Sick of Shadows Part 6

"We must do something," whispered Daisy. "If only we could phone the captain."

"I could do that," said Rose. "I know we were told not to phone or write but I could pretend to be his cousin and talk in a sort of code. We must move quickly. We can't use the telephone in the police station or the girl in the exchange might tell Bert. I know, we'll get to Plomley. I'll just tell Sally we're going out for a walk. I do find all this use of first names rather peculiar, but Bert said it makes us sound more like family."

They hitched a lift to Plomley on a farm cart.

It was an old-fas.h.i.+oned wooden telephone kiosk in Plomley, not one of the new boxes.

Rose got through to the operator and gave her Harry's number, shovelled the required pennies into the slot and waited.

Let him be there, she silently prayed. Please let him be there.

Ailsa Bridge answered the phone. Rose asked to speak to the captain. "Who is calling?" asked Ailsa.

Rose thought quickly. "His cousin, Miss Shalott."

Harry came on the line. "This is your cousin, Miss Shalott," said Rose quickly. "Our uncle Bert is in trouble again, the old rip. The police commissioner in York has summoned him this morning. He must have been drunk and breaking windows again. Added to that, a certain Lady Blenkinsop has put in a complaint against poor old Uncle because she says I was rude to her and all because she wanted me to sing at her house, just like a common chorus girl. Too, too sickening. Do help Uncle Bert, please."

"Where are you telephoning from?"

"Such a quaint little wooden kiosk. You know Mama will not let me use the telephone and she says that Uncle Bert should be left to his own devices."

"I'll deal with it right away. Are you well?"

"Oh, yes, very well. Thank you."

Rose replaced the receiver. "Let's hope he gets to the commissioner in York in time, Daisy."

Bert stared miserably at his s.h.i.+ny regulation boots as he sat outside the commissioner's office. He would do anything to avoid losing his job. But Kerridge had sworn him to secrecy.

At last a police officer emerged from the commissioner's office and said, "Go in now."

Bert, with his helmet tucked underneath his arm, went in.

The commissioner, Sir Henry Taylor, was a bluff, red-faced man. "Sit down, Shufflebottom," he said. "You must be thirsty after your journey. Tea?"

Bert blinked in surprise, too startled to speak.

"I know, you'd probably like a beer. Tretty," he said to the attendant police officer, "fetch Mr. Shufflebottom a beer and bring me one as well. Now, there's been this complaint from Lady Blenkinsop."

"I-I'm right sorry," stuttered Bert. "You see, sir, what happened-"

"Never mind. That old witch is always complaining about something. Ah, beer, just the thing. Drink up."

"Your health, sir." Bert raised the tankard with a shaking hand.

"I've been looking at your record. Very fine. No scandals. Everything dealt with quietly and decently. Then you rescued that family last year in Plomley at the fair when their carriage horse bolted. The reason I called you in was to tell you that we think the time has come to give you a little rise in salary as a token of our appreciation."

"Oh, sir, thank you, sir. What about Lady Blenkinsop?"

"The lord lieutenant is calling on her. You will not be troubled by her."

Lady Blenkinsop was initially delighted when the lord lieutenant, Sir Percy Twisletone, called on her. She longed to mingle with the aristocracy, but they mostly shunned her.

"I will get right to the point," said Sir Percy. "You have put in a complaint against the village policeman because of his relative's behaviour."

"Of course! Cheeky minx. I honoured her with an invitation to sing for me and she refused!"

"Miss Rose comes from a very distant aristocratic branch of the family, fallen on hard times."

"I find it hard to believe that Shufflebottom has any aristocratic connections."

"They may have been, shall we say, on the wrong side of the blanket, but royalty-excuse me, I should not have said that-certain sins must be forgiven."

Lady Blenkinsop goggled at him. "Do you mean ... ?"

"I said nothing," said Sir Percy sternly. "I only came to warn you to be careful whom you insult in future. The news can travel upwards to amazingly high circles."

"Oh, dear," babbled Lady Blenkinsop. "I shall apologize."

"No, you will not say anything of this matter and you will not go near the policeman again. We have eyes and ears everywhere and if you tell anyone about this, I shall find out."

Sally collected the children from school herself. She could hardly bear to speak to either Rose or Daisy. She drove the children to Plomley Station in the pony and trap. They all held hands as they saw the train rounding the curve. Sally stood holding baby Frankie in her arms. We'll get through this together, she thought.

She stared in amazement as Bert descended from the train with a bunch of roses in one hand. His smile was so wide it seemed to split his face in half.

She ran to meet him and Frankie set up a wail at being jogged about on her hip.

Bert bowed and handed her the roses. "I've got a raise," he said. He fished in his pocket and brought out a paper bag of aniseed b.a.l.l.s and handed them round. "We'll even be able to go to Scarborough this year for a holiday."

Sally began to cry with relief. When she could speak, she asked, "What about Lady Blenkinsop?"

"The lord lieutenant's dealing with her. This is Rose's doing. I know it is. She didn't use the phone, did she?"

"No, but Dr. Linley said that he saw them on Farmer Jones's cart heading towards Plomley today and then they came back in a hired carriage."

Rose was sewing at the machine in the parlour when they came in and she smiled with relief when she saw all the happy faces.

"Everything all right?" she asked.

Sally rushed forward and hugged her. "I don't know how you did it, but Bert's got a raise and Lady Blenkinsop won't be troubling us. I'll get tea on."

The children were so excited about their new frocks and about going to the fair that Rose decided to dress up for the occasion, never thinking for a moment that by doing so she was putting her life at risk.

Rose had given Sally one of her best hats, a leghorn straw embellished with little yellow silk flowers.

