The Moon Spun Round (29 page)

‘Regardless, she can’t go back there,’ Fran is saying. ‘Ever.’

‘You’re right, but we’ll have to deal with that when we come to it. What about now? Sally, you’ve been landed with this. It doesn’t seem fair, you hardly know her.’

‘I don’t understand why she came here.’

‘Do you think she was trying to get to the pool?’

‘Of course. Then she’d best stay here with me. Even if she were well enough to be moved, where else could she go? I can’t imagine your George agreeing to take her in. Or Edward, come to that.’

They don’t hear, behind them, the door opening and closing. ‘I expect Naomi will insist she goes to her place.’

‘That won’t do. Ayden’s bound to come searching for her. After what you said happened at the disco, Naomi’s is the first place he’d look. But there’s no reason he should come here, is there?’

‘I suppose not,’ says Abbie, ‘though he does knows you, Sally.’

‘Only through George. There’s nothing to link me with Claire. I don’t think he even saw me last night, at least not with any of you.’

‘That’s true. When he came to our table you were dancing with McPherson, weren’t you?’

‘So there’s really no reason he should come here, is there?’

For some unknown reason this has become important to Sally. She needs to do this. Even though it’s true she hardly knows Claire, she feels personally responsible for her. ‘And with you next door, Abbie, it will be easy for you to look in on her, won’t it?’

‘Yes,’ Abbie concedes. ‘It does sound like the best arrangement.’

‘I guess that settles it, then,’ says Fran. ‘She’ll stay here for the time being. You realize you’ll be taking on Naomi as well? I can’t see her going anywhere for the next few days.’

‘That’s no bad thing. My nursing skills are practically zilch.’

‘I don’t know about anyone else,’ says Abbie, ‘but I’m just about all-in. I think we’d all better get some sleep. There’s not much of the night left.’

‘Christ, look at the time. I have to be getting back—Edward will need waking up.’

‘And I think it’s best we all try to carry on as normal.’ Abbie pulls herself out of the chair. ‘Just as well it’s New Year’s Day. Not many people will be going to work and everything will be running late anyway. What about you, Ruth? The shop’s not open today, is—Hang on, where’s Ruth?’

‘She must have gone home. I didn’t see her go, though, did you?’

‘No. I thought she came in your car, Fran?’

‘That’s right. She must have decided to walk back. Odd that she didn’t say anything. Look, I’d better be off. I’ll see if I can catch her up.’

‘Very strange,’ Abbie mutters, ‘though she has been acting a little weird lately. I’ll give her a call later. What’s the time? Oh, my God. I’ll need to get back soon. Even George will wake up eventually. He’ll think I’m with the horses. Let me just take another look at Claire before I go.’

Upstairs, Claire is sleeping and looks almost peaceful. Naomi has pulled an armchair up next to the bed and is wide-awake. She looks up when Abbie enters the room.

‘We’ve decided she stays here for the time being. The rest of us ought to try to carry on as normal. We don’t want to draw attention to the situation.’

‘I’m not leaving,’ says Naomi.

‘Good.’ Sally follows Abbie into the room, ‘I could use your support. Now, Abbie, what should we do?’

‘Let her sleep, best thing at the moment. But watch her breathing. The other thing to watch for is blood in her urine. That would indicate kidney damage. When she wakes, check her temperature, give her some more of the Bach drops and another dose of Ibuprofen. Now, you must encourage her to breathe deeply, but if there’s any sign of respiratory distress, or any bleeding, dial 999 then me. In that order. I’ll keep my cellphone with me and I’ll come immediately. I’m sorry about having to leave you, but we don’t want George coming over here looking for me.’

‘You should get some sleep anyway. Though I expect you’ve got the animals to attend to.’

‘That’s all right. I’d already arranged for the stable girls to cover for me this morning. I thought I’d be nursing a hangover: hadn’t anticipated this. But, yes, I might try to get my head down for a couple of hours. I suggest you two do the same.’

The bedroom is bright with sunlight. Claire is still sleeping, Cat curled up by her side. Naomi, in an armchair next to the bed, looks up with a start when Sally enters with a tray.

‘I’ve brought us some coffee and bacon sandwiches.’

‘You’re an angel. I thought I could smell something cooking. I’m starving.’ She sits up and takes a sip from her mug. ‘Ah, that’s great. Have you managed to get some sleep?’

‘Yes, I’ve made up the bed in the spare room. And I insist that you let me take over while you get some rest.’

‘I won’t argue with that. She looks comfortable, anyway. Sally, this is so unfair on you.’

‘No, it’s not. I’m part of this. Whatever’s going on is happening for me, too.’

‘You can feel it too, then?’

‘Yes. It’s like something is replaying in my head. I keep remembering something Claire said about men outside with torches…No, I had too much to drink last night and I’m physically exhausted, that’s all it is.’

‘Don’t ignore those sorts of things: it could mean something. You have to learn to listen to your instincts.’ Naomi looks towards the bed. ‘Perhaps if we’d
all listened more instead of rationalizing, this would never have happened.’ ‘I don’t think it’s going to help if we start blaming ourselves over this. It’s only one person’s fault, and he’s not here.’

