The possible new client lived in Waltonby, on a new development on a parcel of land sold off by Mrs. T-J. The poor old thing must be feeling the pinch, thought Lois, slumming along on a frequent cleaner, a full-time gardener, and Floss, who loved all things equine, to help with the horse.
The front door opened as soon as Lois pulled up outside. Mrs. Belvoir, an elderly woman supporting herself on a stick, had a welcoming smile. “Come along in, Mrs. Meade,” she said, and led the way into the house.
Lois hung back, wiping her wet, muddy shoes on the door mat, and noticed a portrait hanging in a prominent place in the hallway. A distinguished military man, with neat mustache and plenty of gold braid, looked out at her sternly.
“My late husband,” said Mrs. Belvoir. “He wasn’t really as fierce as he looks! It was having to sit for hours being painted. Very difficult to keep up a smile, he said.”
“Very handsome, though,” said Lois pleasantly, and followed Mrs. Belvoir into an inoffensively bland sitting room.
Lois went through the motions of explaining New Brooms to a new client, taking notes, promising excellent service, and all the while her mind was on a thirteen-year-old boy walking away from her with a defiant shrug and misery in his dark eyes.
“Mrs. Meade?”
Lois realised that she had not heard Mrs. Belvoir offering her coffee, and apologised. “Just sorting out my best girl for you,” she lied. “Mind you, they’re all good,” she added hastily. “All my girls are excellent, and I’m sure you’ll have no problems. If you do have any queries, here is my card and I’m available day and night.”
She refused coffee, saying that she had to get on to her next appointment, and left Mrs. Belvoir standing on the step waving a friendly hand. What a nice woman! Probably Dot Nimmo would be the best to look after her. Dot was a character and tended to act independently of Lois’s rules, but she had a heart of gold and a nice way with old ladies. Yes, Dot would be the one for Mrs. Belvoir.
Halfway back to Farnden, she saw a large obstacle in the road and braked to avoid it, but too late. There was a nasty crunching sound from under the van, and she stopped immediately.
“Sod it!” she muttered, as she saw the exhaust pipe hanging loose. The offending obstacle proved to be a jagged piece of masonry which had tumbled from a heap at the side of the road.
She looked at her watch. Half past eleven, rain pelting down, and the team would be arriving at noon. This small back road, a short cut to Farnden, was little used, and there was not much hope of being rescued. Nothing for it, then, but to walk. She had her mobile, but was reluctant to ring Derek. He had a complicated rewiring job to finish, and wouldn’t be too pleased to be asked to collect her. She slung her bag over her shoulder, collected the briefcase, and locked the van. With a backwards glance to make sure she had pulled off the road as far as she could, she set off at a smart pace towards home.
A couple of miles from the village, she passed a ruined cottage with gaping windows and a splintered door banging in the wind. The rain had soaked her to the skin, and seemed to be increasing. Maybe she should shelter for a few minutes while she tried to find the number of her garage on her mobile.
She stepped across the dripping, soggy grass and walked gingerly over a broken paving stone leading into the house. A startled mouse looked at her and then scuttled away. Mice I can take, Lois said to herself. But not rats. Oh God, I hope there’s not rats! Apart from the swinging door, it was completely quiet, a threatening, heavy quiet that made Lois shiver. She found her mobile and switched it on. Nothing, except the signal for low battery showing. She groaned. Why now? This was the worst morning of her life, she decided, and was later to regret tempting fate.
A creaking sound broke the silence, and she turned round in alarm, looking into the shadowy depths of the cottage. A shadow moved. “Who’s that!” she said loudly.
There was no reply, and she turned to run, when a man’s voice said, “Stay where you are. Don’t move, else you’ll be sorry.”
“COME ON IN,” GRAN SAID, LOOKING WORRIED. “I DON’T KNOW what’s happened to Lois. She said she’d be back well in time for the meeting.”
Hazel Thornbull, Sheila Stratford and Dot Nimmo looked at each other in dismay. In the entire time they’d been working for New Brooms, Mrs. M had never been late. In fact, she was such a stickler for punctuality that the team had learned to be on time or suffer a sharp reprimand.
Half an hour ticked by, and the team ran out of things to say. Andrew voiced all their thoughts by saying that he thought they should get hold of Derek. He must have a mobile, and might know where she was. Gran was called in, gave them Derek’s number, and said she was thinking of ringing the police. One particular policeman, she said, who would certainly be worried if Lois went missing.
“Let’s ring Derek first,” Dot Nimmo said. She had a natural reluctance to ring the police at any time, being the widow of a successful boss of Tresham’s dodgy underworld. “I’ll speak to him,” she added.
“Perhaps it would be better if Andrew…?” Sheila came from a generation who thought important jobs should be handled by a man, but Dot said no, she was most likely to have an idea what to do, where to look. She dialled the number and waited.
“WHO ARE YOU?” LOIS SAID, KEEPING AS COOL AS SHE COULD manage. She could hardly see the owner of the voice, but thought she caught a northern accent. Geordie? That was it. “And how dare you threaten me!”
“You’d be surprised what you’d dare when you’re desperate,” he said.
“For God’s sake come out where I can see you,” said Lois, beginning to lose her cool.
The man stepped forwards, and she could see that he had all the sad signs of being down and out. Straggly, unkempt hair, rough red complexion and rheumy eyes. His clothes were layers of rags, and he had a filthy rucksack over his shoulder.
“I see,” she said. “So what do you want from me, and what will you do if I don’t give it to you?”
“Answer to the first question, money. If you don’t hand over what you got in that bag, I’ll take it by force. Christ knows I’ve never hurt nobody, but I’m frozen and hungry and tired of tramping about. Hand it over, then I’ll let you go.”
Lois peered more closely at him. His eyes were bloodshot, but without question a deep, unfathomable black. “Who are you?” she repeated. “Answer me a couple of questions, and I’ll give what money I’ve got in my purse. Bargain?”
“How will you know I’m telling the truth?” he said, and in that instant he could have been young Jack. Intelligent, cunning and wary.
“Oh, I shall know, Mr. Hickson,” she said, and immediately knew she had gone too far. He moved towards her, and she ran, out of the cottage, across the wet grass, almost blinded by the heavy rain. But she was well nourished and sheltered, and he was weak and hungry. She outstripped him easily, and finally turned and looked back. She could see him stumbling back towards the cottage, and then he disappeared.
A familiar van came slowly towards her, and she knew it was Derek. The girls and Gran must have told him. He stopped, opened the door and walked towards her, holding out his arms.
“IT WAS LIKE ONE OF THEM FILMS, WHERE THE MAN AND WOMAN run towards each on a sunset beach, into a passionate embrace. Me and your dad,” Lois said to Josie later that afternoon.
“And what romantic thing did Dad say?”
“ ‘You got wet feet, me duck.’ That’s what he said, bless ’im. We managed to have the meeting, anyway, and I didn’t say anything to Paula. But I’m sure it was him, Josie. Same eyes, same way of speaking as young Jack.”
“You’ve got a lot of thinking to do now, then, Mum. Shall we just tell Matthew and Cowgill and let them find Hickson? It might be for the best.”