Had the police missed it, he wondered? Was it evidence? He knew he should hand it in, but the thought that it might belong to Lenni made him slip it in his pocket. He didn’t notice the tiny smear of fresh blood left behind on his fingers.
As Jason turned to go, an officer in a forensic suit emerged from the enclosure carrying equipment. He nodded briefly at Jason. The family had been told they could go inside the cellar when the investigating team had finished, but they’d already agreed they wouldn’t. The cottage would be demolished, flattened as if it never existed, and the basement filled in with the rubble. Shona wanted trees, she’d said. Something beautiful for the future owners. She was planning on instructing Jeff to get the ‘for sale’ board up, to get the entire property advertised at a knock-down price as soon as she was back from Angus and Jenny’s and felt able to take on a move.
Jason turned his back and walked away, his fingers clenched around the pendant.
Chapter Seventy-Six
Maggie planned on staying in Cornwall for a while longer, to support and be with Claire. There was practical work to be done too, helping prepare for Lenni’s return home and all the many other arrangements that had washed up like wreckage after a storm.
Since Rain had come back, she’d tried to keep her close, not wanting to let her out of her sight. Generally, she just lay on her bed or sat at the kitchen table staring at her phone, flicking through Facebook and Instagram, but one morning, when Maggie couldn’t find her in the usual places, her heart raced. She ran around the farmhouse, calling out her name, getting more and more frantic as the panic swelled.
‘Oh… there you are,’ she said breathlessly from the doorway, trying to sound casual. The last thing she wanted was for Rain to feel smothered. ‘What are you doing in here?’ Lenni’s room was the last place she thought she’d find her. ‘Are you OK, love?’
Rain was staring out of the window, her back to Maggie, gazing across the fields up towards the woods and the old cottage. She shrugged.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Maggie went up to her and put an arm around her shoulder.
‘Just stuff,’ she said, picking up a china elephant from the windowsill. ‘Is this hers? Lenni’s?’
Maggie nodded. ‘Shona kept everything in here just as it always was.’
Rain nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek. ‘It’s so sad,’ she said, sniffing, wrapping her fingers around the little ornament.
‘I know…’ Maggie said. ‘None of us can even begin to imagine what she went through, being trapped all those years.’
Rain slowly turned to face her mother. Her eyes narrowed, flickering in thought. ‘I can,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to be locked in a room to feel trapped.’ She let out a sigh.
Maggie gave a little nod, trying to understand. She wanted nothing more than to fold her daughter in her arms, beg her forgiveness. But she knew it wasn’t that simple. Instead, she gently pulled her closer.
‘It’s funny, you can feel trapped even though you’re not really,’ Rain continued. ‘Like it’s become a habit, as if you can only see that one path, treading it over and over again.’ She paused a moment. ‘Sometimes, though, all it takes is a shove from someone else to help you find a way out.’ She leant forward on the windowsill to get a better view up the hill. ‘Or see a way out. Locked doors aren’t always real ones.’
‘OK,’ Maggie said slowly. ‘Go on…’
‘Mum, I’ve been throwing up,’ she said, keeping her eyes fixed out of the window. ‘For years. Nothing much stays in me. I’ve hated myself for so long. It was meant to be an escape, but it’s not. After what happened to me with…’ She broke off, choking back the sobs as she remembered what he did to her. ‘Well, it just keeps me even more imprisoned, even more out of control.’ Then the tears began to flow.
‘Oh, darling, I get that. I really do. You’re so brave.’
‘You know,’ she went on, ‘it took something like this,’ and she lifted up the little elephant, running her finger over its broken trunk, ‘to make me realise that with a little bit of courage, with a little bit of help from someone in the right place at the right time, we can all escape.’ She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue, blowing her nose, hoping her mum would make the connection. But she didn’t. ‘It’s like I’ve stepped outside of myself. Like Lenni, I feel set free. It’s scary but good.’
‘I think you’re an amazing and strong young woman and we’re going to get through this. Together.’ Maggie wrapped her up in her arms, holding her tightly. ‘I’ve been offered a job,’ she said after a few moments, feeling the time was right to tell Rain. ‘It’s at Aunty Rose’s hotel in the Cotswolds. Mum’s younger sister. It’s a beautiful place. If you like it there, we can live in. You’ll have your own room. There’s a good college nearby too.’
Rain watched her mother for a second, seeing the hope spread across her face. How could she destroy that? Some things were best left unsaid, connections left unmade, she decided. After all, in her own way, her mum had been trapped all this time too. She just hadn’t realised it.
‘I think I’d like that. A new start,’ Rain replied, gently placing the elephant back on the sill. ‘They never forget, do they, elephants?’
‘Apparently not.’
‘I’ll never forget either.’ She followed Maggie out, taking one last look back at Lenni’s room. ‘Never, ever,’ she said, about to close the door behind her. Instead, she decided to leave it wide open.
* * *
‘Cup of tea, love?’ Maggie said, when they were in the kitchen.
Rain managed a small smile. ‘Sure, thanks.’
It was a tiny start, Maggie thought, putting the kettle on. A gesture, a tiny piece of the bridge she knew needed building. Rain was beginning to open up, though she knew there was a long way to go. PC Wyndham’s words were still in her head, about something else having happened while Rain was missing. But surely, nothing short of murder could be worse than what she’d already been through?
‘Here you go, love,’ she said, handing her a mug. Russ came in, wagging his tail and sniffing around Rain. She gave him some fuss.
‘Thanks, Mum,’ she said, as Russ lay down at her feet. ‘I’m sorry I scared you. I know I shouldn’t have run away.’ Rain bowed her head. ‘It was my way of dealing with what happened that Saturday night…’ She stroked Russ again. ‘Wherever you go, your problems come too. I was running away from myself, not you.’
‘I hear you,’ Maggie said, thinking how she too had done similar things, running from one man to another, using relationships to plug the massive hole inside her. She felt like the worst mother in the world. It was time for things to change. ‘I can’t imagine the terror of what you went through with…’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the bastard’s name. She knew if she ever saw him again, she’d kill him. ‘But I’m here for you now, my darling. We’ll work through it together.’
Rain drank some tea. ‘I have a confession,’ she said. ‘I took that pendant you really love.’ She hung her head. ‘I saw it lying on your dressing table upstairs here, when I was getting ready to go out the other night. After Marcus told me about Lenni’s case, I googled it. Turns out she had a necklace that looked identical to yours. You know I love all that mystery stuff.’ Rain paused, waiting for a reaction. ‘It’s the necklace that inspired my tattoo. You wore it all the time last year. So weird, right?’ She hesitated. ‘Anyway, I was going to put it back, I swear, but then… Anyway, I must have lost it when I was sleeping rough. I’m so sorry, Mum. You know I don’t steal, least of all from you.’ Rain cupped the mug in her hands.
‘Oh, Rain, that pendant is the least of everything.’ Maggie came up to her, crouching down. ‘You’ve been through so much these last few days.’
She looked at Maggie, her unmade-up eyes young and fresh, yet tinged with a deep sadness. ‘Yeah,’ she whispered. ‘You have no idea.’
* * *