Soldier's Daughters (32 page)

She was irritated with herself that she still felt intimidated by this person. It had been a fortnight since the maniacal banging and ringing on the door but the memory of it still gave her the chills. At least then she’d had a locked door between her and her caller but now she worried about encountering whoever it was outside in the open. It was ridiculous that she felt imprisoned in her own home and she really needed to get out, to go into town, to do something other than play stacking cups with Nathan. But she didn’t feel comfortable going out on her own; even a quick dash to the Spar for essentials daunted her. She and Nathan had been mostly living on stuff from the freezer and store-cupboard ingredients but she really needed to do a proper supermarket shop. Was she being cowardly wanting to have a friend to accompany her? And yet who could she ask? She wondered if Jenna fancied meeting up. Maybe she’d swap an hour in the supermarket for a coffee and a bun. She got her mobile out.

An hour later she was waiting outside Jenna’s flat.

She was idly listening to the radio when a tap on the window sent her heart rate into orbit. She jerked around and then felt a spasm of relief when she saw it was Jenna. Of course it was. She pressed the button to unlock the central locking.

‘Sorry, didn’t mean to make you jump,’ said Jenna as she slid into the passenger seat.

‘And I shouldn’t be so nervy.’

‘Any more texts?’

‘Nothing,’ said Maddy, as she started the engine and drew away from the kerb.

‘Maybe she’s given up. Or maybe she’s on this exercise too.’

Maddy shook her head. ‘If it is Michelle, she’s stationed at a training regiment. I can’t imagine she’d be sent out to Kenya.’

‘No, I suppose not. Let’s hope she’s given up, then. Don’t suppose you’ve heard from your old man?’

‘Not a dicky-bird. You?’

Jenna shook her head. ‘Wasn’t really expecting to, to be honest. He said he didn’t think there’d be much in the way of mobile telephone masts out there. Anyway, even if there are it’d cost a fortune. I think I’d rather he saved his money than spend it on a crackly phone call to tell me that the weather is nice and he’s working hard.’

Maddy laughed. ‘Very pragmatic.’

‘Hey, don’t use long words. I’m only a hairdresser.’

Maddy swung the car into the supermarket car park and had to hunt for a space.

‘Well, you’ve got to expect it to be mad on a Saturday, haven’t you?’ said Jenna.

‘Saturday?’

Jenna looked at her friend in astonishment. ‘You didn’t know?’

Maddy looked sheepish. ‘I don’t have a routine at the moment, apart from sorting out Nathan, so the days are a bit of a blur.’

Jenna giggled. ‘Blimey, when my days are a bit of a blur I know I’ve overdone the voddies the night before. Don’t think I’m cut out to find out how they’d blur due to having a kid.’

Finally they found a vacant space and while Jenna fetched a trolley, Maddy extracted Nathan from his car seat. The supermarket, when they got inside, was as heaving as the car park.

While Maddy pushed the trolley slowly through the crush, trying not to bang it on other shoppers’ shins and ankles, Jenna whizzed off, unencumbered, to fetch the next few things on Maddy’s list. Finally they got to the last items and the final aisle.

‘Sliced bread,’ said Maddy. Jenna zoomed off, weaving her slim body through the press of people. Maddy, standing by the cakes, bunged a packet of chocolate brownies and another of millionaire’s shortbread into the trolley and then followed Jenna’s path. Passing the wines, she also picked up a bottle of white.

‘Good shout,’ said Jenna, also picking up a couple. ‘After all it’s the weekend.’

As they queued for the till, Nathan reached his boredom threshold and began to wail. Maddy rolled her eyes.

‘Give him to me,’ said Jenna.

‘Really?’ Maddy was stunned.

‘Look, I know about kids. I’m the oldest of four. I may not be wild about having any of my own but I know about looking after the little buggers. Come here, you.’ She hauled Nathan out of the trolley seat, grabbed a banana with a cheery, ‘Tesco can probably afford to take the hit,’ and headed for the exit. Maddy instantly felt much calmer. By the time she’d paid and was pushing her trolley out into the car park she was almost Zen-like.

Jenna was sitting on a bench outside the door, feeding Nathan with tiny bits of banana and jiggling him on her lap to make him giggle between mouthfuls.

Maddy almost wept with gratitude.

‘Let’s go,’ she said. ‘I was going to take you out for a coffee but I bought some treats. How about we go back to mine? Nathan’s due his nap and he gets horribly grumpy if he doesn’t get it. I think it’d be tempting providence to stay out any longer.’

