‘Get off the phone,’ Ester snapped.
Angela whipped round. ‘I’m still calling for Dolly,’ she lied, and began to redial.
The two women continued on towards the cellar and down into the sauna. Dolly watched from the landing, wondering what they were taking down there. She moved slowly down the stairs as Angela hurriedly dialled again. ‘Keep getting put into different departments, Mrs Rawlins.’
Dolly pressed her finger over the button and then lifted it up. She asked Angela to dial a number for her and to ask for Jimmy. Angela did as she was told. Dolly leaned forward, listening. ‘Ask him if he has got them,’ she whispered, as Angela held her hand over the phone.
‘Got what?’
Dolly gave her one of her strange, sweet smiles. ‘I’ll maybe tell you about it but just do as I say, love.’
Angela hesitated and then spoke into the phone. ‘Have you got them?’ she stammered.
Donaldson looked at Palmer. They had still not found the stones but Palmer nodded for him to say that he had them, and to stall for time. ‘Yes, I’ve got them, but not here.’
Dolly wrote on a notepad and passed it to Angela. She read it and then said into the phone, ‘I’ll collect them at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon.’
Dolly pressed on the cradle to cut off the call, and as Ester and Gloria came up from the cellar told Angela to carry on contacting the social services. ‘Still clearing the junk from the stable, Dolly.’
‘Good, keep at it. We’ll have some skips delivered soon so a lot of it can be chucked into them. I’m going to London tomorrow afternoon.’
They smiled, and went out to report that it looked like Dolly was going to pick up the diamonds the following afternoon. They started clearing the rubbish with renewed vigour.
Dolly waited until Angela had started telephoning again before she slipped down into the cellar and looked around for what she had seen Gloria and Ester carrying. She went into the old sauna locker room. Some of the cupboards were dented and hanging open but a row of three was locked, dusty fingerprints showing they had been opened and used recently. Dolly looked around and found an old screwdriver left on a bench. She prised open a locker and found herself looking at a thick canvas bag. She swore, and then sighed, leaning against the old locker. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid...’
The women were all worn out from their efforts. The scaffolding was being erected around the house and the men worked hard until seven when they left. The women sat watching TV, all of them knackered, apart from Dolly who remained at the kitchen table making notes and copious lists.
When they had gone to bed, Ester suddenly sat bolt upright, nudging Julia. ‘Somebody’s downstairs, can you hear?’
Julia listened, and then crept to the doorway. She could hear nothing. Ester looked out of the window and whispered, ‘She’s out there again, look, up by the woods. What is she doing?’
Dolly was standing, staring at the manor, looking from one window to the next. She wore wellington boots and a raincoat she had found in a closet, a man’s raincoat, stained and torn.
‘What’s she doing out there?’
‘I dunno. Maybe reviewing her property. Come back to bed.’ Julia yawned.
‘I don’t trust her one bit,’ Ester said, but she returned to bed. Hours later she woke again as she heard someone on the stairs. She listened and then heard Dolly’s bedroom door opening and closing.
‘I don’t trust her,’ she murmured, but fell back into a dreamless sleep.
The workmen arrived at six. They were still putting up the scaffolding, but they had also begun to clear out old carpets and broken furniture, laid down planks for easy access by wheelbarrows into the hallway, and bags of cement had been delivered and left by the open front door. Dolly was up and having breakfast when Big John tapped and entered. ‘Scaffolding should be up by this afternoon and we’ll start clearing out anything you don’t want, get ready for the roof. Er, I’ve hired eight men so...’
‘You’ll get the first payment end of the week, if that’s okay, just a couple of days.’
‘Oh, fine. It’s just I’m laying out cash for all the tiles and the men’ll want wages come Friday.’
‘I know, love, but I have to go to London to get the cash. You’ll have it, don’t worry.’
‘Okay, Mrs Rawlins.’
‘Thank you, John.’ She sat a moment, tapping her teeth with a pencil, as one by one the women drifted down for breakfast.
‘Will you all start clearing the vegetable patch? I got bags and bags of seeds we can start planting,’ Dolly said, as they started frying bacon and eggs.
Julia walked in, face flushed. ‘You know, those old stables are in quite good nick — be nice to get a horse. I used to have one when I was a kid. They’re not that expensive to keep, or to buy, you’d be surprised.’
Dolly paid no attention but concentrated on her notes.
‘Did you hear what I said, Dolly?’ Julia said, as she threw off her jacket.
‘Last thing we need right now, love, is a horse. Let’s get the garden in order first. We can start that while the house is being done over, no need to fork out for gardeners, most of it’s just rubbish that’s got to be shifted.’
The women looked at one another, having no desire to ‘shift’ anything but the eggs and bacon.
‘I’m going up to London this afternoon. I’ll take Angela with me.’ Dolly left the kitchen and went to the yard.
Ester closed the door behind her. ‘Told you, she’s going for them this afternoon. Get Angela in here, go on.’
Gloria caught Angela dialling. She crooked her finger. ‘Who you callin’?’
‘My mum, let her know where I am.’
‘Well, do it later. Come in here, we want to talk to you.’
Dolly walked up to the woods. It was a beautiful clear day but she stopped as she heard the sound of a train from the small local station. She watched the level-crossing gates open and close, and saw a square-faced boy sitting on a stool, a trainspotter. He was making copious notes in a black schoolbook, checking his watch, face set in lines of concentration. Dolly strolled down from the woods on to the small narrow lane by the crossing.
‘Good morning,’ she said cheerfully.
The boy looked up: his face was even squarer close up and his thick black hair stuck up in spikes. ‘Good morning. My name is Raymond Dewey,’ he said loudly. ‘I’m here every day, checking on the trains. I’m the time-keeper. That was the nine o’clock express, on time, always on time.’
‘Really? You have an important job then, don’t you? Raymond, is it?’
‘That is correct, Raymond Dewey of fourteen Cottage Lane. Who are you?’
‘Well, Raymond, I’m Dolly, Dolly Rawlins.’
‘Hello, Dolly, very nice to meet you.’
She smiled at his over-serious face. Bright button eyes glinted back as he licked his pencil tip and returned to his work.
‘Well,’ Dolly said then, ‘I won’t disturb you. Bye-bye.’
He stuck out his stubby-fingered hand and she shook it. His grasp was strong, almost pulling her off her feet. Close to, he was much older than she had first thought but she thought no more of him as she wandered back towards the manor, going via the small narrow road, then cutting back up to the woods.
Mrs Tilly replaced the receiver and checked her watch. She thought it was probably best to discuss it with Mrs Rawlins personally, so she left her office.
The women were grouped around the vegetable patch. Connie was peering at seed packets as Julia dug the soil, turning it over. Two wheelbarrows were filled with weeds and rubbish.
‘Should these be goin’ in now?’ Gloria asked, as she opened another packet.
Julia began to stick in rods. ‘Bit late, but if the weather keeps fine it’ll be okay.’