Snatched (22 page)

There were more people than he’d imagined there would be. A whole load of bric-a-brac stalls had been set up along one side like a mini car-boot sale, facing which was a large play area for the kids, complete with a giant bouncy castle and a colourful little carousel ride. And, in the centre of it all, a huge refreshments tent.

Amazed that Pauline had managed to pull all this off in one short week, Terry made his way towards the tent to get himself a drink. Further surprised when people started nodding at him and saying hello as he passed, he nodded back. But that was as far as he was willing to go, because these were the same people who’d been giving him dirty looks for the past few months and he didn’t trust them.

And he especially didn’t trust Irene Murgatroyd, who was serving behind the makeshift bar when he entered the tent. Jackie Harris was there, too, but while he knew that Jackie would be polite, Irene was a different kettle of fish. And if anyone was capable of upsetting the fragile balance of acceptance that Pauline seemed to have achieved amongst the locals, it would be her.

As it happened, Irene had no intention of rocking the little love-boat that Pauline had launched here today. In fact, as soon as she’d realised that Pauline had the backing of the other neighbours, Irene had jumped on board with relish, determined to snatch some of the credit for herself.

Pushing Jackie aside when she saw Terry now, she gave him a big smile as he approached the counter, saying, ‘Hello, my love. And what can I get you?’

Unnerved as much by her friendly tone as by her newly dyed blonde hair, bright red lipstick and heavy blue eyeshadow, which all looked so wrong on a woman of her age, Terry asked if she had any lager.

Telling him that it was soft drinks only until the official bar opened later on, Irene cocked her finger to bring him closer, and whispered, ‘But I’ve got some Scotch in my bag if you fancy a nip?’

Guessing by the smell of her breath that she’d already had more than a couple of nips herself, Terry said, ‘I’ll just take a Coke, please.’

Pulling a tin out from below the counter, Irene put her hand over his when he tried to pay, saying, ‘Don’t be so silly, I’m not taking your money. What’d be the point of that when it’s all going to you in the end, anyway? Well, to
Sue
,’ she corrected herself, giving him another smile. ‘But you know what I mean.’

Murmuring, ‘Thanks,’ Terry tried to get his hand back, but she held on to it.

‘Ooh, you’re bloody freezing,’ Irene said, as if he didn’t already know. ‘Should have put a proper coat on. Mind, I don’t suppose you’d want to cover up a belting suit like that, would you?’ Giving what Terry could only assume was meant to be an enticing smile now, she added, ‘You look proper handsome, I must say. Don’t he look handsome, Jack?’

Giving him a sympathetic smile, Jackie looked the other way, aware that he was embarrassed enough about Irene fawning over him without her adding to his discomfort by joining in.

‘I’m so sorry about your loss,’ Irene was telling him now – with too much sincerity in her voice for it to be genuine, he thought. ‘And if there’s anything I can do, you only have to ask – you know that, don’t you? I mean, I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but none of us would have wished something like this on you. And I can’t think of anything worse than losing one of your children like that.’

Terry felt like reminding her that Nicky wasn’t dead, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it – just in case it wasn’t true. It was a full two weeks since Nicky had gone missing, and he was clinging to the hope that she would be found soon – even if everybody else seemed to have already decided that she was dead.

Thanking Irene again, he yanked his hand out of hers and snatched up the can of Coke. Nodding at Jackie, he made his escape.

Squinting in the bright, heatless sunshine, Terry skirted around the edge of the crowd. There was a fantastic turnout, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. But he was under no illusions that the air of camaraderie would last beyond the day, because these weren’t the sort of people to forgive and forget so easily. And when the bar opened and the beer started talking, the knives would come out with a vengeance.

Looking around for Leanne, to make sure she wasn’t getting any hassle – or giving any – he smiled when he spotted her leaping around on the bouncy castle with her friends. She’d either forgotten, or just didn’t care that most of these people had blamed her as much as they had him for breaking up his marriage. But, hey, if she could shrug it off and get on with her life as if nothing had ever happened, good on her.

Going inside the community centre now, in search of a quiet place to sit and gather his thoughts, Terry peeked through the inner door before going into the hall, to make sure that Sue wasn’t already in there.

Pauline was refilling the tea urn at the bar on the far side of the hall. Spotting Terry when he came in, she abandoned what she was doing and bustled over to greet him.