‘I dunno, Mads. I’m still not keen on the idea of hanging around the patches.’

‘Honest, Jen, the place is almost deserted. Hardly anyone is about and all you’ve got to do is get out of the car and walk into the house. Go on.’ She smiled winningly at Jenna.

‘Oh all right. The sky didn’t fall in last time I came to yours, did it?’

‘Great.’

Twenty minutes later the pair were in the kitchen. Maddy was waddling around, unpacking the carrier bags, while the kettle had started to boil and Nathan was already asleep in his cot, upstairs.

Maddy scrunched up the last empty bag and slammed one cupboard door shut then opened another one to get out a couple of mugs and a jar of instant. ‘Coffee?’

‘It’s what you promised.’

Maddy spooned the granules into the mugs, and then opened both the shortbread and the brownies and tipped them onto a plate. ‘Take these through, would you. Milk and sugar?’

‘Just milk,’ said Jenna as she went into the sitting room with the loaded plate.

A minute or so later Maddy joined her and lowered herself into an armchair with an audible ‘Oof’. ‘I shall be glad when this is over,’ she said.

‘Not sure about that. My mum always said that kids are easier to look after when they’re on the inside, and she had four,’ said Jenna.

‘Maybe she has a point. And I haven’t got Caro to help any more.’

‘No? That’s a shame, you and her were good mates. What happened to her?’

‘Her husband got sent to a desk job somewhere in London. I miss her.’

‘That’s one of the lousy things about the army – people keep moving and it’s dead easy to lose touch.’

‘One of the lousy things amongst a whole mountain of lousy things.’

‘Tell me about it,’ said Jenna. And as they munched on the cakes and sipped their coffee they compared notes about all the things that had pissed them off. Some of the time their gripes made them both laugh and once or twice it got to the jabby-finger-and-another-thing stage but they both found it hugely cathartic to get it off their chests.

The doorbell rang. ‘I won’t be a mo,’ said Maddy, heaving herself out of the armchair and heading towards the front door.

Having someone in the house had relaxed her so when she opened it and saw who was calling, she physically reeled back.

‘Michelle!’

‘Surprise.’

Maddy tried to push the door shut but Michelle, taller and much stronger, pushed back and managed to squeeze through it and into Maddy’s house, leaving the door open behind her.

‘Get out,’ hissed Maddy. She felt shaky with the shock of the encounter. Or was it fear?

‘Not till we’ve had a chat. You’ve not been very co-operative, have you?’

‘I’ve got nothing to say to you.’ The adrenalin in her fired her bravado.

‘That makes things easier ’cos I’ve got plenty to say to you. For a start, I don’t care what you think about the state of your marriage, but take it from me, it’s over.’

Maddy felt her anger blaze. ‘No, it isn’t,’ she snarled back.

Michelle, unfazed, gave her an insolent stare and nodded. ‘Really? If you want to think that it’s fine by me but you’re deluded. Seb told me himself. He said he was bored to sobs by you and he wanted out. He told me you were a waste of space in bed and that all you could do was whine and moan about how poorly you feel.’

Maddy felt as if the floor had given way under her feet. No! The anger, the shock and the initial rush of fear gave way to a tidal wave of self-pity and doubt and she battled tears. Seb wouldn’t say that. Of course he wouldn’t, no way. But she also knew that she hadn’t been much fun in the bedroom… so… maybe… The doubt assailed her. So, had he? No, he wouldn’t be so cruel, but supposing…

‘No, he didn’t. You’re lying,’ she yelled at Michelle, trying as much to convince herself as her adversary.

‘Really?’

‘Yes, he’d never say anything like that. He loves me, he told me so.’

Michelle guffawed. ‘Just words, Maddy, just words.’

‘You’re wrong – he loves me. He told me so, he gave me this.’ She pulled her locket out from under her blouse.

‘A present to keep you from guessing the real situation. It worked, didn’t it?’

Maddy felt as if she’d been punched. No! ‘No. I’m not listening to you any more. You’re lying. Seb wouldn’t be like that. Never. Get out!’

Maddy sensed a movement at the other end of the hall.

‘You heard Maddy,’ said Jenna, quietly. ‘You’re not welcome.’

Michelle switched her gaze to this new adversary.

‘This is none of your business. Butt out.’

Jenna walked down the hall. ‘Maddy’s my friend and she doesn’t want you here. That makes it very much my business.’ She leaned towards Michelle. ‘So get out… or do I have to make you leave?’

