Читать книгу: «Meet Me at Wisteria Cottage», страница 2

Chapter 2

As if a switch had been flicked inside her, Maddy lost all control. Anger, fear and hysteria replaced her usually composed personality. Rationality had gone up in smoke, like her house.

HER HOUSE.

Maddy swore every expletive under the sun. Where had she put her paintings? Were they in the house, or garage? Would she have any possessions left? As thoughts whirred around her head erratically, she fought to get past the firefighters, because none of them were working fast enough to put the fire out. NONE OF THEM. Black smoke billowed out of the back of her house and from her kitchen window.

‘Will someone get her out of here!’ a firefighter called.

‘Miss, you need to get back,’ another shouted. ‘We’ve got it under control.’

‘But that’s my house!’ Tears streamed down her face. Her voice was sore from shouting, but still she screamed. This could not be happening. Why her house? Why?

‘Roses, old friend, give us a hand, mate. Get her out of here.’

Despite her vision being blurred by tears, Maddy went to make another run towards her burning home, filled with an indescribable fury. Suddenly, her feet no longer touched the ground as she was lifted up and flung over the shoulder of a tall, muscular man.

Being thrown into this firefighter’s carry enraged her further. She kicked and punched. ‘Put me down. Put me down, you bastard.’ But he was strong, holding her in such a way she couldn’t break free. Her hip dug into his shoulder, but her fury relished the pain.

‘I’ll put you down when you stop fighting,’ the man said sternly.

She tried lifting her head, but all she could see was the carnage of her house surrounded by firefighters and red trucks. She cried and cried helplessly.

The door closed behind her and the man put her down on her feet. She glared up into bright blue eyes. He folded his arms and stared back. She recognised the burly man with his black hair and his stern unforgiving expression.

Harry.

The sight of him stoked Maddy’s fury further.

‘Let me back out there!’ As she wiped her tears, she tried to barge Harry out of the way, but he stopped her firmly, both palms pushing on her shoulders.

‘You’re not helping the situation. Let the fire brigade do their job. They’ll get it done quicker without a hysterical woman getting in their way.’ Harry stood his ground, placing his hands on his hips. ‘In all my days, I’ve never seen anything like it.’

Maddy glared fiercely at Harry. He glared back, blue eyes like ice.

‘Calm down,’ he said sternly, still not budging from his post.

Maddy sucked in gulps of air, her chest heaving as slowly she calmed down. What with everything that had happened lately, this was the final straw. And she’d had such a good day at the gallery too. She should have known it wouldn’t last. Why couldn’t she be happy and stay happy?

‘I’m sorry,’ she said hoarsely, a thirst for water hitting her throat. She tried generating some moisture in her mouth by swallowing.

‘They were here within ten minutes, so hopefully there won’t be much damage.’

‘How long have they been here?’

‘Not long, they’d just arrived and gone through your back door by the time you arrived. Now do you want some tea? Or something stronger?’

Maddy shook her head. She was standing in her neighbour’s house. The arrogant man she’d only this morning had a row with about his pickup truck. She didn’t know what she wanted.

‘Oh, hell, I left my car in the middle of the road. My handbag is in it too.’ She started shaking, another form of panic racing through her. All she needed was her car and handbag to be stolen. These things came in threes. Her handbag contained her phone, Tablet and her purse.

‘I’ll go and move it, and get your bag,’ Harry said, then instructed more sternly, ‘Stay here, please.’ Blue eyes narrowed on her, and she nodded.

Maddy watched him leave, locking his front door and taking the key. He so didn’t trust her. She tested it too, and found she couldn’t get out. Bastard. She was using that word a lot today. And about him. Helpless, she stared out of the window watching the firefighters put out the fire. It looked like they had it contained now. As Harry had said, they were round the back of the house. They’d entered via the back door, into the kitchen. What would the damage be like? Would everything smell of smoke? What had caught fire?

