Whispers (10 page)

Jess paused and put down the journal as the first rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance. The sky had gone ominously dark and she pulled her cardigan more tightly about her. Martha had mentioned the scented rosewater she had bought off the travelling tinker. Could this be the smell that had lingered in her room in the attic? She dismissed the idea almost immediately, and yet . . . A flash of lightning suddenly illuminated the room and Jess started in shock before leaping from the bed and rushing to the window. A strong wind had blown up from nowhere and the curtains were billowing into the room as the first heavy drops of rain began to fall. After a struggle she managed to close the window and looked back at the book on the bed. It was then that she sensed someone standing close behind her again and she whirled about to find that she was alone.

I’m not sure if it’s doing me any good reading this journal, she thought to herself. And then she grinned. If she wasn’t careful she would start to believe all the same gobbledegook as Laura. Spirits indeed! There was no such thing. Annoyed with herself, she set off purposefully down the stairs, intent on getting some work done.

‘What’s this then?’ Simon asked that night as he lifted the journal from the duvet.

Jess groaned silently. She had meant to put it away. ‘Oh, it’s just an old journal I found up in the attic,’ she said dismissively, shoving it into the drawer of the bedside table.

‘Really? Whose was it?’

‘Just some servant girl who used to work here, from what I can make of it.’ Jess was keen to change the subject. She turned to Simon
with
a seductive smile as he slipped into bed. ‘But never mind about that for now. Do you fancy a cuddle?’

Simon yawned. ‘Can’t say as I do, to be honest, love. I’m dead beat. Perhaps tomorrow, eh? Goodnight.’

Slightly miffed, Jess climbed in beside him. It was usually she who pleaded a headache or some such ailment but lately the tables were turning and she wondered briefly if he was having another fling. Almost immediately, she felt guilty. He was working hard from early in the morning until late at night most days. No wonder that he wasn’t in the mood for romance. He probably just didn’t have the energy for it.

They were getting dressed the next morning when Simon told her casually, ‘I’m giving Laura a lift into town this morning on my way to work – did I mention it?’

‘No, you didn’t.’ She kept her voice light. ‘Why is that then?’

‘She told me she needed to get Beth some new clothes. She asked me if I’d take her as I pulled into the drive last night.’

‘I can’t think why she doesn’t take Social Services up on their offer of some respite,’ Jess said. ‘It must be hard caring for a young person like Beth twenty-four-seven.’

‘That’s easy for you to say, but I wonder if you’d want it if it was one of our girls in Beth’s shoes.’

Jess could hear a note of reproach in his voice and instantly wished that she hadn’t said anything. She supposed he was right. If Mel or Jo had been born like Beth she would have been just as protective of them. And yet, if Laura would only allow Beth to mix with other people more, surely it would be good for the girl instead of being kept tied to her mother’s apron strings all the time? Beth seemed to come alive when she was with Jo or Simon, but Jess didn’t say that now. At the end of the day she was aware that it was really none of her business.

‘So what have you got planned for today then?’ Simon asked as he pulled his shoes on.

‘I thought I’d hang the new curtains in the dining room now that the decorators have finished in there and then I’m going into town to pick those pictures up that I’ve had reframed. They should be ready today.’

They went downstairs together and soon after Jess ran Mel and Jo to school and Simon shot off to work. Once she was home again, Jess wandered into the dining room and looked around with satisfaction.
The
paper she had chosen for the walls in there was perfect for the room and the chairs that she had recovered looked as good as new. Simon had made a marvellous job of repairing the one that had been wobbly. Now all she had to do was scour the antique shops again until she found a table that would go with them. She briefly wondered what had happened to the original one, but then was soon absorbed in hanging the new curtains.

Outside, the rain poured down relentlessly just as it had since the thunderstorm the day before. The sky was black and overcast, and Jess wondered briefly if they had seen the last of the summer. At this rate, she would soon be trying the new central heating system out. It was decidedly chilly now.

