“He’s still on holiday and impossible to reach. Remember? I told you that Mrs. Malloy and I have been filling in for him on that case. We had quite a chat about it this morning.”
“Missing my mother does not mean I’m losing my mind. Or maybe it does.” He tossed aside the knife and leaned morosely against the sink. “Most sons would have disinherited her, shown her the door, told her to get lost years ago, done all the things that outraged parents do when their offspring don’t turn out well. It’s no joke, although I know I make it sound like one, having a mother who’d rob the Pope of his little skullcap while asking for a papal blessing. But I can’t send her back and ask for a new Mum, can I?” Freddy stood with his eyes closed plucking at his scroungy beard. “I’ve looked and I can’t find the box she came in.”
“I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“You wouldn’t be willing to talk to Mrs. Malloy about taking on a missing person case? It would be right up the same alley as the one you’re working on now. My cousin opened his eyes and gave me a threadbare smile. “By the way, how’s that going?”
“We made some progress today. In fact I think we may be close to finding Ernestine. We have the name and address of the people who adopted her.”
“Great!”
“It was mostly luck. Several things fell into place. Freddy”-I was struggling into an apron, getting my head stuck in one of the armholes in the process-“about your mother: I don’t feel equipped. You need someone who really knows what they’re doing. Not someone who’s playing detective.” I felt sick when I heard what I was saying. It was just fine to practice on strangers, was it? But not when it came to my own family. Any exhilaration I had felt on leaving the house on Hathaway Road was wiped away. It didn’t help to tell myself that, given Milk Jugg’s absence, Lady Krumley could have been stuck in her hospital bed with no one believing a word of her fantastical tale. I was staring glumly back at Freddy when the garden door opened and my three children came bouncing into the kitchen, followed by Ben with his hands full of white cardboard boxes and several books under one arm.
“Fe fi fo fum! I smell Chinese food.” I felt a smile slide over my face as little Rose wrapped her arms around my legs and Tam and Abbey raced to pick up Tobias, whose furry face had appeared out of nowhere.
“I needed to go to the library, and the children wanted to come along.” Ben was unloading onto the table. “So we decided to make a treat of it and get a takeaway.”
“That’s wonderful. Freddy can stop slaving away chopping onions.”
“Sorry, I thought I told him…”
“He’s a bit preoccupied at the moment about Aunt Lulu.”
“Still no word?” Ben straightened up and began unbuttoning his coat. I could see the concern in his face as he looked at Freddy. And I had one of those moments when my love for him welled up inside me. I felt comforted and sheltered without his eyes shifting my way, or his hand reaching for mine. It had nothing to do with his dark good looks or his way of giving elegance to an elderly sweater and even older pair of trousers. It had to do with the knowledge that he would always be there to rescue me in times of trouble. And, possibly even more important, he would be equally willing to let me rescue him.
I bustled the children out of their coats as Ben stood talking to Freddy. And after that the three of us got down plates, set out the cutlery and opened the cartons, while the kettle boiled for a fresh pot of tea.
“This is a feast.” I removed the apron while surveying it.
“I was in the mood for chicken fried rice,” announced Tam, climbing on to his chair.
“And I wanted shrimp slug bug.” Abbey pranced over to give me a kiss before taking her place.
“That’s sub gum,” corrected her brother.
“Is it?” Abbey appealed to me.
“Darling, it’s delicious. That’s all that matters.” I was getting Rose into her booster chair, while Ben poured the tea and Freddy produced beakers of milk for the children. He was still looking strained, but he made an effort to appear his usual self when asking Ben what books he had got at the library.
“Ones on computers.”
“Oh, dear, so you’re still having trouble?” I was thinking that I must get back in touch with Kathleen Ambleforth to find out what luck she was having in tracking down the typewriter and other items from the study. It didn’t matter that Ben was no longer upset with me. I still had to put things right. Before he could answer Tam started to talk about his library book.
“It’s about a little train that gets lost. And the people inside get very cross because they wanted to go to London. But they don’t. The train takes them to the seaside. Then they look out the windows and see the sand and the children with buckets and spades and…”
“My book’s about a bunny rabbit. It’s sad because it can’t find its Mummy.” Abbey looked at my cousin with her bright blue eyes. “Is that why you’re sad, Freddy? Do you want your Mummy?”
“Do you, Freddy?” Tam was shaking soy sauce onto his plate of fried rice, which he had shifted away from Rose after she reached out to take a handful. Being the typical two-year-old she always preferred one of her siblings’ plates to her own.
“They must have heard me on the phone talking to Dad.” Freddy was pushing his sub gum around with his fork and completely ignoring his mandarin beef. “Don’t worry kids.” He forced a grin. “I’m fine. After dinner you can read me those books of yours, while your parents have fun by themselves doing the washing up.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Ben spooned out the remains of the cartons.
And so the evening went. Eight o’clock rolled around, and it was time for the children to get ready for bed. I insisted on doing the honors. I sensed that Ben was eager to get into the study and crack open those computer tomes. He had asked me how my day had gone. Not wanting anything to break the lovely harmony of the moment I had said it had been fine and I’d tell him about it later. I thought about what I would say while giving the children their baths, tucking them into bed and singing “Jesus Tender Shepherd Hear Me” in my untuneful voice before turning on their night lights and giving them each a final goodnight kiss.
I was halfway down the stairs when the phone rang. I picked it up to hear Kathleen Ambleforth’s voice on the other end.
“Ellie, cousin Alice has come through.”
“Splendid!” It took me a moment to realize whom she was talking about.
“Remember, she made out the lists of where the donations were sent?”
“Yes.” If Aunt Lulu hadn’t been missing and people getting killed at Moultty Towers I would have erupted into a song and dance number.
“Do you have a piece of paper handy?”
“And a pen.” I picked it up.
“Then here’s the name of the organization and the telephone number. Are you writing it down? Am I going too fast?”
“I’ve got it.” To reassure her I repeated the information back. It was all just letters and numbers to me. My mind was in a whirl. But I did remember to thank Kathleen profusely before putting down the phone and slipping the piece of paper into my skirt pocket. I would telephone first thing in the morning. Ben came out of the study as I crossed the hall. I was so tempted to tell him, but then I risked disappointing him if something went wrong. Better to wait and surprise him.
“What are you thinking about?” He drew me into his arms and kissed me in full view of the twin suits of armor. It was a wonderful kiss, both tender and passionate, and when I opened my eyes and looked into his I saw the promise of even better things to come. It was going to be one of those times for my sea green nightgown with its lovely foaming of lace, and that bottle of wickedly expensive perfume that was hidden away in the box where I kept the first letter he had ever written me, the first rose, the first wrapper from the first bar of chocolate…