Authors: Rhys Bowen
Evans to Betsy (20 page)
“My God, you didn’t wait long, did you?” Bronwen demanded. “Did you think I wasn’t going to recover and you were going to hedge your bets?”
“Bronwen, wait. It’s not—”
“Did she spend the night here?”
“Yes, but—” He tried to grab her but she pushed him off and ran out of the house again.
“Bronwen, please—stop. Just let me explain. It wasn’t like that at all …”
“Go away,” she shouted. “Go away and leave me alone. I never want to see you again.”
Without warning she teetered and collapsed to the ground.
The next moments passed as if in a nightmare. The ambulance seemed to arrive in no time at all. Evan watched the medics scoop Bronwen up and cart her off on a stretcher as if she were a piece of meat. He tried to go with them and was pushed back.
“Are you next of kin? Well, then ring the hospital later and they’ll let you know when you can see her.”
He stood there in his bare feet, in the street, watching it go, hearing the siren as it disappeared down the pass. He had only felt this bad once before in his life, and that was when he sat beside his father in the Swansea hospital and watched the life ebb out of him. The words of guilt screamed through his head: “You did that to her. It’s your fault.”
It was still raining when Betsy arrived at the Sacred Grove. For the first time she had had to take public transportation and was out of breath after the long walk from the nearest bus stop. She had run all the way from the gate, not wanting to be late. Her heart was thumping as the electric security gate swung open—and it wasn’t just from running. She had tried to seem brave to Evan, but truly she was scared about coming here now. Yesterday’s incident in the steam room had unnerved her more than she cared to admit. The morning’s incident with Bronwen had unsettled her even more. She knew that she had done nothing wrong, but she couldn’t help blaming herself. She got the feeling that Evan blamed her too. What if something awful happened to Bronwen because of her? The stupid thing was that she had fantasized over and over about something happening to Bronwen and Evan turning to her for love and support instead. But now that something had happened to Bronwen she just felt sick and scared.She reached the main house and went to hang up her coat in the cloakroom. Evan had made her promise that she’d not be caught anywhere alone again. “Stay in public areas and if you’re sent anywhere, get another girl to come with you,” he had instructed. If Evan was worried for her, then she should definitely be on her
guard. She decided she’d go around with Bethan all day, just for safety.
guard. She decided she’d go around with Bethan all day, just for safety.
“Where’s Bethan?” she asked as she went into the kitchen. Bethan usually cleared up after breakfast with her and the dining room looked like a disaster area.
“I don’t know,” Michael said. “She was looking for you a little while ago. I think she must have gone on down to the meditation center. Rhiannon wants you down there too, as soon as you can.” He leaned closer to her. “I’ll warn you that she’s in a bad mood. It’s raining on her bonfire and she had absolute confirmation from the universe that it would be fine tonight. But you’d better get on with clearing up in the dining room first. Chef’s in a bad mood this morning, too. Must be the weather. Come on, I’ll give you a hand.”
Bethan put down her bucket as she pushed open the main door of the health center. Rhiannon had them all in a tizzy today, because the big ceremony was tonight. She’d almost snapped Bethan’s head off when she had tried to be helpful.
“Get your other tasks done and come back here as quickly as possible. I want you and Betsy together. We need to carry all this stuff across to the ceremony site and attempt to keep it dry. And tell the groundsman that I want him to find me dry wood too. The fire can’t be allowed to smolder. It must flame up instantly.”
Bethan thought it was a lot of fuss about nothing. She’d been to a ceremony before and thought they all looked pretty silly, dancing around the grove in their long robes, calling on the East and West and the spirits of animals. But she was afraid of Rhiannon. There was something about her, the way she looked at you, that made you not want to get on her bad side.
She decided to get her share of the spa cleaning done right away, then she wouldn’t get in trouble with Annabel. She paused and looked up at the main house. It wasn’t like Betsy to be late. And why did it have to be today, when Bethan really wanted to talk to her? She’d had a bad night last night, wondering who to tell—because Rebecca’s disappearance had been playing on her mind. At the time she hadn’t thought much about it. They’d told her Rebecca
had gone and she’d accepted it. And when she had found Rebecca’s raincoat still hanging in the staff cloakroom, she hadn’t thought twice about that either. Rebecca was American, after all. They were all supposed to be rich. She probably didn’t care that she’d forgotten her raincoat. She’d just buy another one.
had gone and she’d accepted it. And when she had found Rebecca’s raincoat still hanging in the staff cloakroom, she hadn’t thought twice about that either. Rebecca was American, after all. They were all supposed to be rich. She probably didn’t care that she’d forgotten her raincoat. She’d just buy another one.
