A Crowded Coffin(34)

‘I’m glad to see you’ve got a smidgen of common sense, Edith,’ Harriet spoke sternly and she was frowning. ‘Walter has been a soldier and a farmer for most of his eighty-something years and neither profession is known for its weakling qualities. Penelope is tough too, for all her delicate appearance.’ She thought about it for a moment then met Edith’s eyes. ‘Oh, all right. I’ve no authority to butt in, but you must promise not to do anything stupid if you spot them another night. No Famous Five stuff, please, and if you do go off on some idiotic tangent, for God’s sake leave a note or text me.’

There was a mulish expression on Edith’s face but Harriet sighed and, driven by a feeling of urgency, gave it one last try before she changed the subject.

‘Look, I had a phone call just now….’ She caught herself up – that had been in confidence, though she would tell Sam when she had a chance. ‘I meant to say, if anything else does happen, you simply have to make a fuss when you report it. I’ll do it for you, if you like. I’m not afraid of your grandfather and I’m good at yelling at people.’ As her visitor fidgeted, still looking indecisive, Harriet changed the subject briskly. ‘Come and look at my latest treasures while I make some more coffee.’

Distracted, as her hostess intended, by the change of topic, Edith made straight for the large doll’s house that stood in Harriet’s small dining room. Her ex-head’s collection of miniatures had been legendary at school and once a year, as a fundraiser, the house and contents were put on display. Edith had never lost her delight in the tiny pieces, many of them little masterpieces and of museum quality, costing so much that Harriet sometimes had to catch her breath when she thought of her bank balance.

‘Look on the table,’ she told Edith now. ‘There’s a silver toast rack and a muffin dish, as well as the most minute salt and pepper. I always like to keep the new things out, so I can gloat. There’s a magnifying glass there, you can check out the details.’

When the phone rang again, half an hour later, Harriet was on her own. Edith had set out for home, slightly comforted by talking it over with one of the few people whom she held in genuine respect and affection. Harriet could be exasperating sometimes, with her complacent air of being always in the right, but – as Edith was only too well aware – Harriet very often was in the right. It was infuriating but reassuring, and it made her ex-headmistress a safe sounding board for ideas that came out more than half insane.

Harriet flapped for a moment until she spotted the phone on the sofa. ‘Sam? Where are you? Belfast? Is there something wrong?’ She listened intently as her cousin told her to be quiet and hear him out. ‘Goodness,’ she said slowly, when he insisted she listen. ‘That’s interesting.’ She frowned for a moment then, ‘Look, I know you’ve only got a minute, but this is important. Edith’s just been round and told me a crazy tale.’

She relayed the story of the midnight digging in the Burial Field and when he exclaimed, she said, ‘No, she’s not been dreaming. I had a call from Rory Attlin just before she got here, telling me the same story. He’s worried that she might get herself involved in some foolhardy attempt to find out what’s going on. Edith says she got in touch with the police, but they were too busy to react. You can’t blame them, I suppose; they said Walter’s accident sounded like joyriding kids and there was no evidence, and now this latest episode sounds like treasure hunters.

‘Rory rang me because he’s starting to be really anxious. He doesn’t know the area and he’s worried about the old people as well as Edith, plus he knows he’s not fit enough to cope with any boys’ own adventures she might drag him into.’

She broke off as a tall figure appeared at her front gate. ‘Talk of the devil, Sam, here’s Rory, just about to ring the bell. Is it okay if I tell him what you’ve just told me? He’s got his head screwed on and I gather from what the Attlins have said that he can keep his mouth shut.’

She opened the door to her unexpected visitor. ‘Rory, come in. I’ve just been talking to Sam and he’s come up with something that makes our wilder imaginings seem tame!’





chapter six





‘I just had a narrow escape,’ Rory told her as she handed him a mug of coffee and a slice of cake. ‘Edith scorched past me on her bike but luckily I spotted her first and dodged behind a tree. I don’t want to get into a fight about going into Winchester to the police station and making a fuss so they’ll come out and take a look at things here, or at least, not till I’ve had a chance to discuss it with someone rational. She’s so frightened of worrying her grandparents that she can’t think straight.’