The Village Newcomers (13 page)
Mercedes rooted about in her bag and took out a square of paper. ‘Here you are. Polar Knight. Three-thirty at Doncaster on Saturday.’
No one in the embroidery group said a word. They finished their cups of tea as though not a thing had been said about betting, nor about Doncaster, nor the three-thirty, nor a horse called Polar Knight. They popped their cups and saucers back on the tray, and left Zack looking at his square of paper and sipping his own, very welcome cup of tea.
Polar Knight won at Doncaster, and every member of the embroidery group had put a bet on him. They couldn’t wait for Zack to call in for his cup of tea the following Monday until they remembered he’d said it would be the last time he’d be cutting the grass until the spring. Drat!
Peter sensed the challenge in Beth’s voice when she announced she was going with the youth club on the midnight walk on Friday to Brocken High Barrow. He winked at Caroline and, taking the hint, she didn’t protest.
‘Alex going, Beth?’ Peter asked.
‘No, and don’t suggest it to him. He’ll only interfere and tell me what to do, or, more likely, what not to do, and I’m not having it. Pass the sauce, please.’
Caroline passed Beth the tartare sauce. ‘Here you are. You sound very definite.’
‘No, but I am sixteen going on seventeen and so I’m going.’
‘I see.’
‘I mean it about Alex. Anyway, it’s not his kind of thing. Too daring for him!’
‘It’ll be cold this time of year,’ Caroline remarked.
‘I’m tough, didn’t you know? I don’t care if it throws down with rain. I’m going. I’m fed up with being good little Beth, daughter of the Rector and the Doctor. I’m stepping out of line for once.’
‘That’s fine, darling. Quite right,’ Peter said mildly. He poured himself a glass of wine. ‘More wine, Caroline?’
‘Yes, please. I’ll be glad to see the end of this bottle; it’s not to my taste.’
‘I’ll try it.’ Beth passed her glass to Peter. ‘Might as well help to finish it if Mum’s not keen.’
‘Are you sure about wine?’
‘Some of them at the youth club buy wine and cider and stuff at the off-licence in Culworth, but I think it’s better to drink at home. Still . . . that is an idea. Something else I could try that I’ve never tried before.’
‘What’s brought this on?’
‘It’s boring, boring, boring being a Rector’s daughter, always expected to be goody-goody, and I’m absolutely sick of it.’
Peter said he could see her point. ‘I understand. It’s people automatically assuming that you’re well behaved and sensible, always doing your prep and helping with the junior church and going to visit Muriel.’
Beth, her fork full of food, hesitated and then came out with, ‘That’s another thing. I’m stopping doing that. It’s ridiculous. She doesn’t even know who I am. Well, sometimes she does, but usually not. It’s a complete waste of time.’
‘No, Beth, it’s—’
‘It is, Mum. An utter, utter waste of time. I’ve been going round there once a week for years—’
‘One actually.’
‘Well, nearly two, and I’m fed up with it. Then I take her to the Store for something to do. She doesn’t know what she wants and Ralph doesn’t give her a list, so we stand about for hours and I feel a fool. So I shall tell Ralph I’m not going any more. He might even be quite glad. He hates people seeing how bad she is. And it won’t get better.’
Caroline began to challenge her about this but Peter forestalled her.
‘If that’s how you feel, then by all means go round and tell Ralph you don’t want to do it any more, but please, do it gently. I can see your point. You’ve been more than diligent going round there every week but there is a limit and I don’t suppose Muriel will notice. She is far worse than even just a few weeks ago.’
‘Thanks, Dad. As soon as I’ve finished I’m going round there. And I might not even do my prep. See what effect that has at school. They can tut-tut as much as they like. Well I shall give them a surprise, and it’s about time, too.’
The rest of their meal was eaten in silence, and Beth went round to Ralph and Muriel’s the moment she’d finished her last mouthful of pudding.
She used to be able to open the door and call out, ‘It’s me, Beth, from the Rectory.’ But now the door had to be kept firmly locked in case Muriel mistakenly decided to go out and subsequently went missing, which she had done several times.
Ralph opened the door and greeted her with pleasure. ‘Why, Beth! How lovely. Do come in, dear. Muriel’s in the sitting room, or she was.’
Beth’s first thought was how weary Ralph appeared to be. Another sleepless night, she guessed.
‘Hello, Muriel, it’s—’
‘Beth! How lovely to see you! How kind. Come and tell me all about school and what you’ve been up to.’ She patted the seat next to her on the sofa and smiled cheerfully.
Beth felt dreadful. After her rebellion at home, now she was faced with this surprising recognition. What should she do? She’d never intended seeing Muriel tonight. What she wanted to do was to tell Ralph she wasn’t coming any more and then quietly disappear, but no such luck.
‘Did you win your netball match?’
‘Yes, we did, thank you. They were a good team and it was a struggle, but in the end we won. Thank you. How have you been, Muriel?’
‘Very well, thank you, dear.’ She called out rather imperiously, ‘Ralph, could we have a cup of tea?’
‘Yes, Muriel. In a minute.’
Short of something to talk about, Beth told her about the midnight hike with the youth club. ‘So we shall be leaving at ten-thirty in a minibus from outside the church.’
‘Ralph! What have you done with my cup of tea? Where is it?’
