The Ghost Fields (Ruth Galloway) (37 page)

He gets up and Ruth hears him shuffling off down the corridor. She waits for a moment and then snatches up her phone. Thank God, the battery is fully charged. She slips her feet into her shoes and opens the door. She needs to get outside so she can make a few phone calls.

Nelson’s sits on his bed – their bed – and rings Michelle. To his utter relief she answers immediately.

‘Michelle! Where are you?’

‘I’m just outside Lynn,’ she says. ‘I went out with the girls and my car’s stuck at Blakeney.’

Something’s wrong but Nelson doesn’t know quite what it is. Why did she go out with the girls when bad weather was forecast? Why did she leave her car at Blakeney? Who is she with now? He struggles to frame the right question.

‘Are you OK? Who are you with?’

‘Debbie. She’s got a four-by-four.’

‘OK,’ says Nelson. ‘I’ll see you soon. Call if you’re in any trouble. Tell Debbie to drive safely.’

Michelle rings off but Nelson stays sitting on the bed staring at the phone.

The house is every bit as spooky at night as Ruth feared. The stairs creak and the grandfather clock in the hall ticks ponderously. She edges her way along the corridor until she reaches the kitchen. Here at least it’s a bit warmer because of the Aga. Ruth puts on the gumboots and a Barbour that’s hanging by the door. Then, very carefully, she opens the stable door and steps outside.

The rain has stopped but the moon shines on miles and miles of silver water. Leonie Blackstock’s prediction has some true. The sea really has reclaimed the Blackstock land. Did Leonie know, or suspect, that her youngest son was a murderer? Is that why she killed herself? Ruth doesn’t suppose that they’ll ever know. She splashes through the water, which is nearly knee-deep now, and climbs onto the mounting-block boulder. Instantly a signal flashes and several messages appear.

The first says:
Ruth. Ring me.

The second:
Sally here calling on Judy’s phone. Judy had a baby girl at 11.45. 8lb, 2 ounces. Mother and baby doing well.

The third:
Have u heard? I’ve got a new daughter! Peace + blessings.

The fourth:
R u home? r u OK? Fx

The fifth:
R u OK? Call me. Fxx

The sixth:
Ruth. Ring me!! N

Despite everything, Ruth smiles in relief. Judy and Cathbad have a daughter – a bouncing baby by the sounds of it. Something good has come out of the horrors of the night. She sends a congratulatory text to Cathbad and one to Frank saying,
I’m OK. Still at B Hall. Will call tomoz.
She also texts Bob asking him to feed Flint in the morning. Then she rings Nelson.

‘Ruth? What is it? Where are you?’

‘Blackstock Hall. Listen . . .’

‘You’re at Blackstock Hall. What the hell are you doing there?’

‘I came for the party, remember, and . . .’

‘You came for the party! Is Johnson with you? Who’s looking after Katie?’

‘Judy’s had her baby. Cathbad’s looking after Kate. Nelson . . .’

‘Ruth. Stay away from the old man. Old George. He’s dangerous. I think he killed his brother.’

Once again she has underestimated Nelson. ‘How did you know?’

‘It was the word Bingo. He seemed so upset about the dog. I thought, what if he’d seen his brother’s body again when he buried the dog.’

‘It was Lewis who did that. The older brother. He saw Fred’s body and realised George had killed him. That’s why he ran away.’

‘How do you know all this?’

‘George has just told me the whole thing. He thought I was Nell and wanted to get it off his chest.’

‘Jesus. Ruth, you can’t stay in the house with him.’

‘I haven’t got any choice. I’m completely cut off here. Just me and Old and Young George.’

‘What about Sally?’

‘She went to the hospital with Judy.’

‘And Chaz?’

‘He drove them to the hospital.’

‘Well, steer clear of him too. We think he might be the man who attacked Clough.’

Ruth keeps quiet about her own suspicions of Chaz. There’s nothing Nelson can do about that now. She wishes he was there with her. She wishes it so much that she feels quite sick with longing.

‘Ruth,’ Nelson is saying, ‘lock yourself in a room and stay there till morning. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

‘I thought you were in York.’

‘I came home. I’ll get a squad car over there in the morning.’

‘I told you, the house is completely cut off.’

‘I’ll get a chopper if necessary. Have you got your phone?’

‘Yes, but I can’t get a signal in the house.’ I’m sounding pathetic, thinks Ruth. ‘It’s OK,’ she says. ‘I’ll lock myself in. I’ll be fine.’

‘I’ll come for you in the morning.’

Please God, prays Ruth, the confirmed atheist, as she creeps back through the silent house. Please make morning come quickly.

CHAPTER 35

Ruth finds another room, a smaller one with a single bed and – crucially – a key in the lock. She has no intention of going back to Nell’s room so that Old George can pay her another visit. She locks herself in and gets into bed with the key and her phone under the pillow. It’s one o’clock. How the hell is she going to survive until dawn? If only she had something to read, something to take her mind off this house, Old George’s confession and the image of Fred Blackstock walking up the hill towards his ancestral home.
I couldn’t think where else to go. I hate this place but it’s home.

In the bedside table she finds a travel guide to Norfolk and Suffolk. That will have to do. She pulls the covers over her shoulders – she is freezing – and starts to read.

‘Norfolk offers a breathtaking variety of countryside from open heath to wild marshland and miles of magnificent coastline . . .’

