She began walking, not back towards Clover Farm but in the direction of the town. She needed to see Rose. She could make the excuse that Jake had told her he didn’t want his mother to come to the court proceedings, not that Rose would take any notice of that. Neither would she. She’d be there. Wild horses wouldn’t keep her away.
Why hadn’t he said something? She racked her brains to see if she had missed something in the past, some gesture, a word, but there was nothing that came to mind. He had always treated her kindly and with respect, but his affection had been that of a brother to a sister. But that look in his eyes hadn’t been brotherly. It had been . . . Again she put her hands to her hot face. It had been everything she could have wished for. Jake, Jake . . . And he was in prison for something he hadn’t done and she couldn’t see a way out.
It was beginning to snow more heavily but she stood stock still exactly where she was in the middle of the pavement, her eyes open but her heart reaching out as she prayed, please, please help me.You can’t let him die for something he didn’t do. All he’s suffered in the past and now this. It’s so unfair. And I know it was unfair what men did to You so You know how he feels. Show me something. Help me.
‘You all right, lass?’ An elderly woman dressed all in black paused for a moment, shifting her shopping basket from one arm to the other. ‘You’re not bad or somethin’?’
‘No, no.’ Flustered, Hannah said in embarrassment, ‘I was just thinking, that’s all.’
‘Thinkin’? You don’t want to be doing that, lass. Gets you in a whole load of trouble, thinkin’ does.’ She chuckled to herself. ‘Meself, I’ve always been a doer an’ left the thinkin’ to them as has time for it.’
Hannah forced a smile before walking on. Someone had killed Silas Fletcher but who and why? Who even knew he was in town apart from this friend of his and Jake? And who would have anything to lose apart from Jake? He had been trying to protect his mother, she was sure of that. Oh, this was such a tangle but there had to be something that would unravel things. But the court hearing was tomorrow. Her heart began to pound so hard it hurt. And everyone believed he was guilty.
The snow was settling fast and the sky was threatening more to come by the time Hannah reached the top of Wayman Street. She approached the house by way of the back lane although she knew there would still be neighbours who would clock her in and clock her out. You couldn’t sneeze in these streets without someone knowing.
Rose answered her knock at the back door, her weary face lighting up when she saw Hannah.‘Come in, hinny. I’m all by meself. Wilbur’s gone to his friend’s funeral. Oh, I’m that pleased to see you, I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow and my lad.’
‘I’ve just been to see Jake and he let me talk to him this time.’ Hannah followed Rose into the kitchen which was lit only by the glow of the fire although the afternoon was as dark as late evening. Rose never lit the gas until she had to. Every penny counted.
‘He did? Oh, lass.’ Rose turned to face her, taking Hannah’s hands in her own rough ones. ‘What did he say? How is he? I’ve tried time and time again to see him but he wasn’t having any of it. He sent me a letter explaining everything but he was adamant he didn’t want me to see him in there.’
‘He didn’t do it, Mrs Wood.’
‘I know that, hinny. My lad couldn’t kill a fly let alone a human being, if you can call Silas a human being. I can still hardly believe Silas was alive all these years. He was a wicked man, Hannah. Warped. Unnatural. But what am I doing? Get that wet coat and hat off, lass, and come and sit by the fire while I get a cup of tea.’
Once Hannah had sat down and the tea was mashing, Rose turned and looked at her.‘Why didn’t he tell me?’ she said quietly. ‘All this could have been averted if he’d told me his father was back instead of paying him to keep quiet. I could have told him he was on a hiding to nothing doing that. Silas would have kept on and on until he’d bled him dry. Oh, I know he did it for the best, trying to save my face with the neighbours and all, but now . . .’ She waved her hands helplessly. ‘Oh, lass, I’m going barmy thinking of him locked up in there.’
‘Me too, Mrs Wood. I can’t bear it.’
Something in Hannah’s voice made Rose look at her more keenly. ‘Do you care for him, hinny?’ she asked softly.
Hannah nodded, her face flooding with colour.
‘And him? How’s he feel?’
‘He’s never said anything.’ Hannah paused. ‘In fact he’s been hinting I should look for something else, leave the farm, but today . . .’ She paused again. ‘He looked at me in a different way. I don’t think he meant for me to see . . . Oh I don’t know, Mrs Wood.’
‘Do you want to know what I think, lass? I think he’s been fair gone on you for a while but this,’ Rose touched the side of her face, ‘prevents him from saying anything.’
‘But why? He must know I don’t care about that.’
‘You have to understand something, hinny. You’re a bonny lass, you always have been and there’s many a lad would look the side you were on if you gave them half a chance. Now my Jake grew up being called the sort of names you wouldn’t put to an animal. Bairns are cruel, lass, and there’s nothing they like more than tormenting and goading someone more vulnerable than themselves. It’s the way of things. I tried to shield him as much as I could but . . .’ Rose shrugged her shoulders. ‘And what goes in a bairn’s head makes the adult. He’s all tough and strong on the outside but inside there’s that little bairn crying out to be loved and accepted. But he’d rather cut off his right hand than run the risk of being rejected.’
