Briar Patch (18 page)

At home Mary Jane had worked all hours but she'd been able to chat with her mother, brothers, sisters and her father. Here, she was expected to milk alone and the butter churning took ages. The memory of her trip to the seaside had already faded into a distant memory, though it was only three weeks since they'd come back to the farm.

‘You've finished the milking, then,' Ellen said as she carried the jugs to the kitchen. ‘You're a good girl, Mary, lass. Sit down and have a mug of tea before you start on the butter. I've collected the eggs and we've far more than we need. I'll be asking Tom to take them to market in the morning and if there's enough butter we'll send a crock or two. The egg money has always been mine but I'll share it with you, lass. You can have half to spend as you like.'

‘Thanks, Ellen,' Mary Jane said and sat down at the scrubbed pine table to drink her tea and eat a piece of her mother-in-law's spiced cake. ‘Would you mind if I went to see Ma and the children when I've finished in the dairy? I'll do any other chores when I come back this evening.'

‘Yes, I don't see why you shouldn't,' Ellen said. She heard the baby cry and stood up. ‘I'd better see to the poor little mite. Carrie went off this morning and I've not seen her for hours.'

‘Where do you think she goes?' Mary Jane said. ‘I never see her when I take Tom a drink in the fields.'

‘I try to make her do her share of the work, but she starts a job and when I turn my back she's gone. It's easier to do things myself than ask, especially now that you're here, lass. Tom was lucky when he got you, Mary Jane.'

‘There's more to marriage than work,' Mary Jane said but Ellen was headed up the stairs.

She finished her tea and went out into the yard. Tom had made love to her every night while they were at the seaside but since they came home he'd hardly touched her. He kissed her goodnight and then turned over and went to sleep. She knew he was working very hard; there were root crops to take out of the ground as well as the threshing, but it wasn't natural for a man to be so uninterested in sex. They'd only been married just over three weeks. She'd lived in a small cottage with her parents and she knew her father was still regular in his attentions to her mother. She'd heard them at least twice or three times a week – so what was wrong with Tom?

Maybe when the threshing was over he wouldn't be so tired at nights. Mary Jane wasn't going to put up with this; she hadn't married him just to work for his mother like a slave.

Tom spent some time wandering round the market that morning. He'd been working hard the past few weeks and it was good to get away for a few hours. The money for the eggs was in his pocket, as well as a few pounds for a pig he'd sold. He'd done a deal for his corn and barley, and he'd bought in extra oats for the winter. They'd grown more mangles this year which, when they were harvested, would be extra feed for the stock through the cold months.

His business over, he was looking for a small trinket of some kind for Mary Jane. Tom was aware that he hadn't been fair to her recently but it wasn't easy to put away his thoughts of Roz. He'd managed it while they were at the hotel in Hunstanton, but since then he'd found it more difficult to make love to his wife.

Finding a stall selling pretty scarves, Tom purchased one for his wife and then turned and saw Roz at the other side of the market. She was alone and seemed to be looking at a stall displaying beadwork purses and fans made of ivory and lace. At that moment she looked up and their eyes met, locked together for what seemed like eternity but was possibly only a few seconds before she nodded and smiled.

Tom stared at her hungrily. He was about to go to her when he saw that she was looking elsewhere. His eyes sought what she had seen and discovered she was looking at her brother talking to a young, very elegant and beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Neither of them had eyes for anyone but each other. As Tom watched, they linked arms and walked towards the hotel, disappearing inside.

Roz was looking at him now. He could tell that she was anxious or disturbed but when he took a step towards her she shook her head. A moment later he saw her husband join her and turned away as she smiled at Harry Rushden.

Jealousy ate at his insides. For a moment as their eyes met Tom had thought she felt as he did, but the smile she gave to Rushden was intimate and welcoming.

He was a damned fool to care, but he did. The longing for her was like a sickness in his blood.

He turned away and strode back through the market to the livery where he'd left his horse and cart. It was time he got back to the farm and his work. Roz was not for him. She never had been. The day she let him love her was just something that happened because of a rainstorm; it was a dream. He was kidding himself otherwise.

