much, much worse. You can feel the evil in the air. To say nothing of the smell. Don't ever call on them Caroline please. Nor let the children near them either. There's something very wrong there, believe me. Beryl came into the kitchen brandishing a carving knife.'
'You mean holding a carving knife?'
'No brandishing it. They must be unhinged. Completely unhinged. Apparently they watch all the comings and goings from their window and claim nothing goes on that they don't know about.'
'Heavens above, I shall hardly dare go out.'
'Exactly.'
Had Peter been able to see them at that moment he would have seen them struggling to get the top off their old well. Running water had been put in when their parents bought the house on their marriage, and the old well had
86
been covered up. More than sixty years of rain and earth and neglect had wedged the lid tight. Beryl found a spade and dug away some of the earth and grass. Gwen got a steel rod from the shed and used that to prise it loose. Eventually they got the lid off and both peered in. Beryl picked up a stone and threw it down. They listened for the sound of it hitting the water.
'I didn't hear it, did you?'
'No. Throw another one in.'
She did and they both heard it hit the water. In the shed they found a long piece of rope. Beryl emptied the metal rubbish bucket from under the sink and they tied the rope to the handle and dangled it down the well.
After several attempts it came up filled with water.
Gwen grimaced.
'I knew we didn't need a plumber. Interfering sods those men are. Go fill the kitchen sink with it and we'll let it down again.'
Beryl put the plug in the sink and emptied the water from the bucket into it. Things were swimming around. Funny little things with lots of legs and some that wiggled along with no legs at all. And it was green.
'Gwen, I don't think it's fit to drink.'
'We'll boil it.'
'There's funny things in it swimming about.'
'We'll sieve it first.'
'What if it makes us ill?'
'We'll get used to it. Take this bucket full. That'll do us for today, better than tap water with all the chemicals they put in it nowadays.'
'Well we shan't need the plumber shall we?'
'No. We don't use much water anyway.'
87
Chapter 8
No one realised that Gwen and Beryl had been taken ill through drinking the well water. The first day they drank it without concern, but then after that they developed serious intestinal infections which laid them low.
It was only when Willie noticed their curtains had not been drawn back for two days that anyone decided to do something about it. Willie, Jimmy and Pat went across together. They tried the front door but couldn't get in so they went through the side gate and pushed open the back door as far as they could. Pat got her handkerchief out and covered her mouth and nose. Even Jimmy, used to a very haphazard regime in his own home, was appalled at what he saw. They called out downstairs and looked in the sitting room but there was no sign of the two sisters. Willie suggested they made their way upstairs together. They tried to push open the main bedroom door and found it almost impossible because of the newspapers piled up from floor to ceiling. They tried the next bedroom and found the two of them prostrate in bed. They had used various containers to be sick in as well as having been sick in the bed, and they lay there, two gaunt, exhausted and unconscious women in dire need of help.
'Right Jimmy, out to the Store, dial 999 and get an ambulance. Tell them what you like but they've got to
88
get here quick.'
'What about asking dt Harris to come while we wait? Maybe she could give 'em something to 'elp,' Pat suggested.
'Certainly not, we can't ask her to come into this mess. It's enough to make me ill just looking at it. In any case she might get something and give it to them babies. No, that won't do. Have you gone yet Jimmy?'
'I'mjust off.'
Pat reached out and tentatively shook Gwen's hand as it lay over the
'You mean holding a carving knife?'
'No brandishing it. They must be unhinged. Completely unhinged. Apparently they watch all the comings and goings from their window and claim nothing goes on that they don't know about.'
'Heavens above, I shall hardly dare go out.'
'Exactly.'
Had Peter been able to see them at that moment he would have seen them struggling to get the top off their old well. Running water had been put in when their parents bought the house on their marriage, and the old well had
86
been covered up. More than sixty years of rain and earth and neglect had wedged the lid tight. Beryl found a spade and dug away some of the earth and grass. Gwen got a steel rod from the shed and used that to prise it loose. Eventually they got the lid off and both peered in. Beryl picked up a stone and threw it down. They listened for the sound of it hitting the water.
'I didn't hear it, did you?'
'No. Throw another one in.'
She did and they both heard it hit the water. In the shed they found a long piece of rope. Beryl emptied the metal rubbish bucket from under the sink and they tied the rope to the handle and dangled it down the well.
After several attempts it came up filled with water.
Gwen grimaced.
'I knew we didn't need a plumber. Interfering sods those men are. Go fill the kitchen sink with it and we'll let it down again.'
Beryl put the plug in the sink and emptied the water from the bucket into it. Things were swimming around. Funny little things with lots of legs and some that wiggled along with no legs at all. And it was green.
'Gwen, I don't think it's fit to drink.'
'We'll boil it.'
'There's funny things in it swimming about.'
'We'll sieve it first.'
'What if it makes us ill?'
'We'll get used to it. Take this bucket full. That'll do us for today, better than tap water with all the chemicals they put in it nowadays.'
'Well we shan't need the plumber shall we?'
'No. We don't use much water anyway.'
87
Chapter 8
No one realised that Gwen and Beryl had been taken ill through drinking the well water. The first day they drank it without concern, but then after that they developed serious intestinal infections which laid them low.
It was only when Willie noticed their curtains had not been drawn back for two days that anyone decided to do something about it. Willie, Jimmy and Pat went across together. They tried the front door but couldn't get in so they went through the side gate and pushed open the back door as far as they could. Pat got her handkerchief out and covered her mouth and nose. Even Jimmy, used to a very haphazard regime in his own home, was appalled at what he saw. They called out downstairs and looked in the sitting room but there was no sign of the two sisters. Willie suggested they made their way upstairs together. They tried to push open the main bedroom door and found it almost impossible because of the newspapers piled up from floor to ceiling. They tried the next bedroom and found the two of them prostrate in bed. They had used various containers to be sick in as well as having been sick in the bed, and they lay there, two gaunt, exhausted and unconscious women in dire need of help.
'Right Jimmy, out to the Store, dial 999 and get an ambulance. Tell them what you like but they've got to
88
get here quick.'
'What about asking dt Harris to come while we wait? Maybe she could give 'em something to 'elp,' Pat suggested.
'Certainly not, we can't ask her to come into this mess. It's enough to make me ill just looking at it. In any case she might get something and give it to them babies. No, that won't do. Have you gone yet Jimmy?'
'I'mjust off.'
Pat reached out and tentatively shook Gwen's hand as it lay over the
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