Hannah stared at Jake’s mother. Could that be it? Or had she misread what was in his eyes?
‘Now in spite of his scars I think he’s a fine figure of a man and he could have been wed long before this if he didn’t see himself the way he does. But how you’d break down the barrier he’s built for the last thirty-three years I don’t know. I don’t even know if it’s possible, lass, if you want the truth.’
‘I’d do it, somehow I’d find a way if I was sure he cared about me, but . . .’ Her voice low, she went on, ‘Tomorrow there’s the trial.’
‘Aye, lass, there’s the trial.’ Rose’s voice broke.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Mrs Wood.’ Hannah rose swiftly and crossed to Rose and hugged her tightly as Naomi would have done. ‘You sit down and I’ll make the tea.’
While the two women drank their tea they talked of what could be done but both knew it was pointless. It was as they were on their second cup that the kitchen door was thrust open and Adam walked in. Acknowledging her son with a nod of her head, Rose said in an aside to Hannah, ‘As though things weren’t bad enough they’re all on short time now. Did you know?’Without waiting for a reply, she added,‘Sit down, lad, and I’ll get you a sup. There’s one in the pot.’
Hannah had stiffened. She’d read what Adam had said to the Sunderland Echo and he had purposely put Jake in the worst light possible. Mindful of Rose’s feelings, though, she nodded to him when he said, ‘Hello, Hannah.’
‘There you are, get that down you.’ Rose placed a cup of tea in front of him as he sat down at the table. ‘Your da’s gone to the funeral, did he tell you?’
Adam did not answer. He took off his cap and ran his fingers through his dark thick hair without taking his gaze from Hannah’s averted eyes. Quietly, he said, ‘You know Lily’s taken the bairn and gone home to her mam’s, I suppose.’
Hannah looked at him. Did he really think she cared two pins about that when Jake was incarcerated in prison?
Her face must have conveyed her thoughts because he leant back in his chair. ‘I see. Couldn’t care less.’
‘Don’t start.’ It was Rose who spoke and her voice had lost the tender quality of earlier and become harsh. ‘Not today of all days. Hannah went to see Jake this afternoon and she’s upset.’
‘Oh aye? They let you in then. Mam’s been a number of times and had the door closed in her face.’
>
‘Jake agreed to see me, yes.’
Adam swallowed half his tea, scalding hot as it was, before he said, ‘And how is he? The big fella? Cocky as ever?’
Hannah saw Rose’s expression but before Jake’s mother could say anything, she snapped, ‘He’s not like that and you know it.You just can’t bear that he’s made such a success of his life compared to you.’
‘Success? Am I missing something here? Forgive me but I thought he was the one banged up in a cell.’
‘That’s a mistake. He didn’t kill his father.’
‘No? Well, Sidney Benson says different.’
‘Like I said, he’s mistaken.’
‘And you know, do you? You’ve got some divine link to the Almighty?’
‘Yes I know.’ Her eyes flashing, Hannah glared at him. She hadn’t realised until this moment how much she disliked Adam Wood. ‘I know what sort of man Jake is. He’s a good man through and through, he wouldn’t do a thing like that.’
There was a moment of profound silence.Then Adam said slowly, his eyes wide and hard, ‘So that’s it.You and him.’ The two women watched him swell with anger before he ground out, ‘Well, aren’t I the prize idiot? Here was me thinking it was Daniel Osborne when all the time you’ve had your sights set on a meal ticket for life. And don’t tell me it’s his good looks that set your heart beating faster.’
‘Jake is handsome to me.’ Her face white but for two spots of colour burning on her cheekbones, Hannah rose to her feet. ‘But he’s much more than handsome. He’s decent and good and kind, all the things you’re not.’
‘Decent and good and kind, is he?’ he mimicked raspingly. ‘So decent and good and kind he decided to do in his own father rather than fork out to keep our good name from being dragged through the gutter. And don’t tell me he couldn’t afford it. What’s ten pounds a week when he’s got that farm and the house and plenty in the bank, likely as not?’
Hannah stared at him. Her mind was groping at something, something she knew to be vitally important but couldn’t put her finger on. And then it came to her. Slowly, she said, ‘Ten pounds a week. You said Jake was giving his father ten pounds a week.’
‘What?’
‘How do you know that?’ Her stomach was turning over.
‘Everyone knows Jake’s been paying him off.’
‘Paying him off, aye, but not the amount.’
Adam glanced from Hannah to his mother and then back to Hannah. He shrugged. ‘I must have read it in the papers.’
‘I’ve read every word in every paper and no sum has ever been mentioned.There was nothing in Jake’s father’s pockets when he was found. Not even a handkerchief. Don’t you think that’s strange?’ When Adam said nothing, she went on, ‘Well, don’t you? And don’t tell me you haven’t got an opinion about it. You have an opinion about everything. If someone killed Silas to make it look like a robbery then I can understand his pockets being empty, but why would Jake do that?’
‘Obvious.’ Adam’s tongue wet his lower lip, betraying his nerves.
‘Is it?’ Rose’s face was chalk white. ‘Not to me, lad.’
