‘Brilliantly, all things considered.’ Matt got up, went to the minibar and took out a small bottle of bourbon. ‘I think he held it together for Sophie’s sake, and it’ll probably hit him later.’
‘I can’t say I’m totally in agreement with young children going to funerals,’ said Liz softly. ‘It’s so traumatic for them.’
‘She was about as brave as a child could be.’ He took a swig of the bourbon. ‘It was pretty heart-wrenching, especially when she laid a rose on each casket.’
‘Glad I wasn’t there, Mattie. I’m sure I’d have cried my eyes out.’
‘A lot of people did. I guess it was all those uniforms that made it so powerful. And there was a military band and a choir to add to the charged atmosphere.’ He gave a little chuckle. ‘On the lighter side, the chaplain painted such a glorious picture of life in heaven that I quite expected entire congregation to agree one massive suicide pact and all march off to the promised land!’
‘Stop it, Matt! That’s awful.’
He chuckled. ‘Enough of funerals. How did your visit to Holland House go?’
Liz didn’t answer immediately, as if she was trying to find the right words. ‘Well, our Kate’s a very confused woman. I don’t know how Will lives with her the way she is right now. She’s changed so much in such a short time. It’s scary.’
‘Simple. He loves her.’
‘He must.’ Liz lowered her voice. ‘Matt, I’m no shrink, but I reckon Kate is suffering from some form of bipolar disorder. Her mood swings are unbelievable. She flips from almost comatose to manic in the blink of an eye. I spent an hour and a half with her earlier this afternoon, not long, but long enough for me to know that Kate needs professional help.’
‘He promised her there’d be no doctors.’
‘Sometimes you have to go against what a loved one wants. Especially in the case of a loved one. I can see something tragic happening if he sticks to his promise.’
‘But at least she spent time with you, didn’t she?’ Matt said. ‘That’s something. According to Will, she doesn’t let anyone over the doorstep.’
‘Your photos were my passport inside. She loved them and said she can’t wait to talk to you about the old place.’
‘And Mrs Swain? Any more from her?’ asked Matt.
‘I helped her tidy up for a while after I left Kate. She’s treating it like a new project but seeing all that devastation must be hard for her to take. At least there’ve been no more incidents, and the police have been out here a couple of times. I saw both Swifty and PC Barney Woods this morning. Emilia’s so utterly stoical! Talk about keep calm and carry on!’ Liz paused. ‘Oh, I do miss you, Matt Ballard!’
‘Ditto, Liz Haynes. I can’t wait to get back to you.’
‘Any idea of when?’
‘None at all. We are at the mercy of the RCAF. Will is hoping it will be tomorrow, but I’ll let you know as soon as I hear.’ He drank a little more bourbon. ‘I guess I’d better go check on Will. I don’t want it to hit him when I’m not around. He managed well, but he’s not at his strongest right now.’
‘Give him my love,’ said Liz, ‘but keep most of it for yourself.’
Matt hung up. He realised that he was smiling. But then Liz always did make him smile.
* * *
Will was also phoning home, and once again Kate didn’t answer her mobile. He texted her, and now he was trying the landline, but all he got was the answerphone. With a sigh, he took two bottles of whisky from the minibar and poured them into a glass.
He lay on the bed and thought about little Sophie. He didn’t usually have much to say to children. They made him feel rather shy. Since the death of his own baby, Emma, he had had little to do with any youngsters, so it had come as a huge surprise to find that he had really warmed to Sophie. He found himself wishing things were different at home.
Home. He picked up the phone and dialled again. This time Kate answered almost immediately. She said she had no signal on her mobile, and then she listened while he told her about the funeral and said she would be glad when the trip was over. She sounded sad. She said almost nothing about her decorating and there were no more little gems from the history of Whisper Fen. Will put this down to the solemnity of the occasion.
She asked him when he would be flying home, but Will couldn’t say. ‘I’ll text you, but in case the signal’s down again, put the answerphone on, babe, then if I find out anything and it’s night time over there, I can leave you my flight schedule.’
She agreed, which saddened him. Once, she would have told him that she didn’t care what time of the day or night it was but only wanted to hear his voice.
‘Are you okay, Kate? You sound a bit down.’
‘I’m fine. I expect it’s all this talk about funerals. Not the most cheerful subject, is it?’
Well, I’m so sorry my sister died, Will wanted to say but swallowed his sarcasm along with the bourbon. ‘I’d better let you go. Will you ring me before you turn in for the night?’
There was a pause. ‘Well, yes, of course, but I may be working tonight, so if I get carried away you will have to forgive me. You know how I lose track of time if things are going well.’
‘Please try, sweetheart. It’s been one hell of a day and I could do with a transatlantic hug.’
‘I’ll try, I promise. I love you, my Bear, and I’m glad today is over.’
‘Me too.’
Will shook his head. Well, he might as well make the most of his time away from the marsh. They were going to Philip and Annette’s this evening for supper, the last time he would see Sophie, possibly for years.
Once again, he wondered what it would have been like if the Fauves hadn’t offered to adopt Sophie. Could he have ever taken her home to live with him and Kate? Could he have made it work? She might have made a difference to their lives, given Kate a new direction. Then he saw again that picture, the malevolent goblin with the child under its arm.
* * *
Will, tired and drained, had to turn down Philip’s offer to sample some of the local beers. He made up his mind to bring Kate to Canada for a holiday as soon as she was better.
‘Hey, if you do come out again you guys have to stay with us! And you too, Matt! And bring that Liz of yours, we’d love to meet her. We have some great places we can take you all to, and Sophie would love it.’
Sophie clung to Will all evening, until she was too tired to stay awake. He kissed her goodnight and promised to ring her often, and as Annette led her up to bed, she began to cry.
Before he left, Will went to her bedroom to see her. Sophie lay in bed, her chestnut hair spread over the pillow, and he saw his little sister again.
Mitch picked them up just before ten. ‘I just had a call from the base. You are on a flight tomorrow. It has been delayed a bit though. Take-off is now at twenty-two hundred hours. You should be in England by about three in the afternoon, local time. Which gives you almost a day here. I could run you out to Moose Jaw, if you like, show you around the base.’
Will glanced at Matt, who nodded. ‘Great, we’d love it. I’ve said my goodbyes here, and I don’t want to upset Sophie again.’