Chapter 8
Helen woke early and went downstairs to find Monica
already in the kitchen. “’Morning, Monica,” she greeted her as pleasantly as
she could, allowing for the fact she was never at her best first thing in the
morning.
“’Morning, Helen. Did you manage to get any sleep?”
Monica asked kindly.
“A little.” She gave a wry smile. “How about you?”
“Not really. I was thinking about poor Nikki. She’s
not soft but can you imagine what it’s like sleeping rough at this time of the
year? I just wish she would give herself up.”
Helen’s heart went out to Monica. She seemed to have
aged ten years in the last couple of days but was that because she had a guilty
conscience? “Monica, will you tell me about Trisha?”
Monica looked at her in surprise. “Of course. What
would you like to know?”
“Well, for a start, do you think Nikki killed her?”
she asked quietly.
“Nikki wouldn’t hurt a fly.” She smiled suddenly, her
face softening. “When Nikki blows her top it’s like a volcano erupting but
she’s never been violent. She loved Trisha and she wouldn’t hurt anyone she
loved.”
“I see,” Helen replied softly, an insane wave of
jealousy for a dead woman engulfing her. “What was she like?”
“Beautiful, chic. There’s a picture in Nikki’s study,
I’ll show you.” She led the way back through the house and opened one of the
doors. The room beyond seemed to be wall-to-wall books. Monica crossed to a
large oak desk and picked up a framed picture. “I think this was taken about
five years ago when they were on holiday.”
Helen’s hand shook a little as she took the picture
from Monica. It was a head and shoulders shot of Nikki and Trisha. They had an
arm around each other’s shoulders and looked very happy and in love. “She was
beautiful.” Helen murmured.
“But she didn’t have a heart,” Monica said bitterly.
“Whereas Nikki is all heart.”
“Are you saying she didn’t love Nikki?” she asked
incredulously. Who could know Nikki and not fall for her? But then maybe she
was biased!
“I’m sure she did, in her own way,” Monica replied
with scarcely concealed scepticism.
Helen replaced the picture back on the desk and noted
the computer. “Do you think Nikki would mind if I borrowed her computer?”
“Help yourself. She said this was your home for as
long as you wanted to stay here.” The older woman smiled at her and touched her
hand gently. “She obviously cares for you very much, Helen. Anyway, if you need
any help with the computer, Dominic knows how to use it.”
“I think I should be able to manage, thanks.” Maybe
now she could start doing the job she was actually being paid for…reporting on
Nikki’s escape but why did the thought make her feel she was betraying Nikki?
“Breakfast, first!” Monica ordered.
Helen grimaced. “I don’t usually do breakfast. Never
have.”
She received a stern look. “Breakfast is the most
important meal of the day. Come on, I’ll make you some toast and coffee.”
The two women were still sitting in the kitchen
talking when Dominic came in to start his day’s work.
“How are your parents?” Monica asked him after they
had all exchanged greetings.
“They’re stopping just short of killing each other,”
he replied flippantly. “Mum’s tongue gets sharper and Dad’s temper gets
shorter.” He smiled shyly at Helen then turned back to Monica. “Mum said to
call in the next time you were passing. Anyway, I’m going to fix the washer on
the bathroom tap.”
“His father had a stroke last year so he’s confined to
a wheelchair,” Monica told her conspiratorially when they were alone. “But
Dominic is such a good boy. I don’t know what his mother would do without him.”
Helen made suitably sympathetic noises then stood up
purposefully. “Right, I’m going to do some work. Call me if you need anything,
Monica.”
Back in Nikki’s study, she again picked up the picture
of the two women. Trisha’s blonde, ‘not a single hair out of place’ look,
contrasted totally with a dark wind-swept Nikki. She replaced the picture,
pushing it behind the computer until all she could see of it was Nikki’s
smiling face then switched on the machine.
A deep sigh escaped her lips. She had been sitting
there for ages and she hadn’t written a word. She wondered if Nikki had any
floppy disks and began opening the desk drawers. The last drawer she opened
revealed what she had been looking for. As she took out the box of disks her
eyes were drawn to what was obviously a manuscript. ‘The Proud Rebel’, the
first page announced. Almost guiltily, she removed the manuscript from the
drawer and started to read.
