Missing Joseph (4 page)

“Where'd she get off to, that blasted girl?” a woman was demanding. She spoke from what was apparently an office. Its door stood open to the left of the bar. Immediately next to it, a stairway rose, with steps oddly slanted as if strained from bearing weight. The woman came out, yelled “Jo-se-
phine
!” up the stairs, and then caught sight of St. James and his wife. Like Josie, she started. Like Josie, she was tall and thin, and her elbows were pointed like arrow heads. She raised one self-conscious hand to her hair and removed a plastic barrette of pink rosebuds which held it haphazardly off her cheeks. She lowered the other to the front of her skirt and brushed aimlessly at a snowfall of lint. “Towels,” she said in apparent explanation of the latter activity. “She was supposed to fold them. She didn't. I had to. That sums up life with a fourteen-year-old girl.”

“I think we just met her,” St. James said. “In the car park.”

“She was waiting for us,” Deborah added cooperatively. “She helped us in with our things.”

“Did she?” The woman's eyes went from them to their suitcase. “You must be Mr. and Mrs. St. James. Welcome. We've given you Skylight.”

“Skylight?”

“The room. It's our best. A bit cold, I'm afraid, at this time of year, but we've put in an extra heater for you.”

Cold
didn't really do justice to the condition of the room to which she led them, two flights up, at the very top of the hotel. Although the free-standing electric heater was ticking away, sending out palpable streams of warmth, the room's three windows and two additional skylights acted like transmitters for the cold outside. Two feet in any direction from them, one walked into a shield of ice.

Mrs. Wragg drew the curtains. “Dinner's from half past seven till nine. Will you be wanting anything prior to that? Have you had your tea? Josie can pop up with a pot, if you like.”

“Nothing for me,” St. James said. “Deborah?”

“No.”

Mrs. Wragg nodded. She rubbed her hands up the sides of her arms. “Well,” she said. She bent to pick a length of white thread from the carpet. She wound it round her finger. “Bath's through that door. Mind your head, though. The lintel's a bit low. But then all of them are. It's the building. It's old. You know the sort of thing.”

“Yes, of course.”

She went to the chest of drawers between the two front windows and made minute adjustments to a cheval mirror and more adjustments to the lace doily beneath it. She opened the clothes cupboard, saying, “Extra blankets here,” and she patted the chintz upholstery of the room's only chair. When it became apparent that there was nothing more to be done, she said, “London, aren't you?”

“Yes,” St. James said.

“We don't get lots here from London.”

“It's quite a distance, after all.”

“No. It's not that. Londoners head south. Dorset or Cornwall. Everyone does.” She went to the wall behind the chair and fussed with one of two prints hanging there, a copy of Renoir's
Two Girls at the Piano
, mounted on a white mat going yellow at the edges. “There's not a lot likes the cold,” she added.

“There's some truth in that.”

“Northerners move to London as well. Chasing dreams, I think. Like Josie does. Did she…I wonder did she ask about London?”

St. James glanced at his wife. Deborah had unlocked the suitcase and opened it on the bed. But at the question, she slowed what she was doing and stood, a single feathery grey scarf in her hands.

“No,” Deborah said. “She didn't mention London.”

Mrs. Wragg nodded, then flashed a quick smile. “Well, that's good, isn't it? Because that girl's got a mind for mischief when it comes to anything that'll take her from Winslough.” She brushed her hands together and balled them at her waist and said, “So then. You've come for country air and good walks. And we've plenty of both. On the moors. Through the fields. Up into the hills. We had snow last month—first time it's snowed in these parts in ages—but we've only frost now. ‘Fool's snow,' my mum called it. Makes things muddy, but I expect you've brought your Wellies.”

“We have.”

“Good. You ask my Ben—that's Mr. Wragg—where's the best place to walk. No one knows the lay of the land like my Ben.”

“Thank you,” Deborah said. “We'll do that. We're looking forward to some walks. And to seeing the vicar as well.”

“The vicar?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Sage?”

“Yes.”

Mrs. Wragg's right hand slithered from her waist to the collar of her blouse.

