Silent Child(55)

According to her, Aiden had been a problem child. He was a troublemaker at school, always winding up the other students and acting the class clown. He was obstinate and unaware of danger. That was the part that upset me the most. She suggested I never taught my son to be afraid.

“Aiden possessed a kind of blind indifference to danger. On school trips, I always had one eye on him. I didn’t like crossing the road with Aiden because he was likely to run straight into traffic,” so went the article. “But worse was how he’d encourage others to follow him blindly. He once convinced a young girl of five to climb the tallest tree at the bottom of the playground. Luckily, through a joint effort with other teachers, we managed to get her down again, but she could have hurt herself. Aiden was standing at the bottom of the tree when it happened.”

Jake walked into the kitchen as I was holding my head in my hands, leaning over the kitchen table with the papers spread out over the surface. It was 7:30am and Denise was already pottering around us with fresh pastries, making coffee. I wanted her gone. I was sick of her. There was no reason for a police officer to see my husband in his dressing gown, but she’d brought the pastries as a gift, knowing full well that I’d be awake. I was up well before the sun these days.

“What’s happened?” he asked.

I pushed the open newspaper towards him and jabbed at Amy’s face with my finger.

Jake rubbed his eyes and donned his glasses before reading the article. “That fucking bitch!”

I glanced guiltily towards Denise. “Jake.”

“Why is she saying these things?”

“Money, probably,” I answered. My blood was boiling but I refused to let Denise see the ugly side of my temper again. “I wonder how much they paid her.”

“All this stuff about Aiden, is it true?”

In the background, Denise continued to faff around with plates for breakfast. I was aware of her presence but I didn’t want to seem like I had anything to hide.

“I remember the tree incident, but it hardly appeared sinister at the time. Aiden told me he was telling her to come down.” It had been precocious child Rosie Daniels who had clambered up the high branches of the tree. I’d always thought that she was sweet on Aiden and had decided to do it to impress him. Aiden was certainly a little monkey when he was five, there was no argument there. He did enjoy climbing trees and he was adventurous, but he wasn’t reckless. He wasn’t flippant about crossing the road. I always made sure that he held my hand.

Jake’s frown deepened as he finished the article and closed the newspaper. “This is the last thing we need.”

“Why are they even talking about Aiden? They should be going after the duke, not my son. He’s the one who broke the law. He’s the one who took my son. He’s the monster.” I heard the rushing of blood in my ears as my heart sped up to double time. The baby moved inside me and I leaned forward. With the baby pressing on my bladder I’d already been up two or three times in the night and I was exhausted.

“Decaf?” Denise offered brightly.

I shook my head and tried my best not to glare at her. “Have you heard anything about the duke?”

“Not yet, sorry.”

Whenever I thought about Wetherington House looming over Bishoptown, the rage inside me was so strong I felt capable of tearing the mansion down brick by brick. The Graham-Lennoxes were rich, there was no doubt about that. We never really saw them in the town, and Wetherington House was partly open to the public, with some private wings cordoned off for their living quarters. The duke had the money to do whatever he wanted. He could have a dungeon filled with children for all anyone knew.

“Emma? Emma, are you all right?” Denise asked.

Jake rushed to my side as my knees buckled slightly. “Sit down.”

“I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

“Have a croissant.” Denise proffered a golden brown croissant on a plate Jake usually reserved for special occasions. I glanced at Jake before I took the plate. He was most likely torn between making sure I was okay and wanting to tell Denise to put that plate back and use one of the daily ones from the front of the cupboard.

“You’re taking it easy today,” Jake said. “I’ve got a staff meeting I’m supposed to attend but I’ll call the school and tell them I can’t make it.”

“No, don’t do that. The press will think it’s because of Amy and I don’t want them to think she’s got to us.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone today,” Jake said.

“Then I’ll get Rob to come watch Aiden while I have a lie-down.”

“What about Josie?” he suggested.

“Jo has her own shit going on at the moment. Stuff with Hugh.”

Jake raised an eyebrow but he didn’t question anything. “All right. But make sure you have a nap today. Denise, will you keep an eye on her?”

“Absolutely.” And off she went to put the kettle on again.

*

There was no reason for me to leave the house that day, and I admit, I didn’t want to. Amy’s article referenced people in the village, people who knew me and vice versa. Rosie Daniel’s mum certainly wouldn’t be pleased to have her child dragged into this, though Amy was at least careful not to use her name.

About an hour after Jake left for the school I got a phone call from him. Amy had been suspended and sent home. It brought me no pleasure, but it did bring me some relief. I’d been dreading Jake getting into an argument with Amy over the article.