Lonely Girl (26 page)

‘Well, I don’t know what he looks like now, Rosie dear. But he was never a truly handsome man. Nice enough, I suppose. Ordinary, unassuming. Rather thick-set … with fairish hair … but that was a long time ago. To be honest, if I saw him now I don’t suppose I would even recognise him.’

She felt deeply for Rosie. ‘I wish to God you did not have to know all that, but I suppose it could get into the papers, and I wouldn’t want you finding out that way.’

‘I understand, Auntie Kathleen. And I would rather know the truth from you.’ Suddenly Rosie felt as though she had changed … grown up somehow. It was odd, but now she could see the danger and ugliness in this world, when before, apart from being the butt of her mother’s spiteful nature, she had never felt the world to be cruel.

‘Auntie Kathleen?’

‘Yes, sweetheart?’

‘Will they put her in jail?’

‘I’m not sure. I don’t see how they would, because even though the fight was about her, she apparently took no part in it. She told me that Tom Stevens confessed it was he who struck the fatal blow. She claims that she tried to stop him but he was beyond her control.’

‘Why didn’t she help my father?’

‘She said she was afraid to get between them … that the two of them were in such a wild rage she was forced to keep her distance. Tom Stevens has told the authorities that he and he alone is to blame for what happened, and that Molly has nothing to answer for.’

‘Well, he’s wrong, because she has a great deal to answer for, and she ought to be locked away alongside him.’ Rosie was certain about this. Her mother was the cause of the fight; she had cheated on Rosie’s father, and now she had caused his death. Rosie would never forgive her, not for as long as she lived.

Rosie brought her attention back to what Kathleen was saying to answer some question of Harry’s.

‘All I know is what she told me, Harry. Tom Stevens confessed to what he did. He told the authorities that he was entirely to blame for what happened, but that he never meant to kill John. But whichever way you look at it, he swung out, John was killed, and you may depend on it that with Molly as witness to what he claims, he will surely be made to pay the price.’

‘So, what will happen to him?’ Harry asked.

‘According to Molly, there will be further investigations,’ Kathleen explained. ‘In the meantime, Tom Stevens will remain safely behind bars.’

Rosie, along with everyone else, was glad of that.

Though Stevens had confessed that he was the one to blame for her father’s death, in her deepest heart Rosie continued to believe that her mother was every bit as guilty.

‘She should be in prison as well!’ she remarked bitterly. ‘She’s the one who cheated. It was her who caused Daddy to be killed. I hate her. I never want to see her again … never!’ Scrambling out of the chair, she ran outside, to hide in the garden shed; to be by herself and let it all sink in. She thought of how treacherous her mother was. She recalled how concerned her father had been last night, when he had gone out to look for her mother, and how blindly he loved her although she behaved in this terrible way.

Her daddy was such a gentle man – how could he love such a woman? Why did he not find a warm and lovely soul who would give him the love and devotion he deserved?

Rosie’s heart ached for him now. She so needed to see him, to hear his voice and hug him tight. She needed so much to tell him that she would love him for ever and she would never forget him, not for as long as she lived. And she longed to see his bright and lovely smile and hear his laughter just once more. Oh, what she would give for that!

Deep in thought, she was startled to hear Harry’s voice outside. ‘Can I come in, Rosie?’

‘No, Harry. Just now, I’d rather be on my own.’

‘I’m worried about you.’

‘I’m all right, really I am.’ But she wasn’t. Maybe she never would be again.

‘Please, Rosie, either let me in or come with me to the sun-room, and we’ll just sit and talk together. I just want to help you, Rosie.’

Knowing that he also must be devastated by the loss of her father, Rosie opened the door. ‘I don’t want to go to the sun-room,’ she told him. ‘I just want to stay here for a while.’

‘So, can I come in?’

‘Yes, all right. Come in, if you really want to. I’m not good company just now, though.’ Having opened the door wider, she returned to where she had been sitting on an old wooden bench.

‘Thank you, Rosie.’ Harry followed her to the bench. ‘I didn’t like the idea of you being here all alone.’ He sat down beside her, while gingerly sliding his arm about her shoulders. ‘I just want to be with you … to hold you, and let you know that I’m here when you need me. I’m always here for you, Rosie, always. We all are.’

Rosie smiled up at him. ‘I know, and I appreciate that.’ She plucked up the courage to tell him what was haunting her. ‘It’s just that I have things on my mind … to do with Daddy … and Mother and … certain other things.’

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

‘Not really, no.’

‘It would be just me and you, no one else, I promise,’ he gently reassured her. ‘Whatever it is that’s worrying you, I’m sure it would help if you talked about it rather than fretting and getting upset. Look, Rosie, you must know you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone else … unless you want me to.’

She felt she could put her trust in him. ‘I saw things,’ she began. ‘I really should tell the police, especially about the man in the barn. Auntie Kathleen told us about the man who was Mother’s sweetheart all those years ago, so I was wondering if he was the man I saw in the barn. Before that, I saw him with her. They were outside the barn talking together.’

Harry was taken by surprise. ‘What? You mean you were actually there, near the big barn, last night?’

‘Yes, me and Barney. We were there, outside the big barn. But we didn’t hear a fight going on, or anything like that. We were just looking for Daddy.’

‘What do you mean, Rosie … why were you looking for him? And why was he out there in the first place?’

‘Daddy was worried about Mother. It was really late and she still hadn’t come home,’ Rosie explained. ‘He was so worried that he decided to go and find her. He told me to stay in the house with Barney, and I was not to answer the door or look out of the windows. But he was gone too long, and when I thought I saw him going into the yard, I took Barney with me and we went to find him.’

