Chapter 36
I stared, transfixed, at the screen.
‘Oh my God! What the hell’s she doing?’
‘I thought you said there weren’t any bats,’ Cameron said.
‘Yeah, but she doesn’t know that. We can’t announce it till we get the official report.’ I examined the crowd. ‘Shit, there must be 50 protesters! We have to get down there, Cam.’
‘Us? What can we do?’
‘I don’t know. I just know we have to get down there.’
I grabbed my coat and flew down to the restaurant, Cameron hot on my heels.
‘Jaz, Deb, there’s been an emergency,’ I panted when I caught up with them at the bar. ‘Can you manage without me for an hour?’
Debbie frowned. ‘Well no, not really. We’ve got all the tables to clear when this lot finish eating.’
‘Oh, don’t be such a drama queen, Deb, there’s only a few,’ Jasmine said. ‘Go on, Lana, if it’s urgent.’
I smiled gratefully. ‘Cheers, Jaz. Me and Cameron need to get to the viaduct. Tell our Tom where we’ve gone, will you?’
‘She’s always doing this lately,’ I heard Deb mutter as we headed out. ‘That viaduct’s a distraction. No wonder business is bad.’
‘Be nice,’ Jaz whispered back. ‘She misses her dad.’
It was only a ten-minute walk to the viaduct. When we got there, we discovered it was worse than we thought.
What had looked like 50 people on the TV was at least 75, maybe a hundred, plus a shedload of TV cameras and photographers. Sienna must’ve rallied every wildlife activist in the area. She might be fanatical to the point of madness when it came to bats, but she wasn’t half press-savvy.
There were some pretty gruesome placards to go with the giant banner. ‘Stop this cruelty!’ one screamed. ‘Hands off our home!’ said another, presumably written by a highly literate bat. One simply said ‘Murderers’. So that was nice.
‘Oh God, this is awful,’ Cameron muttered. ‘What do we do, Lana?’
‘We have to get to Batwoman. God knows what she’s saying to those cameras.’
We barged through the crowd to Sienna Edge, who was at the front talking to a news presenter.
‘… and the disdain of the Egglethwaite viaduct campaign group has been nothing short of staggering,’ I heard her saying as we approached. ‘Despite many letters in the local press expressing our concerns, and my repeated invitations to them to respond, they have totally ignored us while steaming blindly ahead with their plans. This has been typical of their behaviour from the start.’
‘Which is sort of ironic, isn’t it?’ the young reporter said.
Sienna frowned. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘Well, you know. Steaming blindly ahead. Bats, as in blind as a?’ He grinned nervously. I was sensing this might be his first big assignment.
Sienna glared at him. ‘That’s a myth. Some bat breeds have eyesight three times as good as ours. But of course, human arrogance knows no bounds when it comes to dismissing other species as inferior.’
The lad looked sheepish. ‘Do they? I didn’t know that.’
‘Of course you didn’t. You never bothered to find out, did you?’ Sienna clocked Cameron and me as we made it to the front, and her face spread into a smug smile. ‘Speaking of the viaduct group, here’s one of their spokespeople now.’ She gestured to me. ‘Perhaps you’d like to ask this person for a comment, Ivan? In the interests of balance.’
‘Of course.’ Ivan turned to look at me. ‘Oh. You mean this lady?’
‘I do.’
He beckoned me in front of the camera, looking faintly puzzled. I glanced down and winced when I realised I was still wearing my medieval costume. So that’s why Sienna had picked on me and not Cameron. She’d spotted another opportunity to humiliate us.
‘Why are you in fancy dress?’ Ivan asked.
I snatched the mop cap off my head and stuffed it hastily into my skirt band. ‘It’s my work uniform. I own a theme restaurant.’
‘Oh. How odd. So would you care to give us your statement, Miss…?’
‘Donati. Lana Donati. Yes, Ivan, I’d be happy to.’ I smiled sweetly at him, then glared at Sienna. ‘She’s bloody insane, that’s my statement.’
I could see Cameron in the crowd. He shook his head, a warning, but I ignored him.
Ivan put one hand over his mic. ‘We’re live, Miss Donutty,’ he muttered. ‘Could you please modify your language? Otherwise we’ll get letters.’
‘Donati. And I hope you do.’ I lifted my frown with an effort. ‘Ok. Sorry, I know you’re just doing your job.’
‘So I’m insane, am I?’ Sienna sneered. I could tell she was looking forward to this.
‘You’re more than insane,’ I snapped. ‘You’re a blood – blinking zealot, love. We tried to find a compromise, didn’t we?’
She snorted. ‘Compromise? What compromise can there be?’
Behind the camera I noticed Stewart, newly arrived and whispering to a worried-looking Cameron.
‘We offered to rehome the bats,’ I said to Sienna. ‘Absolute minimum loss of life.’
‘Not good enough. Barbastelle is a highly endangered species, every one is precious.’ Sienna rummaged in a file and held a laminated photograph up to the TV camera. ‘Look. This is what they’ll be sacrificing in pursuit of sordid, dirty profit.’
The picture showed a baby barbastelle, its tiny pug face staring appealingly into the camera while it snuggled into its wings like a blanket. It was adorable. Little bugger.
‘Aww,’ Ivan said, simpering.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be impartial?’ I demanded.
‘Sorry. Reflex.’ He cleared his throat, making an effort to knit his brow into serious newsman face. ‘Perhaps we can move on from hyperbole and get to some hard facts. Can you explain your group’s plans for the viaduct, Miss Donut – er, Donati?’