But now that Randy had died, things were different somehow. She remembered that it had been cold and rainy the night Rebecca had left. She began to wonder what had made Rebecca run off, leaving her raincoat behind. She had inquired, innocently, of Mrs. Roberts whether Rebecca ever wrote and asked them to forward her raincoat. Mrs. Roberts said she hadn’t heard a peep out of Rebecca since she left. So Bethan decided to do some snooping of her own.
Betsy finished up in the dining room and went down to Meditation to see if Bethan was down there. The sooner she teamed up with Bethan, the easier she’d feel.
“Ah, good, you’re here,” Rhiannon said in greeting. “Now where’s that lazy child Bethan? Go and find her, will you? It will take two of you to carry the Wicker Man and I don’t want him damaged.”
Betsy went back up the steps. Bethan was nowhere in the main building. She wasn’t in any of the cottages. Then Betsy opened the health center door and saw a bucket sitting in the hallway.
“Bethan?” she called. “Are you in here?”
That’s when she was aware of the hiss of steam. She rushed to the steam room and struggled with the door. Finally she was able to wrench it open. Steam rushed out to meet her. She forced her way through it to the shape that lay huddled on the floor.
“Bethan!” she screamed, and dragged the lifeless figure out into the fresh air.
By midday Evan had completed his morning patrol of the area and was back at the station reporting in to HQ. It had been horrible feeling so powerless and cut off from Bronwen. He had followed the ambulance down to Bangor, only to be denied admission to the casualty ward where they had taken her. He’d called the hospital
twice since but the news was the same both times. Miss Price was resting comfortably and they were conducting tests. He’d be able to see her during visiting hours that afternoon if she was done with her tests and back in the ward.
What could it be?
He asked himself over and over.
It must be something terrible to make her collapse like that—cancer, heart attack, stroke
. A terrible fear overtook him that she might die before he’d had a chance to explain and say he was sorry.
twice since but the news was the same both times. Miss Price was resting comfortably and they were conducting tests. He’d be able to see her during visiting hours that afternoon if she was done with her tests and back in the ward.
What could it be?
He asked himself over and over.
It must be something terrible to make her collapse like that—cancer, heart attack, stroke
. A terrible fear overtook him that she might die before he’d had a chance to explain and say he was sorry.
He looked up as the door opened and Glynis came in. “Hello there, Evan. How are you?” she asked, bright as ever. “I hope you don’t mind my popping in, but I’ve got Rebecca’s parents with me and you said you’d help me out with them. They are so devastated, poor people. Worried out of their minds. Terribly earnest types. God-fearing and all that.”
Evan got to his feet. “What do you want me to do?”
“Take them around the places you went before, maybe, and then I thought we’d run them down to the Sacred Grove so that they can see for themselves.”
“All right.” He sighed as he reached for his coat.
“What’s the matter?” Glynis asked. “You look terrible.”
“Bronwen’s in the hospital. She collapsed this morning and they don’t know what’s wrong with her.” It just came out, even though he hadn’t meant it to.
“Oh, I am sorry. How rotten for you. Look, it shouldn’t take more than an hour or so to do this and then you can sneak away to the hospital if you like. I’ll cover for you.”
“Thanks, Glynis.” He managed a smile. “All right then. Let’s go and meet Rebecca’s parents.”
“By the way,” she said as they walked out to the waiting car, “the hostile American woman posted bail this morning. We’ve had to let her go.”
“Emmy Court, you mean?”
Glynis nodded. “She had the money wired to her. It’s all right, though. She can’t go anywhere. We’ve got her passport. Not that we had enough to keep holding her anyway.” She opened her car door. “Mr. and Mrs. Riesen. This is Constable Evans I told you
about. He was the one who went around with Rebecca’s picture.”
about. He was the one who went around with Rebecca’s picture.”
The couple sitting in the backseat of the squad car looked like a typical American couple to Evan. The husband was wearing a San Diego Padres baseball cap. The wife was dressed in colors brighter than the average Welshwoman would wear. They both looked gray and haggard, but they shook Evan’s hand warmly and thanked him for his trouble.
