Lorna had envisaged the day she’d become a grandmother. She knew she wouldn’t be old, because she’d been such a young mother. But she’d expected to be older than forty-sodding-one. What will Alberto think?
This all goes through her mind at speed. And then she pulls herself up. She’s being selfish. This isn’t about her. It’s about Saffy and Tom and their baby. ‘I’m so pleased for you, honey. Truly I am.’
Saffy seems to sag with relief. ‘It wasn’t planned but …’ She lets out a nervous laugh. ‘Well, you know.’
Lorna laughs too. ‘I do. Have you … have you told your dad?’
‘Not yet. I wanted to tell you first.’
She tries not to feel gleeful that at least she knows before Euan. ‘Well, come on then. Let’s get the kettle on and then you can show me where the bodies were buried. A sentence I never thought I’d say.’
Tom announces he’s going to walk Snowy around the block to give them time to catch up and disappears out of the front door. Why does she have the feeling he can’t wait to get away? Although Lorna feels relieved she’s got her daughter to herself for a bit.
The kitchen is small and old-fashioned, and as soon as Lorna walks in she heads straight for the window. Through the glass she can see the mess in the garden: the abandoned digger, the dug-up patio slabs, the huge hole in the ground, and the dense woods, a brooding backdrop. It gives her the heebie-jeebies. She senses Saffy at her shoulder but she doesn’t turn. It feels as though someone is gently blowing on the back of her neck, and she shudders. At the end of the garden, just before the woods, there is a large tree with purple flowers and a thick branch that looks like an arm reaching towards the house. She takes a sharp breath.
‘What is it, Mum?’ Saffy asks.
‘That tree …’ She shakes her head. The purple petals. She used to put them in her bucket and mash them with water. She remembers that. ‘I played in that garden,’ says Lorna. ‘It’s very familiar to me. I think … I think the tree might even have had a rope swing once. I used to pretend to make perfume with its flowers.’
She feels Saffy’s warm hand squeezing her shoulder. ‘Wow, Mum.’
Lorna turns to her daughter. ‘Are you happy to stay here? Knowing this happened?’
Saffy looks pale and a little tearful. ‘I … We haven’t got anywhere else to go. And before this I loved it here.’
Lorna swallows the sudden lump in her throat. ‘I know.’
‘And it happened a long time ago, didn’t it? Not as long ago as I was hoping.’ She flashes a watery smile. Then her eyes go to the window. ‘I wonder who they were.’
‘Maybe the police will find out through dental records. Can we go outside? I’d like to take a closer look.’
‘Now the police have finished we can. I’ll grab the back-door key. Hold on a sec.’
Saffy moves slowly, her shoulders hunched, and Lorna longs to wrap her in a cuddle.
‘Here we go.’ Saffy is back and Lorna moves out of the way so she can open the stable door. They venture into the garden together. The sun is going down now and the trees cast shadows on the lawn.
They make their way over the uneven ground to the gaping hole – it’s very deep, and as they get closer Lorna can smell the damp soil. ‘The police have checked there are no more bodies?’ she asks. She feels like she does when she occasionally visits a graveyard, aware of all those corpses below her feet even though she knows these bodies have been taken away.
Saffy nods. ‘They had special dogs here. There are no more, don’t worry …’
Lorna places her arm around Saffy’s shoulders. ‘Come on, let’s have that cup of tea and then you can show me my room.’