“What is it?” Deborah asked. She and St. James exchanged a glance. “Mr. Sage's still in the parish, isn't he?”

“No. He's…” Mrs. Wragg pressed her fingers into her neck and completed her thought in a rush. “I suppose he's gone to Cornwall himself. Like everyone else. In a manner of speaking.”

“What's that?” St. James asked.

“It's…” She gulped. “It's where he was buried.”

CHAPTER TWO

P
OLLY YARKIN RAN A DAMP CLOTH across the work top and folded it neatly at the edge of the sink. It was a needless endeavour. No one had used the vicar's kitchen in the last four weeks, and from the looks of things no one was likely to use it for several weeks more. But she still came daily to the vicarage as she had been doing for the last six years, seeing to things now just as she had seen to things for Mr. Sage and his two youthful predecessors who had both given precisely three years to the village before moving on to grander vistas. If there
was
such a creature as a grander vista in the C of E.

Polly dried her hands on a chequered tea towel and hung this on its rack above the sink. She'd waxed the linoleum floor that morning, and she was pleased to note that when she looked down, she could see her reflection on its pristine surface. Not a perfect reflection, naturally. A floor isn't a mirror. But she could see well enough the shadowy crinkles of carrot hair that escaped the tight binding of scarf at the back of her neck. And she could see—far too well—her body's silhouette, slope-shouldered with the weight of her watermelon breasts.

Her lower back ached as it always ached, and her shoulders stung where the overfull bra pulled its dead weight against the straps. She prised her index finger under one of these and winced as the resulting release of pressure from one shoulder only made the other feel that much worse. You're so lucky, Poll, her mates had cooed enviously as undeveloped girls, lads go all woozy at the thought of you. And her mother had said, Conceived in the circle, blessed by the Goddess, in her typical crypto-maternal fashion, and she swatted Polly's bum the first and final time the girl had spoken about having surgery to reduce the burden dangling like lead from her chest.

She dug her fists into the small of her back and looked at the wall clock above the kitchen table. It was half past six. No one was going to come to the vicarage this late in the day. There was no reason to linger.

There was no real reason at all, in fact, for Polly's continued presence in Mr. Sage's home. Still, she came each morning and stayed beyond dark. She dusted, cleaned, and told the church wardens that it was important—indeed, it was crucial at this time of year—to keep up the house for Mr. Sage's replacement. And all the time that she worked, she kept an eye watching for a movement from the vicar's nearest neighbour.

She'd been doing that daily since Mr. Sage's death when Colin Shepherd had first come round with his constable's pad and his constable's questions, sifting through Mr. Sage's belongings in his quiet, knowing constable's way. He'd only glance at her when she answered the door to him each morning. He'd say Hullo Polly and slide his eyes away. He'd go to the study or to the vicar's bedroom. Or sometimes he'd sit and sort through the post. He'd jot down notes and stare for long minutes at the vicar's diary, as if an examination of Mr. Sage's appointments somehow contained the key to his death.

Talk to me, Colin, she wanted to say when he was there. Make it like it was. Come back. Be my friend.

But she didn't say anything. Instead, she offered tea. And when he refused—No thanks, Polly. I'll be off in a moment.—she returned to her work, polishing mirrors, washing the insides of windows, scrubbing toilets, floors, basins, and tubs till her hands were raw and the whole house glowed. Whenever she could, she watched him, cataloguing the details designed to make her lot lighter to bear. Got too square of a chin, does Colin. His eyes are nice green but far too small. Wears his hair silly, tries to comb it straight back and it always parts in the middle and then flops forward so it covers his brow. He's always messing it about, he is, raking his fingers through it in place of a comb.

But the fingers generally stopped her dead, and there the useless catalogue ended. He had the most beautiful hands in the world.

Because of those hands and the thought of them gliding their fingers across her skin, she'd always end up where she started from at first. Talk to me, Colin. Make it like it was.

He never did, which was just as well. For she didn't really want him to make it like it had been between them at all.

Too soon for her liking, the investigation ended. Colin Shepherd, village constable, read out his findings in an untroubled voice at the coroner's inquest. She'd gone because everyone in the village had done so, filling up the space in the great hall at the inn. But unlike everyone else, she'd gone only to see Colin and to hear him speak.

