Page 24 of Echoes on the Wind (Borrowed Time #2)

Over the next month, the inspector made three more visits to the house, and called us to the station twice. Nellie and I were both interviewed again, as was Gwyn, but they seemed satisfied with his alibi once Lee provided the work logs, and that particular line of inquiry soon closed.

The story of the fire had initially made it into the midsection of the local paper, and people spent a few weeks gossiping about their suspicions, but when Mrs Harris succumbed to her injuries in the first week of July, the interest in the case swelled. For the next fortnight, the front page of the Valley Chronicle was filled with stories about the hunt for the double murderer.

I discussed with Gwyn and Lee my suspicions about Ellis. They were the only ones I could speak openly with about what I believed his true motives to be, and they both agreed that he seemed like the likeliest suspect. My problem, however, was that I couldn’t bring it to the inspector to look into.

I knew my relationship with Gwyn was illegal, but I hadn’t fully grasped how much the law was against us until he sat me down to explain. If we reported Ellis, and he made an accusation against us in retaliation, then that alone, without needing any evidence, would be enough for us to serve jail time. Given his increasingly unpredictable mental state, it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. Until we had concrete proof of what he’d been doing, I’d have to keep quiet.

Since my release from the infirmary, Ellis had stepped up his efforts. Nearly every day, he was there, lurking near the house or trailing me around town. He’d appear in the tearoom, sitting a table over, or stand behind me in the post office queue. He’d watch me walking in the park, or running errands, and even sat next to me in the barber’s. He rarely spoke, which I was glad of, but his presence had become like an oppressive shadow, and others were noticing it, too.

“Is he still out there,” Nellie asked as she brought a tray of tea into the living room.

She came to join me at the window and stared down the street to look for Ellis, but today’s visit had been short, and he’d left within an hour.

“No, he’s gone,” I said, “I think the rain chased him off.”

The heatwave that had scorched the town since April had finally broken, making way for the wettest July I’d ever known. The storms had lasted nearly a week already, darkening the town and swelling the river until it burst its banks and flooded two rows of houses. It had done little to put Ellis off, but the day’s particularly torrential downpour had given me a reprieve from his gaze.

Claps of thunder brought Gwyn rushing into the living room, and he joined us to look out over the street. The rain on the glass was distorting the view, and he squinted for a better look, but it wasn’t Ellis he was anxiously searching for. It was Mair.

For the last three days, she’d been travelling with the family and all their possessions from West Wales to Bryncoed, and we’d not heard a single word from them, putting Gwyn on edge as the storms raged on.

“They’ll be here soon enough,” I said, trying to reassure him, but he just continued to shift from foot to foot, biting on his thumb.

“I’ll light the fire,” Nellie added. “They can come straight in to get warm.”

A flash of lightning lit up the room, and he leaned in against the glass, trying to peer down the hill. “Where are they? They should be here by now.”

The trees at the end of the road were blowing almost diagonally from the force of the wind. If they were caught somewhere in the storm, they’d have little shelter from it in their small wagon. I could only hope that they’d stopped somewhere along the way, but with no way of communicating with them, we had no way to be sure. All we could do was wait.

“Come. Drink something,” Nellie said, clinking at the china with a teaspoon.

The noise brought Betty in to join us, and I took a seat on the armchair as she slowly lowered herself down on the settee.

She was rapidly growing bigger, taking even Nellie by surprise, and after every check-up, she’d give a different answer about how far along she thought Betty might be. It was also making her anxious, and she bundled Betty in layers of shawls and coats every time she went outside, hiding any sign of her pregnancy. At home, though, her bump had become impossible to ignore.

“Still no sign?” she asked, casting a sorry glance at Gwyn.

I shook my head, but tried to remain positive. “I’m sure they won’t be long.”

She leaned over for the teapot and began to pour, but a clap of thunder startled her and she missed the rim, getting most of it in the saucer instead. “Oh for goodness’ sake,” she cried out, slamming the pot down on the table with a bang.

“It’s just tea, Betty,” Nellie said, reaching for a napkin to mop up the spill, but Betty’s eyes were already filled with tears, and she rose to her feet and rushed from the room.

“Do you want me to go after her?” I asked, but Nellie shook her head.

“They’re here,” Gwyn suddenly shouted as he rounded the armchair and bolted for the door.

