慗anet抯 actually living in Steward抯 House,?says Ruth. 慖 can抰 say I抎 like that very much.?
慣ombland,?says Nelson. 慣he address is enough to put you off.?
Ruth doesn抰 tell Nelson the origin of the place name. Why spoil his fun?
慗oe was also very interested in the skeleton we excavated in Tombland,?she says. 慔e insisted we call her Martha.?
慚artha was his mother抯 name,?says Nelson. 慖t抯 in the case notes.?
慐ileen said that his mother committed suicide.?
慏id she??says Nelson. 慣hat抯 interesting. No sign of your missing neighbour, I suppose??
Ruth doesn抰 like the way his mind is working.
慛o,?she says. 慖抦 still feeding her cat.?
慣hat抯 not a cat,?says Nelson. 慖t抯 bigger than Bruno.?
Ruth doesn抰 protest because she understands that Nelson is missing his dog.
慉ny news from Judy??she says, though she knows the answer.
慛o,?says Nelson. 態ut I think Cloughie might have gone to see her. He said he was thinking about it. I know I should have told him not to, but I didn抰。 I wouldn抰 often say this, but I think Cloughie might be just what Judy needs.?
Ruth thinks so too. She imagines Clough抯 tactless kindness blowing away some of the fear and embarrassment that surrounds serious illness. She sends out another message to the Gods of the Marshes. Just in case.
The day passes agonisingly slowly. Kate has almost completed the jigsaw, adding the lopsided roof of Steward抯 House and the dark entrance to Tombland Alley. Ruth gives a lecture on Skeletal Age Determination and checks to see if Eileen or Joe have been in contact. Neither of them has. Fiona, Eileen抯 tutor, is worried about her. 慖 rang her mother, but she said she hadn抰 been in touch. She thought she might be staying with friends but couldn抰 think who they were.?Ruth doesn抰 judge Eileen抯 mother for this. She doubts if Jean could have named any of Ruth抯 university friends. David, Joe抯 tutor, is more abrasive. 慔e抯 a troublemaker. I could tell that from day one. Always going on about plague victims.?Ruth rings off before David can start lecturing her about the Norwich plague pits.
Ruth goes to feed Derek, who now greets her affectionately. There抯 no sign of him running out of his special food. Had Zoe bought it in bulk specially? She said that she抎 done a big shop just before lockdown started. But, surely, if she抎 known she was going away, Zoe would have asked Ruth to feed her cat? But, Ruth reflects, shutting the stable door behind her, there were lots of things that Zoe didn抰 say.
Back home, Ruth switches on the television for the news. With Boris Johnson still unwell, it抯 Health Secretary Matt Hancock抯 turn to give the daily briefing, himself just free from quarantine. Hancock has a curiously bland face, like a computer simulation. He leans forward on the lectern, which is adorned with a yellow and green flag saying, 慡tay home, protect the NHS, save lives.?慦e have listened,?says Hancock, 慳nd put the interests of healthcare staff first . . . These are unprecedented times . . .?The government now say 憉nprecedented?so often that the word seems to have acquired the opposite meaning. The number of people with the virus who have died in the UK has risen by 569, taking the total number of deaths to 2,921. There is, seemingly, no way out of the Covid nightmare. No vaccine, no cure, just the soaring death rate. Ruth doesn抰 object when Kate wants to change channels.
Ruth checks her phone. She hopes that there will be something from Judy saying that Cathbad has made a miracu璴ous recovery. But there抯 only a text message. From Janet Meadows.
HELP ME
Chapter 37
A shock of light makes her open her eyes. What抯 happening? She feels dazed and disorientated. She thinks she was dreaming about the Grey Lady again. Has she come to escort her into the other realm?
But then she realises that the door is open. He抯 standing framed in the aperture. His face is still in darkness and something about it makes her more scared than ever. She knows she should rush forward, to try to reach the light, but she抯 too weak and shocked to move.