“Death by misadventure,” the coroner announced. “Accidental poisoning.” The case was closed.

But closing the case didn't put an end to the titillated whispers, the innuendoes, or the reality that in a village like Winslough
poisoning
and
accidental
constituted a sure invitation to gossip and an indisputable contradiction in terms. So Polly had stayed in her place at the vicarage, arriving at half past seven each morning, expecting, hoping day after day, that the case would reopen and that Colin would return.

Wearily, she dropped onto one of the kitchen chairs and eased her feet into the work boots she'd left early that morning on the growing pile of newspapers. No one had thought to cancel Mr. Sage's subscriptions yet. She'd been too caught up with thinking of Colin to do so herself. She'd do it tomorrow, she decided. It would be a reason to return once more.

When she closed the front door, she spent a few moments on the vicarage steps to loosen her hair from the scarf that bound it. Freed, it crinkled like rusty steel wool round her face, and the night breeze shifted it the length of her back. She folded the scarf into a triangle, making sure the words
Rita Read Me Like A Book In Blackpool!
were hidden from view. She put it over her head and knotted its ends beneath her chin. Thus restrained, her hair scratched her cheeks and her neck. She knew it couldn't possibly look attractive, but at least it wouldn't fly about her head and catch in her mouth as she made the walk home. Besides, stopping on the steps beneath the porch light, which she always left burning once the sun went down, gave her the opportunity for an unimpeded look at the house next door. If the lights were on, if his car was in the drive…

Neither was the case. As she trudged across the gravel and plunged into the road, Polly wondered what she would have done had Colin Shepherd actually been at home this evening.

Knock on the door?

Yes? Oh, hullo. What is it, Polly?

Press her thumb against the bell?

Is there something wrong?

Cup her eyes to the windows?

Are you needing the police?

Walk direct in and start up talking and pray that Colin would talk as well?

I don't understand what you want with me, Polly
.

She buttoned her coat beneath her chin and blew grey steamy breath on her hands. The temperature was falling. It had to be less than five degrees. There'd be ice on the roads and sleet if it rained. If he didn't drive careful coming round a curve, he'd lose control of the car. Perhaps she'd come upon him. She'd be the only one near enough to help. She'd cradle his head in her lap and press her hand to his brow and brush his hair back and keep him warm. Colin.

“He'll be back to you, Polly,” Mr. Sage had said just three nights before his death. “You stand firm and be here for him. Be ready to listen. He's going to need you in his life. Perhaps sooner than you think.”

But all of that was nothing more than Christian mumbo-jumbo, reflecting the most futile of Church beliefs. If one prayed long enough, there was a God who listened, who evaluated requests, who stroked a long white beard, looked thoughtful, and said, “Yesssss. I see,” and fulfilled one's dreams.

It was a load of rubbish.

Polly headed south, out of the village, walking on the verge of the Clitheroe Road. The going was rough. The path was muddy and clogged with dead leaves. She could hear the squish of her footsteps over the wind that creaked above her in the trees.

Across the street, the church was dark. There would be no evensong till they got a new vicar. The Church Council had been interviewing for the past two weeks, but there seemed to be a scarcity of priests who wanted to take up life in a country village. No bright lights and no big city seemed to equate with no souls needing to be saved, which was hardly the case. There was plenty of scope for salvation in Winslough. Mr. Sage had been quick to see that, especially—and perhaps most of all—in Polly herself.

For she was a long time, long ago sinner. Skyclad in the cold of winter, in the balmy nights of summer, in the spring and fall, she had cast the circle. She had faced the altar north. Placing the candles at the circle's four gates and using the water, the salt, and the herbs, she created a holy, magical cosmos from which she could pray. All the elements were there: the water, the air, the fire, the earth. The cord snaked round her thigh. The wand felt strong and sure in her hand. She used cloves for the incense and laurel for the wood and she gave herself—heart and soul, she declared—to the Rite of the Sun. For health and vitality. Praying for hope where the doctors had said there was none. Asking for healing when all they promised was morphine for the pain until death finally closed all.