Nellie and I rose to our feet and stared out of the window as a small horse-drawn wagon came to a stop outside. Its torn cover was flapping in the wind, leaving the contents exposed to the rain, but as Zack jumped down to the pavement, soaked to the skin, he showed little concern for it.

Gwyn dashed out, getting quickly soaked in the downpour, and helped Mair down from the wagon while Zack scooped up Iris and tucked her under his coat for shelter.

“I’ll get some blankets,” Nellie said, jumping into action. “Tom, boil some water. They’ll need to warm up and get some food inside them. ”

The wind howled through the house as they all rushed inside, causing a door upstairs to slam shut. The noise startled Iris, who began to wail in Zack’s arms as he rushed past me into the living room.

I tossed some wood into the stove and began filling a pot to boil. As I worked, Zack came into the kitchen and slumped into one of the chairs. Water dripped from his drenched clothes, pooling under his seat, and I was about to suggest changing into something dry when he clasped his hands together on the table and rested his head against them. I had no idea if he was a religious man, but I kept my silence, allowing him to pray, if that’s what he was doing.

“It’s all gone,” he whispered after a few seconds. “Everything we brought with us is ruined. We didn’t have much to start with, and now we have nothing.”

I pulled up the seat beside him and rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry about that for now. Gwyn and I will get the wagon covered over again, and it’ll all dry out. You got here safe, and that’s the main thing.”

Gwyn came in carrying a pile of clothes for his brother-in-law and closed the door behind him. “Here, put these on. Betty is bringing something for Mair, and we’ll get something from the cart for Iris and hang it over the fire to dry.”

“Are they alright?” Zack asked, sounding completely defeated.

“Nellie just checked them over. They’re cold and wet, but they’re fine. I’ve come out so Mair can get changed.”

“I’ll make some food,” I said, turning back to the oven. “If all you’ve eaten for three days is the food that Mair prepared, you must be starving as well as freezing.”

Zack let out a small smile and grabbed the pile of clothes laid out beside him. “You’ve tried her cooking then?” he said, laughing.

Gwyn and I made a start preparing vegetables while Zack stripped out of his wet clothes and hung them near the stove. Gwyn was a far better cook than me, so I left most of the work to him, but I aided where I could, and before long, we had a stew bubbling on the hob.

As Zack tucked his shirt in, finally dry and covered up, Nellie squeezed through the door and pushed it closed again behind her. She headed for one of the cupboards, grabbed a bottle of whiskey hidden in the back, then poured herself a glass and knocked it back.

“Is Iris alright?” Zack asked, looking panicked. “Is Mair?”

“She’s fine. She’s asking for food, which is a good sign. She’s just a bit grizzly and irritable.”

“And what about Iris?” Gwyn joked, causing me to snort.

A look of relief washed over Zack, and he grabbed Nellie into a hug, taking her by surprise. “Thank you,” he said, then he headed out the door to see his family.

“Thank you for checking them over,” Gwyn said as both he and Nellie took seats at the table.

“I’m happy to do it,” she replied. “But I think they should stay here for the night. Lord knows where we’ll fit them, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to go back out into the storm.”

“I haven’t picked up the keys yet, anyway,” Gwyn replied .

She leaned over the table to pour out some tea, then leaned back in her seat. “They’re ever so lucky that Mr Hughes kept the property empty for so long.”

“It wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart,” Gwyn replied. “I had to pay for it.”

Having seen the state of some of the houses that were available, we’d made the decision to further eat into our savings so that Mair didn’t lose out on the house, but it was setting us back four shillings a week.

Nellie's eyes widened, and she stared at him over the rim of her cup. “Do you have that sort of money spare?”

“Not really,” he replied, and he held up his arm, revealing a hole in his shirt that exposed his armpit. “I’ve had to cut costs. Not a word to Mair about it, though. She thinks it’s just remained empty, and I don’t want to embarrass Zack.”

“Well, you should be mending your shirts instead of buying new, anyway,” Nellie said. “Bring it to me once it’s been cleaned, and I’ll get it sewn up for you.”

“Don’t you run around after him,” Mair said, coming through the door and catching the tail end of the conversation. “He knows very well how to work a needle.”

“Oh, to be an only child,” Gwyn said as he moved over to the seat next to me, making room for his sister.

She was wearing Betty’s clothes, which Nellie had previously had to let out, leaving the shirt hanging loosely around her waist and the skirt too long for her short frame.

