In honour of her work/life balance, Judy has left her phone at home. When she checks it, she抯 irritated to see that she抯 missed a call from Tina Prentice, Avril抯 cleaner. There抯 a voice message, somewhat breathless.
慔allo, er . . . Judy. You did say to call if I remembered anything. Well I抳e just remembered that I did see someone at Avril抯 house that day. Can you give me a ring back??
Judy does so and leaves a message. Later that afternoon, when the children are watching The Lion King on DVD, Judy rings again and, to her surprise, someone answers. It doesn抰 sound like Tina. This voice is younger. More anxious.
慔allo? Who is this??
Judy explains.
慚um抯 been taken ill. This is Denise, her daughter. She抯 gone to hospital.?
慜h, I抦 so sorry. I hope she抣l be better soon.?
Judy does not like to say the C word but Denise does it for her. 慣hey think it抯 Covid,?she says.
So, this is what it抯 like, thinks Ruth. This is what it抯 like to wake up with Nelson, have breakfast with him and discuss what they抮e going to do all day. And, at times, when they are all sitting in the kitchen, eating bacon sandwiches and laughing at Flint抯 attempts to ignore Nelson, it really does seem like the purest happiness. At other times, when Nelson turns on the television ?without asking ?and seems mesmerised by some football programme, it抯 less delightful. It抯 not even a recent match. There抯 no live football, or any other sport, because of the pandemic.
慙et抯 go out for a walk,?says Ruth.
慖 want to watch the football,?says Kate, sitting next to her father on the sofa.
慦ho抯 playing then??asks Ruth.
慖t抯 . . .?Kate stares at the screen. 慚un and Ack Milan.?
Nelson laughs. Ruth looks at Flint and is sure that the cat raises his eyebrows.
慦ell, we should go out when this fascinating match is over.?
In the end, they walk over the sand dunes to the sea. The haunted landscape is looking at its best today: the marshes are bright with secret expanses of water and flocks of birds rise up into the pale blue sky.
慓odforsaken dump,?mutters Nelson, but his heart isn抰 in it.
慓odforsaken,?repeats Kate, enjoying the sound of the word.
Ruth misses Cathbad who would surely say something about sacred spaces and liminal zones. But she can抰 suggest meeting them for a socially distanced walk because then Judy would see that Nelson is with her.
Kate cheers up at the sight of the sea and runs along the sand, arms outstretched like a toddler pretending to be an aeroplane. Ruth thinks of the moment, twenty-one years ago, when they discovered the timbers of a Bronze Age henge on this same beach. Erik, her mentor and then friend, had fallen to his knees in the centre of the sacred circle. Eleven years later, a child抯 body had been found buried in that exact spot.
慖 still think about her,?says Nelson. 慡carlet. Do you??
Ruth is rather taken aback by this Cathbad-like clair璿oyance.
慪es,?she says. 慖 think about her a lot. She抎 be fifteen now.?
Ruth never met Scarlet Henderson in life, but she 璱magines her now, a laughing teenager, striding along by the water抯 edge. Cathbad抯 daughter, Maddie, was Scarlet抯 half-sister. Ruth wonders how often she conjures this same image.
慖t抯 a lonely place,?says Nelson, looking out towards the sea. 慉 lot of bad memories too. Do you ever think of moving??
Ruth hesitates. This is dangerous ground, more dangerous than the shifting quicksand of the marsh. 慡ometimes,?she says. 慛ow that Kate抯 growing up. But I love it here.?
慖 know you do,?says Nelson, his tone implying that this reflects badly on her judgement.
慚y mum hated it,?says Ruth. 態ut, when I was going through her belongings, I found a picture of my cottage.?