‘Sorry?’ I asked, thrown by her odd question. ‘What do you mean?’
She sat up and beckoned me close, curving her hand around her mouth and whispering through it. ‘My maman, at home.’
My brain froze. She lay back down again, an expectant expression on her face, waiting for me to answer her. Her chin began to wobble. I assumed she was being open with me because she’d seen me stand up to Leo. Her face crumbled. I could see she was frightened and didn’t know what to do.
‘Hey,’ I whispered, stunned that Dee had stooped lower than I could have imagined and kidnapped a child. ‘It’s okay. I promise I won’t tell anyone what you’ve asked me.’ My mind whirled trying to make sense of this latest shock. I hoped Ashley was playing a silly game and that Dee was her mum. The alternative was too horrible to contemplate. ‘I’ll do my best to find your mummy for you, okay?’
Her panic receded a little. ‘Yes.’
I put my finger up to my mouth when I heard footsteps on the stairs. ‘Don’t say anything. Leave it to me.’
She closed her eyes. By the time Dee reached the bedroom door, I was leaving. ‘She’s fast asleep,’ I said quietly, willing her to leave the child alone.
She glanced in the room and I had to hold back a sigh of relief when she retraced her steps to join the others.
I went into Katie’s room and sat on the edge of her bed trying to make sense of my jumbled thoughts. What the hell was going on here? Who was this kid? All I knew was this little girl, whoever she might be, trusted me and I needed to ensure she was returned to her real mother.
The first thing I needed to do now that Dee and Leo had agreed to let Ashley stay with me was to get them to leave. After that I could find a way to track down the little girl’s mum. I went to the hallway outside her room. I opened the bedroom door and with my heart pounding, strained to hear any sound coming up from the kitchen. There didn’t seem to be any raised voices. I calmed down a little, willing my vague seed of a plan to work.
I needed to rejoin them before they became suspicious of my absence. I listened at the kitchen door to get the gist of what was being said. That’s when I heard Leo’s voice saying, ‘I don’t see any reason for us not to leave first thing in the morning.’
I checked my watch; it was almost nine-thirty.
‘No, you will leave tonight. If, as you say, my father’s death was an accident,’ I heard Henri say. ‘And you didn’t intend to kill him, then I will allow you to leave, but only tonight. If you go now, I will take you to the station. There are trains leaving Southampton through the night. If you insist on staying, then I will call the police and have you arrested. It is your only choice.’
I could have kissed Henri for giving them very little option but to leave straight away.
‘You want us to go now?’ Dee asked.
I stepped forward and entered the room. ‘Why wait?’ I said, determined to see the back of them before Henri changed his mind, or they changed theirs. I sat down next to Henri.
Leo watched me. Did he realise that I’d discovered the truth about Ashley? Or that I’d worked out that he had only brought Dee here to hide her and Ashley away from whoever might be looking for them? He seemed to be mulling over his next move. I didn’t catch his eye, but forced a smile in Dee’s direction.
‘You don’t have to, of course.’ I hoped the reverse psychology Mum always used on me would work for her. ‘But I’d have thought you’d want to get as far away from here and the farm as soon as you could.’
The reminder of the farm seemed to do the trick. Dee grabbed hold of Leo’s sleeve. ‘She’s right, I hate it here. I have to go tonight, and if you care anything about me at all you’ll come with me.’
‘But what about Ashley?’ he asked, glancing at me. I kept my expression neutral and patted Mum’s hand for something to do.
‘The child will be perfectly fine here,’ Mum said. ‘She has Katie to play with and you can come and get her when you’re settled elsewhere.’ She caught my eye. I could see she’d picked up that I was trying to hide something. ‘Why don’t I come and help you pack, Dee? Who knows, the change of scenery might be exactly what you need.’
Dee nodded. ‘You’re right. Leo, we’re going.’
He didn’t argue, but got up and followed Dee and Mum out of the kitchen, stopping at the door to give Henri and me a brief look. The heat of Henri’s leg against mine was comforting and I was deeply grateful for his return to the house. Neither of us spoke. He placed his hand over mine and kept it there until we heard Leo’s voice from the first-floor landing.
‘He is a dangerous man, Sera.’
I nodded. ‘I realise that now. I’m so relieved you came here tonight. Do you mind not informing the police about what happened to your father?’
He shook his head. ‘It is in the past and they were children. I have been able to solve the mystery of my father’s disappearance, and for me, right now, this is enough.’
I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. ‘Thank you,’ I whispered.
‘Thank me when they’ve gone.’ He hesitated, staring at me intently. ‘Sera, what is wrong?’
I pointed towards the open doorway. ‘I’ll tell you later.’
I went to the kitchen and waited while Henri joined Mum and the others. She said her brief goodbyes to Dee and Leo mainly to witness their exit before they left with Henri for the station, hurriedly closing the front door and locking it behind them.
‘I thought they’d never leave,’ she said, coming back into the kitchen and resting against the worktop. She looked drained, her shoulders drooping. ‘Henri is a good man, Sera, I misjudged him terribly.’
‘All I care about right now is that they’ve gone, Mum. I hope he makes sure they get on to a train – any damn train – and leave Southampton for good.’
She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. ‘Would you mind if I went to bed now?’
‘No, of course not. I’ll stay down here for a bit.’
She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘You should try and rest if you can,’ she said. ‘Henri told me he’d come back in the morning. He said you should get some sleep.’ She sighed. ‘Who knows what we’ll have to deal with tomorrow.’
I dreaded to think. ‘I’m shattered too.’ I walked up to her and gave her a hug. ‘I’m sorry for inviting them into our home.’
‘You didn’t know what would happen, darling.’ She linked arms with me and, leading me out of the kitchen, stopped to wait while I switched off the light. ‘I can’t believe they’ve actually left.’
‘Nor can I,’ I said, hoping I didn’t wake up and discover this was all a misleading dream. I decided to wait until the morning to tell her what I’d discovered about Ashley; she had coped with enough shocks for one day. It wasn’t as if I could do anything much tonight anyway, I reasoned. I checked the house doors were locked and we went upstairs.
I was about to get into bed when I remembered the small photo I’d taken from Hazel’s room of her and Jack in 2003. I walked over to the corner of the room and knelt. Dragging back the edge of the carpet I lifted the small end of the floorboard to reveal my childhood hiding place where I stored all my secret bits. I rummaged around with my hand until I came across the silver frame and pulled it out. Wiping the dust from the glass against my pyjama shorts, I lifted the picture and studied it. Would it be the right thing to do to offer this to Henri? Or should I take the picture out of the frame and cut Hazel’s body from the photo? Unsure what to do, I decided to let him choose.