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Chapter 13
Alice sat for half an hour wondering what to do. Should she return to the house? Should she return home? Certainly they had no right to use her temporary home as a meeting place. Even if she had only rented it for a few days, she had paid money for her private enjoyment not everybody else's enjoyment.
Of course, Ruby hadn't looked as if she was enjoying it very much. Alice wondered what had made her submit to Hugo and what had fired him up to want her in the first place when he had a rather prettier and more elegant wife at home.
Finally, it was all too puzzling so Alice shrugged her shoulders and slithered down to the back of the house and let herself in. After all, she wasn't really on holiday. The purpose of coming here had been to find out more about Estelle's murder.
Gradually she was seeing into the depths of the lives of the people here which was some small progress. When she got upstairs, she vented her feelings at what she'd seen by slamming closed the door to the bedroom they had occupied. Out of sight, out of mind she thought, firmly.
Something else intrigued her. From her position above the house, she had noticed another property in the field next door. She had previously thought her own was the only one in between the main river and the village.
She'd also noticed a telephone box hidden away close by down a side road near the cricket ground and this had reminded her of her promise to her husband to telephone him when she had got settled.
Half an hour later, she had left a message on her husband's answer phone and decided to explore. Behind the red public telephone box, a cable ran looped from branch to branch and Alice decided to see where it went.
The cable followed a tiny path and then disappeared into the back of some stonework. She slid down the side of a small embankment and found herself at the front of a very tumbledown property. It had a small garden and looked the sort of place where farm hands would have lived in the days when they were needed. A few children's toys were scattered about on the muddy lawn.
A dog started barking and a young woman appeared at the door. She had straight blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing a colourful floppy dress that looked as if it had seen better days. The dog at her feet let off a stream of delighted yaps at the thought of some excitement.
"It's alright, he just likes making a noise. He's completely harmless. Can I help you?" The woman appeared defensive but not unfriendly. Her accent was soft and broad West Country.
"My name's Alice. I'm staying on holiday next door for a couple of weeks and just wondered if I might say hello." Alice gave her best reassuring and charming smile.
"I thought for a moment you were going to complain about the children. I'm Jessica. This ragamuffin is Tim." A tousle headed boy of about ten years old squeezed between his mum and the doorframe grinning. "And this is Samantha." A girl, who was slightly older and with straight black hair, edged around her mum on the other side smiling self-consciously. They were the children Alice had seen on the swing in her garden.
"Tim and Samantha go and play. It'll be time for bed soon, it'll be dark soon and you need to get rid of some energy."
The two children scampered off dutifully in the direction of the river that was only fifty metres away across the field leaving Alice and Jessica looking at each other.
"You had better come in," said Jessica.
She led Alice down a hall that stretched from front to back of the cottage and into a kitchen. Alice walked over to the window. It overlooked a small and secluded garden that was bathed in sun. There was a vegetable patch, some chickens and an assortment of hutches that looked as if they may contain pet animals of various sorts. The kitchen smelt of damp. Despite the warmth of the sun through the window, it also felt cold.
Alice realized that Jessica was watching her. Jessica seemed to have the ability to watch people without making them uncomfortable. She had an observant friendly gaze that made Alice feel drawn to her.
"I can make some tea if you like," said Jessica.
"That would be nice."
Jessica poured water into an old kettle and placed it on a small gas ring powered by a gas cylinder under the table. The kettle had a whistle in its nozzle to sound when the water was boiled. Alice hadn't seen one of those for years.
"I'm afraid I'm not really set up to receive visitors. People don't usually notice us. We are somewhat hidden away here."
Alice noticed there were only two tea bags in the tea caddy. Jessica took one and popped it into the teapot.
"If you prefer, I could brew up some herbal tea I made last year. It's a bit of an acquired taste, though."
"Ordinary tea will be fine, thanks." Alice smiled.
"Or, if you would like a drink, I have some nettle wine. It's got a bit of a punch though. I save it for special occasions when I don't need to walk afterwards."
Alice laughed.
"You have a London accent," said Jessica.
"That's where I live, "admitted Alice. "Right now it seems a million miles away. Pardon me asking but do you have electricity?"
"No, not exactly," said Jessica, looking embarrassed. "We had a generator that worked for a while but it broke."
She paused and then seemed to make a decision.
"Look if you're going to sit there and criticise, you had better go now. We keep to ourselves and don't bother anybody. We don't need to explain ourselves to anybody."
It was Alice's turn to say nothing. She relaxed the tension in her shoulders and waited.
Jessica clicked the stove off and then thought better of it and relit the gas. She paced across to stare at the garden. Still Alice said nothing.
Jessica turned and Alice saw there were tears in her eyes.
"I didn't mean to be rude."
She came and joined Alice at the kitchen table and put her head in her arms and started sobbing. Alice put forward a hand and stroked her head.
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