The Soft Whisper of Dreams (12 page)

‘Nope. I just found out today that my birth mother, Ruth Kettering, married someone called Saul Blake-Jones. I thought perhaps she’d been his first wife or something. I never dreamed … I guess I should have asked you what your mother’s name was last time we met, but it didn’t occur to me she could be the same person.’

Jane pulled herself together. ‘That explains her reaction, I suppose, and her fear. Do you have any other details?’

Maddie sighed and told Jane of her trip to Wiltshire and Jessie’s findings in London. Jane was quiet while Maddie talked, but burst into speech as soon as the story was finished.

‘But that’s incredible! How could my mother have an illegitimate baby? And when she was already married too. I just can’t believe it.’

‘I know it seems strange, but unless there’s another Ruth Kettering somewhere, it must be true. It’s quite an unusual name.’

‘Yes, it is. No, I’m sure you’re right. That must be why my father called her a “sinner”. I thought it was just because she had lied about her friend. But my mother ... good grief, she must have had a secret lover.’ Jane shook her head and blinked. ‘I’m sorry, this is quite a shock. I guess it must be for you too.’ Her eyes were huge in her pale face, but she didn’t look unhappy. Suddenly she giggled. ‘But it’s wonderful too in a way, you know. If we’re really sisters I mean. I’ve always wanted one.’

Maddie smiled back. ‘Me too. A nice one, that is, not like Olivia.’ She explained to Jane about her adopted sister.

‘I promise I would never behave like that,’ Jane said. ‘I’d love to share things with you. But what should we do now? Do you want me to confront my mother?’

‘I don’t know. If only we could find out what happened all those years ago without asking her. I don’t want to upset her again. Even the sight of me made her cry, although how she recognised me after twenty-four years I don’t understand. Unless she’s seen me after the adoption? Do you think that’s possible?’

‘Maybe, I suppose she could have done secretly. Hmm, let me think. There must be some other people who were around at the time. Perhaps one of them would be willing to gossip. Leave it with me, I’ll see what I can do. I visit a lot of old ladies on Father’s behalf and they do tend to talk a lot. Some of them are pretty senile, but they can remember stuff that happened years ago quite clearly, even though they have no idea what they had for breakfast.’

‘Sounds promising.’

‘Okay, I’ll call you if I hear anything. If not, I’d still like to see you again.’ Jane seemed almost shy suddenly, and on impulse Maddie leaned over and hugged her.

‘I’d like to see you too and I really hope you are my sister.’ She felt a lump in her throat and resolutely swallowed it down.

Jane nodded mutely. Her eyes had become suspiciously misty as well, and Maddie concentrated on the task of driving back to town. Perhaps she wasn’t alone in the world after all. It was a comforting thought.

Although Jane called almost every day after that, she had nothing to report, but told Maddie she was still working on the old ladies.

‘I think we’ll have to be patient,’ she said. ‘Their memories are very random, but I’ll keep trying and will let you know as soon as I find anything out.’

‘And what about your mum and dad – they haven’t mentioned it again?’

‘No, although come to think of it, Father has been frowning even more than usual and glaring at my mother. That makes her very nervous. And the other day when I came out of the house, he was standing outside the church, whispering something to the organist, Mr Morris. They both stopped talking when they caught sight of me, looking kind of suspicious, if you know what I mean?’

‘The organist?’

‘Yes, he’s my father’s right-hand man, always ready to follow his lead. A horrid little man, I can’t stand him. Brrr.’

Maddie could almost hear Jane shuddering. ‘That bad?’

‘Yes. I wonder what they were cooking up between them. Probably some punishment for a member of the congregation who’s strayed. They’ve done that before and I’m pretty sure I heard the words “keep watching” and “accident”. As I told you, my Father is very strict and he considers his flock as family, with him as their kind of father or guardian. Some of them have had, uhm, “accidents” in the past.’

‘And they accept that?’

‘Yes, well, mostly. Anyway, got to go. I’ll be in touch.’