She tried hard to think back to the morning. Had she left something on in the kitchen? Could a kettle catch fire? She’d heard of washing machines and tumble dryers being the cause of fires, but hers were in the garage. And had she moved her paintings to the garage? She felt certain she had, but couldn’t remember actually doing it. Her memory was coming up blank. She was supposed to be delivering the paintings this weekend. And tomorrow she’d wanted to start on a new commission – fat chance of that happening now.

Five minutes later, Harry returned with the keys to her car and her handbag.

‘Do you want to make a phone call to someone?’

She shook her head. She needed to calm down first. Valerie was her first thought. She’d need her to man the gallery tomorrow. Maddy couldn’t even contemplate the mess she would need to deal with tomorrow morning. Phoning her mother was not an option either. She didn’t need her racing here.

There wasn’t anyone else she knew to call. Since moving to Cornwall a year ago, she had only made few friends and she didn’t know them well enough to impose. Her time had been spent building her art business. Unsociable hours painting or manning the gallery. Her closest friend here was Valerie.

She checked her handbag for its contents – all present and correct, phew! How stupid to leave them in the car unlocked. Cornwall didn’t exactly have a high crime rate, however there was always the chance of an opportunist.

‘I’ve just realised I don’t even know your name.’ Harry stood facing Maddy, hands on his hips. Large hands too, totally in proportion with the rest of him. She’d never stood this close to him and appreciated his full size. If he wanted to be intimidating, he could be, but at the moment, she could see he was trying to help her. A small voice whispered inside her head. You’re safe.

‘It’s Maddison, but everyone calls me Maddy,’ she said, her breath hitching occasionally, like a small child who’d been crying too much.

‘Harry.’ He held out his hand, so formally, Maddy shook it.

‘Yes, I know, you told me this morning.’

‘Ah, yes, I did, didn’t I?’ A hint of a smile softened his expression. ‘Right, I think you need a drink. Will vodka do, or whiskey? I don’t have any wine. And I avoid gin like the plague.’ Maddy followed Harry into his small kitchen. His house layout was identical to hers. But his kitchen was old pine units, whereas she’d had white melamine. There would be three bedrooms above and a bathroom. ‘Or I may have some rum.’ he said, opening an overhead cupboard.

‘Vodka, please. Do you have anything to mix with it?’ However much she wanted to numb her brain, she’d need to be able to concentrate tomorrow morning.

‘I have orange juice,’ Harry said, pulling a carton from the fridge.

‘Perfect.’

‘And don’t worry; you can kip here for the night.’

‘Thank you.’ Her voice was softer now, almost a whisper. Her throat hurt and she didn’t have the energy to speak. A numbing shock was taking over her now. She didn’t care where she slept tonight. She doubted she’d actually sleep. Should she stay here though, or call Valerie? She didn’t know the man who stood before her, only this morning they’d been at loggerheads with each other. His truck, her cat.

‘Oh, God.’ Maddy’s drink sloshed in the glass as she moved suddenly. ‘Sookie.’

‘Who’s Sookie?’ Harry was sipping a darker liquid, whiskey she presumed. She hadn’t noticed him pour himself one.

‘My cat!’

Harry rolled his eyes. ‘It’ll be all right.’

‘What if she didn’t get out of the house? What if she tries to get back in? She must be hungry now.’ Anxiety crept up Maddy’s back, stiffening her shoulders, but she tried to keep her hysterics in check. Did she have any more tears left to cry? ‘I should go and find her.’ She placed her glass on the counter, and as she moved, Harry held out his hand to stop her, blocking her way.

‘Wait!’ He clearly didn’t want her leaving the house. ‘Do you have a cat flap?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, hopefully she got out.’

‘But it’s in the kitchen! Oh, god, what will she do now? I usually keep her in at night.’

‘Shouldn’t cats be out at night?’

This time Maddy rolled her eyes. ‘Everyone assumes this, but actually they’re more likely to get run over at night.’

‘Annadale Close is hardly the A30.’

