Page 55 of The Peculiar Incident at Thistlewick House

Everyone turned their faces to Katerina in shock. The current Lord Felthorpe froze. All colour drained from his face and his cheeks paled to grey. His smug self-assured manner was dissolving before their eyes. Even his confident stance evaporated, and Edward noticed his shoulders drop.

‘Did you know he used to beat me?’ she continued.

‘That he only lay with me to conceive you, and then our intimacy ended? And, yes, he rewarded the faithful, bestowing charity and kindness on the righteous, but the sinners, his wife included, were made to pay for their perceived sins. One day, I’d simply had enough of the violence and ran off with a Russian artist who decided I was worthy of attention – even if it was only because he wanted to paint me.

I stayed with him until he tired of me, and then met a man on Liverpool docks, with wild plans but a big heart, and truly fell in love. ’

Even Edward was moved by Katerina’s condensed life story.

‘No. You can’t be.’ Christian Felthorpe shook his head.

‘Why not?’ She remained calm and her voice gentle. ‘Because you shot me dead at the hall? I must at least thank you for burying me with my true family. Did you carry the dead body of your mother to the common yourself?’ she asked. ‘Or did you order one of your men to do it?’

‘I say, Christian? Is any of this true?’ the reverend tentatively enquired.

‘No,’ Lord Felthorpe said again, but Edward could tell he was less sure of himself now.

‘And yet everyone here knows that as those bones have been falling, the dead have been rising,’ Edward said. ‘When Mrs Cleyford passed away from the influenza this morning, Katerina Ballard slipped swiftly and silently into her body, finally able to speak the truth.’

Lord Felthorpe’s gloved fists were now in tight balls and he began a slow pacing, back and forth, in front of them all.

‘Stay out of it, Blackmore. We all know you to be a fraud. The newspapers were full of your shameful exploits. You’ve been the thorn in my side since your arrival – asking questions and sticking your pasty face into business that has nothing to do with you. ’

‘So much so that you tried to poison me, and when that failed, you took potshots at me in the woods.’ Edward wasn’t certain if his accusation was accurate, but Felthorpe’s belligerent response suggested it was.

‘Prove it.’ He was angry now and not a man used to being challenged.

‘Would someone please tell me what’s going on?’ the reverend asked.

‘Oh, do shut up,’ his friend snapped. ‘This pathetic little band of sinners and liars are talking rubbish. We know Blackmore sneaks about uncovering half-truths to convince gullible people that he’s speaking to the deceased – his tricks were exposed by his former manservant – and this is doubtless what’s occurred here. ’

Katerina took another step closer to her son.

‘I am the woman who gave birth to you on a snowy February night in 1830, who nursed you for a year, watched you take your first shaky steps and read fairy tales to you in the evenings until you were four years old. And yet you shot me with a rifle from your father’s gun cabinet in the drawing room at Felthorpe Hall on a cold November afternoon… ’

The swirling winds, dancing across the cliffs and whipping about their feet, were the only sound as everyone considered the implications of her words.

Edward understood now the reason she’d insisted the circus travel to Norfolk all those years ago.

Mallory told him how the Ballards had argued.

Katerina had promised Thistlewick Tye would provide the answer to their financial worries, so he could only assume that she’d returned to extort money from her husband.

Perhaps to blackmail him into handing over a large sum or she’d reveal her true identity – something that would destroy his reputation and bring chaos into his ordered life and perfect village.

But he’d been unexpectedly absent, away in London, and they’d had to await his return.

And then something else about this whole twisted mess occurred to Edward. Something really quite unpalatable…

He heard Mallory gasp and knew that they were six steps ahead of Sarah, Hazibub and the reverend.

‘You brought it all upon yourself.’ Christian exploded with a sudden burst of temper, finally accepting she spoke the truth.

‘Twice you ruined my life, Mother. Firstly, by disappearing and leaving me to be brought up by the man you so despised. And then by returning unexpectedly twenty years later to destroy our lives. As if running off with freaks and whores wasn’t enough, you brought them back to our lovely village. ’

‘And now I’m here to ruin everything for you a third and final time.

