On Beulah Height (34 page)

The waiting-room door was slightly ajar and as he made to enter to finish his coffee inside, he heard Derek Purlingstone's voice. He hadn't seen the man so far today. Maybe Mid-Yorkshire Water needed all their staff out in the sticks, digging for wells. Or maybe he needed to keep busy to stop going mad.

Mad was what he sounded now, more angry than mental.

"You know where I lay the blame, don't you?"

Jill said, "Please, Derek ..."

"That bloody school! If only you'd agreed to send her to a decent school, this would never have happened. No! Don't come near me. You smell like an old ashtray. God, did you have to start smoking again?"

Before Pascoe could retreat the door was pulled wide open and Jill Purlingstone, her eyes full of tears, pushed past him and ran down the corridor.

Pascoe stepped inside. His instinct was to pretend he'd heard nothing, but when he broke the awkward silence, he found himself saying, "You don't really think the school's got anything to do with it, do you?"

"They had to catch it somewhere," snapped Purlingstone.

"And you really think there'd have been less chance at what you call a "decent school"?"

Pascoe's intention was still conversational rather than combative. During their few social encounters, usually apropos the children, he'd found Purlingstone pleasant enough company, with sufficient common ground between them to make it easy to pass a couple of hours without trespass into disputed areas on either side. And when they had touched upon forbidden topics, like the responsibilities of a modern police force or the efficiency and record of Mid-Yorkshire Water, they had both been able to settle for a light, piss-taking touch. Perhaps that was what Purlingstone was straining for now as he said, "Don't you? You get what you pay for in this life, Peter. Okay, I know you and Ellie are card-carrying Trots, but I always got the impression you reckoned what was best for Rosie was worth going after, no holds barred."

"The best in the system, by all means," said Pascoe. "But not buying yourself out of the system."

"You mean it's okay for you to call in a few favors to get your kid where you want her, but not for me to pay a few quid to do the same?"

"What the hell are you saying? It's a good school and I'm pleased to have Rosie going there."

"Of course you are, especially as Bullgate Junior's three miles closer to you in the opposite direction. How many parking tickets did you have to cancel to get her on the roll at Edengrove, I wonder?"

The sneer came out so glibly that Pascoe guessed it had been used many times before. So what? he told himself. He wasn't always exactly complimentary about Purlingstone behind his back. Time to back away from this irritable spat between two men who should be united by worry instead of set at each other's throats by it.

That was what his mind was saying, but his voice wasn't taking any notice.

"Oh, yes, you're right, a hell of a lot of parking tickets. But that's because I'm not a fat cat with his nose in the trough, so I can't afford the really big bribes."

Jesus! Where's your self-control? he asked himself. Back off. Back off. He could see the other man, too, was close to snapping. Here it comes. Whatever he says, ignore it, walk away.

But his feet remained rooted as Purlingstone's strained, breathless voice said, "I don't have to take that from a jumped-up plod. I work bloody hard for my money, mate. I live in the real world and I've got to earn every penny I get."

"You're joking!" said Pascoe incredulously. "You're doing the same job you used to do before privatization. And if what they paid you then was peanuts, what's that make you now but a monkey with a bloated bank balance? And you know where that money's coming from? It's coming from us poor sods who can't get decent water pumped into our houses. Christ, if anyone's responsible for our kids being sick, it's likely to be you with your polluted beaches and stinking tap water!"

Purlingstone, his face working, took a step toward him. Pascoe balled his fist. Then he felt himself seized from behind and dragged through the door, which was slammed shut behind him.

"Peter, what the hell are you playing at?" demanded Ellie, her voice low but trembling with fury.

"I don't know ... he said ... and I just felt it was time ... oh, shit, it was just stupid. Things came pouring out. Him too. He said--"

"I'm not interested in what he said. All I'm interested in is our daughter, and you getting into a fight in the hospital waiting room isn't going to help her, is it? Look, if you can't hack it here, why don't you go out, go home, have a sleep?"

He took a deep breath, reached down inside himself for control, found it.

