慍athbad,?says Judy. 慖t抯 me, Judy. I抦 here with Maddie, Michael and Miranda.?
慔allo, Dad,?says Maddie.
慣ell Daddy how much you love him,?says Judy to her children. She has one thought in her head: the children must not look back on this moment with regret. With sadness, yes, but they must not regret what hasn抰 been said. They need to tell Cathbad that they love him. But Michael and Miranda are crying too much now to make any sense. It抯 up to Maddie to say, in her sweet clear voice, 慦e all love you so much, Dad.?Maddie, who lost her little sister when she was still a child, is she about to lose her father too?
慡tay strong, Cathbad,?says Judy. 慖抦 praying to all the saints and all the spirits. I抣l even become a druid if it helps. Nelson sends his love and Ruth too.?Universal energy, Cathbad called it. Is it enough?
Do Cathbad抯 eyes flicker? Is he remembering travelling to the dream realm with Nelson?
慉bbas is looking after you,?says Judy. 慉ll the doctors and nurses.?
慣hing,?says Michael suddenly. 慔e needs to say goodbye.?
Saying goodbye. Is that what they are doing?
Ruth has the strangest feeling, all afternoon, that someone is watching her. Corbyn is sitting on the fence, watching her out of his bright, dark eyes. Is he a warning or a messenger?
慉re you from Cathbad??she says aloud. Then feels stupid. Corbyn takes flight but, a few minutes later, he抯 back, this time on the grass in front of Zoe抯 house. Zoe has succeeded in clearing away a lot of weeds but there抯 no sign of the cottage garden paradise that she planned. Will she ever come back? Will Ruth ever be able to have that conversation with her?
Ruth and Kate set out for their afternoon walk later than usual. It抯 another bright, sunny day but there抯 a sharp wind which makes the tall grass sway and whisper. What抯 it saying? Cathbad would know.
慦hy do you keep looking back, Mum??says Kate.
慉m I??says Ruth. 慖 didn抰 realise I was.?
慔elp me look for unusual insects.?Kate has brought a cardboard box, with holes in the lid, in case she finds one of these creatures. Flint will think it抯 a takeaway.
Ruth can抰 resist one last look back. The grasses seem to close behind them, shutting off their escape, and the flat landscape offers no vantage point. After about half an hour, and an attempt to capture a damsel fly, they return to the cottage. There抯 still no car outside Zoe抯 house.
Ruth makes tea and finds some frozen crumpets which, toasted, make good comfort food. Neither of them feels like working so Ruth gets out the Norwich Cathedral jigsaw and they start the laborious work of filling in the blue sky and grey ramparts. It抯 curiously mesmerising. Steward抯 House is there too, a tricky vortex of black and white. Ruth manages to forget Zoe, Eileen, Joe, even Cathbad. When she looks up, it抯 almost dark outside.
慗ust going to feed Derek,?she says. 慏on抰 answer the door to anyone while I抦 gone.?
Who does she think will come knocking? Nelson? Zoe? The grim reaper? Kate leans over the puzzle, deep in concentration.
Ruth takes the key and opens Zoe抯 stable door. The kitchen is silent apart from a large station-style clock ticking on the wall. Ruth goes into the sitting room and, despite her wish to hurry back to Kate, is drawn to the wedding picture and the passport photo in the frame. It was taken in the days when you were allowed to smile but Jean has barely taken advantage of this; her expression is wary. Her hair is grey though, so it wasn抰 that long ago, in the shorter style that Jean adopted when she passed seventy. Where had Zoe found this picture?
A sound behind her makes Ruth jump. But it抯 only Derek, appearing from some secret hiding place in search of supper. Ruth puts cat food in his bowl, cleans out his litter tray and leaves the house, locking the door behind her. She抯 more certain than ever that Zoe would never have gone away without arranging for someone to take care of Derek.
Kate has almost finished the cathedral tower. Ruth goes into the kitchen to prepare supper and to lose herself in the wonderful pre-Covid world of The Archers. What will she do when they run out of pre-recorded episodes? She can抰 imagine a socially distanced Ambridge. Scrolling through the evening抯 TV on her phone she sees that there抯 a film called The Cabin in the Woods. She looks it up and learns that it抯 a horror comedy film directed by Drew Goddard. Can horror be funny? She remembers Peter抯 email about the original name of the house, The Cabin. We used to joke about that. The Evil Dead and all those horror story tropes. She remembers watching The Evil Dead at the cinema in Eltham, maybe even with Daniel. It抯 about a group of college students having a jolly vacation in an isolated cabin. There are, as Peter said, all the usual tropes: the porch swing moving on its own, the stopped clock, the 態ook of the Dead?conveniently left in a cellar, the tree branch breaking outside, the damaged bridge that means none of them can escape. It抯 not long before four of the students are possessed by demons. As Ruth remembers it, only one of them survives.