Whispers (31 page)

Jess had her sensible head on, now that the first shock of what Laura had told her had worn off. ‘Poor lass. Does she even understand that she’s having a baby?’

‘She doesn’t seem to understand what’s happening at all,’ Laura said, wiping her eyes. ‘She doesn’t like being sick, of course, but the doctor assured us that she’s well and healthy and that she will manage. If he’d thought otherwise I would have taken her for a termination even though it would have broken my heart.’

‘And what about the baby’s father? Does he know about it? Is it the boy from the youth club?’

Laura shook her head wearily. ‘Den and I went to see the youth-club leader and he had no idea at all who it might be. It seems that for weeks, once your Simon has dropped her off, she’s gone walkabout, and as some of the boys do the same thing, it could be any one of three of them. The problem is, all the young people who go there have special needs like Beth so there’s no way of telling which one it is.’

‘My God!’ Jess was so appalled that for a moment she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Surely the staff at the youth club should have kept a better eye on the sexually mature young people? ‘Is there anything that I can do to help?’

Laura shook her head. ‘No, but thanks for asking. I suppose this is every mother’s worst nightmare come true; even more so in Beth’s case, and I just have to deal with it now. I blame myself, Jess. I’ve
always
known how vulnerable Beth is, and I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight. But I just wanted her to have some sort of normality in her life.’

‘Of course you did. Any mother would, so you mustn’t blame yourself.’ Jess felt tears sting at the back of her eyes.

‘I dare say we’ll get through it,’ Laura replied, trying to be optimistic but failing dismally. ‘I just dread the birth though. I don’t know how Beth will deal with it, despite what the doctor said.’

‘She will get lots of support,’ Jess said encouragingly. Laura looked as if she was about to crack, and she too needed all the support she could get right now.

When Jess got home and saw Simon’s Land Rover she perked up considerably. He’d probably come home because of the poor weather conditions and it would be nice for them to spend a little time together on their own.

He was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper when she entered the house and he glanced up briefly as she took her coat off.

‘Weather stopped play, has it?’ Jess said trying to keep her voice light. He nodded but didn’t reply, so now her voice became solemn as she went on, ‘Laura just told me some dreadful news. I feel so sorry for her.’

‘Why? What’s happened?’ She had his full attention now as she sat down opposite him.

‘Well, it’s not actually Laura – it’s Beth. Laura has just discovered that she’s pregnant.’

‘She’s
what
?’ Simon stared at her in disbelief. ‘But she can’t be! She’s just a kid.’

‘Actually she isn’t,’ Jess reminded him. ‘She’s a young woman. Laura is so distressed, but then she would be, wouldn’t she? And the worst of it is, they don’t even know who the father is. It appears that when you’ve been dropping her off at the youth club each week, she’s been clearing off so it could be any one of three boys who go there.’

Simon had gone deathly pale, but Jess wasn’t surprised. She knew that her husband was very fond of Beth. In fact, he was like a mother hen when he was around her and very protective.

‘So what are they going to do about it?’ he asked eventually.

‘Den wants her to have an abortion but Laura doesn’t think she can go through with it, and they haven’t much time left before it’s too late for an abortion anyway.’

‘But how will Beth cope with a baby?’ he spluttered, much as Jess herself had done only minutes ago.

‘She won’t, will she?’ Jess replied practically. ‘It will be down to Laura and Den to bring it up, particularly if the baby is special needs like Beth. They’re certainly going to have their hands full.’

‘And how are they going to find out who the father is?’

‘They didn’t seem overly concerned about that. I mean, there wouldn’t be much point in knowing, would there? All the boys who attend the youth club are special needs like Beth, so even if they knew who he was he’d probably be more of a hindrance than a help. It’s all just so sad and such a mess.’

‘You’re not kidding.’ Simon closed the newspaper and threw it across the table as he rose from his seat. ‘I’m going for a bath,’ he informed her shortly, and seconds later Jess found herself alone again – but then she was getting used to that by now.

It was almost a week later when Jess next saw Laura again. She came up to the house one tea-time when Jess was baking. Simon had gone out, as was usual nowadays, and the girls were upstairs in their rooms.

