Page 31

Chapter 30

Emily groaned as she set her basket down on Maud’s doorstep, her arms throbbing. It had been quite silly of her to walk all the way from Bewley Hall to Gildham, when the more sensible option would have been to ride there. But the October afternoon had been crisp and dry, and she had convinced herself that her basket wasn’t all that heavy as she had set out. Now, she had to acknowledge that her aversion to horses had not only resulted in utterly unnecessary aches and pains but also delayed her to the extent that she would end up walking back to the Hall in the dusk and would probably be late for dinner.

Knowing that she had no one to blame but herself, she stretched her sore wrists and knocked on the door – two quick taps, followed by a single tap, and finally two more quick ones. She heard footsteps from the hallway within, and then the door opened and Maud’s face appeared in the gap. Although Maud would have expected it to be Emily by the knocking pattern they had established between them, she still looked momentarily cautious before smiling and pulling the door wide.

Inside the kitchen, Maud knelt in front of the hearth to resume her task that Emily had interrupted: sweeping up ashes strewn on the brick floor around the low-burning fire, using the brush and shovel from the fire irons to gather them in a bucket by her knees. While she did that, Emily put her basket on the nearby table and started unpacking its contents.

‘A few tasty morsels from the kitchens up at the Hall,’ she announced as she laid out three cloth-covered packages.

‘Thank you, but there was really no need,’ Maud said, brushing the last of the ashes onto the shovel and tipping them into the bucket.

‘Oh, believe me, there was,’ Emily replied with a laugh. ‘These had to be liberated from Gus’s latest parcel to Jack in Scotland. He had conveniently forgotten to tell the cook that the mince pies in the first parcel hadn’t travelled well, arriving at the school in a stale, crumbling mess. I’m sure he planned to salvage this new batch for himself before they were posted off, but I spotted the “error” and claimed them for your children instead.’

Maud chuckled. ‘My brood will certainly appreciate them when they get back. They’re out at the moment collecting firewood for the Cobbs next door. Well, Alfie and Frankie are—May’s just tagging along with her brothers, but she might pick up an odd stick here or there too.’

‘Every little bit helps,’ Emily quipped as she opened one of the cupboards and tucked the packages of mince pies away on a shelf.

This was how it had become between her and Maud: an easy companionship. If she were being honest, her visits had begun out of a sense of duty as Rory’s wife, and she had sometimes wondered if Maud had resented her for it, suspecting that she was merely the recipient of Emily’s pity. However, over time their bond had grown in quite a natural way and they had come to enjoy each other’s company more and more. Emily still experienced a small stab of guilt whenever she thought of Derval Carey, but she reassured herself that the two relationships were very different – for the most part, she had known Rory’s mother only as a girl, whereas she and Maud were both grown women, able to meet as equals. And though their personal circumstances were not the same, Emily felt an undeniable kinship with Maud, connected by a quiet understanding of loss in relation to motherhood.

Maud rose from her knees, swiping her frizzy hair off her forehead. ‘I’d a letter from Elsie a couple of days ago,’ she said, indicating a loose page resting on the plain mantelpiece.

‘How is she faring?’ Emily asked, shutting the cupboard.

‘Fine overall, except the admiral sneezed twice in a row on Tuesday, which means a big change is on the horizon.’ Maud shook her head wryly. ‘She either said it was “a threat” or “a treat”—I’m not exactly sure, although that could be down to her bad writing or my poor reading.’

A figure passed by the window, its outline vague in the dusk already gathering outside. Maud flinched but quickly covered up her reaction by bending to hang the brush and shovel back on the fire irons.

‘Did Elsie mention anything about Tommy?’ Emily asked hesitantly.

Maud shrugged. ‘Just that she’s seen people traipsing in and out of the house from time to time. Usually his drinking mates or’ – she coughed – ‘women of a certain sort.’

Emily grimaced. ‘Has he asked her about you?’

‘No, and I trust her that she won’t tell him. Besides, the only address she has for me is the post office in Bedford. They forward my post to Gildham, so it’s just the locals who know where I actually live.’

Still, that didn’t stop her from casting another anxious glance at the now-empty window.

‘I should give you fair warning,’ Emily said lightly, toying with the handle of her basket, ‘that Gus might call by one of these days. Mr Comerford told him about a mysterious flickering light that’s been seen at night moving through the fields between Gildham and Bewley Hall, so I think my brother is planning to question all the villagers to ascertain if they’ve spotted any strange activity.’

‘A light?’ Maud repeated, alarmed.

