CHAPTER 43
‘Quick, get yourself in the warm, Rosa, it’s bitterly cold out there today.’ Mary shut the front door of Seaspray Cottage behind them and took Rosa’s coat. A lovely log fire was burning in the kitchen. Seeing the visitor, Merlin screeched his disapproval.
‘And how’s poor little Hot?’ Mary fussed. ‘I heard about the accident.’
‘Of course you did.’ Rosa smiled. Not much went unreported around here. ‘He’s on the mend, thank goodness. Look, I don’t want to be rude, but I won’t stay long as I want to get back to him.’
‘Queenie.’ Rosa addressed the old lady who was sat in her usual chair in the kitchen. Today, her long grey hair was in beautiful ringlets; with her dark glasses she could have passed for a glamorously aging film star. ‘Great hair.’
Mary smiled. ‘Yes, I thought we’d make the effort as it’s Sunday and you were coming.’ It was then Rosa realised that Mary’s black hair was arranged in the same style.
Queenie raised her hand. ‘I hear the opening was a roaring success. I just knew you would be a smart kid.’
‘Not sure about that, Queenie, but I shall keep trying to be.’
‘You do like roast beef, Rosa?’ Mary went to stir gravy on the hob.
‘I was only saying to Josh this morning that I hoped it would be just that, my favourite. Thank you so much for doing this.’
‘Not at all.’ Mary coughed. ‘We can see how hard you have been working.’
‘Ah, here.’ Rosa reached into her bag. ‘A lead for Merlin.’ On hearing his name, the big cat hissed. ‘I got green to go with his eyes. Hope you like it.’
Mary was joyous. ‘Oh, that’s marvellous, just marvellous.’
‘How much do we owe you, duck?’ Queenie piped up.
‘Don’t be silly, it’s a gift. You two have been nothing but kind to me since I arrived here.’
‘Pass me my purse, Mary.’ Queenie handed Rosa a ten-pound note. ‘How are you going to make a living if you are giving things away already? Now take this and put it in your kitty, with our love.’
‘OK, thank you very much.’
‘Now, sit down, child, and stop making the place look untidy.’
Mary dished up a scrumptious spread, which Rosa, after not having had any dinner last night or breakfast this morning, devoured in minutes.
‘You were hungry, love.’ Mary took her clean plate.
‘I didn’t even have breakfast this morning as I had found some letters hidden away a while ago - and today I felt I just had to read them.’ Queenie went still as a stone. ‘Anyway, I hadn’t related them to the bundle of letters you saw in my tea leaves, Queenie, but this must be them.’
When the old lady remained silent, Rosa went on, ‘Now, I know you said don’t tittle-tattle, but well, reading between the lines, I think Ned was having an affair behind your friend Dotty’s back.’
Rosa sensed that perhaps she should stop, but something was compelling her to speak. ‘It was with somebody called T. She was pregnant, but Ned didn’t know the baby was his because she lied to him – pretended it was some other man’s. But I guess you already knew that, as you were her friend too.’ Rosa’s voice grew impassioned. ‘What happened, Queenie? I feel that I need to know. It really is heart-breaking to read the letters.’
Queenie suddenly banged her hand down on the table. ‘Stop that talk, Rosa. I can’t bear it. Poor, poor Dotty.’
‘It’s all right, Gran,’ Mary soothed. ‘Rosa, maybe you had better go. Or Gran, would you like Rosa to bring the letters to you?’
‘Yesss.’ The word hissed through the old lady’s pinched lips like a snake.
Mary grimaced at her gran’s behaviour. She asked timidly, ‘Where did you find them, dear? They must have been well hidden.’
‘They were. Whoever did hide them had made a secret compartment at the top of the wardrobe.’
A small smile formed on Queenie Cobb’s face, which quickly disappeared as Rosa turned to look at her.
‘Ned must have wanted to keep his affair secret, but was obviously too deeply in love to bring himself to throw away the letters. It’s so sad. Each letter ends with “Meet me where the sky touches the sea” - whatever that means.’
‘Go up to the top of West Cliffs and you will . . .’
‘Mary! Hush up, just be quiet now.’ Queenie banged on the table with her fist again. She appealed to Rosa. ‘Please can you bring the letters to me? I know you are a good girl, but for the sake of Dotty’s memory, I think it’s only fair that the letters are left in the past where they belong now. We can put them on the fire.’
Rosa got up and went to her side, then put her hand gently on the old lady’s thin, papery one. ‘I will go and do it right now,’ she said. ‘And I’m sorry if I upset you.’
‘It’s all right, young Rosa.’ Queenie’s voice was now soft. ‘Nobody can upset anyone else, I did it all by myself.’
Rosa hurried back down to the Corner Shop, put the old blue ribbon back around the letters and popped them into the Jiffy bag the flyers had come in. She gave Hot a doggie treat, then set off back up the hill again to Seaspray Cottage.
‘Here they are.’
Before she’d even finished speaking, Queenie had grabbed the envelope from Rosa and threw it straight on to the fire.
‘Whilst we have been talking about difficult things,’ Rosa said, and squirmed, ‘I have to tell you something else.’
‘Carry on, duck.’ Queenie seemed fixated on the flames.
‘Well, you know you mentioned a necklace when you read my tea leaves?’
‘Yes,’ Mary spoke up.
‘I did find one. Way down the back of the old sofa in the flat.’
Queenie just nodded her head slowly. ‘Go on.’
‘Well, I put it somewhere I thought was safe and now I can’t find it. And . . . and I’m worried that someone might have stolen it.’ Rosa blew out a long breath. ‘There, I said it. I promise you, hand on heart, I didn’t sell it, but I don’t know how to prove that to you.’
Mary looked directly at Queenie, who nodded slowly again.
‘You don’t have to prove it, Rosa.’
Rosa, slightly baffled how Queenie with such apparent bad sight and thick dark glasses could see anything, remained silent.
Making her way to one of the kitchen drawers, Mary scrabbled around, then handed her the very same, heavy gold engraved sapphire necklace.
Rosa was wide-eyed. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘I found it. Outside your back gate. Maybe somebody did try and get it, panicked and dropped it. Who knows, Rosa.’
‘Oh my God, so someone has been in the flat.’
‘Change the locks, dear. Maybe get an alarm now, that’s all I will say to you.’
‘Very well - I will. I’d been planning to buy myself a TV once I was in profit, but you’re right, I should do that first. And get a new padlock for the back gate too.’
Queenie piped up, ‘Good girl, Rosa, good girl. And as for the necklace, keep it.’
‘But it belonged to Ned and T.’
‘Neither of whom will be wearing it again,’ Mary said quietly.
‘Wear it on a special day, Rosa,’ the old lady urged, ‘and wherever you are, you can think of us and smile.’
‘I suppose if Ned has no family left, then there’s no harm - and it is beautiful. But what about T’s family?’
‘They would understand, duck.’
At that moment, Merlin jumped up onto Queenie’s lap and began purring loudly. She stroked the big animal, then reaching for Mary’s hand, she squeezed and shook it frantically at the same time. She looked almost ecstatic.
‘I can go now,’ she said, as if she was talking to herself.
Merlin let out an almighty meow and ran out of the cat flap in the back door.
Rosa mouthed, ‘Go where?’ to Mary, whose face had contorted so she couldn’t speak.
The old lady then leant forward and took both of Rosa’s hands. ‘Listen to me, Rosa. Sometimes in life, if you don’t know what to do: do nothing, say nothing and the answer will come to you. You are blessed.’
And with that, Queenie Cobb fell back in her chair and peacefully passed away.