Chapter Thirty-Four
Rain came down so heavily the next morning that, by noon, much of the snow on the roads had turned to slush, making it possible for Cristy and Connor to attempt the drive home.
As soon as that was agreed, Cristy went upstairs to collect her things, still gritty-eyed from so little sleep and reflecting on her conversation with Meier last night, alongside all they’d learned about Bryn Helyg this morning.
He hadn’t joined them for breakfast earlier, although he’d appeared briefly an hour ago when Cristy was in the barn helping Susanna to feed the motherless calf.
He’d clearly been highly entertained by her efforts, especially when Barnabus – they’d named the little beast already – had pressed his entire weight against her, toppling her back into the hay.
Since then, there had been no sign of him, although it was obviously a busy farm with much to do, hampered no doubt by the weather that had made a full tour of the place impossible.
However, Johan and Maggi had organized a virtual viewing in the office, and so by the time the decision was made that Cristy and Connor were probably safe to leave, they had a much clearer picture of the farm and everything that happened there.
It was impressive; there was no doubt about that.
Five purpose-built ‘sanctuary’ buildings housed everything from soundproofed therapy rooms to well-equipped art and music studios, a spa, a gym – there was even an indoor basketball court.
There were also half a dozen staff cottages behind the farmhouse and more a couple of hundred yards down the lane apparently, forming a small hamlet with its very own ancient church.
And, of course, there were the two-dozen luxury pods for guests, each with their own hot tub, fully equipped kitchen and outdoor firepit.
‘I’m not sure how anything we learned today is going to fit into an episode,’ Connor commented, as he drove carefully down the steeply twisting hillside, ‘but it’s somewhere I wouldn’t mind going for a spot of R&R, that’s for sure. If I could afford it, but I probably can’t.’
Cristy was only half-listening, still distracted by the brief conversation she’d had with Meier when he’d turned up to say goodbye.
‘Thank you for coming to see us,’ he’d said, holding her hand between both of his, his dark eyes gazing deeply into hers.
‘Thank you for the talk last night,’ she replied. ‘I think it helped.’
He smiled and continued to hold her eyes and her hand. It was hard to look away from him, although she didn’t actually try. ‘It’s not my place to ask what happened between you and David Gaudion,’ he said quietly, ‘but if you do want to talk about it, you know where I am.’
She was thrown by his use of David’s name when she was sure she hadn’t mentioned it, and she couldn’t think what to say.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re not the only one who does their research before meeting someone.’
Rolling her eyes at herself, she said, ‘Of course. And thank you.’ They hadn’t mentioned Nicole or the twins, had simply continued to look at one another, until she’d eased her hand free and got into the car.
‘So, what are we making of it all?’ Connor asked, when they finally made it to the main road and were able to speed up a little. ‘Do you believe anything he told us?’
She turned to him curiously. ‘Does that mean you didn’t?’
‘No, not at all. He came across pretty well to me – I’m just interested to hear what you think.’
Realizing she would be too, she said, ‘To be honest, I’m still trying to process it, but I can tell you this: Maggi believes in Nicole’s confession. She thinks Nicole killed them.’
‘Wow,’ he murmured. ‘She actually said that?’
‘She did. She doesn’t know how or why, but she said she believes in the confession, and even intimated that, deep down, Meier believes it too.’
‘Holy shit. Does he know she told you that?’
‘I don’t think so. Food for thought though, isn’t it? Unless she was messing with me, which I guess is possible, although hard to see to what end. How about you? Did you get anything out of your new BFF, Johan? I guess you realized he’s the Johan Bauer who was in Bristol with Meier back in 2005?’
Connor frowned. ‘He didn’t mention it, but makes sense. So, he was one of the “Clifton set”?’
‘As was Maggi.’
Connor’s head came around. ‘We definitely have to talk to those guys some more,’ he declared. ‘I wonder if Johan also thinks Nicole did it?’
‘I’ve no idea, but think about this: if he was a part of that free-loving friendship group twenty odd years ago, there has to be a chance he’s the twins’ father.’
Connor sat with that, mulling the left-sided nature of its potential, until Cristy said, ‘Going back to Meier. I find him quite … distracting, don’t you?’
Connor nodded. ‘I guess. I mean, I could see he got to you.’
Cristy’s eyebrows rose as her heart contracted, but rather than respond to the insight, she said, ‘He wants to see Nicole, and we know she wants to see him …’
When she didn’t continue, Connor said, ‘So are you thinking we should make it happen?’
Was she thinking that? She had been, as far as they had any power to, but now, the more distance that opened up between them and the farm, the more concerned she was becoming about the effect Meier had had on her.
She remembered someone in the feedback mentioning hypnosis without consent and that she still wasn’t sure what had happened while she was under.
