‘Sounds nice. It’s going to seem strange staying in his house, though.’
‘Not superstitious, are we?’
Naomi could hear the smile in his voice. No, she could not be described as superstitious.
‘It just seemed easier,’ Alec went on. ‘We could have stayed in the local pub, but the closest one is all steep stairs and awkward rooms and I don’t think either you or Dog would like it very much. At Fallowfields he can run around the garden and you can get used to the layout without crowds of drinkers and family lunchers getting in your way. Rupe wouldn’t mind. He’d be happy about it.’
Naomi stretched, shifting position in the passenger seat.
‘Uncomfortable?’
‘Tired of sitting. Much further?’
‘Fifteen minutes. Ten maybe.’
‘What’s it like round here?’
‘Well, actually, it’s very un-fenlike. The big open spaces don’t really start until we’re out past Fallowfields. Here, it’s all very green. The road is enclosed either side with trees and high hedges. In fact, Rupert’s house is surrounded by what I’m told is a very ancient hedge. But you get about a mile from the house and it all opens out. Massive fields and those deep drainage ditches banked on either side. I never did like it very much.’
‘Oh, I don’t know. On our family holidays it was good for cycling and I used to love watching the storms roll in.’
‘There is that, I suppose. Rupe always liked a good storm. I remember, when I was just a little kid, going out into the garden with him and getting drenched because he wanted to be out in it. There’s a terrace runs the length of the house at the back with steps down on to the lawn …’
‘Very Lady Chatterley.’
‘Oh, very. There are these plinth things either side of the steps. I suppose they were meant for planters or something. Anyway, Rupe stood on one, and me on the other, and we perched up there, cheering every time the thunder crashed, watching the lightening strike and trying to count how far away it was.’
‘Wonder you didn’t get struck!’ Naomi laughed.
‘I was frozen through and soaked to the skin by the time we got back inside. Rupe ran me this hot deep bath. The baths are Victorian and so deep you cause a drought just filling the damn things.’
‘Baths? More than one?’
‘Oh, there’s an en suite in Rupe’s room and a second bathroom on the floor below. Rupe took over the attic. Dad always said he hoped Rupe had the ceilings reinforced before he installed the second bathroom.’
‘Your parents visited the house?’
‘Oh yes. When I was small we visited often. The storm incident; that was on a family visit. Mum and Dad had gone out somewhere and left Rupe in charge of me.’ He laughed. ‘I often thought I should be in charge of Rupe. That day, Rupe got me in the bath then made this massive jug of hot chocolate. We sat in that great big kitchen of his, Rupe in this elaborate burgundy dressing gown, all velvet and quilted silk – very Noel Coward – and we drank chocolate and Rupe told stories. He knew the scariest ghost stories. I don’t think I slept for weeks after that.’
Naomi laughed. ‘I can’t see your mother being pleased about that.’
‘Oh, she wasn’t. Not about any of it. Of course, Rupe hadn’t bothered to hide the evidence. There were my soaking wet clothes strewn all over the bathroom floor and, of course, I blurted the whole thing out as soon as Mum and Dad got in, just in case the sopping trousers hadn’t given it away.’
‘So, when did this quarrel happen?’
‘I’m not sure. I know after I was about eight years old we stopped coming, but I was away at school by then and everything was changing. I don’t think I really thought about it too much. I still heard from Rupe at birthdays and Christmas, still got cards with cash tucked inside and long rambling letters about nothing in particular. Rupe was good at that kind of thing. I missed the summer trips, but I don’t think I gave it too much thought at all. You don’t at that age.’
‘I wonder what it was all about.’
‘So do I, but Mother won’t say if Dad won’t and he was adamant. None of my concern, he said, and you know Dad. Once he takes up a position, his feet are set in concrete …’ Alec paused and Naomi could almost feel the thoughts ticking by. ‘Oh,’ he said finally, ‘we’re here. I forgot how fast the house came up after that bend.’
He slowed and Naomi heard him shift down the gears, the rattle as they hit something in the road.
‘Cattle grid?’
‘Yes. Rupe installed a hedgehog ramp.’
‘A what?’
‘A ramp for hedgehogs to climb up if they fell in.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Oh yes. He liked hedgehogs.’
The sound beneath the wheels had changed and Naomi heard gravel. The car lurched slightly as Alec hit ruts and uneven ground. ‘You’ll need to watch yourself on here,’ he said. ‘It’s paved closer to the house, but the drive is quite a length and very uneven. I think the gravel just hides the pot holes.’
He turned and then pulled up, cut the engine. ‘OK. This is it. Fallowfields.’
He sounded excited, Naomi thought. Excited and just a little nervous. She wondered at that.
Alec opened the door and let Napoleon out. As Alec helped her from the car Naomi could hear the dog sniffing and snorting at all the new smells.
‘Watch your footing. Two steps and you’ll be off the gravel and on to the paving.’
Naomi extended her cane as he led her forward. She felt the small stones shift beneath her feet and then the smooth, if still slightly uneven, feel of the flagstones. ‘Has it rained?’
‘Looks like it.’
‘I thought so.’ The air smelt fresh and the heat of the sun brought out the scents of rose and honeysuckle and damp grass. It also made the flagstones slightly slippery and she could feel the algal slime of stones not scrubbed in a very long time.
‘OK.’ Alec stood behind her and moved her slightly to the right. ‘You are now in line with the front door. The house is symmetrical, Georgian style, you know, balanced. Three storeys including the attic floor and with sash windows Rupe had to prop up on sticks. Of course, he might have got them fixed by now …’
‘But you don’t think so.’
‘Um … Uncle Rupert was into quirky. Apparently early sash windows were held up with props. The weights that are supposed to keep them open came later. Or so he used to tell me.’
‘And you believed him?’
‘Like I said, Uncle Rupert told good stories. OK, walk forward about five paces … good. Now there’s a small step up.’
‘I’ve got it.’ She could feel the step as her cane nudged up against it.
‘There are pillars each side of the door making a sort of porch. If you reach out your hand …’
Cool stone beneath her fingers. Smoothly carved. ‘Nice.’ She hopped up on to the doorstep.
‘Just watch yourself. On your right there’s a foot scraper. Big cast iron thing.
Naomi swung her cane. Found it.
‘You’d know about it if you stubbed your toe. Another step and you’ll be at the door. Big, black, shiny and … what do you know? Rupert must have had it repainted.’
‘Well, I should hope so. It has been three decades, near enough, since you were here.’
‘I suppose it has.’ Alec sounded surprised.
Naomi explored the door with her outstretched hand. Smooth, solid, with the beaded panels she had half expected to find. Letterbox, large door knocker. The casting felt like swags of leaves. To her right she found a doorbell. Large, metal surround, cold to the touch. ‘Oh! It’s a bell pull. Does it work?’
‘It used to. Try it and see.’
Naomi tugged at the knob. Somewhere inside the house a bell jangled cheerfully.