"No, I've tried that, it doesn't help," he said. "I'm sorry. It's just I'm so frustrated, I had to lash out. Could have been worse. Could have been you on the receiving end. What are you doing out of the ward, anyway? Nothing's happened, has it?"

"You think I'd be wasting time on this crap? No, no change. I just need the loo, that's all. And I need it even more after this delay."

"Take your time," said Pascoe. "I'll go into the ward, see if I can find a nurse to beat up."

His weak joke seemed to reassure her, and she hurried off. Pascoe looked at the waiting-room door, wondered if he should go in and try to make his peace, decided he wasn't quite ready for that yet, and went down the corridor to the room where Rosie lay.

A nurse was checking the monitors. She gave him a nice smile before she left, so perhaps he didn't look like Mr. Hyde after all. He sat down and took his daughter's hand.

"Hi, Rosie," he said. "It's me. I've just been having a fight with Zandra's dad. You didn't think fathers had fights, did you? Well, it's just like the school playground out there. One moment you're minding your own business, next, someone says something and you say something back, then you're rolling on the ground trying to bite someone's ear off. That's boys I'm talking about. You girls are different. Got more sense, your mum would say. Maybe she's right. Or maybe it's just that women don't get physical, they get even. Sure, they're all for peace, but I sometimes think that for them peace is just a continuation of war by other means. That's a grown-up joke which you'll understand someday when you're a woman. Won't be too long, darling. You'll be bringing some revolting young man home and hoping your aged p's won't disgrace you by drooling into their teacups or taking their teeth out to remove the raspberry jam seeds. Rosie, be kind to us. That's all the world needs really to keep it going round, kids being kind to their parents, parents being kind to their kids, that's the only family value that's worth a toss, that's the only bit of wisdom I've got to give you. I hope you can hear it. Can you hear it, darling? Are you listening to me deep down there somewhere?"

He leaned over the little girl and stared intently into her face. There was no movement, no flicker of the eyelids. No sign of life at all.

Panic stricken, he turned to the monitor. There it was, a steady pulse. He looked from the machine to the face, still not trusting. A muscle moved in her cheek like the softest sigh of breeze on a summer pool. He let out the long, relieved breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

He started to talk again but now his monologue sounded self-conscious and forced, so he picked up Nina and the Nix and started reading where he'd left off before.

"Outside, sun were so bright, a little bit of light filtered down the entrance tunnel. By its dim glow she saw she were in a cave. The ground were strewn with rocks and stuff. In the middle of the cave was a small, foul-smelling pool, and on its edge sat this thing.

"Its body was long and scaly, its fingers and toes were webbed with long, curved nails, its face was gaunt and hollow, its nose hooked, its chin pointed and fringed with sharp spikes of beard, its eyes deep set and--"

Suddenly there was a mechanical beeping sound which had him staring in terror at the monitor for the split second it took him to realize it was his mobile. Angrily he clicked it on and snarled, "Yes?"

There was a pause, as if his vehemence had frightened the speaker. Then a woman's voice said, "Hello. This is Shirley Novello. I was just ringing. ... I was wondering, how is she, your little girl?"

"No change," said Pascoe.

"Well that's ... I mean, I'm glad. ... I hope everything turns out okay, sir. Sorry to bother you. ..."

"That's all right," said Pascoe, relenting his brusqueness. "It was good of you to ring. Look, I shouldn't be using this thing in here. They say it can affect things. ..."

As he spoke he looked anxiously at the monitor. Everything seemed to be as before.

Novello was saying, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ... look, this wasn't such a good idea, sorry, sir. I hope everything turns out okay."

Not such a good idea? It dawned on him that maybe this wasn't just a sympathy call.

For a second he felt furious. Then he thought, To hell with it! What do you want? The world to stop out there just because it was grinding to a halt in here? And the girl wasn't to know he was actually sitting at Rosie's bedside, watching a machine for reassurance she was still breathing.

He said, "Give me your number."

Surprised, she obeyed. He rang off without saying anything further, went out into the corridor and wheeled in a telephone trolley he'd noticed before, plugged it in, and dialed.

"Right," he said. "You've done the sympathy bit. Now you've got two minutes for the rest."

