front door and catching her on the path but he didn’t see any point in doing that. Arguing in public was hardly fitting, today of all days.
He left the eggs to hard boil but ate the toast and drank several mugs of tea. Mary hadn’t mentioned any relatives, but he knew that she had friends in the village somewhere. He dropped his head into his hands overwhelmed by sadness at this unnecessary and unexpected death. This was like losing a member of the family. They’d not known Mary for very long but they were both very fond of the eccentric old lady.
What about the funeral? Would the vicar be prepared to hold the service in church? Could she be buried in the churchyard? There was something he could do before the inspector came. He pushed himself upright and went in search of clues in Mary’s bedroom.
He’d never been in her domain and expected it to be full of pagan things, spell books and so on but it looked like the room of any ordinary person. The bed was neatly made, the blue candlewick bedspread, topped by a matching satin-covered eiderdown, wrinkle-free. There were a few insipid watercolours on the walls, a mahogany wardrobe with matching chest of drawers and dressing table, but nothing to show that Mary had been a witch.
It was several minutes before he was able to start rummaging through her personal items. He just opened and shut the drawers and saw nothing untoward. Next he opened the wardrobe and immediately saw a polished wooden box on the shelf. This looked the sort of thing that would hold personal documents and so on.’
He was uncomfortable remaining in the room and felt like an intruder, so he tucked the box under his arm and took it downstairs. Fires weren’t lit anywhere during the day, but the kitchen was always warm because of the range.
The rosewood box had an engraved brass plate on the lid which read, ‘For my beloved Mary, my love always and forever, Henry.’
She’d mentioned that her husband had been killed in the last war so this must have been a gift from him. This made Jack even more reluctant to open it as it might well contain love letters. He had no right to read them.
He was being bloody stupid – he neede
d to find out before the inspector came. It would be even worse if a complete stranger rummaged through the contents. He pulled back the lid and saw two official-looking documents and a bundle of letters tied with blue ribbon. He wasn’t going to touch those.
He removed the other papers and closed the lid. The first one was Mary’s will. Her money was to be divided between her five friends – he now knew the names of the other members of her coven. It was the next paragraph that startled him. In this Mary had requested that her body be given to medical science and there should be no funeral of any sort.
Well, that sorted out the problem of the vicar and the disapproval of the others in the village. There would probably have to be a post-mortem as her death had been violent. Although the bobby had said she’d been the victim of a hit-and-run, until the post-mortem was completed this couldn’t be confirmed.
There was a codicil that had been added since he and Ellie had moved in. This stated that they were to have all of her possessions that were in the house. The solicitors dealing with this were the same ones they’d used for the purchase which meant he could ring them when he went in later.
If there wasn’t going to be a funeral then there was no need to look for living relatives. The fact that she’d left everything to her five friends just confirmed what he believed – that she was alone in the world. Correction – that she had been alone in the world.
He put the will back in the box, along with the unread document, and then put it in the sideboard in the drawing room. There was no need for the inspector to know anything about the contents. He’d lit the fire in here as he didn’t think he wanted to speak to him in the kitchen which was a more personal space.
A car turned up at eleven o’clock and he was surprised to see two plainclothes policemen, presumably detectives, get out, rather than a uniformed inspector.
*
Ellie explained to Frankie what had happened and he was suitably sympathetic.
‘She was a member of your household, for God’s sake, neither of you have to be here today. Bloody awful thing to happen just before Christmas.’
‘I’ve got the taxi today. Is there anyone else who can do it instead? If there isn’t then I’ll still work.’
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