‘We want to open it as a right of way.’ I blinked into the camera, suddenly aware that the world – or at least large parts of West and North Yorkshire – was watching. ‘My late father pioneered the idea, and we’re continuing with it in his memory.’
‘You said pursuit of profit, Ms Edge,’ Ivan said to Sienna. ‘Can you expand?’
‘That’s right. That’s what this is really about, whatever they say.’ Sienna spun to face me. ‘Oh, don’t think I haven’t done my homework, Lana. I know all about you. I know your ridiculous medieval restaurant’s struggling. I know you plan to use the viaduct to lure the Grand Départ through your nonentity of a village, and I know that in the end it’s all about money, money, money. It makes my stomach churn, hearing you pretend it’s for your dead father.’
‘What?’ I felt tears prickle in my eyes. ‘How… dare you! Who the bloody hell do you think you are? I’ve never pretended anything about my dad.’
‘Language,’ Ivan muttered.
‘Oh, sod your language, Ivan,’ I snapped. The lad blinked in shock, but he didn’t cut the mic. In the back of my mind, it occurred to me we were probably making for some pretty gripping telly.
‘You deny this is about bringing in customers then, do you?’ Sienna demanded.
I hesitated. ‘I won’t deny a boost in trade would be appreciated, by a lot of local businesses. But there’s a bit more to it than that.’
‘Aha! So you admit it.’
I scowled at her. ‘It’s not a crime to make a living, Sienna. Just what’re you trying to say? Out with it.’
‘What I’m saying is you’re a fraud.’ Her eyes narrowed unpleasantly. ‘That you’re using phoney grief to promote your business.’
‘God, you’re… you’re sick! He’s not been dead six months and you…’ I blinked back angry tears. ‘Do you think I’m some kind of monster?’
‘I don’t know,’ she snarled. ‘Maybe we should ask the bats you want to murder.’
I couldn’t hold back any more. I burst into tears.
‘There are no fucking bats, Sienna!’ I yelled.
‘Oh my God,’ Ivan muttered as he realised I’d just dropped the f-bomb live on air. But he still didn’t cut the mic.
Sienna blinked in shock. ‘What did you say?’
‘You… heard,’ I sobbed. ‘The barbastelle colony’s gone. Dead. That or moved on.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I would’ve been told.’
I couldn’t reply. My voice was lost in tears.
I felt a strong, comforting arm go round me. ‘Come on,’ a gentle voice whispered. ‘Let’s get you away from here, kid.’
I went limp against Stew, my body drained. ‘But… I’m not… finished.’
‘Yes you are.’ Cameron had materialised on the other side of me. He gave my arm a pat. ‘Go with Stew, love. I’ll stay to represent the group.’
I let Stewart guide me through the crowd, people staring as I sobbed through their ranks, until we reached the reservoir. There was a hidden spot overlooking the water, sheltered by a twisted yew. When we reached it, Stew took his coat off and spread it on the ground.
‘Sit,’ he said, nodding to it. ‘And try to calm down.’
‘Do you – did you hear what she—’
‘I heard,’ he said quietly, sinking down next to me. ‘It was out of order. Come here, love.’
I snuggled gratefully against him.
‘So you think I was right?’
‘Normally, yes. That was an awful thing to accuse you of. But…’
‘…but it was live on TV?’
‘Yeah,’ he said with a sigh. ‘It won’t help us, Lana. We need people on our side.’
‘I’m sorry. Let you all down, didn’t I?’
‘Don’t be silly,’ he said, kissing my hair. ‘You’re our glorious leader. It’s only because of you we’ve come this far.’
I managed a soggy smile. ‘Thanks.’
‘So is it true then?’
‘About the bats? Yes. Andy sent an expert up and he said they were all gone.’ I wiped damp eyes on my sleeve. ‘I wasn’t supposed to say anything until we’d had the official report though. I’ve really fucked up, Stew.’
I jumped when I felt my phone buzz.
‘It’s him,’ I whispered when I’d fished it out of my boobs. ‘Andy Chen. You think he saw me on TV?’
‘If he didn’t I’m sure someone’s filled him in by now. Want me to talk to him?’
‘No; I need to clean up my own mess. But thanks for offering.’ I swiped to answer the call.
‘Good news and bad news, right?’ I said to Andy, trying to keep my voice steady.
‘No. Just bad.’ He sounded angry. ‘What the hell was that about, Lana?’
‘I’m sorry. I just – you heard what she said about my dad. I lost it. I couldn’t help it.’
‘For Christ’s sake! Why did you have to talk to her at all?’
‘Well she was… everyone was watching. Taking her side.’
‘I told you not to mention the bats till we had the report. God, it’ll be finalised next week, then Sienna would’ve been out of your hair. Could you not have ignored her till then?’
I choked on another sob. ‘Sorry, Andy. I didn’t mean to. You saw, she got me all worked up.’
‘Of course she did, that’s how she operates. You know that.’ He sighed. ‘Never mind. It’s too late now.’
‘Listen, I said I was – ’ I stopped. ‘What do you mean, too late?’
‘I just got off the phone to our chairman: he wasn’t impressed with your little medieval meltdown. He says bats or not, the council doesn’t need that sort of publicity.’ He hesitated. ‘Look, I tried to talk him out of it but it’s no good. I’m sorry, Lana. He’s vetoed your grant.’