The Paradise Trees (29 page)

This was no use. She was too tired to think straight and she wasn’t going to get any sleep, she could tell, the constant, gnawing fear would make sure of that. What could she do, what
could she do....

The landline shrilled in the hallway and she stumbled in her haste to grab the receiver.

‘Lici, I’m so sorry, what can I do?’

A man’s voice, and in spite of the crackling line she knew at once whose it was.

‘Cathal.’

‘Sonja just called, she told me what you’re going through. Lici, I want to help but I don’t think I can. The only thing I remember about your Dad is that I was scared stiff of
him. But your little girl, that must be all you can think of right now.’

‘It is. Cathal, I, if I lose Jenny I think I’ll go mad.’

‘You won’t. You’re strong, look what you’ve already come through. Your father and all. And Frank will help you.’

Was there any way to tell him that she didn’t even know that it wasn’t Frank who had taken Jen?

‘We’ll keep in touch now, Cathal.’

‘We will. Hang on in there, Lici, they could find her any time. I’ll call tomorrow.’

The line buzzed in her ear and she stood clutching the receiver. If only Cathal was here. Or Sonja. She could trust them. But she was alone, and it was suddenly unbearable.

She would go back to St. Joe’s. Laura was on duty, she could talk to Laura. Yes.

The sky was darkening rapidly, lights were on all over the village. Lower Banford was getting ready for the night. Alicia could see the woods, a thick black shadow on the hillside. The moon was
out, casting eerie, ghostly shadows across the garden, but dark clouds were gathering too. If Jenny was lying injured outside somewhere and rain started, it might well make the difference between
life and death for her. But then everything pointed to her having been abducted.

Alicia

There was little traffic about as she crossed the belt of fields between Lower and Middle Banford. By daylight this was such a pretty place, but now everything seemed sinister
and threatening. Jenny was missing, and Alicia knew she was going through every mother’s hell on earth, not knowing what had happened to her child. She had read somewhere that the police
reckoned that if you don’t find a missing child within six hours, then you probably won’t find them alive. Jenny had been missing for what, twelve hours? They didn’t know the
exact time she had vanished from the woods. Was she going to lose her despised father and then her beloved daughter, all in the space of a weekend?

The care home was in almost total darkness when she pushed the front door open and walked into the echoing hallway. Most of the old people would be asleep by this time and the night staff would
be tiptoeing about getting the last of them settled. She blinked as a figure came towards her from the cloakroom on the ground floor, his face pale in the dim light.

‘Frank!’

‘I didn’t know where else to go,’ he said, taking her arm with a hand that was as cold as her own. ‘Alicia, please let me help. What are you doing here?’

‘I wanted to talk to Laura. Cathal phoned, and I just couldn’t be alone any more, I was going over and over everything in my head and I needed someone... ’

Alicia found herself clutching Frank’s hand. Oh God, surely he hadn’t taken Jenny. Not Frank.

‘Let’s go upstairs,’ he said. ‘Derek’s car is here so he must have come back for some reason, maybe they’ve found out something about your father.’

Frank pushed the ward door open and they crept along the semi-darkness of the corridor to the nursing station. One of the staff nurses came towards them, sympathy on her face.

‘I expect you want Derek.’

‘I didn’t think he’d be here,’ said Frank.

The nurse made a face. ‘Harry French lost his illicit stash of lager this evening and had a massive tantrum, insisting that Derek had put it away somewhere. I phoned him just in case he
had, and you know Derek, back he came with more lager to help settle Harry. He was still doing that when Jim Slater upset Lily Buchanen again, and she started screaming blue murder, so poor Derek
ended up in the middle of that one too.’

Life and times in a geriatric hospital, thought Alicia. It would be funny in any other situation.

Frank knocked on the office door and pushed it open. Derek was sitting in front of the computer, tapping at the keyboard with a glum face and Alicia saw that he was filling out an accident
report. He jumped to his feet.

‘Alicia! Here, sit down.’

‘We’re just here to talk to someone,’ said Frank, leaning against the desk. ‘I hear you’ve had an interesting evening off.’

‘I have,’ he said, raising his eyebrows and falling back into his chair again. ‘But never mind that, you haven’t come to help us look for Harry’s lager, I’m
sure. Is there anything I can do for you?’ He looked from Frank to Alicia.

