Page 92 of Fire Must Burn

‘All these years here, I never knew what any of them were called,’ she said. ‘Nor do I care.’

‘That wasn’t necessary,’ said Iris.

‘No, it wasn’t,’ said Mrs Dorter. ‘Nor is this conversation. This is my property and I’ll do as I damn well please on it. Now, I’m going to finish collecting my herbs and greens. Breakfast is at seven thirty, Miss Sparks, or Miss McTague, ifyou wish to continue the charade. It makes no difference to me.’

She turned and walked away, stopping abruptly to bend down and savagely slice off a clump of greens and throw them into her basket before disappearing into the woods nearby.

I hope those aren’t poisonous, thought Iris.

She looked down at the lifeless beetle, then trudged back to the house. She stopped by the pump and rinsed off her wellies, scrubbing them with the brush as well as she could. She saw Ernie watching her dolefully from the ramp leading to the coop.

‘You could have warned me,’ she said to him.

He didn’t reply, which she was beginning to see as the theme to the trip.

She tossed her wellies into the boot room, then padded up the stairs to her room. Gwen sat up in bed as she came through the door.

‘Breakfast?’ she asked hopefully.

‘Soon,’ said Iris. ‘But I may have scotched everything in the meantime.’

‘You’ve accomplished that before breakfast? While I was still sleeping?’

‘Apparently.’

She recounted her conversation with Mrs Dorter while Gwen dressed and brushed her hair.

‘I agree, that doesn’t sound very promising,’ said Gwen.

‘Any ideas?’

‘Not at the moment. Let’s see if I can do better on a full stomach.’

But breakfast, while filling, was not enough to inspire either of them.

‘I doubt that she will take kindly to being accosted by the both of us,’ said Gwen afterwards. ‘How would you feel about my distracting her while you sneak into her room and find her diary?’

‘We’re not in London, so I don’t think we can rely upon the local constabulary to be as sympathetic to my trespassing with intent to snoop if I get caught,’ said Iris.

‘Well, if we hang about looking for opportunities, we’ll onlyput her on higher alert,’ said Gwen. ‘So I suggest we engage in some normal touristy behaviour. You’ve had enough beetling for the moment?’

‘My mood for that was spoiled.’

‘Then let’s walk into town, see the sights and perhaps an idea will strike us. If none does, then maybe we should embrace our failure and return home empty-handed. Or empty-brained.’

Half an hour later, they stood on the threshold of the Tithe Barn. Gwen consulted her guidebook while Iris peered inside.

‘Who did this belong to?’ she asked.

‘The nuns of Shaftesbury Abbey originally,’ said Gwen. ‘Most of this area was given to support them.’

‘Ten per cent of the local crops to support nuns,’ marvelled Iris. ‘For which the peasants received what? Prayers? Divine intervention?’

‘I suppose,’ said Gwen. ‘And a place to send their superfluous daughters. It might have been my fate had I lived then.’

‘You would have been plucked from your cloistered life to wed the local lord,’ said Iris, stepping inside and looking up. ‘While I probably would have been burned at the stake for some minor misunderstanding or other. I do like that vaulted ceiling, I must say. I wonder how much of it is original.’

‘It says they started restoring it during the Great War,’ read Gwen. ‘They’ve replaced most of the rotted beams. It belongs to the Ministry of Works now. They’ve been renovating it over time, depending on when the funds come in. There’s a collection box over there for contributions.’