Page 112 of The Garden of Forgotten Wishes
Roddy would appear to be a good thing –andhe’d clearly survived tea with Audrey Lordly-Grace, so he must be tougher and more resilient than he looked.
Treena, who had come to the quiz night with Luke, also looked glowing, so perhaps love was in the air? They sat with Cress and Roddy at the next table to ours and didn’t seem to get many quiz questions right, so if therewaslove in the air, it didn’t sharpen the intellect.
I sat back, looking around at the now-familiar faces and feeling relaxed and happy – especially when Ned caught my eye and gave me his slow, deep smile, the one that seemed to warm me right through and do strange things to my heart rhythm …
I found myself smiling back – and then, beyond him, caught sight of Wayne, standing at the bar watching us. He made an indefinable little leering grimace and I felt as if I’d been drenched in icy water.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Ned.
‘Nothing, I’m just a bit tired,’ I said quickly as Wayne vanished towards the darts room.
Elf, Myfy, Gerald and Jacob had left together as soon as the quiz finished and Treena and Luke then took their place at our table.
When Luke went to order more drinks, I decided to pop to the ladies, then wished I hadn’t when Wayne sidled up to me and shoved a piece of paper into my hand.
‘From our dad,’ he muttered, then slunk off again.
I looked back furtively, but I didn’t think anyone had noticed and I bolted into the loo, where I unfolded the note, which said, without any preamble:
Come to the farm tomorrow night at eight – I know who you are and we got things to discuss. Come on your own – you won’t want Ned Mars to hear what we got to say.
It was signed just with his initials, S.V.
I read it twice, my mind in a whirl and my stomach churning, then pushed it into my pocket and went out of the cubicle, where I found Treena leaning against the wall with her arms folded, waiting for me.
‘I saw Wayne pass you something as you came in,’ she explained. ‘It looked like a piece of paper.’
‘Did anyone else see?’ I asked quickly.
‘No, I’m sure they didn’t. What is it? You look a bit weird.’
I fished out the note and handed it to her and she stared down at it, puzzled.
‘This seems to be a bill for something called pig nuts …’
‘Other side,’ I said, but she’d already flipped it over.
‘It’s from Saul – he must have told Wayne to give it to me,’ I said. ‘They know who I am – or at least, Saul does, but I expect Wayne does now, too.’
She gave it back and I tucked it into my rucksack.
‘What are you going to do? You’re surely not going to go there on your own tomorrow night?’
‘Well, it would be a chance to have it all out, wouldn’t it? I can make it clear that I don’t want anything from them, not even to tell anyone I’m related to them, so there’s no need to threaten me with telling Ned.’
‘Maybe, but you’d be much better off telling him the truth yourself, and then ignoring them.’
‘But if I can make them see reason tomorrow night, I might neverneedto tell him,’ I said obstinately. ‘That would be an end of it.’
‘Your mum was too terrified of her family to ever return here and warned you not to, either,’ she pointed out. ‘They must have threatened her with something bad, to make her so afraid.’
‘Her parents might have done, but they’re dead now. Besides, it’s the twenty-first century, not the Dark Ages, so what can they possibly do to me, except rant a bit, before I can explain?’
‘I don’t think you should go on your own,’ Treena said stubbornly. ‘I’ll come with you. I’m not on duty tomorrow evening.’
‘If you’re with me, Saul probably won’t talk to me at all!’
‘Then I’ll drive you there and wait in that layby near the farm gate with the bus stop,’ she said. ‘You’ll have your phone and if you haven’t come back or rung me in half an hour, I’ll call Luke and then come and get you.’
