She hurried back indoors and found Matt still sitting at the table. ‘Okay, what’s happened?’
Matt shook his head. ‘I hardly know where to start.’
‘Like we used to say when we interviewed people — from the beginning.’
Matt began. As he spoke, Liz grew more and more disturbed. When he’d finished, she said, ‘You’re right, darling, we have to help them, especially if doctors are out of the question. We need a plan of action.’
‘It seems to me that my local knowledge will be our way in, along with your expertise on the computer. Plus, we have the time to spare, so if Kate is burning the candle at both ends, she might be glad of a couple of willing foot-soldiers to help her out.’ Matt nibbled on his thumbnail. ‘Will warned me about her appearance. She’s still losing weight and, to put it bluntly, she looks like the walking dead, so we need to be tactful. Plus, she might be pretty ill-disposed to our presence to start with, possibly even hostile, so we need to get her onside, no matter what it takes. Will is struggling, Liz. I mean, really struggling. I’ve never seen him like this, never. Even with some of the most harrowing cases we had to deal with, he was never anything but in control.’
‘Ah, but those cases weren’t personal. They didn’t involve the woman he loves.’ Liz reached out and touched Matt’s hand. ‘We’ll find a way to help, and if things get too bad then we might need to be there for Will if he has to make a hard decision like bringing in professional medical help against Kate’s wishes.’
Matt drew in a long breath. ‘Right, then. First, I need to get up in the attic. I have a stack of boxes and cases, all coated in decades of dust, that contain photographs and diaries and other papers concerning my family and the history of this area. That should be our starting point.’ He stretched. ‘Sure you’re up for this?’
‘Bring it on,’ she said. ‘But we mustn’t lose sight of Emilia. We’re going to have to do a bit of juggling with our time.’
‘Well, I did say I didn’t want to get bored in retirement.’
‘And like you also said — be careful what you wish for.’ She grinned at him. ‘Okay — up in that loft. I’m quite looking forward to getting a sight of the Ballards of old.’
* * *
Kate slept solidly until supper time, but even when she woke up she seemed lethargic and sleepy.
Will had prepared a simple meal, guessing that Kate wouldn’t be very hungry. He was right, but she did make some effort to eat what he put before her. As he was clearing away the plates, she said, ‘I’m so sorry about earlier, sweetheart. But the simple fact is, I can’t do it, Will. I don’t want to go into town any more. I felt terrible. I can’t seem to face crowds, people, or even traffic.’ Her look at him was so pathetic that it hurt.
‘Okay, love. Tell me what happened,’ he said gently.
‘There’s nothing to tell. I can’t face the town, that’s all there is to it.’
He squeezed her hand. ‘I think it’s time we had a word with the doctor, Kate. Look at you, you’re losing weight by the hour, you’re pale — and now this. What do you think?’
She pulled her hand away. ‘No doctors, Will. We’ve been there before, remember?’
He needed no reminding. ‘I’m not talking about like before. I meant a quiet word with the GP. Perhaps you just need a tonic? You may be a bit anaemic, or just generally run down. A blood test might be all that’s necessary, and then some iron tablets or vitamins.’
If he could just get her into that surgery, hopefully the doctor might notice her deterioration and take things further.
But her look dispelled all hope of that. Her eyes took on a steely glint. ‘No doctors.’
There was no arguing.
For once, Kate didn’t go to her studio. Instead, she sat with her laptop on her knees and yet again began a search on the history of the area.
‘Not fed up with all that?’
‘No way. Look at this — it’s fascinating.’
He stared blankly at some dull document that he presumed to be a parish record.
‘The Holland family have been on this fen since it was full of mists and eels,’ she was saying.
‘Still is, isn’t it?’
‘Mists, yes, but I mean a time when eels and wild birds were the staple diet of the folk that lived in this watery no-man’s-land.’
‘Sounds gloomy.’
‘It was. The fen people must have had a pretty meagre existence, living on wild food, plants and fruits, fish and fowl.’ She looked up at him, her face reflecting the silvery glow from the screen. ‘Outsiders used to reckon they had webbed feet, you know.’
‘I noticed you’ve been keeping your socks and shoes on a lot recently, maybe you’ve been spending too long out on Whisper Fen,’ said Will smiling.
She cast him a withering look and resumed her search.
Will saw that if Matt and Liz were to give them any help, it would have to be through Kate’s research. Thank goodness Matt was a true “yeller-belly,” and had lived all his life on this stretch of the marsh. But how would Liz cope with Kate’s strange mood swings?
And how, he wondered, had Kate managed to drive past Emilia Swain’s wrecked garden without noticing? He decided to try and find out. ‘I thought I’d take a walk down the lane and check on Mrs Swain. Fancy a stroll?’
For a moment Kate looked confused, as if struggling with something. ‘Oh dear. I . . . I meant to say earlier,’ she bit her lip, ‘but when I came back past her place, something seemed to have happened in her garden.’ She looked at him anxiously. ‘I meant to tell you but I was so upset, I forgot.’
‘Happened?’ he asked blankly, careful not to let on that he already knew what had happened. Neither did he say what he was thinking — that she hadn’t been too upset to give that scumbag Grove a lift home.
‘Sorry, Bear, I don’t really know, it just looked like some animal had got loose in it.’
‘Then I’ll definitely go and check it out.’ Will left before he could say something he would regret. He didn’t need to go back there, he’d seen enough already, but perhaps an evening walk would clear his head a little, and if Emilia was home, he’d call in and tell her to ring him if anything worried her in the night.
Not finding her at the cottage, he sat on the wall for a while in the last rays of the late afternoon sun. What was happening on Whisper Fen? From a peaceful haven, an idyllic retreat, the place had suddenly become sinister, almost menacing. He hurried home.
As he entered the garden, Will saw his wife running down the path. Her call was almost lost, carried away in the breeze off the marsh.
He broke into a run and nearly fell through the gate. When he reached her, he saw that her face was wet with tears. Surely it wasn’t another dead Holland child?
But the news she gave him was totally unexpected. She held both his hands tightly in hers and gazed at him compassionately. ‘Will, darling, it’s Eva.’
He stared at his wife, uncomprehending. Eva? He rarely heard from his sister. As a Royal Canadian Air Force wife, Eva travelled all over the world and was hardly ever back in England.