‘And they do more damage to wildlife. Maybe I should go and look for her. She’ll be hungry.’

‘You are staying right here.’ His eyes glared, matching his firm tone. ‘I’ll go and look for her. And while I’m there I’ll have a chat to the fire brigade, to assess the damage to your house.’

‘She’s completely black, with one white paw.’

‘I know what she looks like.’ Harry sounded irked. He didn’t need to keep Maddy locked in his house, she was calmer now. The hysteria had ebbed away. Though she wanted to cry she was now holding it in around Harry. And the vodka was helping; he’d poured a very large measure.

***

Harry locked Maddy in his house again, and went in search of her cat. He scratched his head, and rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension out of his body. How had he managed to get involved with her problems?

When he’d swept his neighbour off her feet, into a fireman’s carry, he really hadn’t thought things through. Maddy, now he knew her name, was not what he needed in his life. He wanted simplicity, quiet, solitude. Not a hysterical woman. Or house fires! Now he’d offered her a room for the night. It only has to be one night. What had he been thinking? For a start, he didn’t have a spare bed. Looks like you’re on the sofa tonight, mate.

The look in his former colleague’s eyes, telling Harry to get the crazed woman out of the area and to let them work, had kicked his old firefighter instinct in. To help and protect, and calm the situation, that’s what led Harry to react the way he did – the only way he knew how. Grabbing her arms, and hoisting her, full firefighter carry, over his shoulder and into his house. It was almost prehistoric. It would have been if he’d hit her over the head with his club first. If he’d had one of course.

Probably would have helped actually. She’d turned even more enraged by his actions. Kicking, screaming. Luckily he had the strength to hold her small frame though he probably was going to have a few bruises for his trouble. Fierce green eyes had glared at him when he’d set her down. Yep, definitely a witch.

Now he was looking for her damn cat. Could his evening get any worse? Oh, the irony. The thing is, he’d seen the cat in the house when he’d left this morning. He hadn’t wanted to tell Maddy that piece of information. Had the thing had the sense to leave the house before the blaze caught? Cats had a sixth sense, didn’t they? Or was it just nine lives? However much he disliked cats, he hoped it was alive, and he would find it, because Maddy had been through enough tonight.

With the smell of smoke still in the air, and firemen clearing up, reeling in the hoses, Harry could see the black scar of fire around Maddy’s kitchen window where the smoke had escaped. Some neighbours still milled around watching what was going on. Luckily, the small window at the top must have been left fractionally open on the safety latch. It had allowed the smoke to escape which had meant the fire was quickly detected, otherwise it might have gone on for longer without anyone realising. Guilt ate away at him. This was shit for Maddy. He’d seen the devastation over the years of people’s livelihoods and family possessions destroyed, never to be replaced. You couldn’t replace photos and memorabilia. He’d been the one to spot the fire and had called the emergency services. It looked like the kitchen had taken the worst of it, yet he feared her whole house would stink of smoke, and there would be a black layer of soot in places you wouldn’t dream of. Despite their differences, he knew he couldn’t have watched what was happening to Maddy from the sidelines and done nothing. What were neighbours for?

And at least nobody had got hurt … unlike Karin …

Don’t think about her now. He shook his head, unclenching his fists, shrugging off his dark thoughts.

‘Hey, Collins, what’s the damage?’ Harry called out to the fire officer in charge, jogging over to him. He wore a white helmet, while his colleagues wore yellow ones. His first name was Phil, but the guys of blue watch had nicknamed him Collins after the singer. He’d been caught singing in the kitchen while cooking for the watch one time and it had stuck.

‘Roses, good fellow.’ The two shook hands. ‘How are you doing? It’s good to see you.’

‘I’m good, thanks. Enjoying the landscape gardening.’

‘We were all sorry to see you go,’ Collins said. ‘But hey, you’ve got to do what’s right for you, huh?’ Harry smiled his agreement. ‘Did you get the damsel out of distress?’