Mary Jane draped the filmy pink scarf around her throat and preened in front of the spotted mirror in her bedroom. Tom's loving had been passionate the night he gave her the scarf. A month had passed and since then he'd been busy on the farm again, making love to her only twice in that time, but she was fairly certain that she'd fallen for a child and that pleased her. Perhaps when she told him she was pregnant Tom would take more time off to be with her. He seemed fond of Carrie's little girl so he was bound to love his own child when it was born.

She had finished her chores for the morning and she was going to visit her family. It was nearly three weeks since the last time and Ellen had told her to go.

‘You work harder than Carrie ever did,' Ellen said when she came in for tea and cake mid morning. ‘As soon as you've finished in the dairy, you get off to see your ma, lass.'

‘Thanks, Ellen. I'll be back in time for the milking this evening.'

‘Tom isn't so busy as he was now the threshing is done and they've got most of the ploughing done as well. You stop a bit longer and make a day of it, lass.'

Mary Jane called out to her mother-in-law as she left the kitchen, but she was upstairs seeing to the baby or John Blake and didn't hear. As Mary Jane crossed the yard she saw Carrie ahead of her. She was about to call out to her, then decided against it. Just out of curiosity, she would follow Tom's sister and see where she went this afternoon.

Philip dismounted from his horse and tied it to a post outside the cottage. He looked over his shoulder but there was no sign of Madeline. She had promised she would get away if she could but he knew she couldn't always make it. The drive out from Wisbech was further than she liked and she had been nagging him to find somewhere closer where they could meet. He was unwilling to go to a hotel because he was well known in the small market town and it would cause gossip that might come to Julia's ears.

Philip was grateful to his wife for all she'd brought him in the marriage contract. He knew that without her money he would have gone under before this and he had no intention of ruining his marriage. He'd stopped meeting Carrie as soon as he married, but Madeline had tempted him. She'd made it plain from the beginning that she was available and Philip just hadn't been able to resist.

He turned with her name on his lips as the door opened but the smile died as he saw who had entered. He was suddenly angry and nervous, because if Madeline saw him with the Blake girl she would put two and two together. No one but Roz knew and she'd promised him she wouldn't say anything for Julia's sake.

‘What do you want?' he asked and glared at Carrie. ‘I told you it was over. You're not supposed to come here.'

‘I come whenever I like,' Carrie said and smiled. ‘You promised me a shilling for the babe but you broke your promise.'

Philip thrust his hand in his pocket and drew out a guinea, shoving it at her. ‘Take this and go. I don't want you here. I have nothing more to say to you.'

Carrie's eyes grew dark with distress. ‘You said you loved me and you gave me a baby. I did as you told me and said it was your pa – but it wasn't. He smiled at me and gave me a shilling but he didn't give me a baby. You were the one that loved me. You brought me here and told me this was our secret place.'

‘It was then but it isn't now. Go away, Carrie. I don't want you here ever again. Take the money and stay away – or I might be angry.'

Carrie looked at him, a mutinous line to her mouth. ‘I'm not daft in the head. Everyone thinks I am but I know what goes on. I saw you with her . . . the woman who lives in Wisbech. You brought her here.'

‘Damn you!' Philip moved towards her, his expression threatening. ‘Go away now or I shan't be responsible for my actions.'

‘Kiss me; do it again, the way you did before. I like babies. Make another baby for me, Philip.'

‘I'm the squire to you,' Philip muttered. ‘I don't want to touch you – and don't think you can blackmail me. I'll deny it and I'll make you sorry.'

Carrie sidled up to him, unbuttoning her dress to show him her full breasts. ‘Touch me and suck me like the baby does, Philip. I want to do it again . . . the way we did before.'

‘No, damn you. Are you too stupid to know when a man doesn't want you?'

‘I'm not stupid . . .' Carrie flew at him, her nails going for his face.

