Part 9 (2/2)

'We don't think they've done anything very wrong, Lizzie, but the young girl has run away from home and her parents are very worried about her.'

'Oh, dear,' said Lizzie. 'And I thought they was such a nice pair of youngsters. Is you sure it was her?'

'Positive,' said John.

'Then they told me a pack of lies. I always says you can never trust them teenagers.'

'How long have they been gone?' said Oliver.

'Let me see, now. They left just after this young man was here looking for the goats, I think.'

'But maybe you're expecting them back?' said John.

'No. Why should I?'

'Well, I was just wondering why you have three cups set out on the table.'

There they were, three odd cups and three odd saucers with a jug of milk and a bowl of sugar beside them.

'Three cups,' said Lizzie. 'They's observant, isn't they, pussums, eh? Still, I suppose they has to be. That's what they's trained for. But maybe they's too clever, eh? Maybe there's things about an old woman's life that they didn't ought to ask?'

John felt a slight chill and looked around the room. The little old house was creepy enough at night, even with the lights on. He hadn't enjoyed the dark walk down the lane one bit.

'We have to ask, I'm afraid, Lizzie,' said Oliver. 'That's our job.'

'They has to ask, pussums. But maybe they'd prefer if they didn't know?' She went over to the table and poured a drop of milk into each of the three cups. 'I does this every night before I goes to bed. And in the morning, when I gets up, I does it again.' She poured the tea and spooned in sugar. Then she put one of the cups in front of her and one to each side. 'This one's for me,' she said, 'and this one's for my husband George, who went off over the sea to fight in the war and never came home. And this one here is for our little daughter Kitty who died before she was even born.'

John shuffled his feet in embarra.s.sment. The cottage had suddenly become saturated by the most appalling sense of loneliness. Even Oliver was silent.

'So,' said Lizzie, brightly. 'Up you goes and take a look around upstairs. Go on with you.'

'That's all right, Lizzie,' said Oliver. 'It won't be necessary.'

'Indeed it will. You has a job to do and you's required to do it. And I has a reputation to protect. I won't let anyone have cause for doubt in case they says, ”Maybe she was hiding those two young criminals all along.” Go on. Up you goes.'

'They're not criminals, Lizzie,' said Oliver.

'Never mind.' She bustled them out towards the hallway. 'The bulb is blown in the hall but there's a switch at the top of the stairs. Go on.'

The two policemen obeyed, sheepishly, and thumped up the narrow stairs. They stayed there only long enough to poke their heads around the doors of the two small bedrooms, then they came down again.

'Sorry about all this, Lizzie,' said Oliver. 'We didn't mean to disturb you.'

'You's more disturbed than I is, by the looks of things,' said Lizzie. 'Why don't you sit yourselves down and drink these cups of tea now they're poured?'

John blanched, and even Oliver's cast-iron stomach became momentarily queasy. 'It's very kind of you,' he said, 'but I think we should move on.' He reached down and picked up a ginger tomcat who had been asleep in Lizzie's chair. 'I see you have a new cat?'

'I has two new cats,' said Lizzie. 'So you needn't be minding about me and my little habits. I has all the company I needs.'

Oliver put the cat down and led the way to the front door. 'Did they say where they were going when they left?'

'They said they was going home. ”Time we was going home,” that's all.'

Oliver retied his scarf and pulled his coat tight around him. 'That's where Garda Maloney's going, too. Wish I was. Goodnight, Lizzie.'

'Goodnight.'

The two men lit their flashlamps and were soon hidden from sight by the blizzard. Lizzie closed the door and went back to the kitchen, pa.s.sing on her way the army parka and down jacket that were hanging among her coats in the hall. 'That was a close shave, pussums,' she said. But she got no response, not even a glance. Every one of the six cats in the room was sound asleep. Lizzie looked at the three cups on the table. For a moment the loneliness still lying in the air closed in and settled on her heart.

Tess woke shortly before dawn. The fire had died down during the night and the room had become chilly. She yawned, then stood up and stretched, reaching out as far as her paws would go and catching them on the upholstery of the chair to check that her claws were sharp.

The other cats had gone on an inspection of the night and not yet returned. Someone was sitting in a chair pulled up close to the fireplace and Tess slipped down on to the floor with a view to finding a lap and getting warm enough to sleep again. But halfway there her other mind woke up, and she realised that it was Kevin.

She Switched, feeling rather glad that she hadn't made it as far as his knee before she realised. He jumped slightly as she appeared, then nodded briefly and returned his attention to the fire.

A few dry logs had been propped up in the embers, but they hadn't been there long enough to light. Kevin was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, and it was clear that he was deep in thought. Tess pulled up another chair and spread her hands above the grate. 'Cold,' she said.

Kevin stirred and sighed but said nothing.

'I fell asleep,' said Tess. 'Cats are great, aren't they? There's nothing to beat a cat for comfort. I sometimes think that if I had to choose, I'd choose a cat.'

Still Kevin said nothing, but went on gazing into the fire. Tess looked at her watch. It was six-thirty. 'I meant to get home last night,' she said. 'But then I fell asleep. There's no point in going now because n.o.body'll be awake yet. Do you think Lizzie would mind if we made a cup of tea?'

Kevin threw her an icy look. 'Do what you want,' he said. 'Who cares?'

'You know what's wrong with you, don't you?' said Tess. 'You spent too long being a lizard. Personally I never found it much fun.'

Kevin's eyes blazed. 'And you spent too much time being a flaming magpie, yakking away to yourself and getting on everybody's nerves.'

Tess swore in Rat, and Kevin swore back. The scores were level, and for a while they both stayed quiet. Small flames began to catch the base of the logs and creep up their sides. Behind them one of the cats came in through the scullery door, but went out again when she realised that neither of them was Lizzie.

At last, Kevin stood up and went over to the window. He pulled back the curtain and looked out into the darkness. Snowflakes were falling gently against the gla.s.s and little drifts had formed against the bottom of each pane. 'I don't mind if you go home, Tess,' he said. 'I won't blame you.'

'What do you mean?'

He let the curtain fall and came back to sit at the fire. 'I probably do the same thing if I were you,' he said.

'I don't understand,' said Tess. 'What else is there to do?'

'I'm going up there.'

'Up where?'

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