Malcolm’s face was close to hers and she pushed him away violently. “Leave me alone!” she tried to shout, but it came out as a squeak.
“Now, Lois,” he said, his voice controlled now and full of oily concern. “You fainted, my dear. Probably been doing too much, with your daughter’s illness and all of that. Just relax for a few minutes, then I’ll make you a cup of tea. Hot and sweet?” He smiled at her and backed away as she sat up, shaking with the effort.
“I don’t want tea,” she said. “I’m going home and I shall not be back here…ever again.” Holding on to the edge of the table, she managed to stand up. The kitchen was revolving again and she grabbed the draining board with both hands. But the realisation that she now had her back to Malcolm gave her strength enough to turn around. She took a tentative step, then another, and to her huge relief the whirling vertigo settled down and she was able to reach the door. “I don’t know what happened,” she said, “but I expect it’ll come back to me. I just know I have to go. No, don’t come near me!” she added quickly, as he moved to hold the door open for her. “I’ll give Rachel a ring.”
She got the car going with difficulty. It was as if she was driving alone for the first time. She had to remind herself of each step. Turn the key…foot on clutch…into gear…When the car moved away slowly from the Barratts’ house, she noticed a car behind her. In her driving mirror she saw Keith Simpson at the wheel and she raised her left hand in salute. Once outside Farnden and approaching Alibone Woods, she suddenly began to feel dizzy again and decided to stop. She wanted to think, anyway, in peace and quiet. It was her best hope of recalling what had happened. Keith slowed up, opened his window and yelled, “OK Lois?” She felt dizzy, but the last thing she wanted was anxious attention from Keith Simpson, so she nodded and waved him on, pulling into the layby. He accelerated fast and disappeared.
Alibone Woods in spring shimmered with bluebells and crowds came from town to see them, but now it was winter, quiet and deserted. This was where Hunter Cowgill had suggested they should meet, but she’d had no occasion to call him. She got out of the car and walked up a wide track under the tall beech trees which extended across the landscape as far as she could see. The brilliant sun had gone and heavy clouds hung over the woods. The chilly solitude surrounding Lois cleared her head. She had been frightened, terrified, and it was something Malcolm Barratt did or said. He’d appeared suddenly, making her start with surprise. The radio had been on, she remembered. That’s right…he’d told her to turn it off and then he started shouting at her. Why? She took a narrow path deeper into the woods and a rabbit scuttled across her path. Normally, she thought, I should be scared stiff of a running rabbit. Nothing would have persuaded me into a lonely wood on my own, but now, she thought, there were far worse things to be scared by. A mossy tree stump, the remains of an ancient oak, served as a damp seat. She felt shaky again and hoped she’d be able to find the car again. She’d left her mobile there, so she couldn’t phone Derek to come and rescue her. Telephone…It was something to do with a phone call…Pamela! He’d said that name, shouted it at the top of his voice. Suddenly, she remembered it all. The accusation, his spitting rage as he advanced on her in the kitchen. She’d fainted then. Did he touch her? She felt her throat tentatively, but it was not in the least sore. No bruises anywhere, so he didn’t touch her. But if she hadn’t fainted, she was sure he would have attacked her. He’d been out of control, with flecks of white at the corners of his mouth.
Pamela…It was the name in the address book on his desk, and she had been going to ring her up and pretend to be a wrong number. She’d decided against it because she couldn’t see anything to be gained from it. After all, the woman would hardly be likely to say anything of interest to a perfect stranger. Someone had phoned Pamela, though. It must have been Rachel. Perhaps she’d noticed the name just as Lois had done, and had suspicions. After all, she had every reason. Malcolm was an old letch and had just returned from some mysterious absence. Rachel was only human.
Lois stood up, brushing the back of her damp coat. People’ll think I’ve wet myself, she thought, and began to laugh. It was such a relief to know she would not be going back to the Barratts. There would be no problem about getting another job, she knew. Mary Rix was always asking if she had any free time to clean for other people in the village. “Good riddance, Professor Barratt!” she yelled to the silent wood. Lois set off back down the narrow path, looking down at her feet as she picked her way through puddles and heaps of fallen twigs. Suddenly there was a shadow in front of her and she looked up in terror.
