A Finer End (39 page)

“But—” Kincaid stared at him. “Simon, when you went to the farmhouse that evening, was Garnet’s van in the yard?”

“Yes, but there was no one in the house. I knocked
and
called out.”

“Bloody hell. I’ve been a fool. Simon, forgive me. Gemma—we’ve been blind. It was never Winnie who was in danger.”

I
T SEEMED TO
Gemma that she had never been so tired. She had listened to Kincaid’s exchange with Simon Fitzstephen with a growing sense of unreality, as if she were becoming physically detached from her body. Now, as they sped back towards Glastonbury, she was having difficulty following Kincaid’s logic. “Are you saying you think Fiona Allen’s husband might hurt her?” she asked.

“I don’t know. But I do think Bram fits into this and somehow that it’s connected to the death of little Sarah Kinnersley. When I saw her photo in that news clipping, I knew she seemed familiar—and then tonight at Simon’s it came back to me: it was the face of the child in Fiona’s painting.”

“The painting … it seemed almost as if the beings—angels?—were protecting the child.…”

“Bram and Garnet were lovers at the time Sarah was killed. The Kinnersleys were so devastated by their loss that they walked away from their property—Buddy mentioned Garnet bought it ‘for a song.’ Buddy also said that after little Sarah Kinnersley died, everything changed. Bram left Garnet. He married Fiona.”

“Left Garnet because she knew the truth? Was Garnet an accessory in Sarah’s death?”

“In the notes she left in the kitchen, she wrote that Faith was her redemption, and that bringing Faith’s baby into the world would be a child’s life for a child’s life. But I think she came to feel that wasn’t enough, that in order to counteract what was happening to Faith she needed to take some kind of direct action.”

“She confronted Bram—”

“I’d guess she told him she wouldn’t keep his secret any longer, that it was time for him to make retribution by telling the truth.”

“And Winnie?”

“Garnet told Faith she had an appointment that evening. I think she’d set a meeting with Bram, perhaps at the very spot where Winnie was struck.”

“And at the last minute Garnet found she couldn’t go through with it—and Winnie just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gemma finished. “The next day, when Garnet learned of the accident, she guessed who had been responsible.”

“Then did she go to him? Or did he come after her? Simon said that when he went to Garnet’s that evening, her van was still in the yard. I’m guessing that Bram went to the farmhouse sometime after Nick left.”

“You think he drowned her in the house? But there was no sign.”

“No.… Do something for me, would you? Ring directory inquiries, get the number for Buddy—Charles Barnes.”

Gemma complied and, when the number began to ring, handed the phone to Kincaid.

“Buddy? It’s Duncan Kincaid. You know the spring on Garnet’s property? Is there any standing water? A pool above the house. Right. Oh, and Buddy, one more thing: On the night Sarah Kinnersley was killed, do you know where Garnet was? Did she have a car?” He listened a moment longer, then said, “Okay, thanks. I’ll explain later,” and disconnected.

“She was with Bram Allen,” stated Gemma.

“And he would have been driving. Garnet had no car at the time.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re worried about Fiona …”

“Because I think that, like Andrew with his sister, there’s one person Bram would do anything to protect from the knowledge of his crime.”

The lights still shone in the Allens’ house, and when Kincaid rang the bell, Fiona opened the door immediately. “Bram,” she said, “—have you seen him?”

“He’s not here?”

Fiona shook her head. “When I came back from Jack’s, I found him in the studio. He was—I’ve never seen him like that. My painting—he had my painting, the one of the Abbey, with the child. He’d cut it with his knife. And then he—he—”

“Slow down,” Kincaid said gently. “What happened then?”

“He said things I didn’t understand, something about stopping it once and for all, and he took the painting.”

“Bram left with the painting?”

Fiona nodded. “Stop what? What did he mean? Where has he gone? Bram—”

Kincaid took the north path. More treacherous, yes, but faster, and if Gemma had done it, so could he. The setting moon provided enough illumination that he climbed without mishap, driven by fear of what he would find at the top.

