He could say that again. News doesn’t tend to come much worse than this…
Fergus groaned and put his head in his hands. ‘Do we have to do this now? My head is killing me.’
‘I’m afraid so,’ Miles replied, taking a seat across from him. I hovered near the doorway, not sure if I should stay or go. Jeannie remained standing, her posture rigid.
‘Look, I can’t even remember what I did,’ Fergus said rubbing his forehead. ‘There’s no point berating me now!’
‘It’s not about what you did last night. It’s Aunt Clem.’
‘OhGod,’ he moaned. ‘I don’t need her on at me as well. All I ever bloody get is her wittering away in my ear. Nag, nag, nag! All day, every day. You’re all on at me. And do you know what?—’
‘Fergus,’ Jeannie warned.
‘You can all go and f?—’
‘Aunt Clem is dead, Uncle Fergus. I’m sorry for your loss.’ To my surprise, Miles delivered the blow, got straight up out of his seat and walked out.
Fergus stared after him, glassy-eyed. He looked to me, then to Jeannie, a half-smile quivering across his dry lips.
‘Don’t be absurd. Clem’s asleep upstairs. Did you try shaking her? She’s a very deep sleeper.’
‘We didn’t need to resort to that,’ Jeannie said coldly. ‘Anyone with eyes can see that she’s dead. Go and lookyourself, if you don’t believe us.’
I shot Jeannie an angry expression. Wow. I always knew my mother-in-law lacked empathy but seeing it at play like this was harrowing.
‘Don’t you look at me like that,’ she seethed at me. ‘I’ve been dealing with this drunken fool for forty years. She was probably dead when he went to check on her yesterday, but he’s always so blind drunk he didn’t even notice.’ She cut her eyes at him. The house phone began to peal, and after three rings Jeannie turned on her heel and left to answer it.
Fergus stared into time and space, his drink-addled brain fighting to piece together everything it had just learned.
‘I’m so sorry, Fergus,’ I offered.
His hands began to tremble. ‘No. No, no no no no,’ he repeated, covering his eyes.
Oh Christ. I was going to have to comfort him, wasn’t I? Making my way around the table to him, I hesitated, once, twice, before putting my arm around him and patting him awkwardly.Where the hell is everyone else?I thought in desperation. The kids would have been better at this than me.
‘I can’t believe it,’ he said. ‘How? How could this have happened?’
‘I don’t know,’ I began. Suddenly, he grabbed my sweatshirt and pulled me towards him.
‘You have to help me! I’m done for, everything is well and truly scuppered!’
‘How, Fergus? How can we help you?’ I said, trying not to recoil at his breath.
His dull eyes were wide as he whispered, ‘I’ve done something very, very silly.’
19
ALL IS NOT CALM, ALL IS NOT BRIGHT
For a moment, I considered whether I could get away with not saying anything to Miles. Not about why I– and now apparently Callum– were sneaking about in the night. Not about catching his mother red-handed, or about what Fergus had confided in me. It dawned on me that things were becoming far too messy, and the last thing I wanted was for anything to delay our move. But then again things needed to be resolved– and quickly– one way or another. That wouldn’t happen if I kept everything to myself.
The phone call Jeannie had taken was from a car-hire company. They said that Quentin had rented a car from them four days ago and had failed to deliver it back to them. For some reason, he had given them her contact details; perhaps he’d been planning to drive off with it and leave her liable? Miles seemed particularly anxious about it, so I asked him to come for a walk around the beautiful grounds.
The pathways were still slushy, some of which had now turned to sheer ice, and piles of snow still lay off the beaten track. To my dismay the temperature had continued to plummet, and if there was any rain on the way, it would certainly turn to snow. I threaded my arm through his, and we walked gingerly down the path from the house towards the trees.
‘So, how are you?’ I asked delicately.
Miles sighed, his breath visible in the cold air. ‘I’m… I don’t know, to be honest. Everything feels strange lately. Like the ground is shifting beneath my feet.’ He glanced at me, his eyes searching. ‘How about you?’