Michelle gets home at two. Nelson hears the car but Debbie has obviously dropped her at the entrance to the cul-de-sac because he then hears Michelle’s heels tapping along the pavement. Only Michelle would wear high heels to negotiate a flood.

He opens the door before she has time to put her key in the lock. She flings herself into his arms.

‘Steady on, love. What’s the matter?’

‘Nothing.’ Michelle is half laughing, half crying. ‘I’m just tired, that’s all.’

‘Did you have a nightmare drive? Is the coast road flooded? Debbie did well to get through it. What car has she got?’

‘Something Japanese. I don’t know. I’m just so glad to be home.’

She looks at him, her eyes shining with tears. She’s dressed up to go out – Nelson recognises that – but there’s also something different about her. Her hair is tied back and she doesn’t seem to have any make-up on.

‘I’ll make you a cup of tea,’ says Nelson. That usually works with the women in his life.

‘No,’ says Michelle. ‘Let’s go to bed.’

Ruth wakes with her head on the wonders of Norfolk and Suffolk. Light is streaming in through the curtains and she isn’t dead yet. She goes to the window. Water stretches as far as the eye can see. Occasionally trees and hedge-tops mark the boundaries of fields but otherwise everything is uniformly blue and sparkling. It’s very beautiful but it’s also disconcerting, as if she has woken up to find herself in another world, a watery Narnia. This room faces east, towards the coast. She can see the top of Admiral Blackstock’s cross but otherwise land and sea have merged, the liminal zone has vanished and the sea sprites have reclaimed their own. Ruth imagines that this will finally send Old George completely round the bend.

It’s seven o’clock. Nelson said that he’d come in the morning but she’s sure that it will take him some time to get here, even if he does manage to commandeer a helicopter. She doesn’t want to stay skulking in her room. Old George seems much less terrifying in the daylight. And besides, she’s starving.

In the kitchen, Ruth makes herself a cup of tea and puts some bread in the giant toaster, presumably bought with the B & B in mind. There’s no sound from upstairs. She hopes that both Georges will sleep late. For ever would be nice. She thinks about Judy, enjoying her first morning with her daughter, whose first morning it is. She remembers holding Kate in her arms five years ago. She loved Kate from the first moment that their eyes met but she had missed having Nelson with her, to share in the miracle of their child. It was the only time that she has really felt the lack of a proper partner. Judy might be on her own now but at least she has Cathbad waiting for her at home.

Ruth eats her toast and then goes out to ring Judy. The mounting block feels quite homelike now. To her surprise, Judy answers on the third ring.

‘Hallo,’ says Ruth. ‘Congratulations.’

‘Thank you. She’s beautiful.’

‘Did you think she’d be a girl?’

‘Yes. Cathbad always said she would be.’

But he was wrong about the baby being late, thinks Ruth. Aloud she says, ‘Have you thought of a name?’

‘We haven’t decided. Cathbad likes Astarte. I prefer Miranda.’

‘Insist on your name. You’ll never be in a better position to get your own way.’

Judy laughs. She sounds dreamy and contented. Ruth, standing on her own in the middle of a flood, feels jealous.

‘You got there in time then?’ she says.

‘Yes. Sally was wonderful. Perhaps I should name the baby after her.’

‘Is she still with you?’

‘No, she and Chaz have left. They spent the night at the hospital but I think Sally was worried about her father-in-law. Is he all right?’

‘Yes,’ says Ruth. ‘Fighting fit.’

She rings off, promising to come and see the baby when she can. Then she rings Cathbad to ask about her own baby. Cathbad, like Judy, is in wonderful spirits.

‘Another girl! Maddie wanted a sister. I’ve just rung her.’

Maddie is Cathbad’s daughter by a woman called Delilah.

‘How’s Kate?’

‘She’s fine. I’m just making a special celebration breakfast for us all.’

‘I’m hoping to able to get out of here today. Nelson said that he would come to get me.’

‘If Nelson says he’ll come, he’ll come.’

‘Yes. I know.’

Ruth rings off feeling frightened and depressed. Judy and Cathbad sound so happy. She should be happy for them but all she can think is that she is dependent on someone else’s husband coming to rescue her. She stays on her vantage point, looking towards the horizon. As she looks, a dark shape comes into view. At first she thinks that it’s a long-necked bird gliding on the water but then she sees that it is a small boat being propelled by someone standing up like a gondolier. The boatman has long hair flying out behind him and for a moment she thinks that it’s Cathbad, even though this is clearly impossible. Could it be Chaz finding a novel way home? Or maybe it’s a woman? For some reason, Ruth suddenly feels scared. She climbs down from the stone and splashes back towards the kitchen door. She thinks that she’ll feel safer inside.

She takes off her coat and boots. Her cup of tea is still on the table. Perhaps she should make some more toast. Eating always makes her feel better.

Then she realises that Old George is pointing a gun at her.

Nelson is trying to locate a helicopter. Unfortunately the police helicopter and the two belonging to the coastguard are both in use.

‘It’s urgent,’ says Nelson. ‘I need to apprehend a homicide suspect.’

‘I can’t help it,’ says the controller. ‘The chopper’s out rescuing old people from a home in Wells-next-the-Sea.’

‘I’ll have to try to get there by car,’ says Nelson. ‘I need someone with a four-by-four. What does Tim drive?’