‘There’s no cause for worry,’ Emily hastened to reassure her. ‘Mr Comerford let us in on his secret—he’s invented a mystery for Gus to solve, in an effort to distract him now that Jack’s gone away to school. He’s laying clues for Gus to follow, and the light is part of the scheme. It’s not the first time he’s concocted such a thoughtful diversion.’

‘Oh, that’s fine,’ Maud said, albeit with a nervous twitch of her shoulders.

‘I’ll teach Gus my knocking pattern,’ Emily promised her. ‘There’ll be nothing to fear.’

Maud gave her a weak smile. ‘Thank you. I—’ She broke off and her head whipped back towards the window. ‘Was that the same person walking past again?’

‘I’m afraid I didn’t notice,’ Emily said apologetically, feeling sorry for the poor woman who seemed to always exist on the edge of her nerves.

Flushing, Maud waved a hand to dismiss her insecurities. ‘How are things for you up at the house? Have you settled back into a routine?’

Emily tilted her mouth in a wry expression. ‘More or less.’

She hadn’t yet established a clear path forwards for herself, although she had committed to painting daily in her parlour since her return. Rory had been astounded to find her at the Hall that day when he came back from fulfilling his duties out on the estate. She had immediately taken him aside to divulge what had really happened at Blake-Fletchley, for she couldn’t keep it from him of all people. While he had fumed for days over the way Mr Blake had treated her, she had also sensed his sheer gladness to have her home again.

She could tell that her mother had seen through the tale she had invented, and assumed she’d shared the truth with her father in private, but none of them had directly addressed the blatant fact that she had been forced out of the academy as a consequence of the divorce proceedings. Instead, they had framed it as a new direction, a new season, anything but what it was: another door slammed shut.

Refusing to feel bitter or daunted, she said, ‘It’s starting to get dark in here. Why don’t we stir up the fire?’

‘Good idea,’ Maud said, reaching for the tongs hanging on the fire irons. ‘I’ve got a few pieces of coal in the bucket here, and the children will probably bring back some firewood when they—’

A loud knocking came from the front door – three heavy bangs that could not have been produced by Alfie, Frankie or May. Maud gulped back the rest of her words.

‘I’ll go answer it,’ Emily said, keeping her manner as serene as possible in an attempt to put Maud at her ease. ‘Are you expecting anyone?’

Maud shook her head.

‘Not to worry,’ Emily said cheerfully. ‘Perhaps it’s Ettie from next door, or a passing pedlar. I’ll be back in a moment.’

As she trotted out into the hallway, she reflected that it was quite late in the day for a pedlar to be coming by, so the caller was most likely Ettie, who was robust enough to deliver those sturdy knocks. Still, she adopted Maud’s customary caution as she reached for the latch and only pulled the door back far enough to peek out.

A man stood on the doorstep, his stature short and stocky.

Her stomach lurched. He had no pack strapped to his back, nor donkey and cart waiting nearby, so he was surely not a pedlar. She had never met Tommy Jones, but her hackles rose instinctively at the sight of this stranger. Then his mouth widened into a grin, revealing a large gap in his teeth on the right-hand side. She tensed with dawning horror.

‘Is Maud here?’ he asked in a distinctive Liverpool accent, confirming the awful truth.

‘No, sorry, you’ve got the wrong house,’ she said, hurrying to shut the door as fast as she could.

She wasn’t fast enough. He shot out his arm and kept the door open with his broad palm braced on the wood. The edges of his nails were black with soot.

‘Are you telling me lies, little missy?’ he growled.

‘No!’ she squeaked and pushed hard on the door.

He managed to thrust his booted foot into the gap before it closed and then he shoved it wide. The force of it flung her back against the wall in the hallway – her hip took the brunt of the blow and she knew she would have a livid bruise by tomorrow. Disregarding the pain, she flailed her arms out as he strode past her, trying to haul him backwards. He shook her off and marched down the hallway.

‘Maud!’ she shrieked. ‘Run!’

Although probably futile, she clung to a brief, desperate hope that Tommy might check the cottage’s other room first, perhaps giving Maud time to escape through the window. But no, he made unerringly for the kitchen door which Emily had left ajar behind her. She rushed after him as he stalked into the room.

Maud stood frozen before the hearth like a frightened deer cornered by a hunter.

‘There she is,’ Tommy sneered. ‘I’ve found you at last.’

Emily hurried to Maud, planting herself in front of her and facing Tommy with her hands on her hips. She knew her slight figure was an insubstantial barrier to his hefty weight, but she was determined to defend her friend if she could.