“I just wish there was more we could do,” Evan said as he climbed into the passenger seat beside Glynis. “So you’ve still heard nothing from her. There’s no possibility she went home to the States but hasn’t contacted you yet?”
“Oh, no, Rebecca would never do that,” Mrs. Riesen said. “She was a real homebody, if you know what I mean. We had the hardest time persuading her to go away to college, and my, was she homesick that first year! She really didn’t want to come over to Britain for the semester, but she was awarded the scholarship and my husband told her, ‘Honey, it’s a wonderful opportunity. It might never come around again,’ so she went.”
“I encouraged her,” Mr. Riesen said in a voice that cracked with emotion. “I made her go.”
“Honey, you thought you were doing the right thing.” She put her hand on his. “We all thought we were doing the right thing. We didn’t worry about her once. She was never any trouble, all the time she was growing up. Other kids went through the rebellious stage, but not Rebecca. Didn’t have to set her curfews or anything. She was never out late. All she cared about were her studies and her music. Only ever had one or two close friends—never the partying kind, you understand.”
Evan nodded. “Do you have any idea at all what would have made her come to the Sacred Grove?”
“None at all. A place like that just wasn’t Rebecca. She was always very involved in our church—she’d never have been led astray.”
“Do you think that maybe she wanted to convert the people at the Sacred Grove?” Evan asked. “Someone mentioned she did some of that kind of thing.”
“I can’t see Rebecca doing that either.” Mrs. Riesen looked to her silent husband for confirmation. “She was too shy. And she was tolerant too—live and let live. No, that doesn’t sound like our Rebecca.”
They had reached the top of the pass and Glynis pulled up outside the youth hostel. “Constable Evans asked about her here, but nobody recognized the photo,” she said.
“I don’t know why she’d come to a place like this,” Mrs. Riesen said. “I can’t see her wanting to hike with a backpack. How would she have carried her violin? She never went anywhere without it.”
“Then maybe we should go straight down to the Sacred Grove,” Evan said. “I don’t know what good it will do, but there was one of the maids who had become friendly with Rebecca. You could talk to her and see if there was any clue she could give you.”
Mrs. Riesen looked at her husband and nodded.
“Another thing I’ve been wondering, Mrs. Riesen,” Evan said as the car swung around to the right and started to zigzag down to Beddgelert. “What made Rebecca stay on after the end of her course? Had she made friends she didn’t want to leave? If she was the homebody you describe, wouldn’t she have wanted to spend Christmas with you?”
“You know, we were rather surprised about that,” Mrs. Riesen said. “I was quite upset at the time, wasn’t I, hon? ‘She doesn’t want to spend Christmas with her family anymore,’ I said to Frank. She had a couple of fellow American students who were taking an apartment in London and she spent the holidays with them. But they’re both back home again now and neither of them has been in contact with Rebecca since the first of the year. She stayed on alone in London for a couple of weeks, apparently, then she went touring. She said she wanted to see something of the countryside—which is understandable. But we were surprised she was doing it alone. She was always a little cautious, our Rebecca.”
“And I take it you’ve been to Oxford and seen where she lived?”
“Oh, yes. That was one of the first things we did. She lived in a dormitory for American students who were attending the institute. It wasn’t actually part of Oxford University, you know. It was a
separate program just for Americans. They got the chance to audit lectures with the Oxford undergraduates, but they did their assignments for the AIAO. That stands for the American Institute at Oxford, I believe.”
separate program just for Americans. They got the chance to audit lectures with the Oxford undergraduates, but they did their assignments for the AIAO. That stands for the American Institute at Oxford, I believe.”
“Everyone who knew Rebecca was gone, except for the faculty and staff,” Mr. Riesen said, leaning forward in his seat. “It’s only a one-quarter course, you see. All new students each quarter. Nobody had anything to tell us at all. The faculty hardly remembered her. ‘She was quiet and shy and hardly ever spoke up’—that’s what that one professor said, didn’t he, Margaret?”
“And she didn’t make any friends among the Oxford undergrads then?” Evan asked.
“She lived with other Americans, of course. And from what she told us, the British students were not particularly welcoming. Not that she was the social kind but she went to concerts and lectures with girls from back home. She loved her concerts, didn’t she, honey? Crazy about her music.”
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