’ They could all see she took no pleasure from this statement, as she gave a resigned shrug of her thin shoulders.

‘You ordered one of your father’s men to deliver poisoned food and wine to the camp.

Hazibub told me that Silas Garrod arrived bearing gifts and offering to build bridges.

My husband, in his death throes, realised they’d been tricked and swore to kill you all – probably the last thing poor little Esfir heard, and the threat she repeated in her confusion at waking up in Mrs Shaw.

You killed almost everybody I loved, Christian, because, despite everything, I do still love you.

A mother’s love endures, because her offspring remains a part of her very being, regardless of whether that child is good or bad. ’

‘But I am still not understanding. Why would he be wanting us all dead?’ Hazibub was confused. ‘Because we were stealing a pig? Because we were breaking their commandments? Because we were speaking with foreign accents, looking different to them, and were not believing in their god?’

Lord Felthorpe locked eyes with the elderly woman he now understood was his mother. Edward saw the pity etched across Katerina’s face, but Christian was trembling, his hands still scrunched into tight fists, as he shook his head vehemently from side to side.

‘Don’t say any more. If you truly love me, Mother, then don’t say it out loud.’

Katerina’s crinkled cheeks were now damp from the flow of tears. She briefly closed her eyes, as if she was trying to transport herself away from this moment.

On the edge of the horrifying scene, Sarah, like Mallory only moments before, gasped.

‘Oh my God. Zella was his sister!’ She hastily silenced herself by clasping both hands to her mouth.

The six of them had now surrounded Lord Felthorpe – a horseshoe of people confronting him for his past sins, as he backed away, towards the cliffs.

This final revelation made everything clear to Edward.

A sin so bad that, even if it had been committed in ignorance, he couldn’t allow it to ever be exposed – even if it meant committing further sins to cover it up.

All of which was indicative of his unstable mind, religious fanaticism and mercurial emotions.

He’d fallen passionately in love in a heartbeat, and then chose to erase all those who might have knowledge of it, in another.

The reverend remained confused. ‘I don’t understand, Christian. Did you order the performers to be killed? That’s a mortal sin. There are no circumstances that justify such wickedness.’ He turned to the others, panic across his face. ‘I had no part in this.’

The Reverend Fallow hadn’t yet been born in 1855, but had been chosen as a replacement for the Reverend Marsham, Edward suspected, because of his equally extreme religious fervour.

His appointment allowed the great triumvirate of vicar, local landowner and doctor that Katerina had talked of to continue under the guise of the Benevolent Committee, orchestrating the rules, punishments and rewards of Thistlewick Tye.

But the village was no more real than Edward’s own elaborate illusions.

The parishioners would not drink to excess; they would attend church every Sunday, remain faithful in their marriages, work hard and educate themselves, keep the village looking beautiful and willingly look after their own.

Those who broke the rules, or outsiders who set no store by them, were another matter, however.

They’d be evicted, sent to the vicar for punishment, perhaps fall suspiciously unwell after a visit from the doctor…

Edward considered all the tales of supposed divine retribution that had likely come straight from his medicine cabinet.

Yes, Thistlewick Tye had the appearance of a godly and caring community, but those who directed it were guilty of the most heinous crimes.

‘Is it true?’ Edward asked. ‘Did you order Silas and Jacob to kill the whole troupe because you fell in love with a girl you didn’t know you were related to?

’ He wanted to hear Felthorpe admit it aloud.

‘Mallory was right – you really did love her – and it was such a shameful secret that you couldn’t afford for it ever to come out. ’

Desperate and panicked, Felthorpe let out the most guttural roar, his face scarlet and strings of spittle hanging from his mouth.

He rushed at his tormentor and pushed him violently to the ground.

As Edward’s head smacked into the dirt, his hat, bandage and wig tumbled from his head.

There was a shocked silence as everyone took in his brilliant white hair and the implications of this.

The older man’s vitriol twisted into disgust as he stood over the fraudulent spiritualist. ‘Now it all makes sense. You’re a freak like the rest of them.