"You do look a picture," said Bert to his wife, his face beaming with love. Rose felt a pang. This policeman saw his thin, hard-faced wife as beautiful. That was real love. Would any man ever look at her like that?

The day of the fair dawned sunny and warm. Rose was wearing a white lace gown embroidered with blue forget-menots. On her head she wore a straw hat covered in silk forget-me-nots. A fine cashmere shawl was thrown round her shoulders and she carried a white lace parasol. Daisy was wearing a green silk gown with a little rakish green hat perched on her curled hair.

The fair lasted two weeks. They decided to visit on the second week, after the horse fair was over, because the gypsies raced each other up and down the main street and there were always accidents.

They wandered around the dozens of stalls. The children clamoured for brandy snaps filled with cream and then walked around to look at the gypsy caravans where the women sat outside making pretty little pincus.h.i.+ons stuffed with bran to sell at the fair.

Bert was on duty, so Sally kept near him, pus.h.i.+ng the baby in a pram made out of an orange box and an old set of wheels.

The children dragged Rose and Daisy to the steam roundabouts and Rose good-naturedly helped Daisy lift the smallest child up onto the brightly painted horses before climbing on herself. How wonderful it was to ride round and round while the barrel organ churned out music-hall songs. The current favourite was: "Oh! Oh! Antonio, he's gone away-left me on my own e-o, all on my own e-o, I'd like to meet him and his new sweetheart, then up will go Antonio-and his ice cream cart."

Dr. Linley stopped to watch them. He was a keen amateur photographer. He raised his new Kodak camera just as the carousel slowed to a halt and snapped a photograph of Rose sitting side-saddle on the painted horse.

In the evening, he developed the photographs in his darkroom. He stared at the photograph of Rose. It was perfect. She was holding on to her hat and her lips were curved in a smile.

There was a new magazine for amateur photographers and they offered a prize every year for the best photograph. The next day, Dr. Linley ent.i.tled the photograph "A Summer's Day at the Fair," and posted it off.

The year moved into high summer, and in July Bert took two weeks' leave and they all went on holiday to Scarborough on the Yorks.h.i.+re coast.

Daisy reflected that she had never seen Rose so happy. She took the children swimming and never once did she complain about the rather seedy lodging-house where they stayed.

Sally's face was filling out now that, thanks to the payment from Rose's family, they could afford good food at every meal, and she was not so careworn looking after the children, as Rose and Daisy took the burden of that duty off her hands. For the first time in years, she and Bert were able to spend time alone together.

When they returned to the village they were all glowing with good health. Rose started to organize a concert to raise funds to repair the school roof. Daisy was to be the star performer, but Rose had promised to sing one song.

The village hall was packed when Rose, accompanied by Daisy, walked onto the stage and began to sing: "Birds in the garden, all day long, singing for me their happy song Flowers in the suns.h.i.+ne, wind and dew, all of them speak to me of you; You that I long for, near or far, you that I follow, like a star, Day may be weary, weary and long, you will come home at evensong.

When you come home, dear, all will be fair, Home is not home if you are not there; You in my heart, dear, you at my side, When you come home at eventide."

Rose sang with a depth of feeling Daisy had never heard in her voice before. She thought of Becket and wondered whether Rose had been thinking of the captain.

There was a great roar of applause.

Rose took Daisy's hand and led her forward. Then they both bowed, and just as they bowed, a shot rang out.

Women screamed, Bert blew his whistle, Daisy dragged a trembling Rose from the stage. "He's here! He's found us," whispered Rose.

FOUR.

Why should your fellows.h.i.+p a trouble be, Since man's chief pleasure is society?

-SIR JOHN DAVIES

Two days had pa.s.sed since the attempted murder of Lady Rose Summer. The countryside round about had been scoured for the would-be a.s.sa.s.sin. All railway stations were watched. Bert had a description of the man. He had called in at the village pub, The Feathers, with a magazine and had shown a photograph in it to the landlord. The photograph had won the annual prize and the story with it said it had been taken by a Dr. Linley of Drifton in Yorks.h.i.+re.

"I didn't know any better," protested the landlord. "You didn't say to tell no one about her. I told him, 'Oh, that's Rose what lives with our policeman.' "

He described the man as being of medium height, stockily built, with a large red face, a brown moustache and wearing a dark suit and a bowler hat.

Kerridge had travelled to the village accompanied by Harry and Inspector Judd. Rose and Daisy were confined to the cottage and told not to venture out of doors.

Kerridge said to Bert, "It's no use you fretting, Shuffle-bottom. It's not your fault. How were we to guess that wretched doctor would take a photograph of her? From the description, it's no one we know. The Honourable Cyril isn't at all like the description of this stranger in the village."

"What about Dolly's brother, Jeremy?" asked Harry.

Kerridge shook his head. "No, Jeremy Tremaine is thin and tall. What are you getting at? That her own family would kill her? Rubbish."

"It did cross my mind," said Harry. "They were so blatantly ambitious."

"What I can't understand," said Kerridge, "is why he's still after Lady Rose? As I said before, he must surely know that she would have told the police everything."

"Cyril could have hired someone," said Harry. "I mean, he might blame Rose for his rejection."

"But she knew Dolly only for a very short time."

"He might not know that. There was also that speculation in the newspapers that Lady Rose might be keeping quiet out of loyalty to her friend. How did he manage to escape from a hall full of people?"

"He stood by the side door and fired and then escaped out into the night. Everyone was screaming and tumbling about, trying to escape. Lots of confusion. No one really saw him because they were all looking at Lady Rose and Miss Levine on the stage. Lady Rose can't continue to stay here. What are we to do with her?"

"Her parents are in Biarritz. You managed to keep this out of the newspapers?"

"Yes, clamped down on the whole thing."