Chapter 36
The journey home felt very long but was uneventful, on the whole.
After their wild night out, the older members of the party were noticeably bleary.
They ate their breakfast quietly, and after an emotional goodbye, tearful on Simone’s part, they were on their way.
Yolanda came to wave them off but left abruptly.
Vee could see her broad figure disappearing up the road even as they drove away.
Vee sat at the front with Rick, passing him humbugs or chewy sweets every now and again to keep him alert, but the others all dozed on and off, waking only for comfort stops and then nodding off again, propped against each other.
Sid snored gently and Frank gave the odd snort, but otherwise all was peaceful in the back of the minibus.
When they began to see signs for Chartres, Rick looked across at Vee.
‘How are you feeling, energy-wise?’ he said.
‘I’m okay, why?’
He looked over his shoulder at the others.
‘I’m guessing this lot are going to take some rousing if we stop here and they won’t be up for sightseeing today.
Do you reckon we could just carry on? Simone gave us packed lunches.
We could have a picnic stop and you could take over the wheel if you want to press on home? ’
Vee thought about this. The idea of being in her own bed a day sooner was enticing and there were plenty of jobs around the house she’d like to get done before… her stomach lurched… before Finn arrived. ‘What about the ferry booking though?’ she asked, playing for time.
‘We can easily phone ahead and change it,’ Rick said. ‘I don’t feel like having another hotel stop, do you? Rummaging in my dirty laundry for something presentable enough to wear for dinner isn’t that tempting. Only if you’re up for it though. Are you tired?’
Vee was surprised to find she wasn’t. ‘Let’s do it. Should we rouse them to ask them what they think?’ she said, turning round to observe her fellow passengers. Frank gave a loud snort at this point and almost woke himself up but nobody else stirred.
‘On second thoughts, let’s just go for it,’ she said. ‘We’re all holidayed out. Calais, here we come!’
A couple of brief stops and many miles later saw the minibus rolling into the parking area of their homeward ferry.
By now the others were awake and hungry.
They all seemed delighted at the prospect of having a proper cup of tea in their own houses sooner rather than later and headed for the restaurant, happily discussing their favourite brands of teabags and biscuits.
The restaurant was busy and Vee and Rick had to sit at a table a short distance from the others.
‘Phew,’ said Rick, after they’d demolished their soup and rolls.
‘It’s nice to be on our own for a little while.
I love them all, but I sometimes feel like a frazzled hen with a lot of chicks.
Do you want to discuss teabags, or have you got something more pressing to say?
I noticed you looking at me in a funny kind of way this morning. What’s up?’
Vee swallowed hard. Was this the moment of truth?
‘I was talking to Yolanda,’ she said. ‘Or rather, she was advising me to ask you a few more questions. I think she meant about the things that happened around the time of the fire and the school camping trip.’
‘Really?’ Rick busied himself with opening sugar sachets and stirring the contents into his coffee. ‘I don’t usually take sugar,’ he said. ‘But I think we need extra energy today.’
‘Don’t change the subject,’ said Vee. ‘Yolanda’s worried about Beryl.
Nobody was ever clear about who set the fire going in the churchyard and I think Beryl has spent years secretly worrying that it was Patrick.
Or worse still, actually knowing it was him.
I’ve been getting the feeling for a while that she imagines I was part of some sort of conspiracy to be cruel to him. ’
‘And were you?’
Vee hesitated. It was time to be completely honest. ‘We were all irritated by him and we weren’t always very patient, were we?’ she said at last. ‘Rhonda was the worst. I’m not trying to dodge the blame. I teased him too sometimes but he… wasn’t a kind boy.’
‘Patrick was a nasty piece of work, let’s not mince words,’ said Rick. ‘He was the kind of kid who liked to get everyone else into trouble. He was mean to the younger ones at school, and he was rude to the teachers. Beryl must know that, surely?’
‘She doesn’t want to know it,’ said Vee. ‘Rick, did you dare Patrick to torch that old shed? I was there earlier in the evening, but I left before it started. I know you were there too. I saw you.’
Rick drank some coffee and pulled a face.
‘Ah, that’s why I don’t take sugar,’ he said.
‘Okay, sorry, I’m prevaricating again. I get that you want answers but how is this going to help Beryl?
If you must know, it was Rhonda who dared Patrick to start the fire, and she got him the paraffin and matches from her grandad’s allotment.
I tried to stop him, but he wasn’t listening.
He had a kind of wild look in his eyes. I saw him drop the match on the trail of paraffin and I ran to phone the fire brigade.
