Page 99 of Fire Must Burn

‘I tried to talk to her as soon as I got back,’ said Iris.

‘How did you get back?’ scoffed Mrs Dorter. ‘In Bruce’s car, with Kevin in the front seat? Did they hold the door open for you when they dropped you off at your fancy girls’ college? Like proper gentlemen should? Did you give each of them one last kiss goodbye while Nancy watched you from her window? Are you surprised that she failed to confide in you?’

‘You traded her life for this place,’ said Iris. ‘Was it worth it?’

Mrs Dorter stood and walked to the back window.

‘They used to drown women they suspected of being witches in that pond in the meadow,’ said Mrs Dorter, looking out into the darkness. ‘Sometimes, I look out there at night. I think about her. How she gave herself to the water. I watch the water here, and wonder if she will rise from it, pointing at me. The water took her, the fire found Bruce and the guns took Kevin. And I’m still trapped in an isolated house in the country.’

She turned back, her face haggard.

‘That’s all of it,’ she said. ‘Now you know what I know. Go up to your room and get some sleep. I have to clean up around here.’

They left as she began shovelling the ashes from the stove.

TWELVE

Iris hadn’t set the alarm clock, so she was surprised when it went off early Sunday morning. She was even more surprised upon opening her eyes to see Gwen getting out of bed.

‘Arise and shine, partner,’ said Gwen as she began dressing.

‘What’s going on?’ Iris replied groggily.

‘It’s our last day here,’ said Gwen. ‘We should get some beetling done.’

‘We?’ said Iris, throwing off her covers. ‘You actually want to go with me?’

‘It would be a pity to have come all this way without having seen what else this place has to offer besides depravity and misery,’ said Gwen. ‘Besides, after hearing you rattle on about beetles so often, I confess that you’ve aroused my curiosity.’

Iris dressed quickly and grabbed her beetle book and her binoculars. The two went downstairs and out the back door unchallenged by anyone except for the rooster, which was emerging from the coop. He looked at the two resentfully.

‘You must be Ernie,’ said Gwen. ‘I’m Gwen. How do you do?’

Ernie did not respond.

‘I think he’s angry because we’ve beaten him to the punch,’ said Iris. ‘This way.’

They went through the gate. Behind them, Ernie greeted the dawn.

‘That’s the pond,’ said Iris.

‘Oh, there are ducklings! How cute!’ exclaimed Gwen, approaching it.

‘Watch out for that patch over there,’ Iris warned her.

‘The spurge?’

‘Of course, you knew that,’ said Iris.

‘I grew up on a country estate,’ said Gwen. ‘Our groundskeeper taught us all about what plants to avoid. Big brotherThurmond, of course, ignored his instruction and frequently came back covered with welts, which reinforced the lessons for me.’

She gazed into the murky depths of the pond pensively.

‘I wonder if they really did drown witches here,’ she said. ‘If their bones still rest buried in the mud at the bottom while the teal paddle overhead, blissfully unaware. There should be some kind of marker set up in their memory. The witches, I mean, not the teal. Hang on – are those some kind of beetle skating about?’

‘Whirligigs,’ said Iris, coming over to look. ‘They feed in groups like that.’

‘And that one?’ Gwen asked, pointing to a larger, somewhat menacing creature skimming along the surface.