Michelle laughed. ‘Oh, please,’ she sneered

Jenna put her hands on Michelle’s shoulders and gave her a shove. She caught Michelle off guard and off balance. Michelle lurched backwards towards the still-open front door.

‘Oh, so ladylike,’ she said with narrowed eyes.

Jenna snorted. ‘That’s rich, coming from a whore like you.’

Michelle’s eyes widened. ‘How dare you?’

Jenna gave Michelle another shove but this time her adversary was ready and braced and she didn’t budge. Michelle looked smug but the look was wiped off her face when Jenna whipped her hand up, grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked.

‘Ouch,’ squealed Michelle.

Jenna pulled Michelle’s hair more, forcing her to bend to follow it. ‘You’re right, I’m not a lady and I fight dirty. Now either you get out or I start scratching.’ She showed Michelle the acrylic nails on her free hand. Michelle’s eyes widened.

‘You wouldn’t.’

Jenna flexed her hand into a claw. ‘You think? I’m as hard as these nails.’ She pressed her bright red talons hard against Michelle’s cheek. ‘Now fuck off.’

She let go of Michelle’s hair and shoved. This time Michelle did reel backwards, her heel catching on the door sill, causing her to stumble in a very ungainly fashion and she half fell out of the house.

Jenna picked a dozen loose hairs off the palm of her hand and dropped them disdainfully onto the doorstep. ‘And don’t come back,’ she shot at Michelle, before she slammed the door, hard. She turned back to an ashen Maddy. ‘Good job I was here.’

Maddy sagged against the wall.

‘Hey, you all right?’

Maddy could feel tears trickling down her face. She brushed them away. ‘But what if you hadn’t been?’

‘You’d have coped. Of course you would.’

‘No, I wouldn’t. I can’t bear to think what would have happened if…’

‘If what?’

Maddy shook her head. ‘Supposing…’

‘Suppose, nothing. That bitch is all talk. She came here to scare you.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘’Course. I know her type.’ Jenna laughed. ‘Takes one to know one.’

‘You’re not like that.’

Jenna shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t bank on it.’

Maddy’s face grimaced as a sharp pain lanced into her side.

‘You all right?’ asked Jenna.

‘The baby.’ She gasped as another pain bit.

‘What?’ Jenna looked worried.

‘It’s nothing. The baby is doing somersaults. It’s probably as rattled as I am.’

Jenna took Maddy’s arm and led her back to the sitting room. ‘Right, first off I’m going to make you a cuppa and you’re going to sit down and put your feet up and then I’m going to ring the OC Rear Party and tell him what’s been happening.’

‘No!’

‘No? Why not?’

‘Let’s not involve the army.’

‘Maddy,’ said Jenna, ‘that woman is nuts. I don’t think she’s a real danger but she can’t get away with that. She needs stopping.’

‘I know, but I don’t want to involve outsiders.’

‘Maddy, I really, really don’t want to think that she’s going to go any further than she has. But you can’t take that risk. And even if it stops where it is, she can’t be allowed to get away with what she’s done already. Someone needs to read her the riot act.’

‘Yes, you’re right.’

‘So, you agree… someone needs to have a word with her.’

‘No, I agree that she’s not a danger. She’s gone a bit off the rails because she’s madly in love and can’t have Seb so she wants to lash out. She’s like a kid having a tantrum.’

Jenna snorted. ‘Sorry, Mads, but you’re talking bollocks. She’s not a two-year-old, she’s a grown-up. She knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s bonkers and selfish and nasty to boot and you know it.’ Jenna’s expression softened. ‘Maddy, the authorities need to know. Look, I don’t want to scare you but supposing we’re wrong. Suppose she does go further. This isn’t just about you. There are others you have to think about.’

Maddy sagged. ‘Maybe you’re right. Oh, God, who am I kidding? I just don’t want to face up to any of this situation – it’s just so horrible. I can’t believe it’s really happening.’ She sighed and rubbed her face. ‘I suppose I feel that if I involve other people I’m admitting that Seb really might have had an affair.’ Even as she said it she felt stricken. She felt the back of her nose prickle and knew tears were imminent. She blinked rapidly and swallowed. She’d had enough drama for one day, she couldn’t face ringing up Alan Milward and telling him about what had been going on. She knew she had to do it, Jenna was right, but not now. ‘But let’s leave it till Monday, eh?’

‘I’m not sure…’

‘Jenna, it’ll be fine.’ Maddy was trying to convince herself, as much as Jenna, that her decision was right. ‘I can’t face the palaver right now, not on top of everything else.’