that.’
‘Mum cried for years,’ says Maddie, glaring at Nelson as if it was his fault. ‘Literally for years. Can you imagine what that was like?’
‘No,’ says Nelson. ‘I can’t.’
‘She blamed herself because she wasn’t watching Scarlet. I heard you asking her “How long was it before you realised that Scarlet was missing? You mean you left her alone all that time? Why weren’t you checking on her?”. Jesus, it was like she was in court. Guilty of having five children and a shabby house. Guilty of having wind chimes and talking about Brother Sun and Sister Moon. I saw it all in your face.’
Is that fair, wonders Nelson. He had certainly thought Delilah casual to the point of neglectful. He’d disapproved of her bare feet and the aromatic smell of Alan’s cigarettes. Had it shown in his face? But he had never underestimated her loss and grief. He had almost killed himself trying to find Scarlet.
‘How’s your mum now?’ he asks. ‘I heard she’d moved away.’
‘She’s better,’ says Maddie. ‘She has to function for Ocean’s sake. She’s only four.’
Of course, there was a baby. Ocean. Jesus wept.
‘Where’s she living?’
‘Blackburn.’
Nelson is jolted by this. Blackburn is near his territory. Nelson was born and brought up in Blackpool and, whilst he now accepts that he will probably never live there again, he still thinks of it as home. The thought of Delilah being so close is curiously disconcerting. As if his past is tracking him.
‘Do you see much of … your dad? You know he lives up north now?’
Maddie smiles. ‘Cathbad? I can’t think of him as Dad. Yes, I’ve been seeing quite a lot of him. Alan will always be my dad but Cathbad’s a pretty special person.’
Nelson can’t deny this. ‘He’s a one-off, is Cathbad.’
‘It was his idea that I should talk to you,’ says Maddie, turning her mermaid’s eyes in his direction. ‘He said you’d be sure to help me.’
‘Did he now?’
‘Yes. He says that you share a psychic bond.’
And the worst thing is, Nelson thinks this might be true.
CHAPTER 12
‘We’ve come to the beautiful city of Norwich to discover the truth about one of Victorian England’s most notorious murderesses. A woman whose name still strikes terror into the hearts of mothers and children everywhere. Mother Hook. The so-called baby farmer who killed her charges for profit. The hook-handed killer who slaughtered innocent children and wrote their names into a ledger chillingly entitled The Book of Dead Babies.’
Corinna Lewis stops and pauses impressively, staring into the camera. Ruth, who is dutifully standing in the trench for an action shot, reflects that there is little sign of Dani’s even-handed approach in the presenter’s script. What had Dani said? That Corinna wasn’t one for subtlety. Ruth amuses herself by cataloguing Corinna’s favourite words: ‘terror’, ‘slaughter’ and ‘chilling’ are definitely three. She also likes ‘shadowy’, ‘horrific’ and ‘innocent’. So far all these words, except the last, have been used to describe Mother Hook.
‘Archaeologists digging in the grounds of this ancientcastle,’ continues Corinna, ‘made a chilling discovery. The bones of a woman with a hook for a hand. I’m at the dig now with Dr Phil Trent, Head of Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk. Phil, tell me about your find.’
It was my find, thinks Ruth, as she digs and scrapes, conscious that the cameras may be on her. She can hear Phil talking in his new TV voice. One of the researchers told him to smile just before he spoke, ‘it makes your voice sound really warm’. By the sounds of it, Phil has been grinning away for hours.
‘It was really exciting, Corinna,’ he says (‘Use Corinna’s name’ urged the researchers). ‘I knew at once that it was something really significant. It was the right age, for one thing, and it was a woman. Then I saw the hook and … well …
‘Mum cried for years,’ says Maddie, glaring at Nelson as if it was his fault. ‘Literally for years. Can you imagine what that was like?’
‘No,’ says Nelson. ‘I can’t.’
‘She blamed herself because she wasn’t watching Scarlet. I heard you asking her “How long was it before you realised that Scarlet was missing? You mean you left her alone all that time? Why weren’t you checking on her?”. Jesus, it was like she was in court. Guilty of having five children and a shabby house. Guilty of having wind chimes and talking about Brother Sun and Sister Moon. I saw it all in your face.’
Is that fair, wonders Nelson. He had certainly thought Delilah casual to the point of neglectful. He’d disapproved of her bare feet and the aromatic smell of Alan’s cigarettes. Had it shown in his face? But he had never underestimated her loss and grief. He had almost killed himself trying to find Scarlet.
‘How’s your mum now?’ he asks. ‘I heard she’d moved away.’
‘She’s better,’ says Maddie. ‘She has to function for Ocean’s sake. She’s only four.’
Of course, there was a baby. Ocean. Jesus wept.
‘Where’s she living?’
‘Blackburn.’
Nelson is jolted by this. Blackburn is near his territory. Nelson was born and brought up in Blackpool and, whilst he now accepts that he will probably never live there again, he still thinks of it as home. The thought of Delilah being so close is curiously disconcerting. As if his past is tracking him.
‘Do you see much of … your dad? You know he lives up north now?’
Maddie smiles. ‘Cathbad? I can’t think of him as Dad. Yes, I’ve been seeing quite a lot of him. Alan will always be my dad but Cathbad’s a pretty special person.’
Nelson can’t deny this. ‘He’s a one-off, is Cathbad.’
‘It was his idea that I should talk to you,’ says Maddie, turning her mermaid’s eyes in his direction. ‘He said you’d be sure to help me.’
‘Did he now?’
‘Yes. He says that you share a psychic bond.’
And the worst thing is, Nelson thinks this might be true.
CHAPTER 12
‘We’ve come to the beautiful city of Norwich to discover the truth about one of Victorian England’s most notorious murderesses. A woman whose name still strikes terror into the hearts of mothers and children everywhere. Mother Hook. The so-called baby farmer who killed her charges for profit. The hook-handed killer who slaughtered innocent children and wrote their names into a ledger chillingly entitled The Book of Dead Babies.’
Corinna Lewis stops and pauses impressively, staring into the camera. Ruth, who is dutifully standing in the trench for an action shot, reflects that there is little sign of Dani’s even-handed approach in the presenter’s script. What had Dani said? That Corinna wasn’t one for subtlety. Ruth amuses herself by cataloguing Corinna’s favourite words: ‘terror’, ‘slaughter’ and ‘chilling’ are definitely three. She also likes ‘shadowy’, ‘horrific’ and ‘innocent’. So far all these words, except the last, have been used to describe Mother Hook.
‘Archaeologists digging in the grounds of this ancientcastle,’ continues Corinna, ‘made a chilling discovery. The bones of a woman with a hook for a hand. I’m at the dig now with Dr Phil Trent, Head of Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk. Phil, tell me about your find.’
It was my find, thinks Ruth, as she digs and scrapes, conscious that the cameras may be on her. She can hear Phil talking in his new TV voice. One of the researchers told him to smile just before he spoke, ‘it makes your voice sound really warm’. By the sounds of it, Phil has been grinning away for hours.
‘It was really exciting, Corinna,’ he says (‘Use Corinna’s name’ urged the researchers). ‘I knew at once that it was something really significant. It was the right age, for one thing, and it was a woman. Then I saw the hook and … well …
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