‘Don’t come any closer,’ she snapped.

As she glared at him, she discerned a long, thin scratch down his left temple. He scowled back at her.

‘I don’t know or care who you are,’ he retorted. ‘Get out of my way.’

‘E-Emily, love,’ Maud stammered. ‘Do as he says. Don’t let yourself get hurt.’

Emily stayed put and squared her shoulders. ‘I’m the wife of your landlord,’ she spat, ‘and I’m aware of the rental arrangement he made with you. You were a fool to come here—you’ve just thrown away the easiest situation of your life. He’ll evict you as soon as he hears about this.’

Tommy barked out a laugh. ‘I don’t think so. I’m bringing Maud back with me to Liverpool, so evicting me would mean kicking her out onto the street too.’ He smirked. ‘Something tells me he’d be too noble to do that.’

Bile rose in Emily’s throat at his smug attitude. Of course, he was right – Rory wouldn’t do anything to put Maud at risk. If Tommy managed to snatch her away, he would have the upper hand. But the trouble was that he already did. Emily and Maud were here alone, while Rory was up at Bewley Hall, doubtless getting ready for dinner and oblivious to what was unfolding in the little cottage in Gildham. What were they to do?

Tommy cast an appraising glance around the room. ‘Got a nice place here, haven’t you, Maud? Too bad you’ll have to leave it all behind. And just to forewarn you, there’s a fair bit of work for you to do when we get back to Penny Close.’

He took a step nearer, but Emily held her ground, trying to block Maud from his view.

‘She’s not going anywhere with you,’ she said stoutly.

‘Now, now, missy, you keep your pretty nose out of our business. My wife and I need to get reacquainted. We’ve been apart for too long—nine months, if you can believe it. Just think, we could’ve had a baby in that length of time.’

Emily sucked in her breath at the horribly callous comment. Behind her, Maud whimpered. Tommy smirked again and held out a commanding hand.

‘Come on now, Maud. Let’s go home.’

Emily worried that Maud might capitulate out of fear, but she didn’t move.

‘No,’ she said, her voice low but clear. ‘Number 5 stopped being “home” when you set foot in it. This is my home now.’

Tommy’s lip curled but he maintained a complacent air. ‘Gone all high and mighty, have we? Don’t worry, I’ll soon beat that out of you.’

It sickened Emily that he could speak with such nastiness. There wasn’t a shred of decency in him.

He further reinforced this when he continued coolly, ‘If you refuse to obey me, I’ll just wait around for your children to show up and get them to convince you. Does Frankie still have that limp? I can easily make it worse.’

Maud gasped. ‘Y-you wouldn’t.’

‘I definitely would.’ He winked as though he was promising a special treat. Then he looked around the room again. ‘Got anything to eat while we wait? I’m starving.’

He wandered across the room like it was his own domain. After checking Emily’s basket on the table and finding it empty, he bent to open the cupboards. Emily felt a tug on the back of her dress and glanced over her shoulder. Maud’s eyes were wide. At first, Emily thought it was with panic, but then she realised Maud was trying to communicate something to her, widening her eyes even further and throwing her gaze frantically towards the door to the hallway. Emily understood. She gave an almost imperceptible nod.

‘Wait,’ she mouthed. They would need to time it just right.

Tommy had found the packages of mince pies and was unwrapping the cloths. ‘Bloody perfect,’ he exclaimed and broke one in half, stuffing a generous chunk into his mouth.

As he chewed, he brought the rest of them over to the table and made himself comfortable on the wooden settle, leaning against its high back and propping his feet up on the table’s surface. Yes, make yourself right at home, you louse, Emily thought. The more relaxed, the better.

‘How did you discover Maud’s whereabouts?’ she asked aloud.

‘Did Elsie tell you?’ Maud added in a trembling voice.

‘Dear old Elsie,’ Tommy said, crumbs spraying from his lips. ‘She’s a tough nut to crack, that one.’

‘Oh no, please don’t say you hurt her,’ Maud moaned.

Tommy reached for another mince pie. ‘Nah, it was her cat who took the brunt,’ he said with an amused snort.

‘What did you do?’ Emily asked, scarcely wanting to know.

‘Elsie wouldn’t tell me where she was posting her letters, so I threatened to chop off her cat’s tail. That made her give in, but I still did it afterwards for good measure. It got me back, though, the little ginger monster.’ He pointed to the scratch on the side of his face with a huff of annoyance.