Once at the summit he stopped, letting his breathing ease. Then he went forward quietly, scanning the silvered turf for a shadow of movement.

He found Bram Allen on the far side of St. Michael’s Tower, in the spot where Faith had lain. Bram sat huddled against the wall, Fiona’s painting clutched to his chest, the knife in his right hand visible against the canvas.

“Bram,” Kincaid called softly, coming to a halt a few feet away.

Bram stood, looking at him without surprise. “I’ll give them blood, if that’s what they want,” he said clearly. “But not that girl and her baby. Not again.”

“Who wants blood?” Kincaid stood motionless.

“Old Ones. Garnet knew. Garnet always knew about them. That night we danced, here, in the grass. It was Samhain, the time when the veil is thinnest. We called them and they came. We were wild with it, invincible, we
possessed the world. But they wanted more—a life—and we were just the instruments.”

“Sarah.”

“I saw her face, for only an instant, above the windscreen. I’ve seen it every day of my life since. How did Fiona know?”

“The child in the painting.” Kincaid inched closer, aware of the glimmer of the knife.

“Why? Why did she come to Fiona?”

“That must have been terrible for you, when Fiona began to paint little Sarah.”

“Fiona didn’t understand why I couldn’t bear the sight of them. Then when she wanted to hang them in the gallery, I couldn’t refuse.”

“But why kill Garnet, Bram?”

“It was building again, the old power. Garnet believed she could stop it—that we could stop it if I told. She came into the gallery. When she saw Fiona’s paintings she said it was a divine judgment, that
Fiona
was my retribution. Fiona.…” The despair in his voice chilled Kincaid to the heart. “All these years I thought I could make amends by loving her, being part of her goodness. The only thing I couldn’t do was give her a child.… I hoped that grief might be punishment enough.”

“Did you agree to meet Garnet that night in the lane?”

“A customer came into the gallery. I had to get rid of her somehow. And then, waiting in the darkness, I thought how easy it would be.… I didn’t know it was Winnie until it was too late.”

And he had left her to die
, Kincaid thought,
when he could so easily have called for help
.

“But Garnet knew, didn’t she? So the next night you went to her house, and you convinced her to walk up to the spring.”

“I think she knew what was going to happen, at the last. Perhaps she thought her life would finish it. But it wasn’t enough.”

“Bram, let’s go home. It’s over now. Your wife is frantic with worry about you.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I know that Fiona will love you no matter what you’ve done—”

“No. I won’t have her stained with this … this evil—” His gesture with the knife took in the Tor. “Can’t you feel it? Once it begins, only blood will satisfy their hunger.”

“Bram, there’s nothing here. Let’s go home to your wife. We’ll get warm. Have a drink. In the morning, nothing will seem so terrible.” He shifted his weight, judged his distance from the weapon.

“I can’t. Fiona—”

“Garnet was right, Bram. The only way to end this is to tell the truth. Give Fiona the chance to forgive you. She loves you—you owe her that.”

“I—”

“Give me the knife, Bram.” He stepped closer, held out his hand.

“But
they
—”

“It’s over, Bram, the cycle’s finished. They don’t need your life.” Kincaid tensed, ready to lunge for the weapon.

“I—” Bram put his hands to his face and sagged against the wall. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” Kincaid took the knife from his unresisting fingers. “Let’s go home.”

He guided Bram away from the tower, leaving Fiona’s mutilated painting abandoned against the cold stone.

They began the descent, Kincaid staying as close to Bram as the narrow path allowed. To one side was a sheer drop; mud and loose stones made the footing treacherous. The wind tore at them, tugging at their clothing like invisible hands.

At the first hairpin bend, Bram turned back. He spoke, but the wind snatched the words from his mouth. Then a shower of stones fell from above, striking him. Jerking
away from the blows, Bram lost his footing and plunged over the edge.