Philip grabbed her by the wrists and shoved her away from him, hard. She fell and struck her head on the wooden arm of a heavy chair. A little gasp left her lips and then she lay still.

‘Get up, you silly bitch,' Philip said and touched her with the toe of his boot. She didn't move so he kicked her but she still made no sound. Suddenly anxious, he dropped to his knees on the floor and bent over her. Carrie's eyes had closed and the colour had gone from her face. He shook her and her head flopped to one side. A sense of panic sweeping over him, he felt her neck and discovered that it had broken. ‘No. God, what have I done?' Vomit rose in his throat as he realized what a single act of temper had done. He'd killed her. Surely it wasn't possible. He felt for a pulse but there was none.

How could it have happened? Philip hadn't meant to kill her but he had; he was a murderer. Fear set in as he realized he'd murdered Carrie and he felt cold all over. If anyone discovered what he'd done he would hang for murder.

Fighting down the panic, Philip tried to think about what to do for the best. Hearing sounds from outside, he pushed Carrie's body under the table. It was covered with a long chenille cloth that hid her completely. A moment later Madeline entered the room. She smiled and came towards him, her perfume so overpowering that Philip found it difficult to breathe.

What was he going to do? He couldn't make love to Madeline now. Not when Carrie's body lay under the table. He had to think about what he needed to do to cover up the murder. The body wasn't safe here because Madeline knew about the cottage. He had no illusions. She wouldn't hide a thing like that for him, unless he paid her and he didn't have enough money to keep her quiet. She was a greedy, grasping woman and he'd been a fool to become involved with her.

‘I thought you weren't coming. I was just about to leave.'

‘After I've come all this way to see you?' Madeline pouted. ‘You might at least kiss me – be a little pleased to see me, Philip.'

‘Of course I'm pleased to see you, but we can't stay here.'

‘I don't understand. I thought this place belonged to you?'

‘No, it isn't mine,' he lied. ‘Father sold it some months before he died but no one told me until recently. Apparently the owner is due to arrive at any moment – so we can't come here again. I'll find somewhere near Wisbech, as you wanted.'

‘The owner isn't here now.' Madeline pressed herself against him. ‘Show me how pleased you are to see me, darling – or I might not meet you again.'

If he didn't get out of here he would be sick. The fear of discovery was so strong that he couldn't think properly.

‘Perhaps that is best.' Philip took her arm and thrust her ahead of him, through the small hallway and out of the front door. He took a deep breath. At least he could breathe out here, but the panic wasn't far away. He had to get rid of Madeline so that he could hide Carrie's body.

‘What does that mean? Are you dropping me?' Madeline looked at him, her eyes green and malevolent like an angry cat. ‘No man does that, Philip Thornton. You'll regret treating me like this.' She turned away, using a boulder to mount her horse without his help. For a moment she sat there, glaring at him. ‘You'll be sorry for this, believe me.'

Philip stood and watched as she rode away. Then he turned and went back into the cottage. His chest hurt and he felt suffocated by fear. Madeline would never look at him again but at the moment he didn't care. Oh, God, he wished he hadn't come near this place. He wished he'd never met Madeline. If he hadn't been afraid she would turn up and find him with Carrie he would never have hit her. He'd liked Carrie. She was worth two of the bitch that had just ridden away.

What should he do about Carrie's body? He couldn't move her in broad daylight. He would have to come back at night after Julia was in bed. He would carry her on to her brother's land and leave her – perhaps near the hay barn. Tom Blake was sure to look for her when she didn't return but with luck he would leave it until the morning.

Mary Jane was thoughtful as she walked back from her mother's house that evening. She had solved the mystery of where Carrie went to when she disappeared for hours. She'd followed Tom's sister to an old cottage on Thornton land and seen her go in. A horse had been tied up outside but Mary Jane didn't know who owned it. She'd hurried on after she'd seen Carrie go inside the cottage because she'd wanted to get home and have tea with her family. There were some questions she needed to ask her mother about what happened when a woman was pregnant.