‘Well, hello,’ she said, beaming and giving him a warm kiss on the cheek. ‘I’m so glad you decided to come. How are you?’

‘All right,’ he said, forcing himself to smile. ‘You?’

‘Oh, I’m absolutely wonderful,’ Pauline told him gaily, linking her arm through his. ‘Beautiful day, isn’t it? And I’m so glad about that, because we needed to get everybody here to get the fund up and running. Anyway, let’s go and say hello to the girls, because they’re all dying to see you.’

Feeling uncomfortable as she dragged him across to the women who were busy putting the finishing touches to the decorations, Terry began to wish he hadn’t come.

Whisking him away again when everyone had said hello and gone back to work, Pauline said, ‘We’ve got so much planned for tonight; you’ll be amazed when you see it all. We’ve got a professional DJ, and an award-winning bingo caller. And we’ve managed to get a fantastic band called Street-Wyze. Have you heard of them? They’re supposed to be very good.’

Shaking his head, Terry felt the tell-tale throb of an impending migraine behind his eyes. And that wasn’t good when he had a full day of ‘niceties’ to get through, some – like Pauline’s – probably genuine, the rest positively fake.

Noticing how pale he’d become, Pauline said, ‘Are you all right, pet? You’re not looking so good. Why don’t you go and sit down and I’ll fetch you a cup of tea.’

Thanking her, Terry unhooked his arm from hers and headed for a table set right back in the corner furthest away from the activities. Flopping down onto a chair, he exhaled tensely, wondering how much he would be able to take before he had to get the hell out of there.

Outside, Sue and Connor had just arrived. Clutching at Connor’s hand when her old neighbours immediately started to cluster around them, she held him in front of her, using him as a shield in case any of them decided to ask awkward questions.

‘Yes, we’re fine . . .’ she heard herself saying numerous times over the next few minutes. ‘No, we’ve not been given anywhere to live yet . . . Yes, Connor’s getting better . . . No, he still hasn’t spoken since it happened, but they reckon it’s the shock . . . No, still no word on Nicky . . . Yes, it’s terrible, and I haven’t slept for days, but you have to keep going for the sake of the little one, don’t you?’

Leanne and the girls had just got off the bouncy castle and were making their way over to see what was going on. Spotting Sue in the middle of the crowd, Goldie stopped walking and jerked her head at her friends, saying, ‘Let’s go back this way.’

But it was too late; Leanne had already seen Sue. Eyes flashing angrily, she said, ‘She’s got a fucking nerve showing her face today!’

Looking their way just then, Sue felt a rush of nausea and rage rise up from her gut to her throat. She hadn’t laid eyes on Leanne in months, yet she felt the same depth of hatred towards her now as she’d felt back then. And if there hadn’t been so many people around, she’d have launched herself at the bitch and punched the brazen look right off her face. How
dare
she come here today. This was nothing to do with her, and she had no right to push herself into it like this.

Glancing around for him now, Sue didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed when she didn’t see him. In a perverse way she
wanted
him to be here, but at the same time she was dreading it, because she didn’t want to see that look of loathing that had been in his eyes at the hospital that day.

Pauline had just heard that Sue was here. Coming out of the hall to look for her, she saw her in the middle of the crowd and guessed from her expression that she was probably feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the attention. Pushing her way through to get to her, she said, ‘Sorry, folks, I just need to steal her away for a bit.’

Murmuring, ‘Thanks,’ when Pauline had taken her off to the side, Sue exhaled tensely. ‘I think I need a cup of tea. Is there anywhere I can get one?’

‘In the hall,’ Pauline told her. ‘But I’ll have to warn you, Terry’s already in there. Though I’m sure he won’t mind if you don’t. I mean, this is for you as a family, isn’t it?’

‘No, it’s all right,’ Sue said quickly, sure that Terry very much
would
mind. ‘I don’t want to see him just yet.’

‘In your own time,’ Pauline said understandingly. ‘Let’s go and get you something cold instead for now, then, eh? And how about I take the little one inside for a bit?’ she offered then, keeping her voice low so that Connor wouldn’t hear as she added, ‘Let him see his daddy for a few minutes while you have a break. Irene will look after you till you’re ready to start mingling.’

‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,’ Sue murmured as Pauline led her towards the refreshment tent. ‘She hates me.’