Jane hung up abruptly and Maddie got the feeling she was embarrassed by her father’s bullying tendencies but was too scared to do anything about it. If only there was some way I could help her … But Maddie didn’t have the right to interfere, at least not until they had more information. And that, it seemed, would take time.

Maddie tried to keep occupied while waiting for Jane’s calls and Kayla’s return. She told herself she was on holiday and had to enjoy it to the full, so that was what she did.

She was just on her way out with a bag full of painting materials when the doorbell rang just after lunch a few days later. As there was no one else about, she opened the front door, and was startled to find a rather unkempt individual outside. He had a shock of hair standing on end which looked as if it hadn’t been combed in years, and he was wearing a dirty T-shirt and a pair of extremely faded blue jeans. He was also chewing gum as if it was his main aim in life and looked from side to side furtively. Maddie blinked.

‘Can I help you?’

‘Mm-hmm, I’ve come to see Alex,’ the man said, shoving his hands into his pockets defensively and gazing over her shoulder, his eyes opened wide in awe at the sight of the grand hall. Despite the fact that he was a very large man, Maddie had the distinct impression he wanted to turn tail and run when he saw the opulence inside.

‘Oh, I see. Er, well, come in. I’ll get him for you.’

‘No need, I’m here.’ Alex had come up behind her unnoticed and he stretched out a hand in welcome towards the stranger. ‘Foster, nice to see you. So you decided to give it a try, eh?’ He smiled at the big man.

‘Yeah.’ The man nodded. ‘Nothing to lose by trying, like you said. You haven’t changed your mind?’

‘No, not at all. And I promise you won’t regret it.’ Alex turned to Maddie, who had watched this exchange with mounting curiosity. ‘Maddie, this is Foster, one of my criminal friends. No doubt you won’t want to know him either, so we’ll let you be on your way.’

Maddie’s mouth fell open, then she snapped it shut in anger. ‘Now look here, Alex, I never ―’

‘Later, Maddie. I have to talk to Foster.’ And without another glance, Alex led his friend into the office and shut the door. Maddie was left fuming.

‘Ohh, annoying man!’ She picked up her bag and stomped to the front door, slamming it shut behind her as she left the house. There was nothing for it, she would have to have a talk with him, otherwise there was no way they could keep up a friendly façade in front of Wes and Kayla when they returned. She kicked a rock out of her way and regretted it instantly as it hurt her toe. ‘Damn it all,’ she muttered. Why did men always have to be so complicated?

The breathtaking views along the coast soon soothed her ruffled feathers slightly, however, and she determined to put Alex out of her mind for a while. The urge to paint had been strong today and she wouldn’t let anything interfere with it. Since arriving at Marcombe Hall, she had sketched continuously, and today she felt ready to tackle watercolour painting. She’d been considered quite good at it when she was at school, but had only ever pursued it as a hobby.

‘There’s no future in painting, sweetheart,’ her father had told her. ‘You get yourself a real job and then you can dabble to your heart’s content in your spare time, eh?’

It had seemed like sensible advice and Maddie had followed it without hesitation. Now she wasn’t so sure she’d done the right thing. Perhaps with further training she could have made a career out of painting, even if she would never attain the heights of a Picasso or Monet. It would have been infinitely more rewarding than slaving over a keyboard eight hours a day, at the beck and call of a string of different bosses, she was sure.

She set up her easel in a promising spot close to the edge of the cliffs, and arranged her painting materials on the ground next to her. A small folding stool served as a chair, and as always she soon lost herself in the joys of creativity. There was immense satisfaction for her in watching the scene in front of her take shape on her paper and she delighted in choosing the right colour combinations for each particular subject. Time stood still up here on the cliffs, where sounds seemed muted by the wind and the sea.

The painting session was finally brought to a halt by the fading light, late in the afternoon, and Maddie stood up to stretch and relieve the kink in her back. The painting was finished, and she gazed at it with pride. It may not be the best watercolour ever done, but I like it. She smiled to herself. It had turned out exactly the way she wanted it to and she was pleased to discover she hadn’t lost the knack.