‘In a moment, dear.’
‘Beth! I want a cup of tea. Where is it? Ralph never gets things done in time. Where is he? Has he gone out?’
‘No, he’s in the kitchen.’
‘I want Ralph. Ralph?’
‘I’ll go and make the tea.’
Muriel began to get up. ‘No, I’ll make it.’
‘No, Muriel, you sit there. You’ve had a busy day; you must be tired. I’ll do it and send Ralph in to you.’
‘I have been very busy. There’s so much to do in the house. Must keep it tidy. The vacuuming is so exhausting.’
‘Of course.’
Beth went into the kitchen and offered to make the tea. ‘You sit with Muriel, Ralph. I’ll make the tea.’
‘Thank you, Beth.’
Ralph never made comments about Muriel’s incapacity. He always treated her as though everything in her head was perfectly normal when it manifestly wasn’t.
Beth carried the tray in. Muriel inspected it and found fault in a harsh voice that was completely different from her normal tone. ‘You’ve not put a cloth on, Muriel. I never have a tray without a cloth on it.’
‘Very well, I’ll go and get it.’ But she didn’t, and Muriel instantly forgot then decided to pester for her tea.
‘It’s not brewed yet; it won’t be a moment.’
Beth heard Ralph smother a sigh. She looked at him and said very softly, ‘You need more help, Ralph. You can’t manage single-handed.’
‘She’s not going in a home, Beth. I couldn’t cope with that.’
‘Then get some help with meals and the cleaning and bathing her. Then you needn’t put her in a home. But you can’t keep ignoring facts . . .’
Muriel snatched the cup of tea from Beth. ‘About time, too.’ Between them they almost had a spill.
‘It’s too hot yet, Muriel.’
But she was too late. Muriel sipped it and then snapped, ‘It’s too hot. Why is it too hot?’
‘You go, Beth. I’ll deal with her. Please, just go.’
From his voice Beth knew he was acutely embarrassed by Muriel’s confusion. So was she, and completely devastated, too.
She rushed home and burst into tears.
Peter heard her from the study and went to see what the matter was. He sat down on a kitchen chair and Beth sat on his knee and put her arms round his neck.
‘It’s Muriel! She’s worse than ever tonight. Poor Ralph. She doesn’t know how bad she is. It’s Ralph who’s suffering. I feel awful.’
‘Have you told him you don’t want to go any more?’
‘I didn’t get a chance. He showed me straight into the sitting room and there she was. How does he live with it?’
‘I honestly do not know, but he loves her, you see, so he does his best by her. Did she recognise you at all?’
‘Yes, and then she didn’t and called me Muriel of all things, and was such a pest, so demanding, so unlike her. It’s terrible. I can’t go again. Ralph almost died of embarrassment. Dad, it could happen to anyone, couldn’t it?’ She began crying again.
‘Yes. Anyone.’
‘It won’t happen to Mum, will it? I couldn’t bear it if it did. I love her so.’
‘I know you do.’
‘I’m never, never going to stay with Suzy. She gave me away and I can’t forgive her for that, but then I wouldn’t have Mum for my mum, would I? And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I never think she’s not my mum, you know. Never. She is, you see.’
‘Yes. I’m glad she is.’
‘She must have been so brave when she found out about . . . well . . . about you and Suzy. So filled with love and needing a baby and so pleased she could adopt yours. At least we weren’t anybody’s. I’ve never really thought about it like that before. Were you embarrassed? About what happened?’
Peter studied her question and eventually said, ‘Not embarrassed, no. Deeply ashamed of myself.’
‘But you gave Mum what she longed for - two children to love.’
Peter felt incredibly confused. ‘Not quite as straightforward as that.’
‘Oh! Right. Can you love two people at the same time, then?’
‘I’m not sure I should be discussing this with you.’
‘I am sixteen and I need to know, and it is about me . . . and Alex.’
Peter nodded. ‘The most I can say is that I have deeply loved your mother since the very first time I met her. Nothing and nobody could come between us whatever happens, whoever happens, and what occurred with Suzy Meadows was something quite separate from that and I still don’t know why it came about, but it did, and the guilt I felt has lain like a stone wrapped around my heart ever since. There, that’s all I can say about it.’
‘But you’re glad you have us?’
‘I haven’t a vocabulary big enough to tell you how glad I am and always have been.’
‘So it feels like a betrayal of Mum?’
‘Yes.’
‘She must love you dreadfully.’
Peter didn’t answer for a moment. ‘She must. And you see, there’s no feeling in the world like it when you hold your child in your arms for the first time, adopted or biological. Nothing matches it. So I suppose that helps.’
Beth wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her cheek to his. ‘And I can tell you this: you are my dad and my mum is my mum and there’ll never be any change to that. No change at all. Whatever anyone says or does.’
‘Tell your mum that, will you? She’s been broken-hearted by Suzy Meadows turning up so unexpectedly.’
‘I’ll do it right now.’
Caroline, still feeling threatened by Suzy presenting herself at the Rectory - after all, what was to stop her from arriving again and again? - was comforted by Beth’s passionate declaration that she loved Caroline and had no need for Suzy whatsoever. The two of them clung together in such a meaningful embrace that they both cried and had to share a tissue that Beth found in her pocket.
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