‘No, she doesn’t,’ Pauline said gently but firmly. ‘That’s what this is all about today, pet – putting the past to rest. Irene knows she’s been rough on you; we
all
do. But we’re trying to put it right, if you’ll let us.’

Sue felt the tears welling up in her eyes. Chin wobbling, because she genuinely hadn’t expected this level of kindness, she said, ‘Thanks, Pauline. I don’t know how I’d have managed without you lately. You’ve been really great.’

‘Oh, I haven’t done anything,’ Pauline said modestly, flapping her hand.

‘Yeah, you have,’ Sue insisted. ‘I know this was all your idea, and I think you’ve done an amazing job.’

‘It
has
come out pretty good, hasn’t it?’ Pauline gazed around proudly. ‘And I’ve right enjoyed myself, so it didn’t really feel like work. But we’ll sit down later and have that cup of tea and a good old chat, eh?’

Nodding, Sue dabbed at her eyes with the back of her finger.

Pausing when they reached the tent, Pauline said, ‘Right, well, let’s hand you over to Irene, ’cos I need to get back inside. The girls are doing a grand job, but they don’t half need watching, otherwise they start moving things out of place, and it drives me up the wall. Now you know where I am if you need me. And if anyone says anything out of line, you just come and get me and I’ll sort them out. Okay?’

Sue hadn’t forgotten all the ill feeling of the past, and she didn’t know if she’d ever truly forgive, but it felt good to be back in the fold – for now. So, reaching out, she gave the older woman an impulsive hug.

Across the field, still watching her enemy intently, Leanne sneered when she saw her hugging Pauline before heading into the tent. So the bitch thought everything was hunky-dory again, did she? Well, they’d soon see about that!

Turning to Kelly Greene, who had just come back from the off-licence with the litre bottle of cider that the girls had pooled together to buy, she snatched it out of her hand and unscrewed the cap.

‘Go easy!’ Goldie squawked when she took a long drink. ‘That’s got to go round five of us, you know.’

Coming up for air, Leanne shrugged. ‘So, I’ll buy another one,’ she said, tipping the bottle up again.

‘Pack it in!’ Goldie scolded, trying to take the bottle off her now. ‘I mean it, Lee. I know what you’re doing, and I’m not letting you. Not today.’

‘
Yes
, today,’ Leanne hissed, jerking the bottle out of Goldie’s reach. ‘She’s had it coming for long enough.’

‘Not
today
,’ Goldie repeated firmly. ‘Not with all these kids around.’

‘Leave her alone,’ Kelly butted in, her eyes flashing with excitement at the thought of a confrontation. ‘She can have a drink if she wants one.’

‘Was I talking to
you
?’ Goldie snapped, glaring at the younger girl. ‘No! So keep your fucking nose out.’

‘Get lost,’ Kelly retorted cheekily, sure that Leanne and her cousin Neela would back her up if Goldie kicked off.

‘You fucking what?’ Goldie snarled.

‘Just shut up, you two,’ Leanne said irritably. ‘I’ve had enough of everyone trying to tell me what to do. I’ll do what I want – all right?’

‘And what
do
you want?’ Goldie demanded, turning back to her.

‘A bit of fun,’ Leanne muttered, casting a malevolent glance in the direction of the refreshment tent. ‘Anyone want to join me?’

‘Too right,’ Kelly said, immediately up for it.

Shaking her head, Goldie said, ‘You’re out of order. And your Terry won’t be too pleased to know what you’re planning, seeing as it’s his kid who’ll be watching it.’

Muttering, ‘Don’t fucking remind me,’ Leanne took another swig of the cider.

‘I thought you were growing up,’ Goldie said, the disappointment in her voice piercing Leanne’s anger like a dart as she added, ‘But you’re still just as much of a kid as
her
, aren’t you?’ She jerked her thumb in Kelly’s direction.

‘No, I’m not,’ Leanne protested quietly, unable to meet her friend’s direct gaze. ‘Anyhow, I never said I was going to do anything. I was just going to go in and stare her out, or something. That’s all.’

‘Yeah, well, do it without me, ’cos I’m here to have a good time, not get myself arrested for stupidity,’ Goldie said. Then, to the rest of the girls, ‘What about you lot? You here for a laugh, or are you after starting shit?’