Emily stared at him, horrified. Did his cruelty have no limits? Feeling queasy, she hoped poor Elsie would be able to overcome the trauma of that dreadful ordeal. Her recent letter to Maud had contained no warning, so she must have sent it before Tommy barged into her house to terrorise her and her unfortunate cat. With that thought, Emily frowned.

‘But how did you find Maud here? The postmasters in both Bedford and Gildham have been informed that she’s in a difficult situation and that they’re not permitted to disclose her address to anyone.’

He jutted out his jaw, causing a scattering of crumbs to fall from his chin to his chest. ‘I bribed a lad at the Bedford post office to tell me where letters for Maud Jones were headed. I wondered if she might have switched to Pratt or even Carey, but no, she’d stuck with her married name, so that was easy enough. The village proved trickier, however—it seems even the young brats around the place have been warned not to talk to strangers about her. But as it turns out, the blacksmith isn’t too keen on outsiders and he eventually told me where the woman with the odd accent lives.’

Tommy flicked a bit of soot from under his nail and grinned at his own cleverness.

‘Why on earth did you come after her, though?’ Emily demanded, trying not to let her gaze stray to the kitchen door. ‘You had a bachelor lifestyle and practically all of your wages at your disposal. Those were ideal circumstances.’

‘Were they?’ he challenged. ‘Seems to me like I was given a raw deal.’

She scoffed. ‘After the way you abused this family, what more did you think you deserved?’

His eyes flashed. ‘I’m still paying rent, even if it’s only a shilling a quarter. If your fella wants me to stay away, then he can pay me .’

So he didn’t really care about getting Maud back. He was here for money.

‘What took you so long to come up with that ingenious plan?’ she said witheringly. Any thug with an ounce of cunning would have seized that opportunity from the outset, not nine months later.

He threw her a baleful look. As he took an enormous bite out of yet another mince pie, he muttered something about being sick and tired of his mates jeering at him because his wife had scarpered.

Did that mean he wasn’t even the impetus behind his own scheme? She almost laughed but managed to hold it in; were she to provoke him any further, he might forget about his belly and decide to drag Maud from the cottage without waiting to use the children as leverage.

She reached back surreptitiously and Maud clasped her hand. If they could just make it out onto the road and call for help, someone in the village would surely come to their aid – unless, by sheer misfortune, the first to respond happened to be the blacksmith, who apparently couldn’t be counted on.

Tommy crossed his ankles and said, ‘There’ll be no more mockery when I get back to Liverpool with my pockets loaded. I’m positive I can get your fella and his posh friend to pay me to stay quiet, else I’m going to the peelers about how they kidnapped my wife.’

He tilted back his head to thrust another lump of mince pie into his mouth.

Emily squeezed Maud’s hand hard.

Together, they ran for the door.

Emily reached it first and dashed across the threshold as Tommy’s bellow of rage followed them. The hallway was dim but she could see that the front door was still partly open after Tommy had pushed his way through. They only needed to get outside—

Behind her, Maud screeched in pain. Emily’s footsteps faltered briefly, but she was certain she would better serve her friend by running for help, so she dashed onwards to the door and was just stretching out her arm to pull it wide when something yanked on her hair and a searing agony tore across her scalp. Gasping, she fell backwards and landed on her back with enough impact to snatch the air from her lungs. For a frightening moment, she struggled to inhale at all, but finally she managed to suck in a shallow breath. Wheezing as badly as Gus on a cold winter’s day, she looked up through blurry eyes as a stocky figure stepped over her and slammed the door shut, cutting off the last vestiges of daylight and leaving them in almost complete darkness.

‘Get up,’ he snarled and jerked her roughly to her feet, shoving her ahead of him.

She stumbled back into the kitchen to discover Maud crouched on the floor, weeping and clutching her shoulder. The remainder of the mince pies lay in a trampled mess next to the table leg. Emily rubbed the base of her head and several golden strands came away tangled in her fingers. How she wished she had thought to scream while the front door was open. They had missed their chance.

‘Stupid bitches,’ Tommy flung at them. ‘Get away from the bloody door, you!’

He pushed Emily further into the room, causing her to pitch forwards. As she tried to catch her balance, her foot knocked against the bucket in front of the hearth and it toppled over with a dull clatter. Ashes spilled out of it in a cloud of thick, grey dust, billowing up into her face and making her cough violently. Maud scuttled over to her and thumped her back.

‘I’m fine,’ Emily spluttered, scooting away a few paces to gulp clearer air.