‘Yeah, she’s a bit shook up but she’s safe in my house.’

Collins chuckled. ‘It’s not like we haven’t seen it before. Anyway, the boys are surveying the damage and securing her back door and kitchen window. Tomorrow a team will be back to put our report together – you know the routine.’ Harry nodded. ‘But it looks like one for the police.’

‘Okay,’ Harry replied, frowning. Did he tell Collins what he’d seen? Would it get Maddy into trouble?

‘Did you see anything suspicious?’ Collins asked, as if reading Harry’s mind.

‘How do you mean?’ See what Collins had to say first.

‘I’m not supposed to say anything,’ Collins lowered his voice, ‘but it looks like it could have been arson. We could smell the mild scent of an accelerant. Do you think she …?’

Harry shook his head. ‘No, no, she didn’t do this. She’s stressed about her paintings and her cat and all sorts. You saw how hysterical she was. Did you manage to contain the fire?’

‘Yes, most of the damage is in the kitchen. Good job we got the call as early as we did,’ Collins said. ‘Otherwise it might have been a different story.’

‘I made the call. I saw the smoke coming out of the gap in her kitchen window. In fact, I smelled it first.’ As quick as a Beagle could pick up a scent, Harry would always smell smoke at the slightest whiff. ‘Unfortunately I couldn’t get in, otherwise I’d have tried to stop it from spreading.’

Collins nodded. ‘You did good calling when you did. Please don’t enter the house until the fire investigation officer has been. I suspect the police will leave someone outside all night to guard it as CSI won’t come till the morning now.’ Harry nodded back; he knew the procedure. ‘We’ll secure the back door for now the best we can, and tomorrow we’ll get it boarded up, so the house is secure. Has she got somewhere to stay the night?’

‘Yeah, I’ve offered to let her stay at mine.’

‘Always the hero.’ Collins slapped Harry on the back.

Harry gave a fake laugh. What had he got himself into? ‘By the way, you haven’t seen a cat have you – dead or alive?’

Collins chuckled. ‘A black one?’

‘Well it will look black if it’s burnt to death.’

‘Oh, it’s not dead.’ Collins pointed to a tree in Maddy’s neighbouring garden to the right. A small tree, but big enough to provide refuge for a cat. Sookie’s eyes reflected the light from the fire engines, making it easier for her to be spotted in the dimming light.

‘Ah, yes, thanks.’ Harry shook hands with Collins then walked over to the tree. Tiptoeing, Harry reached up and grabbed the cat out of the tree while it hissed at him.

‘Hey, I’m not happy about this either, girl.’ She stank of smoke, reminding him of the smell of soot. ‘Sweep would be a good name for you right now … or as you’re a girl, maybe Sue.’ She hissed and struggled, and when Harry held her more firmly, dug her claws into his arm. Resisting the urge to release the cat – or drop her – he rushed back to his house, one-handedly unlocking his front door, and as soon as he closed it, released the cat as she gave another hiss. Frowning, he rubbed the scratches along his forearms.

‘Sookie!’ Maddy picked up the cat, stroking her between the ears. The cat purred and rubbed its head against Maddy, its mood changing immediately. ‘Where have you been, young lady? You smell like an old pub ashtray.’

Harry noticed Maddy brighten too, stroking her cat, so it purred and meowed more. He’d rescued many animals in his time, handing them over to relieved owners. Even the times when needing rescuing had been the stupid animal’s fault, to see the happiness and relief of pet and owner being reunited always softened Harry’s heart – he just never let his colleagues know it. Setting aside his dislike for cats as a landscape gardener, the cat being alive was a positive thing for Maddy. ‘I’ll get her some food.’

Back in his kitchen, he searched his cupboards. What did he have that a cat would eat? He found a can of tuna and opened it, draining the brine down the sink. He forked out a little on a saucer and placed it on the kitchen floor. In another saucer, he placed water. He put the rest of the can in the fridge. It could be the cat’s breakfast.

