him.
He couldn’t disguise his very real affection for the child,
however, and Pamela found herself wishing that she was sitting next
to him, that-
Oh , no ! He had
got to his feet and was walking straight towards her!
‘I see you’ve met little Jennie,’ he said,
passing her the child and sitting down, speaking with the familiar
ironic drawl in his voice that so intimidated and intrigued her. ‘I
didn’t realise you liked children so much.’
For some reason, Pamela practically choked on
a sudden, inexplicable attack of nerves and shyness. ‘I’m not- I
mean, I’ve never even h- held one before- I mmp . . . ’
Without warning, he reached across, put his
arm around her, leaned over her so that she had no choice but to
cling to him, and kissed her. She didn’t dare pull away, or do
anything that might endanger the safety of the child. After a
moment she discovered that she didn’t want to pull away, and
couldn’t have cared less that everyone was probably watching. And
yet . . . and yet . . .
They parted, and he watched her, frowning.
‘What’s wrong? What is it you’re so afraid of?’
She took a shuddering
breath. ‘I’m afraid of you . I’m sorry, Theo, but you scare me.’ She got up and
took the child back to its mother, who watched her speculatively.
Her ears burning, feeling utterly conspicuous now, as though
anybody and everybody was staring at her, Pamela began walking away
from the gathering in search of a little privacy. At the same time
some inner little voice began shouting at her.
You idiot, what are you
doing? Go back right now and pick up where you left off, or he’s
going to get the wrong idea !
‘Shut up!’ she muttered to herself, putting
her hands over her ears, ‘Shut up! Shut . . . oh God! Theo! THEO!!’
In an instant he was at her side, as were several of the other
picnic-goers.
‘What is it? What happened? Are you all
right?’
‘I saw - Oh, God! Oh my God! . .
.’
‘What did you see? There’s nothing out there
but open moor.’
‘It was Albert! He was- I saw him- what he
did! He was standing there, looking right at me.’
Theo’s look was unreadable, but he said to
the other women, ‘Stay with her, please. The rest of you stay right
here. I’m going to go have a look.’
‘I’d better come with.’ It was Fred Pascoe,
the father of little Jennie. He was a strapping fellow of even
temperament but not one to be mucked about or argued with once his
mind was set on something. ‘I know these moors. If he’s anywhere
about I’ll know it.’
Theo nodded curtly and they moved off.
The two were gone for so long that, though
still in full view and looking at the ground, Pamela began to
wonder it she’d have to suffer the humilation of discovering that
she’d imagined it all, that what she’d seen was no more than a
figment of her own overactive imagination. But the two returned,
brusquely, something chilling and curt about their movements. Going
straight to his wife, Fred said, ‘Give us the mobile, luv, and go
sit in the car and lock the doors.’ Raising his voice so that all
could hear, he said, ‘I suggest the rest of you do the same, whilst
Theo and I wait for the police and get things sorted out here.’
As dusk settled on the moor, the tranquil
evening was shattered by a chaos of sirens and flashing lights. The
commotion grew to a crescendo as a coroner’s van parted the knot of
parked vehicles and a body was carried towards it on a folded
gurney, revealed in a stroboscopic nightmare sequence of flashing
cameras.
After an interminable time Theo came to
Pamela’s window and gestured. ‘Come, CID wants to speak with you.’
Through the open window, he said, ‘Lock the doors and roll up the
windows, please, Mr. Pascoe. You may as well head on home with the
others. We may be here a while, so don’t wait up for us. In fact,
would you mind taking Mrs. Dewhurst with you, and Anne and little
Jennie? Fred and Pamela and I are going to have to
He couldn’t disguise his very real affection for the child,
however, and Pamela found herself wishing that she was sitting next
to him, that-
Oh , no ! He had
got to his feet and was walking straight towards her!
‘I see you’ve met little Jennie,’ he said,
passing her the child and sitting down, speaking with the familiar
ironic drawl in his voice that so intimidated and intrigued her. ‘I
didn’t realise you liked children so much.’
For some reason, Pamela practically choked on
a sudden, inexplicable attack of nerves and shyness. ‘I’m not- I
mean, I’ve never even h- held one before- I mmp . . . ’
Without warning, he reached across, put his
arm around her, leaned over her so that she had no choice but to
cling to him, and kissed her. She didn’t dare pull away, or do
anything that might endanger the safety of the child. After a
moment she discovered that she didn’t want to pull away, and
couldn’t have cared less that everyone was probably watching. And
yet . . . and yet . . .
They parted, and he watched her, frowning.
‘What’s wrong? What is it you’re so afraid of?’
She took a shuddering
breath. ‘I’m afraid of you . I’m sorry, Theo, but you scare me.’ She got up and
took the child back to its mother, who watched her speculatively.
Her ears burning, feeling utterly conspicuous now, as though
anybody and everybody was staring at her, Pamela began walking away
from the gathering in search of a little privacy. At the same time
some inner little voice began shouting at her.
You idiot, what are you
doing? Go back right now and pick up where you left off, or he’s
going to get the wrong idea !
‘Shut up!’ she muttered to herself, putting
her hands over her ears, ‘Shut up! Shut . . . oh God! Theo! THEO!!’
In an instant he was at her side, as were several of the other
picnic-goers.
‘What is it? What happened? Are you all
right?’
‘I saw - Oh, God! Oh my God! . .
.’
‘What did you see? There’s nothing out there
but open moor.’
‘It was Albert! He was- I saw him- what he
did! He was standing there, looking right at me.’
Theo’s look was unreadable, but he said to
the other women, ‘Stay with her, please. The rest of you stay right
here. I’m going to go have a look.’
‘I’d better come with.’ It was Fred Pascoe,
the father of little Jennie. He was a strapping fellow of even
temperament but not one to be mucked about or argued with once his
mind was set on something. ‘I know these moors. If he’s anywhere
about I’ll know it.’
Theo nodded curtly and they moved off.
The two were gone for so long that, though
still in full view and looking at the ground, Pamela began to
wonder it she’d have to suffer the humilation of discovering that
she’d imagined it all, that what she’d seen was no more than a
figment of her own overactive imagination. But the two returned,
brusquely, something chilling and curt about their movements. Going
straight to his wife, Fred said, ‘Give us the mobile, luv, and go
sit in the car and lock the doors.’ Raising his voice so that all
could hear, he said, ‘I suggest the rest of you do the same, whilst
Theo and I wait for the police and get things sorted out here.’
As dusk settled on the moor, the tranquil
evening was shattered by a chaos of sirens and flashing lights. The
commotion grew to a crescendo as a coroner’s van parted the knot of
parked vehicles and a body was carried towards it on a folded
gurney, revealed in a stroboscopic nightmare sequence of flashing
cameras.
After an interminable time Theo came to
Pamela’s window and gestured. ‘Come, CID wants to speak with you.’
Through the open window, he said, ‘Lock the doors and roll up the
windows, please, Mr. Pascoe. You may as well head on home with the
others. We may be here a while, so don’t wait up for us. In fact,
would you mind taking Mrs. Dewhurst with you, and Anne and little
Jennie? Fred and Pamela and I are going to have to
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