Slowly, she gathered up her belongings and stuffed everything into the bag, ready to take home, but she was reluctant to go back to the Hall just yet and decided to take a longer route back. The path forked not far from where she’d been sitting and she chose the left hand one instead of the usual. This took her up a small hill and into a forested area carpeted with leaves. As she headed in among the trees, the sounds of the wind and sea faded into the background and were replaced by birdsong instead. She took a deep breath and savoured the peace.

Maddie was in no hurry and followed the meandering track deep in thought. She stopped several times to look at flowers that grew along the way, planning further paintings as these would make lovely subjects. She spotted something out of the corner of her eye, but it turned out to be a rabbit scurrying for cover. The sight made her smile.

She looked down and noticed that one of her Roman style sandals was coming undone. As she bent down to retie the fastening, she heard a slight crunching noise behind her and then a whoosh.

Before she had time to turn around, something hit the back of her head very hard and everything turned black.

Maddie woke with a splitting headache and hesitated to open her eyes. She knew the light would be painful, but on the other hand, she needed to know what had happened. Steeling herself, she lifted her eyelids up a fraction, then blinked them open wide. To her surprise, she was in semi-darkness.

‘What the …?’ she muttered and tried to sit up. Is it night time already?

Her hands gripped the ground around her, expecting the dry leaves of the woodland path, but instead they encountered cold, hard stone. Maddie blinked again and looked more closely at her surroundings. She was surrounded by stone on all sides and when she raised her head she spotted fading daylight high above her head. A hole? No, a mine shaft!

She remembered Kayla mentioning that there had once been tin mines nearby but the shafts were now mostly covered up. If that was where she was, this one didn’t seem to be. But neither did it have a ladder or any other means of scaling the walls. How the hell did I get here?

Taking a deep breath, she managed to get to her feet and searched all around for some kind of footholds, but there was nothing. Her head and one wrist hurt, so had she been thrown into this pit? Or perhaps someone had deliberately put her down here and then removed the ladder or whatever they’d used to get down to the bottom.

Had she been left here to die? The thought made her shudder.

Panic surged through her and for a moment she struggled for breath. No, this can’t be happening. Trying to get a grip on her emotions, she looked around her one more time. Nothing.

Who would do this to me?

Darting another look upwards, ice cold fingers gripped her stomach and squeezed as her brain grappled with the thought that someone had deliberately done this. Someone who wanted her to die. And that person hadn’t even given her a chance to fight back, which she could have done. She’d been doing kick-boxing in London, mostly for fitness reasons, but also with a view to learning some self-defence. When someone just hit you over the head though, what chance did you stand?

‘Hey! Is there anyone there? Hello!’ She tried shouting for a bit, but there was no reply.

Whoever it was had obviously left. And why not? No one would ever find her here. Wherever here was. She sat down and huddled close to the rock wall. A pain shot up her arm, and she lifted her hand to inspect the wrist. It didn’t appear to be broken, but she thought it might be sprained. Perhaps she’d landed on it when she was hit on the head? It hurt like hell and she swore out loud, just because it made her feel better. The cursing ended on a sob, and she burst into tears of relief that she was still alive, although for how long? How on earth was she going to get out of here? And even if she did, would it be safe or was someone waiting to finish her off? A violent shudder racked her body.

‘Oh my God! What am I going to do?’

Sitting with her back towards the wall, she hugged her knees and tried to think. But there was no answer and she would just have to hope that someone realised she hadn’t returned and came looking for her. With a sinking feeling, she knew that might be too late. No, that’s defeatist thinking. Get a grip! She prayed that Alex would miss her at dinner time, although with his new friend there perhaps he wouldn’t notice. He might not even be at home for dinner. Or he might think she was sulking. Shit! Her only hope was Annie.

‘Oh, please, God, let someone come looking for me. Please?’ she prayed.

But she didn’t know if He was listening.

Chapter Twelve

Jane looked up as her father came into the dining room. He was twenty minutes late and the two women had been sitting in silence waiting for his arrival while the food rapidly congealed in the serving dishes. Jane had heard him on the phone about an hour earlier and whatever information he was given had made him leave immediately, taking the car and heading off at great speed. She felt uneasy, her nerve endings on full alert. Where had he been?