“Morning Lois,” said Inspector Cowgill. “I hope I didn’t startle you.” But Lois was swaying and he had to reach out quickly to support her. “Here, steady!” he said and put an arm around her, furious with himself for being so insensitive. Simpson had telephoned him from his car and he’d come straight out to the woods, sure that something was up. Clearly Lois had had a shock of some kind.
She straightened up and shook off his arm, then leaned against a tree trunk, breathing hard. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m OK now. It was just that…” She frowned and looked at him fiercely. “What the hell are you doing here, anyway? I didn’t…” she said.
“Keith Simpson,” he said, and waited. “Sure you’re all right?” he said after a few seconds.
“Yep,” she said. “And the reason I’m here is that I wanted to be on my own.”
“Fine,” said Hunter Cowgill, turning round. He was getting used to Lois now.
She followed him slowly, but before they reached the wide track, she stopped again. “Listen,” she said, and he turned and faced her, eyebrows raised. “There was something. Malcolm Barratt. He had a go at me. At least, if I hadn’t passed out, I think he was going to. Something about one of his women. Anyway, I got out quick, and shan’t be going back. Told him so. Now, I just need to settle down for a minute and then go home. So you can go. I don’t want you doing anything about it.”
She could see now that he’d backed along the track into the wood so that his car would not be seen from the road. He thought of everything.
Now he said, “Fair enough, Lois. We’ll keep an eye on him. But I’d be glad if you’d think again about leaving the Barratts. Can’t influence you, of course. Just give it some more thought.” She said nothing and he walked away from her. She followed slowly and as he got into his car he turned back and raised his hand. “Take care,” he called, and drove off.
Lois’s car started without trouble this time and she felt calm enough to call in at the supermarket in Tresham for supplies. It was lunch time when she arrived back in Byron Way, her spirits restored. For the moment she saw no reason to question her mother’s presence, sitting there in her kitchen in the middle of the day…until she saw her face.
“Mum? What’s up?” Her mother looked at least ten years older and seemed on the verge of tears.
“It’s Josie,” she said. “She ran away from me.”
“What d’you mean?” said Lois. “She’s not a little kid. She wouldn’t run away?” She still felt soothed by Hunter Cowgill’s reassuring remarks, and wondered fleetingly if her mother was wandering a bit. After all, she was getting on.
“It was that lad,” said her mother and suddenly Lois’s composure evaporated. “Melvyn. He turned up in the centre. Came out of nowhere. And before I knew it, Josie was taking his hand and saying she was just going off to have a coffee with him and would meet me outside John Lewis in half an hour.” She stopped, and her eyes filled.
“And?” said Lois urgently. Her heart was pounding and she could hardly breathe. “For God’s sake, Mum, what happened! Where is she?”
“She didn’t turn up. I waited an hour, then went to the information office and they made an announcement… you know, like they do for lost kids. But Josie didn’t turn up and her mobile was switched off. In the end, they told me to go home and see if she’d gone back alone. After all, they said, she is fourteen.”
“She wasn’t at your house, then,” said Lois. “So you phoned the police, for Christ’s sake?”
Her mother nodded. “They told me not to worry, she’d be sure to turn up. Probably gone home, they said. Let us know if she doesn’t turn up by bedtime, they said. I expect they thought I was just a silly old woman.” Her mother was crying now, and Lois slumped down into a chair.
“So now what?” she said. Her immediate instinct was to telephone Derek. But he was working twenty miles away, the other side of Fletching. A big job, he’d said, and he was anxious to finish it today. With all the recent troubles, he’d got behind with his schedule, and was planning to work solidly until he caught up. He wouldn’t thank her for ringing now, when Josie might turn up at any moment.
“What time did you get to the centre, then?” she said handing her mother a tissue.
“Ten-ish. We went straight there after dropping the boys off at school. Lois…” she added. “I waited and waited. Where can she have gone?”
Lois shook her head. Her imagination had begun to work and, although she tried to subdue rising panic, she