Once the curtains were hung to her satisfaction she had a solitary lunch then popped upstairs to get changed before going into town. As she accelerated down the drive shortly afterwards, she glanced in the car mirror. The house looked dark and brooding without the sun shining down on it – nothing at all like the happy family home she was trying so hard to create. She scolded herself,
Don’t be so daft, woman. Everywhere looks dull in this weather
.

Her spirits lifted slightly when she picked up the sketches. The frames she had chosen suited them to perfection and she could hardly wait to get home and hang them in her bedroom. On the way back she popped into the supermarket and loaded a trolley with food, and soon she was turning into the drive again, only to slam on her brakes when she saw Laura standing in the middle of it gazing at the house.

‘You daft thing,’ she scolded as she jumped out of the car. ‘I could have run you down then.’

‘What . . .?’ Laura seemed distracted for a second but then she smiled apologetically. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, Jess. I was miles away.’

‘I could see that, but what are you doing?’

Laura glanced towards Beth, who was absorbed in dragging the piles of gravel on the drive into neat little piles with the toe of her trainers.

‘Actually, I think it’s time you and I had a little talk.’ Laura kept her voice low.

Jess frowned. ‘What about?’

Ignoring the question, Laura asked, ‘How about tomorrow morning about elevenish? Den is off work with this awful flu bug that’s flying about, so Beth could stay with him for an hour while I came up to you.’

Jess was momentarily lost for words. She normally had to almost
crowbar
Laura into the house, and now here she was asking to visit of her own free will. ‘Of course you can call in,’ she told her eventually. ‘You don’t need to make an appointment. I’ve always told you you’re welcome to pop in at any time. To be honest, now that the main part of the house is taking shape, I’d be glad of the company. But now get yourself home. You look like a pair of drowned rats. You’ll catch your deaths, standing out in this weather.’

Laura grinned ruefully before taking Beth’s hand. ‘I’ll see you in the morning then, shall I?’

Jess nodded and watched them move away before swiping the rain out of her eyes and clambering back into the car. She roared off up the drive and once she had parked up in the courtyard she made a run for the kitchen door with the sketches tucked securely under her arm.

After hastily throwing off her wet coat she put the kettle on to boil and laid the sketches out on the kitchen table to admire them. The one of the young girl picking wild flowers particularly held her attention and she studied it intently. The girl looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old and had shoulder-length brown hair. She was slim, but as she was bending down it was impossible to see her face for the curtain of hair that draped across it, and Jess wondered if she had been pretty. She also suddenly wondered if this might be Martha, the young girl whose journal she was reading. At the thought a little shiver rippled through her but she had no time to dwell on it because at that moment someone shouted her name and she started. The voice had come from upstairs but she was certain that she was the only person in the house. Curious, she hurried into the hallway where she stood at the foot of the stairs gazing up them. It had sounded like a young girl’s voice but both the girls were at school.

‘Is anyone there?’ she called uncertainly, but only silence answered her. Slowly she began to climb the stairs and once on the landing she looked left and right. The rain was lashing against the windows and she began to relax a little. That was probably what she had heard. There was certainly no one there.

As she prepared the vegetables for the evening meal, Jess wondered what it was that Laura wanted to see her about the next morning.

If anything the weather got even worse during the night and Simon was not in the best of moods at breakfast the next morning. ‘All this rain is going to put us right behind on the job we’re doing,’ he complained.

‘Well, I’m afraid you can’t order the weather.’ Jess poured more tea into his mug and grinned, trying to stay cheerful. Jo looked slightly flushed today and Jess wondered if she was coming down with something, although the girl had insisted she was well enough for school. Mel was in her usual sulk, looking as if the end of the world was just around the corner and now Jess had Simon moaning too. Another great start to the day!

After seeing Simon off she ran the girls to school, watching Mel pick her way across the playground. Her daughter’s hair was scraped back into a severe ponytail with two long bits dangling down around her face. She had obviously attacked it with the straighteners again this morning, but as Jess was discovering, curly hair nowadays was considered a curse by teenage girls. She could only begin to imagine what damage the heat was inflicting to Mel’s crowning glory, but had long ago stopped trying to point it out because whenever she did, Mel just stared at her as if she was some sort of raving looney. The girl’s school tie was knotted at the third button of her shirt, which was undone at the neck as were all the other girl’s making their way into school, and the waistband of her skirt had been rolled over so that it sat just above her knees. It was as if they were trying to look like clones of each other but Jess was wise enough to know by now that she had to bow to fashion. Oh, to be young again, she thought as she restarted the car and drove away. Once back at the house she decided to have a few minutes to herself and read a little more of Martha’s journal. In no time at all she was propped up against her headboard with the book open to the next page and soon everything else faded away as she became lost in the girl’s story.