Lit by the candles and the burning laurel's flame, she had chanted the petition to Those whose presence she had earnestly invoked:

Annie's health restor-ed be
.

God and Goddess grant my plea
.

And she had told herself—convinced herself utterly—that her every intention was wholesome and pure. She prayed for Annie, her friend from childhood, sweet Annie Shepherd, darling Colin's own wife. But only the spotless could call upon the Goddess and expect response. The magic of those who made the petition had to be pure.

Impulsively, Polly traced her steps back to the church and entered the graveyard. It was as black as the inside of the Horned God's mouth, but she needed no light to show her the way. Nor did she need it to read the stone. ANNE ALICE SHEPHERD. And beneath it the dates and the words
Dearest Wife
. There was nothing more and nothing fancy, for more and fancy were not Colin's way.

“Oh Annie,” Polly said to the stone that stood in the even deeper shadows where the wall of the yard skirted round a thick-branched chestnut tree. “It's come upon me three-fold like the Rede says it would. But I swear to you, Annie, I never meant you harm.”

Yet even as she swore, the doubts were upon her. Like a plague of locusts, they laid her conscience bare. They exposed the worst of what she had been, a woman who wanted someone's husband for her own.

“You did what you could, Polly,” Mr. Sage had told her, covering her hand with his own large mitt. “No one can truly pray away cancer. One can pray that the doctors have the wisdom to help. Or that the patient develops the strength to endure. Or that the family learns to cope with the sorrow. But the disease itself…No, dear Polly, one can't pray away that.”

The vicar had meant well, but he didn't really know her. He wasn't the sort who could comprehend her sins. There was no absolution saying
go in peace
for what she had longed for in the foulest part of her heart.

Now she paid the three-fold price of having invited upon herself the wrath of the Gods. But it wasn't cancer that they sent to afflict her. It was a finer vengeance than Hammurabi could ever have wrought.

“I'd trade places with you, Annie,” Polly whispered. “I would. I
would
.”

“Polly?” A low, disembodied whisper in return.

She jumped back from the grave, her hand at her mouth. A rush of blood beat against her eyes.

“Polly? Is that you?”

Footsteps crunched just beyond the wall, gumboots snapping on the icy dead leaves that lay on the ground. She saw him then, a shadow among shadows. She smelled the pipe smoke that clung to his clothes.

“Brendan?” She didn't need to wait for confirmation. What little light there was shone itself on Brendan Power's beak of a nose. No one else in Winslough had a profile to match it. “What're you doing out here?”

He seemed to read in the question an implicit and unintended invitation. He vaulted the wall. She stepped away. He approached her eagerly. She could see he held his pipe in his hand.

“I've been out to the Hall.” He tapped the pipebowl against Annie's gravestone, dislodging burnt tobacco like ebony freckles on the frozen skin of the grave. He appeared to realise the impropriety of what he had done in the very next instant, because he said, “Oh. Damn. Sorry,” and he squatted and brushed the tobacco away. He stood, buried the pipe in his pocket, and shuffled his feet. “I was walking back to the village on the footpath. I saw someone in the graveyard, and I—” He lowered his head and seemed to be studying the barely discernible tops of his black gumboots. “I hoped it was you, Polly.”

“How's your wife?” she asked.

He raised his head. “The renovation at the Hall's been tampered with again. A bathroom tap left on. Some carpet's got ruined. Rebecca's worked herself into a state.”

“Understandable, isn't it?” Polly said. “She wants a home of her own. It can't be easy, living at her mum and dad's, with a baby on the way.”

“No,” he said. “It's not easy. For anyone. Polly.”

At the warmth of his tone, she looked away, in the distant direction of Cotes Hall where for the last four months a team of decorators and craftsmen had been pounding away at the long-abandoned Victorian structure, attempting to ready it for Brendan and his wife. “I can't think why he doesn't arrange for a night watchman.”

“He won't be bullied into a watchman, he says. He's got Mrs. Spence right on the grounds. He's paying her to be there. And by God she ought to be bloody enough. Or so he says.”