‘And did you – find him, I mean?’

‘No, but I saw my mother. She was outside the big barn with a man. They were talking, but I was too far away to hear what they were saying. And now I’m sure that man must have been the one who was with Mother, when Daddy found them together.’

‘Good grief, Rosie, so what did you do?’

‘We hid and watched, and waited to see if Daddy might turn up. But he didn’t. I saw the man, and I saw Mother, but I never saw Daddy.’ Rosie thought hard. ‘I thought he might be there somewhere, though, so when Mother was not looking, I told Barney to stay put and not make a sound, then I sneaked into the barn. I saw the man inside there, but I was careful not to let him see me. But … honestly, Harry, it was really strange.’

Harry was intrigued, but also concerned that Rosie had gone inside the barn on her own. ‘What do you mean, “strange”?’

Rosie mentally put herself back in the barn. ‘Well, I kept by the wall, and stayed in the shadows as much as I could. Then I saw him – the man. He was standing a short distance away from me in the middle of the floor – just standing there, very still, as though he was in deep thought. And when he stooped down I noticed that right near his feet there was a pile of what looked like old clothes or something … but it was shadowy and I couldn’t make it out.’

‘Oh, Rosie! Why did you put yourself in danger like that? You should never have gone in there. If he had seen you, who knows what he might have done?’

‘He didn’t see me. He never knew I was there because I was too careful. But I was a little afraid, and I couldn’t see Daddy anywhere, so I sneaked out again. But something strange happened just before I went. The man stooped down to pick something up off the ground. I couldn’t tell what it was, but in the hazy light I could see that it was a dark object. He turned it round in his hands, and he stared at it for ages, and suddenly he was crying – really sobbing – like his heart was broken.’

Remembering it now, she felt sad inside. ‘I wish I could have seen what the object was, but it was too shadowy. Then I crept outside as softly as I could.’

‘Why did you not say this before?’ Harry asked. ‘When we were back at the house together, why did you not tell my parents about all this?’

‘Because I was too afraid!’ She instinctively dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘I am still afraid, because if Mother knew I was telling you she would harm Barney … even kill him. That’s what she said.’

‘Why would she threaten Barney? When did she say that?’

‘When I got back outside I ran into Mother and she warned me to be quiet and go home. I could hear the ambulance coming.

She would have gone on, but Harry was adamant: ‘You have to tell Mum and Dad what you told me; you have to tell them everything.’

‘I can’t. I won’t, and neither must you.’

‘What are you saying, Rosie? You have to tell them! It’s possible that what you saw could be crucial information about what happened.’

‘I don’t see how. I mean, I didn’t see anything special … except for the man who was crying. And, even if I wanted to, I daren’t tell your parents. I should never have told you either because if Mother finds out she’ll hurt me, and she’ll kill Barney.’

‘We will always protect you and Barney. You must know that?’

‘You wouldn’t be able to protect us. She’s wicked. She would find a way to do what she threatened. You weren’t there, you didn’t hear what she said. And she meant it, she really did. Just before the ambulance arrived, she warned me that if I told anyone that I had seen anything I shouldn’t have, or heard anything, then she would hurt Barney really badly. That’s what she said, and she meant it, Harry. I know she will.’ Her fears were very real. ‘Promise me, Harry, you will not tell your parents or anyone else. Please!’

Harry was torn. He could see how frightened Rosie was, and he understood. On the other hand, he realised that Rosie might well have seen and heard things that could maybe help the police get to the truth of what actually happened. Also, Harry was still unable to believe that John Tanner – that big, strong man – could ever lose his life in a fight.

‘All right then, think about this. What if the man you saw in the barn really was this Tom Stevens? What if he and your mother had already hurt your father, and he was still there somewhere? He could well have been, because you just told me that the ambulance came, and your mother chased you away. Think about it, Rosie. Why was the ambulance there? And why did she want you out of the way?’

Rosie suddenly collapsed in tears. ‘You think they were there to take Daddy, don’t you? You think they had already hurt him … killed him?’ It was all too much for her to think about, and she fell into Harry’s arms, her heart made heavy by the thought that her daddy could have been lying only a short distance from where she had been. ‘Oh, Harry, he was there, wasn’t he? In the barn, with the man who hurt him.’

She fell silent. In her mind she was back in that shadowy barn, watching the man. He was looking down … the disturbing memories ran through her mind. ‘When he picked something up, Harry,’ she recalled, ‘I don’t know what it was. I couldn’t see; it was too gloomy. But he held it ever so gently, and he kept looking at it and he was crying. When he laid the object down again, he did it so very gently.’

‘Don’t torture yourself, Rosie, but you really should tell my parents everything,’ Harry coaxed her gently. ‘As for Barney, I give you my word that neither he nor you will be hurt. Trust me, Rosie. Tell my parents. They will know if the police should hear what you know.’ As a last resort he said kindly, ‘Your father would have wanted you to tell what you saw and heard. You know he would, don’t you, Rosie?’

She looked up and said not a word, but her heart was heavy. She knew that her father would have agreed with Harry because he was a good and honest man, afraid of nothing and no one.

Without a word, she slid her hand into Harry’s and she felt immensely proud as he walked her back to the house.

‘Come on, my lovely Rosie!’ Squeezing her hand in his, Harry led her out of that dark shed and into the last of the daylight. ‘Barney will be all right,’ he told her softly. ‘You’re doing the right thing. Your father would be so proud of you. I know I am.’