godawful private unit up in Scotland for almost six months. In the process she lost almost half her body-weight and plumpness became anorexia that nearly killed her.’
‘How long has she been out?’
‘She was discharged in the summer, missing the last term of school and her A levels; I think the plan was that she was going to go to a crammer this year and do them. And then she immediately spent a few months going around South America; I think her parents felt it would mark a new beginning. She’s only been back a couple of weeks, if that. It seems that the people who committed these murders didn’t expect her to be there. It may be the weak link in the crime. Hence the danger she’s in and the help she needs. Aren’t you intrigued?’
‘Sorry, Thelma, the answer is no. For the last eighteen months I haven’t seen Elsie except on weekends, and as soon as she fell asleep on Saturday and Sunday I would do paperwork until two in the morning. Mainly I just remember migraines in a fog of fatigue. If you have seriously considered that I could have a traumatized young woman actually staying in my house where I have my little daughter… And staying here because she may be in danger. It’s not possible.’
Thelma bowed her head in acknowledgement, although I knew her well enough to know she wasn’t convinced.
‘How
‘Cross, insubordinate. All the usual. Just started a new school.’ I was worried by the interested, predatory look that came over Thelma’s face when I mentioned Elsie and my home. I had to get on to something else. ‘Your research sounds interesting.’
‘Mmm,’ she said, busily dunking, refusing to be so crudely drawn.
‘I’ve been overseeing some work on trauma in children which might interest you,’ I continued, stubbornly, on the same doomed track. ‘Obviously, you know that children relive past traumas in repetitive play. A team down in Kent is trying to assess the effect this has on their memory of the event.’
‘So it’s not your own research?’
‘No,’ I said with a laugh. ‘The sum total of my research on childhood memory is a mnemonic game that Elsie and I play. It’s just for fun, but I’ve always been interested in systems of organizing mental processes and this is one of the oldest. Elsie and I invented the image of a house, and we know in our minds what it looks like and we can remember things by putting them in different places in the house and then retrieving them when we want to remember them.’
Thelma looked dubious.
‘Can she manage that?’
‘Surprisingly well. When she is in a good mood we can put something on the door, on the doormat, in the kitchen, on the stairs and so on and later she can usually remember them.’
‘It sounds hard work for a five-year-old.’
‘I wouldn’t do it if she didn’t like it. She’s proud of being able to do it.’
‘Or pleased to get your approval,’ Thelma said. She stood up, a dumpy and dishevelled creature covered in crumbs. ‘And now I must go. If you have any more thoughts about our problem, please phone me.’
‘All right.’
‘You can post a reminder to yourself on the front door of Elsie’s imaginary house.’
I felt I needed to say something.
‘You know, when I became a doctor I had an idea about making the world a saner, rational place. I sometimes think that when I began treating victims of trauma, I gave up on the world and just tried to help people deal with it.’
‘That’s not a small thing,’ Thelma said.
I saw her to the door and watched her walk across to the car. I stayed in the doorway for several minutes after she’d gone. It was ridiculous, entirely out of the question. I sat down on the sofa and pondered it.
Seven
‘This crackling’s a bit soft.’ Danny held up a bendy, pale-brown strip that looked as if it had been torn from the sole of a shoe rather than the back of a pig.
‘Blame Asda. Or the microwave. I just followed the instructions on the packet.’
‘I like it chewy. It’s like chewing gum.’
‘Thanks, Elsie, and take your feet off the table – just because you’ve got another INSET day off school doesn’t mean you can start copying Danny and slouching around. Pass the apple sauce, Danny. From a tin,’ I added.
‘Didn’t your mother ever teach you to cook?’
‘Help yourself to some spinach. Microwaved in the bag.’
I slid two slabs of whitish meat on to my plate.
‘Do a bird,’ said Elsie.
‘Wait,’ said Danny.
‘Just a small bird.’
‘All right.’
Danny ripped a corner of a page of a newspaper and made some surprisingly deft movements with his large chafed fingers and, in a few seconds, perkily standing on the table was a something with two legs and a neck that could plausibly be described as a bird. Elsie gave a shriek of approbation. I was impressed as ever.
‘Why is it that men can always do these things?’ I asked. ‘I could never do origami.’
‘This isn’t bloody origami. It’s just a nervous habit for when I’ve got nothing better to do.’
That was certainly true. Already, tiny paper creatures were infesting the house like moths. Elsie was collecting mem.
‘Now I want a puppy,’ she said.
‘Wait,’ said Danny.
‘Can we paint after lunch? I’ve finished anyway. I don’t like it. Can I have ice-cream for pudding?’
‘Have two more mouthfuls. We’re all going for a walk after lunch and…’
‘I don’t want to go for a walk!’ Elsie’s voice climbed up the scales. ‘I’m tired of going for walks. My legs are tired. I’ve got a cough.’ She coughed unconvincingly.
‘Not a walk,’ said Danny quickly. ‘An adventure. We’ll find shells and make a…’ Inspiration failed. ‘Shell-box,’ he said without much conviction.
‘Can I go on your shoulders on the adventure?’
‘If you walk the first bit.’
‘Thanks, Danny,’ I said as Elsie marched out of the room to find a bag for the shells. He shrugged and shovelled a forkful of meat into his mouth. We’d had a good night, and now we were having a reasonable day; no bickerings. He’d said nothing at all about his next job or about having to get back to London – he always spoke about London as if it were an appointment, not a city – nor had I asked him. We were getting on better. We had to talk, but not just yet. I stretched, pushed away my plate; tired, languid and comfortable.
‘It’ll do me good to get out of the house.’
I never went for the walk because, as I was pulling Elsie’s red elephant boots on to her outstretched feet and she was shouting that I was hurting her, we heard a car draw up outside. I straightened up and peered out of the window. A tall stout man with a ruddy face on which he was already preparing a smile got out of the driver’s seat. Out of the passenger seat came Thelma, wearing an extraordinarily unbecoming track suit. I turned to Danny.
‘Maybe it would be nice for you and Elsie if you went off on your adventure alone.’
His expression didn’t change, and he took hold of her hand and led her, ignoring her single squeal of protest, through the kitchen and out of the back door.
