I should have been less crotchety and more grateful for everything you’ve done for the past fortnight, darling

Ann walked back towards the bench and pulled out the handkerchiefs. She began to wipe away blood from the ground then looked up as great drops of rain began to splatter all around. No need, the rain would do it for her. She rammed the handkerchiefs back in her pocket then stared at the walking cane in her fist.

If she took it home with her, the servants would find it and questions would be asked.

She ran over to the river and hurled the stick as far as she could. With a final splash, the last vestige of Robert Craig was gone.

She patted the pocket with Mattie’s needle and, as she strode up the green towards Magdalen Yard Road, she began to work out what to do with that.

The rain, which had begun softly, was now pelting down. Heavy rain clouds swept over the sky and as she turned round to look one last time at the river, the moon shone with startling brilliancy.

2015

Fiona sat at the kitchen table reading the note for the third time. She didn’t get it, why would he write to Jamie and not to her?

Jamie snatched the letter from her again.

“So can we go and see him tomorrow or Saturday, like he says? He’s back, Mum, back from Australia!” Jamie beamed.

“I’ve got to get my head round this, Jamie. But I very much doubt you’ll be coming with me.”

She heard a noise upstairs. “And don’t say a word to Granny, it will just upset her. Okay?”

“Okay, but I don’t see why I can’t go too. He invited me first!”

“Let’s chat about it tomorrow, Jamie. Now go and get your PJs on and I’ll order the fish and chips.”

She stared at the note again.

She still didn’t understand why she was a mere PS. That must have been him at the funeral, after all. What the hell was going on?

“Fiona, I’m not sure I can be bothered to stay up for anything to eat, I might go off to bed early.” Her mum stood in her bare feet at the kitchen door.

Fiona covered the note with her hand.

“You and Jamie get the fish and chips though. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow, need to try to get a proper night’s sleep.”

“You’re not going to carry on with the sleeping tablets, Mum, are you?”

“No, don’t worry, I’m not becoming an addict. I intend to stop from tonight.”

“What have you got on tomorrow anyway?” “Got to see the lawyer again.”

“I can come with you?”

“I’m fine on my own,” she snapped. She slumped down onto the chair beside Fiona.

“Sorry darling, of course you can come, if you want.” Dorothy reached out for Fiona’s hand. “I’m so sorry I’ve been so grumpy.

“I think these tablets have been doing something to me. I feel so down and then suddenly I’ll be on a bit of a high, like I was at the service.”

“It’s what happens with those pills. So you’re going to give up now?”

Bickering

Dorothy nodded. She had tears in her eyes. “Fi, sweetheart, it’s just the two of us now Dad’s gone. We’ve got to stop bickering. Come here.”

Fiona reached over and the two women hugged. They were both crying.

“I should have been less crotchety and more grateful for everything you’ve done for the past fortnight, darling.

“You’ve run the house and I have done nothing. Thank you, my love.”

“Mum, it’s all fine. And if you’d prefer to go to the lawyers alone, that’s also fine.

“I’m here if you need me.” Fiona gave her mum a kiss.

“Granny, do you want me to make you some hot chocolate with that special whizzing stick Allie gave me?”

Jamie stood in his Desperate Dan pyjamas at the door, taking in the scene of his mother and grandmother in tearful embrace. “That would be just lovely, darling. Thank you.”

Jamie ran to the fridge for the milk, then to the cupboard for the chocolate.

“I’ll put marshmallows on top too!” he shouted, excited.

Dorothy stroked Fiona’s cheek and smiled. “We’ll speak tomorrow, sweetheart.

“I’m off to bed once our little chef has done my hot chocolate.”

Fiona took the fish-and-chip wrappers out to the bins in the garden and looked back up at the house. Lights were on downstairs and in Jamie’s top floor bedroom.

Shabby neo-classical, that’s how Stru used to describe the grand Victorian exterior as it slowly became more run down.

What was it he used to tell her mum when she berated him for ignoring her pleas to repair the masonry?

Fiona chuckled as she remembered his ditty: “Your house will still be here once you’re gone.”

Strange

And now he was gone and here was this solid house. Okay, it was a bit tatty round the edges but still, it was her Dad’s family house. The Craigs had lived here forever.

It didn’t seem possible that he was no longer with them. How could they get over his loss?

Well, at least things seemed better between her mum and her, so hopefully that was a start.

She turned towards the green and thought about what her dad would have made of Pete’s note. It was so strange that he had addressed it to Jamie, not to her.

A recurring thought came back to her. What if he had been that guy at the school gates, some kind of paedophile and he wanted to take Jamie away with him. Maybe he and Debs were going to abduct him.

It just didn’t seem plausible, any of it. The Pete she knew was a kind, gentle guy – not some sort of crazy psycho.

But then, she never thought he would run out on her like he did either.