It came out fast and slick. This she'd rehearsed, reckoning that if she did get the chance to speak, the faster the better.

He said, "You got the name of Mrs. Lightfoot's bank?"

"Mid-Yorks Savings."

"That's Willie Noolan. Old rugby-club chum of the super's. He'll cooperate if you mention Mr. Dalziel's name and smile knowingly. Tell him you'd like to know when the large sum of money paid into Mrs. Lightfoot's account fifteen years ago went out and in what form."

"Yes, sir. Please, what large sum?"

"The compensation money for Neb Cottage. I found out the other day ... yesterday ..."

He paused. Novello guessed he was having difficulty matching real and relative time.

"... anyway, it seems Agnes actually owned Neb Cottage, so the Board would have had to cough up before the move, otherwise they wouldn't have been legally entitled to shift her. Don't know how much, but certainly tens of thousands, I should think. If the money left the account after she went to live with her niece, contact Sheffield and let them go after Mrs. Fleck."

"But the Social people checked when she moved into Wark House."

"Yes, but only two years back. Working in the home, Fleck would know the procedures and make damn sure she kept ahold of Agnes for at least another couple of years after she'd got her hands on the cash. Of course, if it left her account before she had her first stroke ..."

Now Novello was with him.

"It could be that Benny got it and that's how he managed to finance his escape."

"Right. With forty or fifty thou in his pocket, it wouldn't have been too hard for him to vanish right out of the country."

"You think so?" said Novello dubiously. "Wasn't he supposed to be a bit simple?"

"Odd, not simple, according to Mrs. Shimmings. You said this visitor at the home had an Australian accent? Well, you've probably been told Australia was where the rest of his family had gone. So where else would someone like Benny head when everything that meant home and security here had vanished? Anyway, it's a lot more likely than the notion that he disappeared into the Neb like a nix or something. ..."

He looked at the book he'd laid on the coverlet. The nix leered malevolently up at him. Not much like Lightfoot, from the descriptions in the file.

He said, "Anyway, check it out, Shirley. Check everything out, no matter how unlikely. It's a funny world, full of surprises. ..."

He sounded very weary.

She said, "Thank you very much. I'm sorry to have troubled you when ... I hope everything turns out okay. I lit a candle for Rosie this morning. ..."

She hadn't meant to say that. Pascoe was at best agnostic and as for his wife, if rumor were true, she'd banish all priests to Antarctica bollock naked. But it was all the hope Novello had to offer, so she offered it.

"Thank you," said Pascoe. "That was kind. Thank you."

He replaced the phone.

"You hear that, Rosie? There's a candle burning for you," he said. "Let's hope it's one of those great big ones, eh? Let's hope it goes on burning a long long time."

He picked up Nina and the Nix. Was this any use? he wondered. Could she hear anything at all?

Pointless question. He began to read again.

Rosie Pascoe is lying in a corner where the nix has thrown her. She is very uncomfortable. There are small pieces of rock digging into her back. But she dares not move.

The nix is sitting only a few feet away, staring fixedly at her, as if trying to make up his mind what to do. Is there pity in his eyes? She tries to see it but can't, just a terrifying blankness.

Then somewhere far above her, she hears a telephone ringing.

The nix looks up. She looks up too. And she realizes it isn't a telephone. It is the squeak of the bat who hangs high in the roof of the cave.

The nix is still looking up. He has cupped his pointed ears in his webbed hands and seems to be straining to catch a sound. It is a sight almost comical, but Rosie doesn't feel like laughing. She guesses that any message coming down from the bat will not be for her comfort.

But she takes the chance of the nix's distraction to slide some of the rocks from under her aching body. Only, when she comes to touch they don't feel like rocks. And when she looks down, she sees that they are bones.

Now she strains her ears, too, and begins to imagine she can catch those high, alien squeaks. How loud they are in the nix's mind she can only guess, but he is nodding his head as though to acknowledge he understands ... and will obey.

This may be her last chance to escape. The nix sits between her and the cave entrance through which filters that faint light with its promise of the sunlit world above. Is he so rapt by what he hears that she can steal past him and try once more to run up the tunnel? She has to try.