‘I’m sorry I made such a scene when Bob died,’ said Alicia. ‘He was terrible to me when I was a kid and with Jen missing I just couldn’t... ’

‘You’ve done nothing to apologise for,’ said Derek. ‘Hold on, Alicia, don’t give up hope.’

He was right, there was no proof that Jenny was dead. But how hard it was to keep hoping and hoping, knowing that with every passing minute the likelihood that Jen would be found safe was
decreasing. It was an agony that was too painful not to suppress.

Frank spoke. ‘Did Ian have any more thoughts on the cause of Bob’s death?’

Derek looked at Alicia, seemingly considering before he spoke. She nodded at him, and he sighed.

‘No. I’ll tell you something, Frank, I don’t like it. I know it’s impossible, but it looks to me very much like an overdose of his sleeping pills. That’s
not
possible, though. He couldn’t have hoarded any, he simply didn’t have the wits to do that, and whatever it was, it happened twice today. Ian’s put through an urgent
post-mortem and I’m going to be very interested in the results.’

Alicia closed her eyes. What did any of this matter?

Frank moved towards the door. ‘Me too,’ he said. He reached for Alicia’s hand and she stood up. Time to go and, what? There was nothing left to do now. She listened drearily as
Frank spoke.

‘Thanks, Derek. We’ll leave you to your report. What happened there?’

Derek shrugged, smiling grimly. ‘Jim Slater had ructions with old Lily, who flounced off into her room and slammed the door so hard a picture fell off the wall resulting in broken glass on
the floor, which she promptly cut herself on. Jim, of course, feels himself completely innocent. He could get a churchful of cardinals fighting, that one. Doug Patton called him Puck yesterday
afternoon and you know, he’s not far wrong. I think... Alicia? Are you okay?’

She was motionless, the hand that had already been stretching out to grasp the door now frozen in mid-air. Ice cold clarity swept through her and suddenly it was difficult to breathe.

‘Doug Patton called him... Puck... ’

‘Frank.’ She could only mouth his name. It was another of those moments when the world seems to move round and round in slow motion, blurring at the edges, and only the very centre
of her vision was left in focus. Shakespeare. The Festival.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Oberon, Titania. Puck the jester, Puck the malevolent... Oberon. But dear God, that
couldn’t be. She was aware of Frank standing rigid beside her, and Derek staring, then rising to his feet, alarm written all over his face.

‘What’s wrong, Alicia? Frank! What is it? You both look as if you’ve seen a ghost.’

It was difficult to talk but Alicia knew they had to tell Derek, then she had to act as fast as she could. Her voice was hoarse. ‘Derek, Jenny has a playmate she meets in the woods, a man,
and most probably it’s him who’s taken her. He calls himself Oberon.’

‘We have to call the police,’ said Frank.

Derek was staring, his face white. ‘Ober... oh,
shit.
Frank, wait. That can’t be, Alicia. It must be a coincidence. There’s been so much about that play around here
this year. And Doug is... well, he’s Doug. It’s
not
possible, it must... ’

His voice broke off.

Alicia felt herself sway. Dear God... she had kissed... and what had he done to her daughter?

Frank pushed her back down on the chair and reached for his phone.

‘I don’t know if it’s right, Derek, but it is possible,’ he said grimly. ‘And I’d rather make a mistake and look like a fool than risk a child’s life by
not acting. Get me Doug’s address, would you?’

Alicia was fighting dizziness. The whole room was swirling around her and she bit down painfully on the inside of her cheek, listening as Frank spoke into his phone.

‘This is Doctor Frank Carter. Jenny Bryson may be with a Douglas Patton who lives at... ’ He glanced at the computer screen where Derek had accessed a list of St. Joe’s
employees. ‘... 9 Fairweather Court, Lower Banford. Would you please check this, I’m going over there with Jenny’s mother now too.’

He disconnected and Alicia grabbed his hand.

‘Come
on!
’ she cried wildly, pulling him to the door. They had to go, they had to get to Jenny.

‘Arrange an ambulance!’ Frank shouted at Derek, and then they were running down the ward, down the stairs and outside into the darkness.

The road back had never seemed so long, stretching endlessly in front of them. Alicia forced herself to concentrate on keeping calm, sitting in Frank’s car as he drove. In the distance,
she could see lights down by the river where the search parties were still out looking for Jenny. If Doug had her they had undertaken a pointless task.