Later, when Monica came in and told her it was
lunchtime, she was still reading. She had never read anything so beautifully
written and the unfolding story, set during the American Civil War, of the
forbidden love between a plantation owner’s daughter and a slave girl was
compelling. After marking her place with a scrap of paper, she replaced the
manuscript back in the drawer.
She couldn’t get the story out of her head, so after a
hastily eaten lunch she once more went back to the study and took out the
manuscript. She was sure Nikki hadn’t written it. She had read all her action
packed thrillers and the style was totally different but apart from the title,
there was nothing to suggest who the author was.
There was a tap on the door and Helen looked up
guiltily as Dominic poked his head in. “Monica says you’ve been cooped up in
here for hours and you’ve got to take a break.”
Reluctantly, Helen pushed the manuscript back into the
drawer. “Then I’d better do what the lady orders,” she laughed.
“Do you fancy coming out for a drink tonight, Helen?”
Dominic ventured as they walked to the kitchen.
She was on the point of refusing until she saw the
look of anticipation on his face. “Yeah, why not?” she smiled.
“I’ll meet you in the village pub about eight then,”
he told her, grinning with pleasure. “You can’t miss it, it’s the only one
we’ve got.”
As she walked into the public bar, Helen was conscious
that several pairs of curious eyes turned her way. Thankfully, she saw Dominic,
casually dressed in jeans and a sweater, leaning against the bar and went over
to him. “Hope I’m not late,” she said pleasantly.
“Right on time. What would you like to drink?”
“Glass of white wine, please.”
“You go and grab a table and I’ll get the drinks.” He
watched Helen cross to a vacant table, then felt someone tapping his arm. He
turned to find Maggie, the landlady, waiting to serve him.
“Put your tongue back in your mouth, Dominic,” she
laughed good-naturedly. “What can I get you?”
“Sorry…er…pint and a white wine, please,” he replied,
blushing.
“Monica tells me your dad is an invalid,” Helen
remarked when Dominic joined her at the table. “It must be hard for you and
your mother.”
“Yeah, it is but mum copes really well.” He took a
swallow of his pint. “What about you? To be honest, I wouldn’t have put you
down as Nikki’s type.”
“You mean, I’m not blonde and beautiful,” Helen
countered.
He grinned. “I didn’t mean it like that. No, you’re
not blonde but you are beautiful.”
“Thank you, kind sir,” she teased. “How about you? No
one taken your fancy?”
“Too busy. There was someone once but not anymore. So,
is it serious between you and Nikki then?” He laughed nervously. “Sorry, Helen,
tell me to mind my own business.”
Helen looked at him for a long time, trying to make up
her own mind, before replying. “Yes, Dominic, it’s very serious!”
They spent the next couple of hours chatting amicably.
“Shall we have one for the road?” Dominic asked as Helen swallowed the last
mouthful of her third pint of bitter shandy.
“OK,” she agreed. “I’ll just nip to the loo whilst
you’re getting the drinks in. “ She found the ‘Ladies’ and went inside. As she
went into one of the cubicles, she heard the outer door open then, without
warning someone barged their way into her cubicle. “Do you mind?” she
exclaimed. She spun round and found herself staring into the face she had grown
to love. “Nikki! Are you completely mad?” she hissed. “What if someone sees
you?”
“They will if you don’t get in there and let me close
the bloody door!” Nikki snapped. She bolted the door behind them before
manoeuvring past Helen to lean against the back wall. “Any problems with the
filth last night?” she asked distastefully.
“No, they searched the house and then left,” Helen
informed her. “I thought you were going to give yourself up?”
“I was but I had a better offer,” she quipped and
Helen looked at her curiously. “Freedom beckoned. All the stupid buggers went
into the house and didn’t leave anyone on guard, so I legged it across the
fields.”
Helen took a step closer to her and reached up and
stroked her cheek with the back of her fingers. “Don’t you know how scared I
get when I think about you out there on your own?”
Nikki pushed herself from the wall. Her hands reached
out and cupped Helen’s face. “Then come away with me. We’ll forget all this
madness and go right away from here.”
