They were eager to know what.
“If I could occasionally have a free afternoon. I should like to visit the Lorimers. You see, there are children there. I was with them at the time of the accident. I stayed on a while after the friends with whom I was travelling left.”
I was amused to see the light of alarm in Lady Perrivale’s eyes.
Children? Might they be needing a governess? Really, I thought, I shall get a very high opinion of myself . and all because I had for a time found a way of making Kate behave mildly reasonably.
“Of course,” said Sir Tristan quickly.
“Certainly you must take the time to visit your friends. How will you travel? It is quite a few miles to Trecorn Manor, is it not? You are a rider, are you?”
“Oh yes.”
“Well, that’s settled. Ask Mason down at the stables to find a suitable mount for you.”
“You are most kind. Kate has mentioned riding and I think she would like us to do it together.”
“Excellent. I believe she is quite good on a horse.”
“I am sure she is. I look forward to outings with her.”
It was a most satisfactory interview.
The next day Kate and I went for a ride. She had a small white horse of whom she was very fond. It pleased me to see the care she lavished on him an indication that there was some capacity for affection in her nature.
The head groom. Mason, had found a chestnut mare for me. Her name was Goldie, he told me.
“She’s a good little thing. Treat her right and she’ll treat you right. Good-tempered … easygoing … make a bit of fuss of her .. and she likes a lump of sugar after the ride.
Give her that and she’ll be your slave. “
Kate was a good little horsewoman, inclined to show off at first, but when I told her I knew she was aware of how to manage a horse, and in any case she would not have been allowed to go without a groom if she did not, she stopped doing so.
I was wondering how I could pose tactful questions about her home life, for I knew I had to be very careful. She was extremely observant; and she was watching me as closely as I was watching her.
She announced that she was going to take me to Bindon Boys.
“You know,” she said, ‘the old farmhouse where the murder took place.”
“I remember.”
“You’ll like that. Cranny. You know how you love any thing about that old murder.”
I felt uneasy. I had betrayed my interest and she had noticed.
“It’s an awful old place. People won’t go there after dark … I mean they won’t even go near it. I reckon quite a lot would want to go in daylight… but never alone.”
“Bricks and mortar can’t hurt anyone.”
“No. It’s what’s inside. Once it was a real farmhouse. I can remember it before … before that happened …”
“Can you?”
“Well, of course I can. I wasn’t all that much of a baby.”
“And you lived near … when you came from London.”
“That’s right. The cottage we lived in was close to Bindon Boys. It was the nearest cottage to it. And the sea was just down the slope.
I’ll show you when we get there. “
“Is it far?”
“No, about a mile.”
“That’s easy.”
“Come on. I’ll race you.”
We galloped across a meadow and when we emerged we were very close to the sea. I took deep breaths of the invigorating air. Kate came up close to me.
“There,” she said.
“You can see it just down there. That’s the old farmhouse and there, not very far off … Seashell Cottage. Seashell. what a silly name! Someone had done the name on the soil outside the door in seashells. Seashell Cottage … all in shells. I used to pull them up. I took off the Seas and made it Hell Cottage.”
I laughed.
“Just what I would expect of you.”
“Gramps thought it was funny. I tell you what. After you’ve seen the farmhouse I might take you to see Gramps. He’d like to meet you. He likes meeting people.”
“I shall find it all most interesting, I am sure.”
“Come on. The farmhouse first.”
We rode down the slight incline, and there it was. It was in a state of dilapidation. The roof looked as though it were falling in. The heavy door was slightly ajar. The bolt had evidently gone.
“It looks as if it is on the point of collapse,” I said.
“Coming in? Or are you scared?”
“Of course I want to go in.”
“We’ll leave our horses here.”
We dismounted near an old mounting-block and tethered the horses. We pushed open the door and stepped straight into what I presumed was a living-room. It was large with two windows, the panes of which were
cracked. Several floorboards were missing. Threadbare curtains hung at the windows and dusty cobwebs hung from the ceiling.
“They didn’t touch it … after the murder,” said Kate. This is where it was . in this room. It’s haunted, isn’t it? Can you feel it? “
I said: “It’s eerie.”
“Well, that’s because it’s haunted. You’d better keep close to me.”
I smiled. She was eager not to be too far away from me in this place.
I was seeing it all clearly: Simon, tying up his horse at probably the same spot where we had tied ours . unsuspecting . coming in and finding Cosmo lying on the floor, the gun beside him. I saw Simon picking up the gun and just at that moment Tristan bursting in. It was too neat.
“You look funny,” said Kate.
“I was thinking about it.”
She nodded.
“I reckon Simon was waiting for him. And as soon as he came in… bang, bang. It was a good thing Stepper came in, though … and caught him red-handed. He ran away.” She came close to me.
“What do you think Simon is doing now?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Perhaps the ghost is haunting him. Can ghosts travel? I reckon they can go a little way. I wonder where he is. I’d love to know. What’s the matter with you. Cranny?”
“Nothing.”
“Ever since you came in here, you’ve had a funny look in your eyes.”
“Nonsense.”
Then suddenly I thought I heard a movement overhead.
“The fact is you’re scared. Cranny.” She stopped suddenly. Her eyes widened as they turned towards the stairs. She had heard too. She came closer to me and as I gripped her hand, I heard the creak of a floorboard.
Kate was dragging on my arm, but I did not move.
“It’s the ghost,” whispered Kate, and there was real fear in her face.
I said: “I’m going to look.”
She shook her head and drew back in alarm.
For a second or two she stood very still. Then she came to me and I started up the stairs with her following close behind.
We were on a landing. I could hear deep breathing. So could she. She gripped my hand tightly.
There were three doors on the landing and all of them were closed. I stood listening. Then again I heard the sound of breathing. I stood very still, listening. Behind the door nearest to me I knew someone was waiting.
I went to the door and turned the handle. I pushed open the door and stepped into the room.
A man was standing there-unwashed, unkempt, and there was a pile of rags on the floor with a paper bag beside it. I noticed crumbs on the floor and relief swept over me. This man was human anyway. I did not know what I had expected. Perhaps, like Kate, I feared the ghost of Cosmo. And this was just an old tramp.
“I be doing no ‘arm,” he said.
Kate was beside me.
“It’s Harry Tench,” she said.
Harry Tench. The name was familiar. I had heard it mentioned in connection with the murder.
“Who be you?” he demanded.
“I know who that one be.” He pointed at Kate.
“And what do ‘ee want ‘ere? I bain’t doing no ‘arm.”