'No, he won't. I've got two strong men downstairs who'll make sure he doesn't. Come along.'
Agatha stopped at a bank and drew two hundred pounds out of the machine. She paid the two men and dropped them off at the pub before driving Toni to her home.
'Get your bag and come in,' ordered Agatha. Carrying the camera case, Agatha led the way.
In the kitchen she ordered Toni to sit down and examined her lip and eye. 'You won't need stitches but you're going to have one hell of a black eye. I'll make you a cup of sweet tea and then check the spare room. I had a guest who's just left, so I'll need to change the sheets.'
But when she went upstairs, Agatha found that her excellent cleaner, Doris Simpson, had been in and changed the sheets, cleaned the room, and placed a small jug of wild flowers beside the bed.
She returned to the kitchen. 'It's all ready. Has this happened before?'
'He's never hit me before. Just played nasty tricks. When I was going to school, if he found my homework, he'd rip it up, things like that.'
'Where is your father?'
'I don't know who he is. Ma would never say.'
'And your mother drinks a lot?'
'All the time.'
'Any others? I mean brothers or sisters?'
'No, just Terry.'
'What a mess. I should report all this to the social services. Stay here for a bit until I figure out what to do. Now, have you eaten anything?'
Toni shook her head.
'I'll fix us something, but,' said Agatha with a rare burst of honesty, 'I'm not the world's best cook.'
She searched in the deep freeze and found a packet of lamb stew, given to her the week before by Mrs Bloxby. She defrosted it and then heated it in the microwave. She put a plate of food in front of Toni and then opened a bottle of wine.
'You're very kind,' said Toni awkwardly.
The doorbell rang.
'Does Terry know where I live?' asked Agatha nervously.
'No. I didn't either. You only had phone numbers on that card you gave me.'
Agatha went to answer it. Her friend, Sir Charles Fraith, stood on the doorstep.
'Come in,' said Agatha. 'But I'm in the middle of a bit of a drama.'
Charles was as beautifully tailored as ever, his fair hair in an excellent cut and his neat features betraying nothing more than amiable curiosity. Agatha introduced Toni and briefly outlined what had been happening.
Charles helped himself to a glass of wine. 'I haven't enough food for you,' said Agatha.
'I've just eaten. Do you know what you should do?' said Charles.
'About what?'
'About Toni here.'
'It's arranged. She can stay here as long as she wants.'
'You'll soon want your own space and start bitching, Agatha.'
And Agatha, who had been feeling like a saint for rescuing Toni, glared at him.
'Listen,' said Charles. 'These days, you can't lose out buying property. Buy her a flat in Mircester and then when she starts earning enough, charge her rent.'
Agatha opened her mouth to give an angry retort and then shut it again. Charles might have a point. What if she met the man of her dreams? It wouldn't help to have a pretty young girl in residence.
'I'll think about it,' she said gruffly. She saw that Toni had finished eating. 'Come along, Toni. I'll take you upstairs. Have a hot bath and get into bed. You'll feel a lot better after a good night's sleep.'
Later, Toni lay in the comfortable bed and looked about her with a kind of wonder. Everything was so clean and cheerful. Chintz curtains fluttered at the open window. Agatha had brought her up a glass of warm milk and two strong painkillers along with magazines and books.
How odd that the terrifying Agatha should turn out to be so motherly. And the cottage was the kind she had seen on chocolate boxes and calendars with its deep thatched roof.
Toni did not expect this heaven to last. But her young life had been full of experience of how to enjoy the moment before the drunken chaos created by her mother and brother descended on her again. She sighed and stretched out and was soon fast asleep.
Toni awoke with a start and looked at the alarm clock beside her bed--and groaned. Nine o'clock! How could she have overslept? She struggled up and saw a note on the bedside table. It was from Agatha. She read: 'I think you should take the day off and relax. There is food in the freezer. Help yourself. A.'
Toni got up and stretched. Two white fluffy towels had been placed at the end of her bed. She found the bathroom, had a shower and dressed in a blouse, jeans and sandals.
She went into the kitchen. Agatha's cats, Hodge and Boswell, came to meet her. Toni crouched down on the floor and petted them, then stood up and went to the fridge. There were no eggs or bacon. A chest freezer stood against one wall. She lifted the lid. The labels that could still be read showed Agatha's love for microwaveable food such as curries and lasagne.
Toni saw a loaf on the counter and decided to settle for a breakfast of toast and coffee.
She had just finished when the doorbell rang. Toni experienced a pang of fear. What if her brother had come to hunt her down?
There was a spyhole in the door and she peered through it. A pleasant-looking greyhaired woman stood on the step.
Toni opened the door. 'I am Mrs Bloxby,' said the woman. 'Mrs Raisin called me. She had not told you how to set the burglar alarm. Let me show you.'
'That is kind of you,' said Toni.
She listened carefully to the instructions and then Mrs Bloxby said, 'I also wondered whether you might like to come with me to the vicarage? You must be hungry. Mrs Raisin only has black coffee and cigarettes for breakfast.'
Toni was still hungry so she agreed, and ten minutes later was sitting in the vicarage garden listening to the domestic sounds from the kitchen as Mrs Bloxby prepared her breakfast.
The sun shone down in all its hazy autumn beauty. From the fields above the village came the sound of a tractor.
The vicar's wife came out with a tray and unloaded a plate of bacon, sausage and eggs, coffee, toast and marmalade.
'This is very good of you,' said Toni awkwardly. 'Did Mrs Raisin tell you why I am staying with her?'
'Mrs Raisin said that you had some trouble at home, that is all.'
Silence fell as Toni ate steadily. Mrs Bloxby took out some knitting. The needles flashed in the sunlight.
Toni finished her meal and sat back with a sigh. 'I'll need to find somewhere to live,' she said. 'I can't stay with Mrs Raisin forever. We call her Agatha at the office.'
Mrs Bloxby smiled. 'It is a very old-fashioned tradition in the village to use second names. I gather you don't want to go home again.'
'It's difficult,' said Toni. Mrs Bloxby smiled and continued to knit. 'It's like this,' said Toni, and then it all burst out of her, all the family troubles.
'What about your father?' asked Mrs Bloxby.
'I don't know who he is,' mumbled Toni.
'I really wouldn't worry about your future,' said Mrs Bloxby. 'Mrs Raisin is a great organizer.' She put down her knitting. 'Now, I must go about my parish duties.'
'Can I help?'
'As a matter of fact, you can. One of my duties is to read to old Mrs Wilson. She is going blind.'
'I can do that.'