4 August

Today Grace and Bertie were married in St Theobald and St Chad’s Church in Caldecote. I had expected it to be a happy day, a day for rejoicing, but for some reason it turned out to be almost like any other day . . .

The day of the wedding finally dawned and as Martha woke, a feeling of excitement coursed through her. She had her Sunday best green dress laid out across the chair and as she looked towards it she smiled. Once they had seen to the Master’s breakfast they would be free to get ready, and she could hardly wait to see Grace in the gown she had fashioned from the length of blue silk. After pouring some water from the jug into the bowl she washed hastily and pulled on her drab work clothes. There was no point in wearing her best dress until the chores were done. The night before, she had washed her hair in water and vinegar, and after rubbing it with an old towel she had sat at the bedroom window and brushed it until it shone in the breeze that was wafting in.

Once she had secured it with a ribbon she skipped downstairs in a happy frame of mind just in time to see Bertie coming out of the Master’s study, his mouth set in a grim line.

‘So, the big day is finally here then?’ Martha smiled tentatively as Bertie appeared to look straight through her.

‘Aye, I suppose it is,’ he muttered eventually then he turned and walked away as Martha chewed on her lip. The Master had obviously said something to upset him, although she had no idea what it might be. Surely Bertie should have been in a happier frame of mind on his wedding day? Shrugging, she moved on to the kitchen where she knew Grace and Granny would already be working.

On entering the room she saw Granny flipping bacon and kidneys in a large cast-iron pan on the range and Grace laying the Master’s tray. Lately, if he didn’t have guests, the Master preferred to take his breakfast in his room, which Martha had noticed Grace didn’t seem at all happy about. But then it was a special day, so surely even Grace wouldn’t mind waiting on him today?

‘I just saw Bertie coming out of the Master’s study, so he’s obviously up and about. He’ll probably have the tray in his study this morning,’ she chirped cheerfully. ‘And I have to say Bertie didn’t look none too pleased, so I don’t know what the Master’s said to upset him.’

‘Hold your tongue, girl, else I’ll box yer ears fer yer,’ Granny snapped.

Martha sighed. What was wrong with everyone today? It seemed that they’d all got out of the wrong side of the bed.

After fetching the large milk jug from the pantry she helped the two women prepare the rest of the meal in silence before slipping through the back door. Once outside she headed for the meadow where she quickly picked a bunch of wild flowers then carried them back to the kitchen and held them out to her granny.

‘I thought these might be nice for Grace to carry as her bouquet,’ she said quietly.

The old woman’s faded grey eyes softened as she looked at her young granddaughter. It wasn’t her fault, after all, that there was trouble on, and happen she’d been a bit hard on her.

‘They’re lovely.’ She forced a smile. ‘An’ I reckon I’ve got a length o’ blue ribbon up in me room to tie ’em with. They’ll look a treat wi’ Grace’s dress.’

Slightly happier, Martha asked, ‘And where is Grace?’

‘Gone up to her room to get ready. She might be glad of a bit of help.’

Martha frowned. ‘But shouldn’t we be preparing the bridal meal for when we get back before we get dressed?’

‘There’ll be no bridal meal,’ Granny said shortly. ‘The Master’s informed us that he has guests comin’ again tonight, so soon as the service is over we’ll have to come back an’ prepare fer them.’

‘Oh!’ Martha could not stop the note of disappointment that crept into her voice. She had at least expected a small celebration with the Tolleys to mark the day. Hal Tolley was to accompany them to the church to act as best man to Bertie, but it appeared that it was not going to happen. Some wedding day this was turning out to be, she thought to herself.