I didn’t give my name. Then I legged it home and climbed in the back window. ’
Vee stared at Rick. ‘You didn’t go back to check everyone was out of the way of the fire? And you’ve never told anybody about this?’
‘No. I’m not proud of myself, but we were fifteen. Our brains were wired up differently then. And I’m not about to tell Beryl that it was her son who lit the match. What good will it do?’
They sat in silence for a while, as the babble of conversation around them reached a higher level of decibels than ever. A small child began to kick the back of Rick’s chair and another set up a loud wailing right next to Vee’s ear but neither of them reacted.
‘I could be wrong, but I’ve got a feeling there’s something else you’re not telling me,’ Vee said, when the pause in the conversation began to seem much too long.
Rick shrugged and looked away. Vee pressed on. ‘Come on, let’s have it. What are you afraid of?’
He sighed. ‘Okay, if you insist. I knew I’d have to tell you sometime. As for what I’m afraid of, that’s easy. You’ll think I’m a complete git.’
‘That’s a risk you’re going to have to take,’ said Vee. She mentally braced herself. How bad could this get?
‘I know I am. Oh, well, here goes. On that night on the school trip, just before we went out in the rain again… you know when I mean. The day after Patrick had caused all that fuss by falling into the lake.’
‘Falling… or jumping. Yes. Go on.’
‘Well, I overheard Patrick telling one of his slimy mates that he was really annoyed with you. He said he’d already given you the best part of his brandy stash because you weren’t well.
He reckoned his mum always recommended it for colds and so on.
He muttered something about you having it in for him and he was going to make you pay for it, but I didn’t know what that was all about.
And… later, I heard shouting, but by the time I got to your tent he was heading you off into the darkness with Shazzie after him and you were rolling around on the floor.
I knew you were probably drunk and I was angry with you.
I didn’t even try to stop him running away or go after him.
Rhonda told me to, but I didn’t. She was there by that time and she was looking after you, in her own way. ’
Vee stared at him. ‘You already knew before he attacked me that I was going to be… in danger?’
‘No!’ Rick’s denial came quickly and was so loud that even the wailing child turned to look. ‘I didn’t think you were in any danger at all, because Patrick was always shouting his mouth off about something or other. He was well-known for overreacting, wasn’t he?’
‘So why didn’t you go after him, Rick? And why were you so angry with me? It wasn’t my fault that Patrick flipped that night.’
He didn’t meet her eyes as he said, ‘Because I was jealous, okay? I know it was stupid but I’d always kind of suspected that you’d been encouraging him, even though you moaned about him so much.
I always had a thing for you, Vee. I hated him at that moment, and I was furious with you.
You never looked at me. You never even noticed me because I was fat and spotty, with greasy hair. I was invisible in those days.’
‘You… you liked me?’
‘Yes. That’s one word for it. Anyway, Rhonda took you to the teachers and Patrick and Shazzie kept well away from the rest of us when they finally came back to the tents.
I wanted to say sorry to you for being an idiot and not warning you about what he’d said earlier, but by then you were being whisked off by your aunt.
I tried to tell her to give you a message, but she was in a rush to take you home.
I was crying, Vee. What a drip. She must have guessed how I felt about you because ever since we got to France, she’s given me suspicious looks. ’
They locked eyes across the table as Rick finished speaking. Vee’s mind was in a whirl. This was too much to handle now, and she needed time to digest it. Eventually she said, ‘Thank you for telling me. I… can we just concentrate on what’s happening now?’
‘Fine by me.’
‘So, what we need to do… somehow… is to give Beryl the impression that Patrick was completely innocent of everything she suspects and that I had nothing to do with making him unhappy. He did that all by himself.’
‘Yup.’ Rick closed his eyes for a moment. He looked unutterably weary after his confession. Vee felt a pang of sympathy for him but forced herself to focus on their next steps. She carried on, her voice growing stronger as she remembered more about that troubled and troublesome boy.
‘Patrick was horrible even in the reception class. He put powder paint in the goldfish bowl so that it died, and he used to sneak into the cloakroom and wee on the other kids’ pump bags.
He snitched on his classmates whenever he had the chance.
Patrick stole all the nicest things out of our lunchboxes and then blamed his best friend, Floyd.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. He got worse as he got older.
Beryl doesn’t need to know all that though. ’
‘Nice,’ said Rick, with a shudder. ‘I get the picture. Beryl must have a strong idea of what he was like but she’s blocking it out, naturally enough. So, it’s up to me to repaint the past in a rosy glow, give Patrick a clean slate and make you look angelic?’
‘That’s about it,’ said Vee. ‘Meanwhile, I’ve got a long-lost son to bond with. I think you actually have the easier job, don’t you?’