The cat ate hungrily, purring loudly.

‘I’ve got some sand in the garage. I’ll sort out a litter tray for tonight as she can’t go back outside until it’s safe.’

‘Thank you,’ Maddy said, smiling at Harry for the first time. Her eyes were still red and puffy where she’d been crying, and sadness shadowed them, but she certainly appeared calmer now he’d found her cat alive and well.

‘Hey, this is what neighbours are for, right?’

Harry found a seed tray, lined it with a carrier bag, and filled it with some sand. He placed this too in the kitchen. He really was doing his good deeds for the day, allowing a feline pest into his house. It had better not scratch his furniture.

Karin had liked cats. Maybe that was another reason why he hated them.

Don’t think about Karin.

He rubbed the back of his neck, taking in a deep breath, then breathed out slowly.

‘Right, time for a top up on your drink,’ he said, reaching for the two spirit bottles and grabbing the orange juice out of the fridge. He gestured for Maddy to sit in the lounge. She held out her glass while he poured her another large measure of vodka, then poured himself another Jack Daniels. Harry needed to think of a way to break it to Maddy about her house, so she was prepared for tomorrow.

Maddy sat rigidly on the edge of the sofa, obviously in a stranger’s house and unable to relax. Harry found himself doing the same in the opposite armchair.

‘You can relax, Maddy. I don’t bite, you know,’ Harry said, sitting back in the seat. ‘And I don’t mind you staying the night – unless you have somewhere else you’d prefer to go?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I haven’t. While you were fetching Sookie, I phoned my friend Valerie, and there was no answer. I didn’t want to leave her a distressed message either. Also, I think I’ve had too much vodka to drive myself anywhere even if I did.’

He would have offered to drive her, however, he was likely over the limit as well now. ‘It’s probably easier if you stay here. You can’t go back in the house until the fire brigade have finished assessing the damage.’ A fire investigation usually meant there could be something suspicious, and Collins had pretty much confirmed it, too – but maybe Harry shouldn’t worry Maddy with that detail yet? She was going to find it hard to sleep as it was. ‘But at least you’re on site so you can talk to them tomorrow.’

‘I hope I don’t get burgled now. That would be just my luck.’

‘There’s a police car parked outside. They’ll watch the house all night.’ Did he confess to her tonight that they were treating it like a crime scene?

‘Really, they do that?’

‘Yeah, sometimes.’ Harry’s guilt increased. But Maddy would need to try and sleep. She’d been through enough this evening.

Maddy took another gulp of her drink. ‘Thank you, you’ve been really kind. I’m sorry I was such a mess earlier. I’m not usually violent.’

‘I might have a few bruises to show for my heroic actions.’

‘I am so sorry.’ Maddy wouldn’t meet his eye, and silence fell between them. As if on cue, Sookie emerged from the kitchen licking her lips. Tail raised, she trotted over to Maddy, who timidly smiled and stroked the top of her head.

‘Do you feel better now, girl?’ Maddy cooed. The cat jumped into her lap, and whilst purring, licked her paws and then set about routinely cleaning herself. Maddy sat back a little deeper into Harry’s sofa and looked almost comfortable.

‘Well, at least you know your cat is safe,’ Harry said, finding it hard to know what to say. The woman’s house had been set on fire – possibly deliberately. He started thinking about how much damage smoke could do. He wouldn’t worry Maddy unnecessarily. No point until they knew what they were facing. No one had died, so that was always a positive in his line of work — when it had been his line of work, that is. Now he only had to worry about plants dying. But lifting Maddy into that carry had given him a buzz. Seeing the action unfold as the fire engines had arrived, sirens blaring, blue lights flashing; a part of him missed his firefighting days, missed the adrenalin rush. However, he knew he was no good to his colleagues in the field. One bad day, and he’d freeze, flashbacks would paralyse him, and he’d be no good to anyone. In fact, he’d be a danger to himself and others.

Karin’s death would always haunt him.