‘What happened?’ I ask frantically, trying to look at her face. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘He just grabbed me.’ She can hardly talk, she’s crying so hard. ‘I didn’t see him, and he grabbed me.’
‘Who did?’
‘This man. He came out of nowhere, and he held my collar tight, and he spat in my face.’
‘Spat?’ I can see red marks on her neck.
‘He said, “You better get your arse back to Malum House if you know what’s good for you”.’
Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.
‘Okay, love, calm down.’ I stroke her damp hair. ‘Keep breathing slowly, okay?’
The ramblers are here now. ‘Are you okay?’ the woman wants to know, all twittery.
‘She’s fine thanks.’ I take a tissue from her to clean up Scarlett’s eye make-up a little; black rivulets stain her pretty face. ‘Let’s get into the dry.’
In the distance a motorbike fires up.
I lead Scarlett back to the car park, scanning the area desperately, but he’s gone. Whoever it was has vanished into the peaks.
What better place to hide?
Over the horizon the clouds come, thick and fast now. The beautiful day is quite spoiled.
* * *
12 p.m.
* * *
Instead of going into Derby, we go home, so I can sort Scarlett out and change myself. I run her a bath so she can warm up.
About to go upstairs, she pauses, foot on the first step. ‘How did he know where I live?’
‘Jump in the bath, love,’ I say. ‘We’ll talk about it later.’
* * *
Just as she’s getting dressed again and we’re preparing to leave, there’s a knock at the door.
Oh God. Do I answer – or do I hide?
Another insistent knock.
No choice. Heart thumping, I look through the old spyhole – and I open up.
There on my slate doorstep, hiding behind an upturned collar and a huge pair of shades even bigger than her daughter’s, is Kaye.
‘Are they here?’ She seems desperate.
‘Who?’ I am disingenuous.
‘Oh come on.’
‘You mean Scarlett?’
‘Yes, my baby.’ She looks over my shoulder into the dark little downstairs. ‘And Matthew of course.’
* * *
I have to invite Kaye in. And once she’s in she doesn’t hold back, especially when she learns that Scarlett’s still here – but Matthew is not.
‘I thought he’d be here too.’
‘Did you? Why?’
‘He’s being tracked.’
‘Tracked?’
‘Yes, and we guessed he’d come here.’
‘Who did?’ I’m baffled.
‘I wanted to warn you.’ Kaye ignores my question.
‘Warn me about what?’ I’m extremely uncomfortable that she’s in my home at all.
‘It’s too awful,’ she says. She smells of that nasty sickly scent and old cigarettes. ‘And I can’t talk about it now. Can you get Scarlett please?’ Her eyes are enormous saucers in her unmoving face. ‘I’ve been going out of my mind.’
I have to decide whether to tell her about the man at Ilam Park. If I don’t, I guess Scarlett will.
But I don’t think it’s Scarlett he wants; so it’s not relevant to Kaye.
‘She’s getting changed upstairs.’ I put my hand on her arm to stop her running up the stairs. ‘But look – warn me about what, Kaye? I don’t understand.’
‘I can’t say any more, so please don’t ask me.’ She looks… strange. Bewildered. ‘I have to protect Scarlett.’
‘From what?’ A feeling of nausea is washing over me. I’ve had hardly any sleep, the morning has been stressful in the extreme and I’m starting to feel quite peculiar.
‘I had to tell him that thing about your boy yesterday. I had to get him out of here.’