‘Come on, Mam.’ The anger in Adam’s voice was forced, both women recognised it.‘What are you saying? That I had something to do with all this?’
Rose sank down on one of the kitchen chairs, and it was Hannah who said, ‘Did you?’
‘Don’t be daft. And course Jake’d empty his da’s pockets. That way it looked like some down-an’-out had been done in and there’d be nothing to trace the body back to Jake.’
Hannah didn’t take her eyes off Adam. ‘You haven’t said how you know Jake paid his father ten pounds.’
‘I can’t remember, all right? And what does it matter? A pound, five, ten, it don’t make no difference. Jake killed him and that’s that.’
‘Jake did not kill him. Sidney Benson himself said in the Echo that Jake knew someone was with his da up here, that Silas wasn’t alone. Why would Jake kill him and lay himself open to exactly what’s happened? But if someone killed Silas who didn’t know about the other person, that’d make more sense.You did it, didn’t you? Somehow you found out about Silas and you waited on the North Hylton Road and you killed him.’
‘I’m not sitting here listening to any more of this.’ Adam swigged the last of his tea and stood up, and so did Rose.
‘You used to go and spy on ’em at that farm,’ she said woodenly.‘You started it a long time ago. And them spots on your coat and trousers, you said there’d been a fight at the Friendly and you and your da had had to separate two blokes.’
‘What of it?’
‘It wasn’t some drunk’s blood you got splattered with, was it? It was his, Silas’s.’
‘You’re as bad as her.’ Adam made to push past his mother but neither women gave ground and he was forced to remain where he was. Glaring at Rose, he said, ‘Ask Da if you don’t believe me. We were together that night, first at the meeting I told you about and then in the pub with the rest of them.’
‘Your da’s not been himself since that Sunday.’ It was as though Rose hadn’t heard him. Indeed, she was talking as though to herself. ‘He said it was a stomach upset but that wouldn’t have him walking the floor most nights and looking like death, not after more than three weeks.’
‘There was bad beer on that night, several of the lads have had gippy stomachs since. That’s all it is. By all the saints, Mam, would I lie to you about this? What do you take me for anyway? And what are you saying now, that Da’s part of some conspiracy or other? Just listen to yourself. Look, I know Jake’s your son and you’re worried to death, that’s understandable. But I’m your son too or have you forgotten that?’
‘No . . .’ Rose was in anguish. Reaching out and holding Adam’s hands, she said, ‘Swear to me, lad. Swear to me you know nothing about this.’
‘I swear, Mam. On me bairn’s life, I swear I know as much as you or anyone else about it. I know me and Jake have never hit it off but do you honestly think I’d set him up?’
‘I don’t think you purposely set him up,’ Hannah said steadily,‘but you didn’t know about Sidney Benson. You might fool your mam, Adam, but you don’t fool me.’
‘Is that so? And this spite couldn’t have anything to do with Lily, could it? I’ve said I’m sorry for that, it was a mistake and believe me I’ve paid for it, but once she’d fallen for the bairn I had to do the right thing by her. That’s something you’ve never understood, isn’t it. Asking me to go away with you, saying we could make a new life together down south where no one would know us. I couldn’t do it, Hannah, much as I wanted to. But I told you, it was the bairn, not Lily, that held me. I couldn’t abandon my own flesh and blood. Everything was different once a bairn was on the way.’
Rose had pulled her hands free and taken a step backwards as Adam had been speaking, but he had his eyes on Hannah, not his mother.
‘You liar.’ Her face scarlet, Hannah turned to Rose. ‘He’s lying. It was him who said all that about going down south, not me. He came to the farm, he said all sorts of things—’
‘I came to the farm? And Jake invited me in, I suppose. Or maybe Farmer Shawe did that.’
‘It was at Christmas and Jake was here, you know he was, and Farmer Shawe didn’t see you.’
‘That’s convenient.You’re a woman scorned, Hannah. That’s what this is all about.’
Rose’s hand was pressed to her mouth and she looked ill. Hannah wanted to reach out and help her but this was too important. If they convicted Jake, if they found him guilty of cold-blooded murder, he could hang. ‘I’m going to the police.’ She watched Adam’s expression change as she spoke but she refused to be intimidated. ‘I shall tell them what you said about the ten pounds and they can check who was at that meeting and what time you and your da arrived at the pub. They’ll find out if there was a fight or not.’
‘There’s no need for that.’ The quiet voice from the scullery brought all three heads turning and t
he next moment Wilbur pushed the door wide open.
‘Da, how long have you been there?’
Wilbur looked at his son. ‘Long enough.’
‘So you heard what she’s been saying? What she’s trying to pin on us?’
‘Not you, Mr Wood. I don’t know about you. But I think Adam knows more about Silas’s death than he’s saying.’
‘Tell her, Da. Tell her about the meeting and the fight in the pub, she won’t take my word for it. Tell her—’
‘It’s over, lad.’ Wilbur’s gaze was pitying. ‘Accept it.’
Rose looked at her husband. ‘Wilbur?’
‘Shut up, Da,’ said Adam. ‘I’m telling you, keep your mouth shut.’
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