Chapter 39 Imogen
Imogen
I run through the woods, my heart hammering.
I can hear Alison calling Lila’s name behind me.
From somewhere in the wood Solly barks again.
Is it a bark of warning, or distress? I follow the winding path to the bunker, almost tripping over a fallen branch, and then, thankfully, there she is, sitting cross-legged on the ground, twirling the stem of a rose between her fingers, Solly next to her pawing at the door to the bunker.
‘Are you okay?’ I say breathlessly to Lila. And then I notice it’s not just one rose; there’s a bouquet next to her.
Alison sprints up behind us, holding her ribcage. ‘Bloody hell, Immy.’ She bends over, trying to get her breath back.
‘I saw a man,’ says Lila.
‘What do you mean? What man?’ I hunker down so that I’m on her level. ‘Where did you get these flowers, Lila?’
‘The man dropped them.’
‘What did he look like?’
Lila shrinks back, her bottom lip wobbling. ‘Am I in trouble?’
Alison glares at me. ‘Of course not, sweetheart,’ she says, kneeling down, not caring that the knees of her jeans are getting muddy. ‘Aunty Immy was just a bit worried, that’s all. Where did you see the man?’
‘He was over there …’ She indicates the hatch.
‘What did he say to you?’
‘Nothing. When he saw me and Solly he dropped the flowers and ran off. That way …’ She points towards the fence.
‘Do you remember what the man looked like?’ I ask, gently this time.
Lila pushes a silky strand of hair out of her eyes and blinks up at me.
‘Was he old? Young?’
‘Old,’ she says.
‘Like your daddy’s age old or like Grandpa old?’
‘Grandpa old. But he didn’t look like my grandpa. He had hair.’
If he’s as old as she thinks he is – and Gareth’s dad has got to be in his mid-to-late sixties at least – then he might not have got far. ‘Stay here a minute,’ I say, standing up. I call Solly to my side.
‘Where are you going?’ asks Alison.
‘I want to see if he’s still here …’
Alison frowns and stands up too. She angles her body so Lila can’t see her face. ‘What if he’s dangerous?’ she whispers.
It can’t be the youngish guy I saw rifling through Dorothea’s study – or the biker (if they aren’t one and the same person). ‘I’ll shout for you if there’s a problem,’ I promise. ‘I won’t be long.’
Before she can object further, I walk quickly with Solly towards the back of the wood, where I know the high fence is.
I wonder how the man got in. I doubt a man in his sixties could scale a six-foot fence, unless he’s some sort of athlete.
Did we forget to close the electric gate, or not close it properly after letting in Alison’s car, and he managed to slip through?
Solly trots in front of me and my heart picks up speed as we approach the fence.
It’s the only other way in, but I can’t see anyone.
Unless he’s hiding somewhere. I stand still, repressing a shiver of fear, and glance around, jumping at every sound, listening out for the crack of a twig or a shadow behind a trunk. But nothing.
I return my gaze to the fence, surveying it carefully, and then I see it.
A gap in the bottom corner that definitely wasn’t there before.
It’s big enough for a person to squeeze through and, as I take a closer look, I can see that it’s been made deliberately.
I wriggle through it and into a field which I know belongs to a neighbouring farm.
There is no public right of way, so whoever did this knew their way around.
Lila said the man was near the door to the bunker.
‘There you are! I was getting worried.’
I whip around to see Alison walking towards me, holding Lila’s hand.
‘This is how that man got in and out,’ I say, showing Alison the gap.
‘What’s going on, Immy?’
But I don’t answer her because my eye catches something colourful attached to a nail in the fence. I move closer to inspect it. It’s a scrap of fabric in a teal-coloured satin.
I’m quiet as we walk back to the house. The fabric could be part of a tie, or a shirt.
Maybe a jacket. Who would wear something so fancy?
My mind goes back to my visit with Gabe.
He was wearing a striking velvet jacket that day and he’s the only man I know who I could imagine wearing something in that kind of colour.
I believe he knows about the sculpture in the bunker, although I’m still not sure how.
Maybe Dorothea accidentally hinted at it before she died.
Either way, was it him in the woods with a bouquet of flowers?
Or the smartly dressed man Harry and I had both seen in the vicinity?
Lila runs into the house to join her dad, Solly following behind, and I’m just about to go in too when Alison stops me. ‘Can I have a word with you before we join the others?’
My heart sinks. I regret opening up about Josh because now she’s going to worry. I should have chosen my words more carefully; it sounded a lot worse spoken out loud. Josh isn’t a monster but I made him sound like one.
‘Look, don’t worry about me and Josh. It will be okay. We will figure it out.’
Her expression darkens. ‘You can’t let him treat you that way,’ she hisses.
‘It’s a totally different situation to Mum and Dad.’
She looks sceptical and I hold my breath, expecting a lecture, but instead she says, ‘We need to talk about Dad.’
I’ve been dreading this. ‘Alison … I can’t.’
‘Please, go and see him. I’ll come with you. It will probably be your last chance.’
‘He’s never going to tell us what really happened that night.’
‘Please …’ She grabs my wrist. ‘For me.’ And then, to my surprise and horror, her eyes fill up with tears. Alison isn’t the crying kind. It was always me that teared up when we watched a sad film, with Alison taking the piss.
‘Why is it so important to you?’
‘Because …’ She swallows. ‘I think you might regret it. He’s going to die and then it will be too late. He’s the only family we have left and I …’ She sniffs. ‘He sounded so heartfelt, so honest when I saw him. I think you need to hear his version of events from his own mouth.’
I stare at her, chewing my lip. I don’t know if I can bear to set eyes on that man ever again. ‘I’ll think about it,’ I say. ‘I promise.’
This seems good enough for Alison. She gives me a half-smile and nods, looking relieved. And then her expression switches to concern when she adds, ‘Wait. Earlier, you said I didn’t know what has been going on around here. What did you mean? What’s been going on?’
I glance back towards the house. Lila is sitting on Gareth’s lap and Josh is back at the Aga. My gaze flickers back to Alison. ‘I need to show you something,’ I say.