“Bram!” Kincaid shouted, reaching for him, but his fingers grasped only air. He called out again and again, but no reply came from the impenetrable darkness below.

At last, exhausted, he continued downwards, towards the help he knew would be futile.

It seemed that Bram had been right, after all. The Old Gods had been satisfied with no less than payment in blood.

All the way to Wells, huddled in the back of the car, Gemma could only think of how it had felt to hold Faith’s baby in her arms. And she found herself making a mute entreaty, again and again, that she would not lose what she had been given.

K
INCAID WAITED ALONE
outside the cubicle in the emergency ward for news of Gemma. When the doctor emerged at last, he stood. “Is she—”

“She’s fine,” the doctor informed him with abstracted cheerfulness.

“But what happened? Is she ill?”

“Um, not exactly. Why don’t you go in and see her yourself.”

He found Gemma draped in a lilac-flowered hospital gown, her hair loose about her shoulders. Going to her, he sat on the edge of the bed and said only, “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Her smile was tremulous. “There’s nothing exactly wrong. It’s just that I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant?”

“It is a fairly common occurrence, you know, if you do the sort of things we’ve done.”

“But—how long?”

“Eight to ten weeks, the doctor thinks. I should have told you sooner. Only I wasn’t sure … and I didn’t know how you would feel … or quite how I felt.”

“The baby—is it going to be okay?”

“There’s a bit of placental tearing, but it’s not too severe. I’ll have to see a specialist, and the doctor says I may have to take it a bit easier than I’m accustomed. No more climbing mountains in the rain, or delivering babies, for a while.”

Gemma, pregnant? With his child?
Kincaid shook his head, trying to take in the wonder of it. But what had she meant when she’d said she wasn’t sure how she felt about it? “Gemma—your job. I know how much it means to you. How will you—?”

“I don’t know,” she said pensively. “But tonight, when I thought I would lose this baby, I realized what mattered to me most.”

Unable to speak, Kincaid took her hand in both of his.

•  •  •

On the threshold of Faith’s hospital room, Winnie hesitated. Kincaid had told her that Faith adamantly refused to press charges against Andrew, leaving the police powerless to prosecute him for his assault on her. Yet if her brother felt any gratitude, he had not expressed it—in fact, he’d refused to talk to her about Faith at all. He remained silent and unresponsive during her visits.

The doctors told her his physical recovery might be slow; Winnie suspected his emotional recovery would be even more difficult—if it were possible at all. But she must hope, and she had to begin by setting things right with Faith.

Taking a breath, she pushed open the door and went in. Faith greeted her with a smile, and Winnie gave silent thanks for the entry of this remarkable girl into her life.

When she had duly admired little Bridget, she asked, “Your parents—how did it go?”

“Okay. They thought Bridget was gorgeous, didn’t they, sweetheart?” Faith cooed to the baby at her breast. “But I can’t go back. I don’t know how we’ll manage, Bridget and I, but I know I don’t fit in that life anymore. Winnie—When I found out you were Andrew’s sister, I was afraid you’d guess somehow about the baby, and I had promised no one would ever know—”

“It’s all right, Faith. We have to think about the future now, and I have a proposal for you. I could use some help in the Vicarage. And even when Jack moves in—”

Faith’s face lit up. “You’re getting married?”

“As soon as we can arrange it,” Winnie admitted. “But even then, there will be plenty of room in the Vicarage, drafty old pile that it is, until you get on your feet. And we are, after all, family—”

“Andrew. He wouldn’t—I mean I couldn’t—”

“Of course you can. Andrew has no say over who lives in my home.”

“But—”

“My brother owes you a debt he can never hope to repay. But he can begin by providing support for little Bridget, and by getting used to the idea that we are all going to have to get on together.”

Faith slept after Winnie’s visit, deeply and dreamlessly, and when she woke she knew what she was going to do. Garnet’s legacy should not be allowed to vanish. She, Faith, with Winnie’s help, could carry it on. She would learn to make tile.