‘Hello,’ Jess greeted her warmly. ‘Come on in and take your coat off. The wind is enough to cut you in two out there.’ And where is Beth, then?’

‘Oh, she’s tucked up in bed.’ Laura plonked herself down at the table looking thoroughly miserable. ‘She’s still feeling very queasy and she doesn’t understand why, although I’ve tried to explain to her. She’s hated being sick ever since she was a little girl.’

‘It isn’t very nice,’ Jess agreed. ‘Thankfully I seem to have got over that stage now.’ The waistbands on her jeans were becoming uncomfortably tight now and today she had felt a movement in her stomach for the first time. It wasn’t what she could have classed as a kick, more of a flutter, but it had made the baby seem more real to her all the same.

‘So how are you feeling about your new addition now?’ Laura asked.

Jess smiled. ‘I think I felt a little flutter today and it brought it home to me that there’s really a baby there,’ she answered. ‘But as to how I feel about it . . . still mixed, I suppose. Sometimes I can’t help but look forward to it and then other times I feel resentful. Probably because Mel and her dad have barely spoken to me since they found out. The way Mel goes on, you wouldn’t think me and her dad were married. It’s as if we’ve committed a cardinal sin. The only one who is really thrilled about it is Jo. She can’t wait and she’s thinking of names already, bless her.’

Dipping her finger in the cake mixture Jess was stirring and then licking it, Laura said, ‘Well, at least you know what you’re letting yourself in for. Poor Beth doesn’t have a clue. She’s not good at dealing with pain and I’m beginning to wonder now if an abortion wouldn’t be the best thing, after all. The trouble is, I shall have to make a decision very soon. Time is fast running out.’

‘It must be very hard for you.’ Jess tried to imagine how she would feel if it was Mel in that position. She piled the mixture into cake tins, then after popping them in the oven, she said hesitantly, ‘You know what you told me some time ago – about there being some sort of presence here? Well, I’m beginning to think you were right.’

‘That’s a bit of a turn-around, isn’t it!’ Laura exclaimed. ‘You looked at me as if I was barmy when I told you. What brought about this change of heart?’

‘Lots of things,’ Jess finally admitted. ‘I hear things – someone crying – and sometimes I get the feeling that someone is standing behind me. I’ve seen a face peering out from a window in the attics and then recently I caught a glimpse of a young woman on the landing. She was dressed in a long skirt. At other times I’ve heard whispering, as if someone is trying to talk to me, and lately things have started to go missing – and then they turn up in the most improbable places. I’m sure it has something to do with the journal that I told you about, that I found in the attic. I think if anyone really
is
here, it’s Martha.’

‘It’s certainly a young woman,’ Laura agreed solemnly. ‘I’ve sensed her too. I think she
wanted
you to come here – and that’s why you felt so drawn to the house.’

‘But
why
is she still here?’ Jess asked. ‘I thought when people died they passed over to the other side, through some sort of light or something.’

‘I really don’t know,’ Laura admitted. ‘But I know she’s here for a reason and it’s definitely something to do with you.’

‘The gypsy woman told me almost the same thing.’ Jess stared towards the high ceiling. ‘I haven’t read much of the journal for a while now. I thought if I stopped reading it so much, the strange things wouldn’t keep happening – but it hasn’t made any difference.’

‘They won’t stop,’ Laura assured her. ‘Whoever is here won’t leave now until they’ve done what they stayed to do, so you’ve just got to go with it. I don’t think she actually wishes
you
any harm – but she’s certainly got issues with someone here.’

‘So why don’t
you
just ask her what it is then?’ Jess snapped. ‘If you can see or sense these things, surely you can talk to her?’ Then her shoulders sagged. ‘I’m sorry, Laura, I didn’t mean to take it out on you.’

Hoping to change the subject, Laura said, ‘It was so nice of your Simon to call in to see Beth the other day. She was really pleased to see him. I think she misses him giving her a lift to the youth club.’

‘Simon called in?’ It was the first Jess had heard of it, and she was mildly surprised.

‘Yes, he asked if Den and I wanted him to try and find out who was responsible for getting her into this mess but we told him we don’t want to pursue that. There wouldn’t be any point. It’s our problem and we’ll have to deal with it the best way we can. At least the youth club now keep all the youngsters under much stricter surveillance so it can’t happen again.’