It’s bad enough that I had to put up with that imbecile Noah for fifty years – at least he attended church and tried his best. But you were created by the Devil Himself, and flout every law and moral we strive to live by. ’

Edward felt the slow rise and fall of his own chest as his whole body began to seethe, finding himself on his backside and at a distinct disadvantage.

How dare Felthorpe mock his albinism? Mallory had shown him it wasn’t a thing to be ashamed of, and he felt guilty for continuing to conceal it.

She was a much braver person than him and spent ten years allowing her differences to be laughed at.

Whilst it had obviously been difficult at times, she’d found more love and acceptance, surrounded by people who also didn’t fit in, than she ever had with her own father.

If Mallory loved Edward regardless, what did the opinions of others matter?

‘And yet, your largesse only extends to people who fit into your perfect world, because Thistlewick Tye is an illusion, a sham – a village overseen by murderers, liars and zealots, who have no compassion for anyone who’s different.

You may think badly of me but, unlike you, Felthorpe, I have never killed a man…

until now. Because you don’t deserve to take one more lungful of this glorious sea air. ’

He scrabbled to his feet, grabbed his fallen cane and twisted the skull.

He was not a violent man by nature – far from it.

His gentle soul was another of his father’s favourite criticisms – unable to countenance a son who criticised hunting, wouldn’t properly whip a dog for bad behaviour and refused to learn to box.

But the fox, the hound and the opponent in the ring had done nothing to deserve his wrath.

The man standing before him now, however…

He drew out the long silver blade, and leapt forward, brandishing it in Christian’s face. His speed, and the fact the cane concealed a weapon, both took Felthorpe by surprise. Edward raised his right arm and held the tip of his blade inches from the man’s throat, absolutely determined to use it.

‘Esfir was an innocent child, for God’s sake. You’re the real Devil here.’

He pushed the sharp point further and further, until it pierced the skin and a tiny scarlet blob appeared. He wanted more than anything to thrust the whole sword forward and finish the man off.

‘Don’t do this, Edward,’ Mallory pleaded. ‘You’ll be hanged for murder. I love you and I need you. Don’t make me spend the remainder of my life alone.’

‘Put the blade down, Mr Blackmore,’ Katerina echoed. Her voice was firm and brooked no dissent. Edward could only imagine how intimidating she’d been, barking orders in her fake Russian accent.

He allowed his hand to drop slightly.

‘You’ll pay for your crimes twice over,’ he said to the man before him. ‘Once on this earth and then for an eternity in the next.’

Lord Felthorpe rallied, now that his life was no longer in immediate danger. ‘But who will believe you? There’s absolutely no evidence to back up your spurious accusations.’

It was true – they couldn’t prove any of it. It would be Lord Felthorpe’s word against theirs, and Edward suspected this would play out as it had since time immemorial; the respectable citizens would be believed, and the disreputable freaks would not.

‘Zella must never know about any of this,’ Katerina said, turning to Edward and Mallory, with a strange look in her eyes.

‘Promise me? If she comes back, tell her how much she was loved. I was only severe because I wanted the best for her.’ She turned back to Christian.

‘I must take the blame for all of this. It was wrong of me to leave you with your father, and I should’ve told you who I was as soon as we pitched up on the common. I’m so very sorry.’

‘Surely, you can tell her your—’ Mallory began, but Edward suddenly knew what Katerina was planning.

The thin body of the determined octogenarian lifted her head to the heavens and rushed towards her son with an energy that surprised everyone.

There was a moment, Edward caught it in Christian’s eyes, when he also realised what his mother was doing, but he didn’t have time to react, as she launched her tiny body at his.

The element of surprise and his proximity to the edge made everything that followed inevitable, as they both tumbled from the cliffs and fell to the ground below with a sickening thud.

The wind whipped up from the beach to the clifftop and carried the echoes of their harrowing cries.

Edward stepped forward, as far as he dared, and peered over the edge.

He heard nothing for those few moments apart from the crashing of the waves below.

Even with his poor eyesight, he could see that mother and son lay dead together on the sand: Katerina with her arm across his body, where she had pushed him backwards, looking, for all the world, as though she was holding him in a final embrace.

Perhaps she was.