‘Thank you. We’ve made a lot tonight,’ he said in between breaths. ‘Would you mind popping them inside?’ he asked, opening his gate.
‘Of course not.’ Blythe went with him up the path, waited while he unlocked and followed Arthur inside.
‘Put them down anywhere. I’m looking forward to counting up how much we’ve raised. I think it might be another record breaker,’ he said. ‘Now you must get home. I don’t want to delay you.’
‘Merry Christmas, Arthur.’ Blythe was smiling as she turned to leave. But something caught her eye and made her twist back around.
On Arthur’s hall table Blythe had spotted something very familiar. A wooden seagull. ‘You okay?’ asked Arthur.
‘It’s just that I’ve seen one a bit like that somewhere before,’ said Blythe, walking over and picking up the knick-knack. ‘Murray had a seagull a bit like this one.’
‘Kittiwake,’ said Arthur.
‘That’s right. Murray corrected me for calling it a seagull more than once.’ She smiled at the memory as she turned the ornament over in her hand. As she went to put it down she noticed something. The beak had been glued back on. She stared at it before glancing at Arthur. Arthur looked like he’d been frozen in time. ‘Oh my G— ThisisMurray’s seagull.’ She held it up as if presenting evidence to Arthur.
‘Kittiwake,’ said Arthur.
Blythe shook her head. ‘Okay, kittiwake, but that’s irrelevant. It’s Murray’s. And I packed this in the box with the rest of Murray’s personal effects from the cottage and it went to the solicitor.’ She waved the wooden bird about and then fearing that she might drop it she put it back on the table. Things started to slot into place although she still wasn’t entirely sure what it all meant.
She fixed Arthur with a hard stare. ‘What’s going on, Arthur?’ she asked.
Arthur grimaced. ‘I think perhaps I have some explaining to do.’
39
24thDecember
Arthur walked away leaving Blythe standing in the hallway stunned. Her mind was trying to fill in the blanks. She could hear the sound of a cupboard opening and glasses clinking and she followed it through to a small living room where Arthur was pouring himself a drink.
‘Port?’ he asked. ‘It’s a rather nice one that I brought back from Portugal.’
‘Yeah, go on then, I certainly need something. I’ve had a bit of a shock.’
‘I am truly sorry about that, Blythe.’ He passed her a glass and they sat down. ‘I’m not sure what else to say other than I’m sorry.’
‘I could do with you filling in a few blanks for me please, Arthur.’ Blythe sipped her drink. ‘That’s really lovely, thank you.’
Arthur sighed deeply. His sad eyes fixed on Blythe. ‘Please don’t judge me. Or Murray.’
‘As if I would,’ said Blythe. ‘I’m sure you know I think the world of both of you.’
Arthur smiled. ‘That’s lovely to hear.’ He stared into his glass and swirled the dark red liquid. ‘I’m sorry. I really don’t know what to tell you.’
Blythe decided if she wanted to know anything she was going to have to ask. ‘Were you and Murray lovers?’
Arthur’s head shot up. ‘No, that makes it sound sordid but we were in a relationship of sorts. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s complicated.’
‘In my experience relationships always are,’ said Blythe. ‘Try starting at the beginning.’
Arthur sucked in a heavy breath. ‘We met many years ago whilst birdwatching. We spent a day together in virtual silence in a hide, and it’s the most at ease I’ve ever been with another human being. Neither of us said anything at the time but we both knew that we had a connection. We kept in touch and saw each other whenever we could. We simply wanted to be in each other’s company. Does that sound odd?’
‘No, it sounds like love.’
‘I really did love him.’ Arthur smiled. ‘Murray couldn’t stay with me here. It would have raised too many eyebrows in a small village and he had a family he desperately wanted to protect. He split his time between them and me, and that worked rather well. It was easier after I bought the cottage on the green.’
‘It was you Sam bought the place off. Was it you who kept the garden tidy too?’
Arthur nodded sheepishly. ‘I’m sorry for all the cloak-and-dagger shenanigans but I wasn’t ready to face the rest of the village.’ He looked a little alarmed. ‘I’m still not ready to face them.’