‘No, and I hope he doesn’t come looking for her. Still, I think it would be a good idea if you locked all the doors. I don’t see why he should turn up, but if he does we call the police straight away.’

‘I won’t argue with that. Now, finish your sandwich and coffee, then go and get your head down for a few hours. I promise I’ll wake you if there’s any change.’

It is mid-morning when Abbie returns. Sally has to run down to unlock the back door and let her in. Naomi is sound asleep in the guest room; Claire awake and calm, although still in a lot of pain. Sally helps with the changing of the poultice, watching carefully how it’s made up and applied in case she has to do it in Abbie’s absence.

‘How long do we have to keep this up?’

‘A few days at least, more if we can manage it. Normally it takes about six weeks for a rib to mend, but this might speed up the process. And we’ll put more cream on the bruises and keep checking her temperature and pulse. Be sure to watch out for signs of difficulty breathing or a cough. Claire, you’re going to have to breathe deeply, or at least normally. Try it. Yes, I know it hurts, but you need to keep your lungs well ventilated.’

As Abbie attends to her patient, Claire tries to thank them.

‘Hush, sweetheart,’ says Abbie, ‘not now. Let’s just get on with the job. I expect we need to get you to the toilet, unless you think you can use a bedpan.’

‘No way.’ Claire almost laughs, a good sign.

‘OK, but don’t try to go on your own.’ Over her shoulder she mouths to Sally, ‘Make sure she’s not passing blood.’

They wash her down with warm water sweetened with lavender oils, and Sally finds a fresh nightdress and brushes Claire’s hair while Abbie makes her a cup of camomile tea. When she is settled, Abbie sits on the bed and takes her hand.

‘Now, you know we all love you,’ she says, ‘and, even though it’s against our better judgement, we’ve agreed to play this your way. We know you have your reasons and we trust that. But you’re going to have to trust us in return. When you’re feeling stronger, you’re going to have to talk. You understand that, don’t you?’

Claire nods in agreement. She closes her eyes and tears slide down her cheeks.

Abbie slips out of the room and signals Sally to follow her. They whisper in the hallway.

‘Have you heard anything?’ Abbie asks.

‘From Ayden, you mean? No, not a thing.’

‘Good. I don’t think you will, but it’s wise to keep the doors locked. But now it seems we’ve got something else to worry about. Ruth.’

‘Did Fran manage to catch up with her?’

‘No. She rang to say she couldn’t find her anywhere. I tried calling the shop earlier, but their phone was engaged. Then Jack rang me about half an hour ago. He asked if I’d seen her.’

‘What did you tell him?’

‘I said no, not since we walked them home last night. What the hell else was I supposed to say?’ Abbie pushes her hand through her hair. ‘So then he said he’d woken up late to find her side of the bed untouched. There’s half a cup of cold tea on the kitchen table, the back door was unlocked, and the coat she was wearing is missing.’

‘So she hasn’t been back home at all yet?’

‘Looks like it. The poor man’s frantic with worry, ringing round the family, everyone he knows. He says if she doesn’t show up soon he’ll have to call the police.’

T
HE MOMENT
G
EORGE LEAVES
, Abbie snatches up the telephone and punches in Sally’s number, knowing she has only minutes to warn her and Naomi of the police officer who is about to knock on the cottage door. Fortunately, he chose to pay his first visit to the corner house. George answered the knock and found a young lad who, a few years back, had stood before the bench on a charge of inciting public disorder—he and his friends had been staging a protest at the foxhunt and things had got a little out of hand—and now there he was wearing a police uniform.

‘Sorry to trouble you, Mr Hunter-Gordon, but I need to have a word with you and Mrs Hunter-Gordon about Ruth Clifton.’

‘Yes, of course,’ said George. ‘Come in. Farrow, isn’t it?’

‘That’s right, sir. Mick Farrow.’

‘Has there been any news yet?’

‘No, I’m afraid not. I understand you and your wife saw Mr and Mrs Clifton home last night.’

‘That’s right. I expect you’ll want to talk to both of us. My wife’s outside with the horses, I’ll go and fetch her.’

So Abbie had a few moments to centre herself before being confronted. But the sight of the uniform made her heart sink. Up to that moment she’d been so caught up in her anxiety for Claire that Ruth’s disappearance hadn’t registered as something to be too concerned about. Naturally she was anxious about where Ruth had got to and when she would turn up. But now ‘when’ had suddenly become ‘if’.

‘That’s right, we all walked home together. We went to Naomi Walker’s place first, then took Mrs Cunningham round to the vicarage. Her husband had left the village hall earlier and he was already at home. Then we said goodnight to Ruth and Jack at their gate and they both went in together.’

‘Can you remember what time that was?’

‘Not really,’ said Abbie, ‘but I imagine it must have been well past one. It was just starting to rain when we reached Sally’s, if that’s any help. That’s Sally Lavender, she lives round the corner in Wicker Lane.’

‘I see.’ He made careful notes in his little black book. He used a ballpoint pen and kept clicking the point in and out. ‘And how was Mrs Clifton last night? Did she say anything that would explain her whereabouts? Did she talk about going somewhere, seeing someone?’