Maud turned her pleading gaze to Tommy; the glow from the fire’s embers highlighted the tracks of tears on her cheeks.

‘Please let Emily go. And don’t involve the children either. I’ll leave with you if you let them stay here.’

His eyes lit up with sinister triumph. ‘I want my money too,’ he said warningly.

Fury rose in Emily. No, he could not win; it would be an unspeakable injustice. They needed another distraction so they could try to escape again.

She scrabbled towards the fire irons on the hearth and seized the tongs, then shot to her feet and swung it at Tommy. Before it could make contact, he clutched it with both hands and wrenched it from her grip, hurling it away. It rattled across the floor and disappeared beneath the table.

‘You interfering hussy!’ he barked. ‘This has nothing to do with you!’

He aimed his fist in her direction and she ducked out of reach. When she swivelled towards Maud to urge her to run, she saw that Maud had grabbed the poker from the fire irons. It was a heartening sight, despite the obvious tremble in her arms – she needed to stand up for herself and not surrender to this despicable brute. But Tommy was glowering at Maud with his teeth bared, and he was already advancing on her to pull the poker from her grasp. What could Emily do to give Maud the best chance to flee?

She hunkered down, scooped up a mound of the ashes into her cupped hands and flung them into Tommy’s face. He coughed and spluttered just as she had done, and reeled to the side. But he didn’t see the bucket by his feet and stumbled on it, losing his footing and lurching forwards again, right towards Maud.

Who was still holding up the poker to defend herself.

Emily gasped and Maud stiffened in shock as Tommy’s momentum carried him onwards. He and Maud fell against the hearth, their bodies pressing together with the poker between them. Tommy let out a roar of pain as they tumbled, narrowly missing the grate and sprawling across the bricks that Maud had been sweeping earlier. For one macabre moment, it looked like they were locked in the throes of passion until Tommy groaned, and it wasn’t a sound of pleasure but of agony. When he reared back on his knees, Emily clapped her hands over her mouth.

The point of the poker was lodged in his abdomen, below his right ribs. He stared down at it in disbelief, while Maud gaped up in horror. Tommy attempted to speak but the words came out in an incomprehensible gurgle. With weakening arms, he grasped the poker and tugged it out of his body, letting it roll away on the floor. Blood gushed up from the wound, running down his clothing and onto Maud’s skirt. His features turned grey as he collapsed sideways, his limbs spreading limply in the scattered ashes.

Maud scrambled to her knees and Emily darted to her side, putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her as she wavered. When Emily looked back at Tommy, his mouth was slack and his breath was whistling in jagged spurts through the gap in his teeth. Then the whistling noise ceased and his body became utterly still.

Maud shuddered beneath Emily’s grip. ‘Is he dead?’ she whispered.

‘I-I think so.’ Emily didn’t want to go any closer to check.

An expression of sheer panic swelled on Maud’s countenance. ‘I killed him,’ she said, her voice strangled.

‘It was an accident,’ Emily tried to reassure her.

‘I’ll be hanged for this!’ Maud exclaimed. ‘Oh God, what’ll happen to my children?’

‘They’ll be fine, and so will you,’ Emily said, although her own alarm was mounting rapidly. She didn’t have a clue what the authorities’ standpoint might be in this scenario. Would they believe her and Maud that the outcome of the confrontation had been entirely inadvertent, or would they even bother taking the word of two women into account? Perhaps, upon seeing the corpse, their only objective would be to ensure that the culprit faced justice, no matter the actual truth.

Full of misgiving, Emily said, ‘We can’t deal with this by ourselves. I must go fetch Rory, and my father too. They will know what we ought to do.’

Maud gave a jerky nod of agreement, her attention fixed upon the wound in Tommy’s abdomen; the flow of blood had slowed but it was still seeping out and soaking his clothes.

‘Will you be all right?’ Emily asked tentatively. ‘If I leave you alone with…?’

Maud grimaced. ‘I’ll cover him in a sheet.’ She blanched. ‘What about the children? They’ll be back soon—I can’t let them see this!’

‘I’ll run next door to the Cobbs on my way and ask Ettie to keep the three of them with her and Ethel for the evening.’ Emily squeezed Maud’s shoulder. ‘Build up the fire and keep warm. I’ll make haste and return as quickly as I can. Don’t answer the door unless you hear my knocking pattern.’

Keeping her gaze averted from the body, she hurried out of the room, down the hallway and out into the night, desperately wishing that she had decided to ride instead of walk to Gildham that afternoon.