“Any more of your lip and I’ll be making myself an only child,” she said, digging him in the shoulder. “Is this tea fresh? Shall I make more? ”

“I’ll do it,” Nellie said. “You need the rest.”

“Talking of rest, you can all have our room tonight,” I said. “We’ll make up two beds in the living room for the night.”

“Thank you,” Mair replied. “I don’t think I could face going back out in that rain today.”

“Hopefully the weather will ease up by tomorrow,” Gwyn said, “Will Gethin be around to help with the move? Where is he, anyway? Shouldn’t he be home by now?”

Nellie pulled a small watch from her apron pocket and rolled her eyes as she checked the time. “He is rather late,” she said, but she shrugged it off, unconcerned, and reached for the tray of tea. “Let’s take this through to the sitting room, shall we?”

The fire in the living room roared up the chimney, crackling and dancing against the wind blowing down it. Zack was busy hanging clothes over a dryer, and Gwyn dragged a chair through from the dining room while I took a seat next to Betty, who had Iris asleep on her lap.

“You’re a natural,” Mair said, smiling over at them from the armchair, and Betty grinned proudly. “I can’t believe how big you’ve gotten since I last saw you. I take it your mam wasn’t best pleased, though? I expected her to come running around to the cottage with the news as soon as she received your letter, but she hasn’t said a word.”

Betty shifted awkwardly, causing Iris to stir, and she dropped her gaze to the fireplace.

“Betty?” Nellie said, moving into her view. “I know that look. You promised me you’d written home. ”

“I was going to,” Betty said, looking like she was about to cry. “I just wanted to wait a little longer.”

“Wait for what?” Nellie asked, shaking her arms in frustration. “You’re being very unfair, Elizabeth. When Mama finds out you’ve kept this from her, I won’t be able to pretend I didn’t know, and who do you think will be blamed for not looking after you?”

“I’m sorry,” Betty replied, and she clenched her jaw to stop her lip from quivering. “I’ll write this week and tell her.”

It was a few more hours before Gethin arrived home, and the rest of us had already eaten. Annoyed by his lack of explanation, Nellie went to bed early, and Zack, Mair and Iris followed shortly after, leaving me, Gwyn and Gethin having a nightcap in the kitchen.

“So can you help tomorrow?” Gwyn asked, blowing smoke from his cigarette as he spoke.

“I have to work for most of the morning,” Gethin replied before taking a sip from his glass. “I would otherwise.”

Gwyn blew out another plume of smoke and raised his eyebrows at Gethin. “It’s a Saturday. There’s no school on Saturdays.”

The men descended into a staring match as Gethin considered his next words, and I stared between them, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. It was clear that he didn’t want to help, and I had a fair idea what he’d be doing instead.

“The school will be closing for summer in two weeks, and there’s an inspection coming up. I have to make sure everything is in order, or the council will be advertising my post.”

He smiled as he spoke, but there was nothing friendly about it, and it was clear that he wasn’t happy having to explain himself. Before Gwyn could say another word, he knocked back his drink, letting out a shiver as the whiskey hit, then hit his glass down on the table with a thud.

“I think I’ll call it a night,” he said, and with no more pleasantries, he left the room.

“That’s you on the naughty step,” I whispered.

“I wasn’t trying to catch him out,” Gwyn replied. “If he’s going to make up lies, though, they’ll need to be better than that.”

“Me, you and Zack will be able to manage, anyway,” I said. “Gethin isn’t exactly a heavy lifter. He’d just stand there directing us all.”

“Aye, no doubt,” he said as he stubbed out his cigarette. “Anyway, come on, we should get some sleep, too.”

Before she’d gone upstairs, Nellie had brought down some pillows and blankets and set them out in two distinct piles in the living room. While we’d normally sleep together in the confines of our bedroom, we instead tucked ourselves in for the night with a ten-foot space between us.

“Can you hear that?” he said, propping himself up on his elbow to face me.

His face was illuminated only by the dying embers of the fire, and I watched him as I held my breath, listening out for whatever noise had caught his attention.

“The rain has stopped,” he added, smiling .

The sound of rain had become so familiar over the past few days that I’d stopped even noticing it, but as I lay in the darkness, listening to the silence, a sense of calm crept in.

Maybe the storms had finally passed.