Once Laura had gone back to her own cottage Jess got on the computer and did some shopping, stocking up on food for the freezer, then she went on various sites hunting for wallpaper that might be suitable for the nursery. She knew that if she was going to keep this baby she ought to start getting prepared for it, and as she had nothing better to do, now was as good a time as any. There were two or three patterns that she quite liked but in the end she decided to wait until Jo was with her and let her have the final choice. It was the least she could do, seeing as Jo was the only one who was pleased about the baby.

She cooked a spaghetti Bolognese for tea, and then both the girls shot off back to their rooms to do their homework, leaving Jess to clear away the supper.

When the kitchen was tidy again she settled down to read the local newspaper at the table and was surprised to see headlights flash into the courtyard. She was even more shocked when Simon breezed in seconds later with a wide smile on his face. It was the first time he had been home early and in a good mood for ages, and she could hardly believe it.

‘Hello, love.’ He slid out of his coat before planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek. ‘How are you feeling then?’

‘I er . . . I’m fine,’ Jess faltered, amazed at the change in him. Here he was, home on time, and falling over himself to be nice to her. ‘You’re early.’

‘Yep, it’s bitter out there, so I told the lads we were knocking off early so I could come home and spend a nice quiet night cuddled up by the fire with my missus.’

‘You’re not going out, then?’ Jess asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

‘Not on your nelly. When I’ve eaten I’m going to go and have a nice hot bath and then I’m settling down in front of the telly. Now what’s that I can smell? Is it spaghetti Bolognese?’ When Jess nodded
he
rubbed his stomach in anticipation. ‘Just what the doctor ordered. I’m so hungry I could eat a scabby horse.’

Still bemused, Jess hastily dished up his meal before scuttling away to put the kettle on.

He cleared his plate in no time and then as she put a steaming mug of tea in front of him he playfully slapped her bottom and told her, ‘Delicious. Just like the woman that cooked it.’

‘Is everything all right?’ she asked tentatively and he laughed.

‘Everything is fine. Why, shouldn’t it be?’

‘It’s just that you seem to be in such a good mood. You haven’t won the lottery, have you?’

‘I wish. But a bloke can be in a good mood, can’t he? I know I’ve been a bit of a grump lately, but now I’ve had time to get my head round it I reckon having another baby might not be such a bad idea, after all.’

‘Really?’ Jess gasped.

He gave her the lopsided grin that could always make her legs turn to jelly. ‘Yes, really, and I’m sorry for the way I’ve behaved, love. I suppose it just came as a bit of a shock, that’s all.’

‘It was for me too,’ she pointed out, still struggling to come to terms with the sudden change in him, welcome though it was.

‘Right then.’ He took a swig of his tea and stood up. ‘I’m off for a nice soak in the bath. You go and have a look what’s on the box, eh, and I’ll be down in no time.’

He breezed through the door and it was then that the whispers started like white noise in her head. Convinced that someone was standing right behind her, Jess whirled about but there was no one there although the whispers were louder. Clamping her hands over her ears she screwed her eyes tight shut and slowly the whispers receded and she dared to open her eyes again. Badly shaken, she sat down heavily and for the first time she began to wonder if she was losing her mind. After all, she had been under a lot of stress just lately, what with Simon’s mood swings and Mel’s tantrums. Was this what it was like to have a breakdown? All manner of things began to skip through her head until Simon suddenly appeared again in his dressing-gown.

‘What’s up, sweetheart?’ he asked with concern as he saw how pale she was.

‘Oh . . . it’s nothing. I just felt a bit dizzy.’ She managed to raise a weak smile as she rose unsteadily from her seat.

Simon instantly grabbed her elbow and steered her into the small
lounge
where he sat her on the settee with a stool beneath her feet. ‘You sit there while I go and get you a drink,’ he told her as he shot off to the kitchen. He was back in seconds sloshing water all over the rim of a glass.

‘Here, drink this,’ he ordered, and she obediently took it from him and sipped it.

‘Is that better?’

She nodded as he sat beside her and slid his arm across her shoulder. ‘You’ve been overdoing things,’ he muttered, ‘and I blame myself. I should have been around to help out more.’