The Stranger

He placed his plate and glass in the sink and ran the hot water. So mundane, and yet the very fact that he was doing the last, the very last couple of things before the
culmination of his plans was so wonderful. Expectation was making him sweat more than ever and the shivery feeling was building inside him, just another hour and then he would be watching little
Helen’s eyes glaze like Mummy’s had, like Helen’s had, feeling her delicious little body go limp... knowing that his own darling wasn’t alone in Paradise any more. And then
tomorrow, or the next day, it would be big Helen’s turn.

It was time to go. What did he need to take with him? Little Helen herself, of course, and her golden robe. And the cords for her neck, he wasn’t going to be angry this time so he might
not be able to send her off to Paradise with his bare hands. And the fluffy blanket, too, in case he wanted to smother her voice if she wailed at the wrong time. That was all.

He went back to the bedroom and gazed down at little Helen. Her eyes were half-closed and her breath was coming in enchanting little pants. She was more awake than she’d been earlier, so
the timing was working out well, perfectly, in fact.

Swiftly, he bound the little girl’s hands and feet. Reef knots were best. They wouldn’t come undone even if little Helen started to struggle. He’d learned that at Boy Scouts
when he was ten or eleven. He had hated going, but Mummy made him. She had made him do so many things he hadn’t wanted to. Well, these days he could do what he liked, and soon he’d be
cuddling up to little Helen in the circle of trees, the Paradise trees, under the midsummer night sky. He would lie with her on the golden robe and it would be perfect. The thought was terrifying
and wonderful all at the same time.

Carefully, he wrapped little Helen in the blanket and robe before lifting her, noticing proudly that he was used to carrying her now. He had the feel of her body. He opened the flat door, and
held her against his chest with one arm while he locked it again behind him. Now for the dangerous part, though he already knew that it was unlikely that either of the other flats in the building
would be occupied at this time on Saturday night. Down the stairs, quickly, quietly, don’t drop anything, and out to the waiting car, parked right by the front door in preparation. Little
Helen could lie on the back seat and he would cover her completely with the golden robe.

He drove the back roads to the far side of the woods. It was better not to drive through the village, you never know, there might be policemen still around. The back road was deserted, and he
arrived at the grassy verge where he’d kicked the dog out earlier.

It was dark up there, though. He hadn’t thought of that. Never mind, there was a torch in the boot, if he balanced it on little Helen there would be enough light to see by. Oh, he was so
looking forward to this.

Slowly, slowly, carefully up through the trees. Don’t stumble, it would never do if he dropped little Helen or bumped her against a tree. He looked down at the child in his arms. Her
eyelids were flickering, and the keening sounds were coming once again from her little throat, how very fortunate that no-one was around to hear her. It was more difficult than he’d
anticipated, walking up through the trees. He was a fit man, but he could feel his thigh muscles begin to ache.

Almost there. The circle of trees, there it was, dark and magical. And it was different in the darkness, too, much better, for the little clearing had a moonstruck eeriness in the light of the
stars. Here he was, right in the middle of the circle. He had arrived.

Panting, he laid little Helen on the mossy ground and tugged at the golden robe until it was straightened out nicely underneath her. She was quiet now, eyelids half open, yes, she was waking up,
how perfect.

He stretched her arms above her head and spread her legs. His star-shaped little Helen. He was going to have such a beautiful time with her now.

Alicia

‘Stop, we should leave the car here,’ said Alicia, as Frank drove past the village shop and hesitated at the crossroads. ‘If he’s in the house with her
we don’t want to just drive up and park outside, that would warn him.’

Had
Doug taken Jenny? Was that even remotely possible? It might have been pure coincidence, the mention of Puck after the mention of Oberon. But even allowing for that year’s
theatre production, ‘Puck’ wasn’t exactly a name anyone would call someone else unless they’d been thinking about the play. Troublemaker, mischief-maker, agitator, stirrer -
these were the words that would have sprung to her own mind if she’d been complaining about Jim Slater. So it couldn’t be coincidence. Doug must be Oberon. Dear God, to think she had
once been attracted to this man, she had been out for dinner with him, sat opposite him and eaten curry ice cream for Christ’s sake, and now she was quite prepared to believe that he had
abducted her daughter. But tonight she would be prepared to believe anything at all, if it meant she would get Jenny back. But if Doug had taken Jenny for any reason at all, then surely he
wouldn’t have
hurt
her. The whole village liked Doug, everyone at St Joe’s too, they couldn’t all have been so completely mistaken about him, could they? But of course
they could, just look how mistaken such a lot of people had been about her father.