‘Because I want to.’
Irina laughed. ‘And Nikolai always gets what he wants.’
‘Of course I do.’
Not if she had anything to do with it, he wouldn’t, thought Jenna. ‘I don’t think we should go into the broad,’ she said. The idea appalled her; it was too macabre for words. It was also totally disrespectful.
‘Oh, come on, Jenna,’ wheedled Rachel, ‘don’t be such a misery, it’ll be fun.’
‘Fun!’ retorted Jenna. ‘How the hell can you say that?’
‘Okay, okay, wrong word, but you know what I mean.’ Wobbling on her bare feet, Rachel turned to Irina. ‘There’s a ghost story attached to Linston Broad. Averrry looongtime ago, a girl used to wander the reedbeds searching for her dead parents until one night – ’ she paused for dramatic effect, widening her eyes – ‘when she couldn’t bear her grief any longer, she drowned herself, just like Alastair’s wife, Orla, did.’
Jenna’s jaw dropped with shock at her friend’s words, but before she could speak, Irina said, ‘Seriously? Are you saying Alastair’s first wife committed suicide?’
‘Well, maybe not exactly,’ said Rachel, catching Jenna’s furious gaze. ‘But she might have. I mean, it was all a bit odd how it happened.’
‘We were under the impression it was an accident,’ said Nikolai. ‘That’s what Alastair told Valentina.’
‘Itwasan accident,’ said Jenna, the lawyer in her roused, as well as loyalty to Alastair. She gave Rachel another stern look, urging her, just once, to keep her big mouth shut. ‘The Coroner recorded an open verdict on the basis there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.’
‘But an open verdict means there was something suspicious about the way she died.’ This was from Nikolai.
‘There was insufficient evidence to confirm exactly what happened,’ asserted Jenna.
‘Which only adds to the mystery,’ said Rachel. Then: ‘Look! There’s the opening for the broad. Let’s go in, Jenna, it’ll look awesome in the moonlight.’
‘You’re not afraid we’ll come across the girl’s ghost, are you, Jenna?’ taunted Nikolai. ‘Or perhaps Orla’s ghost?’
Furious with Rachel, Jenna said, ‘I don’t believe in ghosts.’
‘Then what are we waiting for?’ asked Irina.
‘That’s a good question,’ remarked Nikolai.
‘Oh, come on, Jenna,’ urged Rachel, wobbling again on her feet. ‘Where’s the harm?’
Outnumbered, Jenna reluctantly caved in and took the turning into the broad. They’d gone some way in when she eased back the throttle and slowed the engine right down so they could better appreciate the stillness of the wide stretch of water, its black, liquid mirror-like surface perfectly reflecting the moon. An owl hooted on one side of the broad and seconds later, from the other side of the water, another owl hooted in response.
‘I was right, wasn’t I?’ said Rachel in a low voice, as though she alone was responsible for the sight they were staring at. ‘It really does look awesome.’
‘It is awesome,’ echoed Irina. ‘Can we go further in, to the middle?’
Her every instinct told Jenna not to do as she was being asked, but she knew it was pointless to refuse, they would only gang up on her again. Grudgingly, she pushed the throttle forward and took them where they wanted to go.
‘If I wanted to kill myself, this might well be where I’d do it,’ said Irina.
Her brother laughed. ‘I’m sure we could help you on your way if you wanted us to,’ he said, grabbing her round the waist and pretending to throw her overboard. She squealed loudly and pushed him off.
‘You shouldn’t make jokes like that here,’ snapped Jenna, ‘it’s in poor taste.’
‘Ooh, who made you Colonel-in-chief of … of Joke Censorship?’
‘You’ve had too much to drink,’ Jenna hissed at her friend, and resolving not to go any further into the broad, she cut the engine dead.
Laughing at her, Rachel took a long and calculated swig from the bottle in her hand. Tipping it all the way back and finding it empty, she chucked it carelessly into the water. Something she would never have done under normal circumstances.
Her patience at breaking point, Jenna gritted her teeth. ‘What the hell’s got into you, Rachel,’ she muttered, ‘apart from the obvious?’
