House Of Shadows: Discover the thrilling untold story of the Winter Queen. Nicola Cornick

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      Hester was waiting for Holly when she got back to Summertown. The house was warm and light. The smell of a casserole cooking reached her from the kitchen and made Holly’s stomach rumble. Bonnie was waiting too, waving her feathery tail with the sort of enthusiasm she showed whether Holly had been away for an hour or a day. Holly felt her cold unhappiness thaw a little as she bent down to give the dog a cuddle.

      ‘Hello, Gran,’ she said, smiling. ‘How are you doing?’

      ‘Darling …’ Her grandmother planted a firm kiss on Holly’s cheek, one each side, and hugged her. She felt frail to Holly, her bones brittle beneath the cashmere jumper she wore. ‘I’m doing all right,’ she said, ‘but how are you? How did your meeting go with Ben’s friend?’

      ‘It was fine,’ Holly said lightly. She brushed her lips against her grandmother’s cheek. It was dusted with pink and felt marshmallow soft.

      ‘He hadn’t heard from Ben, had he?’ Hester asked, and Holly could hear the lift of hope in her voice.

      ‘I’m afraid not,’ she said. She wasn’t going to tell her grandmother about Espen Shurmer and the bizarre suggestions that Ben had been connected, however vaguely, to some sort of occult society. It was all just too strange to consider.

      She watched her grandmother as she walked across the kitchen to reach for the kettle and turn it on. Tall, thin and ineffably elegant, Hester’s shoulders were square and her back as straight as a rod. Army discipline, Holly thought. There was a picture of the Brigadier, Holly’s great-grandfather, in one of the bedrooms upstairs. In it, he was whippet thin and the expression in his eyes suggested that he would not tolerate insubordination in the ranks or slumping in small girls. Holly wondered how much that discipline was helping her grandmother to deal with Ben’s disappearance. She had had so much to bear over the years, losing her daughter and son-in-law and taking on their two children, and now having to deal with Ben going missing.

      ‘Tasha rang,’ Hester said now, over the sound of the kettle boiling. ‘She hasn’t heard anything from Ben either. His practice is in a complete tizzy. They’ve had to get a locum in.’

      ‘Of course,’ Holly said. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’ She realised for the first time that the ripples from Ben’s disappearance would spread out much further than his family and immediate friends. She had rung round as many people as she knew, hoping someone would have had word from him, but she realised with a pang that she didn’t know half of Ben’s acquaintances. Trying to find him seemed a hopeless task.

      ‘Tasha seems very angry and convinced he’s gone on purpose to punish her for something.’ Her grandmother spoke without inflection but Holly could see the effort it cost her; her hands shook a little as she filled the teapot. Holly went across and put an arm about her and for a moment they stood close, their heads resting against each other.

      ‘Do you suppose Tasha’s right?’ Hester asked suddenly. ‘That Ben was having an affair and has gone off with another woman?’ She took two blue and white patterned mugs from the cupboard and warmed them with the spare water from the kettle. ‘I don’t want to believe it, but I suppose it could be true.’

      ‘Gran, no!’ Holly said. She felt shocked that her grandmother would even countenance the idea. ‘You know Ben wouldn’t do something like that.’

      She saw her grandmother’s brows lift slightly but she let the subject go.

      ‘This is all Tasha’s fault,’ Holly said, suddenly fierce. ‘Suggesting Ben was unfaithful. I’m so angry with her!’ She had tried never to criticise Tasha to her grandparents because she knew that they’d had as delicate a relationship with her as Holly, but now she’d had enough. ‘Ben wasn’t like that,’ she said. ‘He was very loyal. He would never run off without a word. Abandoning Florence and his work responsibilities … That’s just not in character.’

      She saw her grandmother’s shoulders slump and she gave her an apologetic smile. ‘I’m sure you’re right, darling.’ Hester said. ‘This whole business makes me doubt my own sanity.’

      Holly nodded. ‘The trouble is that Tasha has told the police they were having relationship difficulties and so they don’t think he is missing in the true sense,’ she said, fighting to keep the bitterness from her voice. ‘So they won’t do anything to look for him.’ She spread her hands wide. ‘It makes me feel so helpless,’ she said. ‘I’m angry and frustrated and I don’t know what to do.’

      Hester poured the tea and passed one of the mugs to Holly. ‘If it weren’t relationship problems they would imply he had run away because of something else,’ she said, with a sigh. ‘Financial worries, depression. They would suggest he might have taken his own life …’ She looked up and Holly saw the fear in her eyes. It was so stark that she felt her heart miss a beat. ‘I do worry that might be true,’ Hester said simply. ‘I can’t help myself.’

      ‘Gran …’ Holly said. She was even more horrified now. ‘No. Ben wouldn’t …’ She stopped because she couldn’t even form the words.

      ‘Oh, well …’ Hester’s voice strengthened. ‘I’m sure I’m just being negative. We can’t give up hope, especially so soon.’ She squeezed Holly’s hand. ‘He’ll be back soon, I’m sure of it.’

      Holly wondered if the words sounded a little more hollow each time someone said them and perhaps her grandmother felt the same because she turned away as though to shield her expression from Holly, like she was ashamed.

      ‘Your grandfather is dining at Balliol tonight, so it’s just us,’ she said brightly. ‘I hope you don’t mind, darling? I think perhaps he doesn’t know what to do with himself so he’s trying to stick to some sort of routine.’

      ‘That’s OK.’ There was a lump in Holly’s throat. For so many years she had thought her grandparents invincible. It was frightening to think her grandfather was feeling as lost and confused as she was and that her grandmother was putting on a brave face. ‘I’ll see him again tomorrow,’ she said.

      ‘Lovely,’ her grandmother said. She opened the Aga and took out a battered-looking casserole pot. ‘It’s lamb hot pot and beans.’

      ‘My favourite.’ Holly smiled at her.

      They ate supper in the living room, with trays on their knees. The room was grand, but made smaller by the lamplight and the fire and the heavy curtains that blotted out the twilight.

      ‘You don’t mind a fire, do you, darling?’ Hester asked. ‘I know it’s been a hot day but I always feel the chill when night falls.’

      ‘As long as you don’t mind me falling asleep,’ Holly said, stifling a yawn.

      ‘Of course not,’ Hester СКАЧАТЬ