It was hard for Cristy to believe she’d fallen victim to that kind of thing.
In fact, she was fairly certain she’d had her wits about her the entire time, frayed and hyper though they might have been – and still were.
Apart from the dream, of course – she hadn’t been in control then – but no one ever was with a dream, and there was no doubt in her mind that it had been nothing more than that.
In the end, instead of answering the question, she said, ‘We need to speak to Honey, because, as taken as I was at the time by the powerful connection he described between him and Nicole, I’m finding myself struggling with it now.
’ She gave herself a moment to assess that and added, ‘Maybe, I’m just not a romantic at heart – or it could be that getting dumped has turned me into a cynic. ’
Connor glanced at her, clearly not sure whether to engage with that. Having no idea what she wanted, she gave him no guidance.
Eventually, he said, ‘Are you really just going to let things go with David?’
Sighing irritably, she reached for her phone, of course hoping for a message – and there was one, just not from him. ‘If he wanted to speak to me,’ she said, sending a thumbs up to her son to confirm she’d be at home later, ‘he’d call. That tells me all I need to know.’
As Connor started to respond, his phone rang.
Realizing he felt awkward about answering considering what they’d been discussing, Cristy leaned forward to click on for him.
‘Hey,’ Jodi cried, ‘are you on your way back yet? Only I’ve had a call from Edward Har—’
‘Cristy’s in the car,’ Connor cut in. ‘Why don’t you say hi?’
‘Sorry,’ Jodi groaned. ‘Got my mummy head on. Hi Cris. How are you?’
‘I’m OK, thanks,’ Cristy replied, wondering if Connor had just stopped his wife deliberately. Edward Har—? It didn’t ring any bells, and maybe projecting her own secrecy onto others wasn’t a good way to go. ‘Sorry I kept your husband out all night,’ she attempted to joke.
‘I’m dying to hear about it,’ Jodi responded. ‘Have you come away with all the answers you were hoping to get? Like, is it a cult?’
Cristy glanced at Connor.
‘Not obviously,’ he admitted, ‘but I think Cristy’s smitten with the main guy—’
‘That’s not true,’ she protested. ‘I’ll admit he’s charming and attractive …’
‘I rest my case.’ Connor laughed. ‘But listen to this. I haven’t shared it with you yet, Cris, but something occurred to me in the early hours that I’m still trying to get my head around. I did some googling to check, and it turns out that every one of the staff at that place has a biblical name.’
Cristy blinked.
‘Bear with,’ he told her. ‘Meier’s clearly a kind of leader and all that stuff about miracles—’
‘What?’ Jodi exclaimed.
‘Later,’ he told her. ‘Now here goes with the names: Johan, John. Simeon, Simon. Marko, Mark. Susanna, Susanna—’
‘Who?’ Jodi cut in, as Cristy wondered if Connor had experienced some bizarre existential event in the night.
‘In the Bible, Susanna is a wealthy woman who supports Christ’s ministry,’ Connor explained. ‘And here’s another: Maggi, whose name is actually Magda, as in Magdalene.’
Incredulous, Cristy said, ‘How much wine did you have last night?’
‘OK, I might be overthinking it,’ he conceded, apparently realizing he wasn’t selling his theory well, ‘but you can’t deny those names are all New Testament, and you’ve got to have seen how followerish they all seemed.
Plus, what about those “explanations” of miracles?
Like he was there or something, so he knows what really happened.
And – you’re going to love this one,’ he told Jodi, ‘they called the calf Barnabus. You know who he was, don’t you? ’
‘What calf?’ Jodi asked.
To Cristy, Connor said, ‘To be honest, I don’t actually know who he was, just that he was around at that time and definitely a kind of missionary.’
‘I’m worried about you, Connor,’ Jodi put in.
‘Me too,’ Cristy assured her, ‘although he’s right in that they are all biblical names.’
Seeming to wish he’d never started this, Connor said, ‘OK, getting back to whether we came away with any answers? Putting aside what I’ve just told you, we need to listen to the recording in order to give it a proper assessment …’
‘But what about Nicole and the twins?’ Jodi cut in. ‘Are you any closer to finding out what really happened?’
‘I wish we could give a yes to that.’ Cristy sighed. ‘But the best I can tell you right now is that things seem to be opening up, and the deeper into it we go, the more convinced I am that we’re going to find those kids.’
Connor glanced at her in surprise. ‘So you reckon Maggi was … what? Trying to throw us off the scent, because they’re actually still out there somewhere?’
‘Jesus,’ Jodi muttered.
‘It would be an odd way of doing it if they are,’ Cristy admitted, ‘but as far as I’m concerned, there’s a whole lot more to that place and those people than we’re even beginning to see right now.’