How could she do what Nikki asked? If they went on the
run and were caught she would lose everything…her career, her family and
probably her own freedom. “Nikki, I…” Strong hands ran down her neck and
gripped her shoulders and brown eyes looked at her pleadingly. “Yes, I will go
with you.”
Nikki gave a triumphant laugh as she bent and kissed
Helen’s mouth. “Go back to the house and pack your things. Pack a bag for me,
as well. My bedroom is at the top of the stairs. I’ll meet you by the main gate
at midnight.”
Helen smiled at her, now completely sure that what she
was doing was right. “We’ll go to my flat until we can get you a passport.
We’ll be safe there.” She reached up and placed a lingering kiss on Nikki’s
lips. “I’d better go. Dominic will be wondering where I am.”
“I hope you’re not getting too close to him,” Nikki
said sharply.
“I’ve just said I’ll go on the run with you and you
have to ask that!” Helen retorted, feeling her anger start to rise.
“I didn’t mean it like it sounded,” she said
apologetically. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, supposing Dominic had
been seeing Trish, he had every chance to. He was always at the house and when
I went away he used to chauffeur her about because she couldn’t drive.”
Helen shook her head. “I don’t think so. He doesn’t
seem to have any hidden depths.”
“I think we are all capable of having hidden depths,”
Nikki replied cynically. “Don’t tell me you haven’t any deep, dark secrets.”
She put her arms around Helen and bent and kissed her. “No, don’t tell me now,
I want to have fun finding out.”
Helen thought about the manuscript and decided she
should confess. “Nikki, I hope you don’t mind but I’ve been borrowing your
computer.” Nikki shook her head so Helen continued. “In your desk drawer
there’s a manuscript, did you write it?”
“Manuscript?” Nikki echoed.
“About the American Civil War.”
“Oh, that,” she replied non-committally. “Someone sent
it to me to read. There should be a letter somewhere. Why?”
“I started to read it,” she told her guiltily. “It’s
amazing. I’ve never read anything like it.”
Nikki smiled suddenly. “Well, if you approve of it, I
guess I’d better take a look at it myself someday. Now, didn’t you say
something about Dominic wondering where you were?”
“God, yes!” After another lingering kiss, Helen
unbolted the cubicle door. “I’ll go first and make sure the coast is clear.”
She went out into the corridor and made sure there was no one around, before
beckoning Nikki to follow her.
“See you at midnight,” Nikki promised, as she went out
of the back door.
Helen went back into the bar and joined Dominic at
their table. “Sorry, bet you thought I’d gone home, didn’t you?”
“No, course not,” he grinned.
Helen picked up her glass and took a long swallow,
deciding not to make up an excuse for her absence. She couldn’t think up a
convincing one anyway. “Right, how about we have one more for the road?”
She drove back to the house regretting her ‘one more
for the road’ suggestion. She was almost bursting for the loo but she hadn’t
dared suggest going back in after she had been missing for so long.
Back at the house, she fumbled in her pocket for the
key Monica had given her and let herself in as the housekeeper came out of the
lounge. “Helen, thank goodness you’re back!”
“In a minute, Monica!” she exclaimed, as she dashed
across the hallway and up the stairs. She came down a few minutes later to find
Monica anxiously waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. “Sorry, I was
bur…What on earth’s the matter?” she demanded, seeing the older woman’s woeful
expression.
“Dominic called just before you got in. He has a
friend on the police force.” Tears began to run unchecked down her face and
Helen put her arms around her comfortingly. “Oh, Helen, Nikki’s been captured!”
Helen looked at her in horror. This couldn’t be true!
She had seen Nikki less than an hour ago. “Monica, he must have made a
mistake.”
“It isn’t a mistake, Helen. A patrol car picked her up
about half a mile away. She must have been on her way here!”
Nikki climbed forlornly out of the police van. How
could she have been so bloody stupid? For a few short precious minutes,
everything she had wanted was in her grasp…Helen had agreed to go away with
her. If only she’d kept her wits about her and not been bloody daydreaming! She
looked around her and her heart sank. She was back at Larkhall!