Chapter 34
My heart was in my mouth as I dialled 999 then passed the receiver to the woman and set off on foot up the road with Matt hot on my heels. I hadn’t had the sense to jump in the car but it wasn’t all that many paces from home that I felt bile rising as I caught sight of Ed’s bike strewn across the drove in a mangled heap and the pile of clothes that I guessed was Ed in the ditch on the left.
‘Oh Jesus,’ I gasped, coming to a sudden halt and looking over my shoulder at Matt who was right behind me. ‘Will you go to him?’ I asked. ‘Can you see if he’s all right?’
‘I can’t,’ shuddered Matt, shaking his head and taking a step back. ‘I daren’t.’
Without hesitating, I dumped Minnie, who I had run all the way up the road with, into his arms, and scrambled down the ditch to where Ed was lying in a crumpled heap.
‘Ed,’ I whispered, edging my way towards him and hoping for more than anything I’d ever hoped for in my life that he was all right. ‘Ed? It’s me,’ I said a little louder, ‘it’s me, Lottie.’
A quiet groan met my ears and I let out a sigh of relief. The situation was bad, but not as bad as it could have been.
‘Ed,’ I said again, as I pushed aside a massive patch of nettles and weeds to get to him.
‘My leg,’ he groaned, ‘I think I’ve broken my leg.’
I wanted to cry when I heard him speak but one glance told me he was right. No limb could be sitting at an angle like that and not be broken, even if the owner of it was double-jointed. I knew there was nothing I could do. Trying to move him when I didn’t know what else was wrong could have been disastrous, so we would just have to sit tight until the ambulance arrived.
‘It’s all right,’ I said, pushing his curls away from his face, ‘the ambulance is on its way.’
‘My arm hurts as well,’ he gasped.
I looked at the sleeve of his left arm. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the fabric of his long-sleeved T-shirt should have been the same pale blue as the rest, but it was rapidly turning red and darker by the second.
‘I think you’ve cut it,’ I told him. ‘I’m going to take a look.’
Carefully I pulled back the fabric. There was a deep gash which was pumping out blood, quite a lot of blood.
‘Oh God,’ said Matt, who had finally dared to peer into the ditch.
‘What?’ cried Ed, struggling to look. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s all right,’ I said soothingly, laying a hand on Ed’s chest to stop him moving while glaring at Matt. ‘Matt’s just a bit of a wuss, that’s all. You’ve got a cut on your arm, but I’m going to use my shirt to stop it bleeding.’
‘OK,’ said Ed, biting his lip and turning paler than ever.
‘And to hide it so Matt won’t pass out,’ I added.
‘OK,’ said Ed again, the shadow of a smile playing around his pale lips.
‘You just lay still,’ I instructed, ‘and we’ll have you out of here in no time.’
‘The ambulance is on its way,’ said the woman who had alerted us as to what had happened, ‘and I phoned Will who lives up the road as well. He’ll be here any minute.’
‘OK,’ I said, ‘did you hear that, Ed? Your mum’s always telling me you’re part animal, well, now you’re going to get some treatment from the vet.’
Ed nodded, but didn’t say anything. The poor boy looked terrified.
It wasn’t many seconds before I heard Will’s truck flying along the road and this was definitely one occasion when I wouldn’t be moaning about his driving.
‘What’s happened?’ he said, jumping straight into the ditch with a first-aid kit which would no doubt do far more good than my old shirt.
‘Broken leg,’ I told him, ‘and a nasty cut on this arm.’
‘Has he been moved at all?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘not an inch. I know he’s uncomfortable but I’m not qualified to assess him so he’s been stuck like this since he landed here, I’m afraid.’
Will nodded and reached into the kit for a thick cotton pad.
‘Let’s swap your shirt for this pad on the count of three, Lottie,’ he said, manoeuvring it into position. ‘One, two, three.’
The transition was smooth and the flow of blood nowhere near as fast as it had been when I first applied my shirt.
‘I haven’t been pressing too hard,’ I said quietly. ‘I’m not sure if there’s anything in it or not.’
‘You’ve done great,’ said Will, as we carefully swapped places. ‘Really great.’
‘Ed,’ I said, ‘where’s your mum?’
‘She’s with George,’ he croaked. ‘She’s been helping him with his housework.’
‘So she isn’t likely to drive up here any time soon?’
‘No,’ he gasped, wincing from the pain, ‘but she was worried that she’d upset you last night. She was cross with herself and said that she’d listened to gossip when she should have talked to you instead.’
‘She hasn’t upset me, Ed,’ I told him, looking accusingly at Matt, who was still keeping his distance and had passed Minnie on to the passer-by. ‘Not at all.’
‘I didn’t think she had,’ he said, ‘and I told her that, but I thought I’d come and see you myself. I wanted to make sure everything really was all right. That’s why I was coming up the road.’
‘So how did you end up down here?’ asked Will.
‘There was something on the road,’ panted Ed. ‘I didn’t see it until it was too late and I ran over it and it flipped me off. Is my bike OK?’
‘Listen,’ I said, deciding not to tell him that his bike was totalled. ‘I can hear sirens.’
Thankfully the ambulance came from the Wynbridge direction and not via Hecate’s Rest, which would have alerted Mags far sooner. As it was, she and George arrived just as Ed was being carefully lifted into the back of the ambulance by a pair of efficient paramedics who had taken no time at all to make him more comfortable and stable. I grabbed hold of Mags before she had a chance to panic.
‘Ed’s fallen off his bike,’ I said, holding on to her tight and looking right into her eyes. ‘He’s broken his leg and cut his arm, but he’s conscious and he’s been talking the whole time.’
‘I’ll take you to him,’ said Will, taking her arm and steering her in the right direction, ‘and then I’ll take you to the hospital. Will you be all right?’ he called to me over his shoulder.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Yes, I’ll sort things out here then follow on.’
It wasn’t until the ambulance went off with Will, Mags and George following on behind that I realised how much I was shaking.
‘I’ll drive you back to the cottage,’ offered Matt once we had loaded up Ed’s mangled bike and the first-aid kit into the back of Mags’s truck.
‘Are you all right, love?’ asked the woman who had stopped to help as she passed Minnie back into my arms.
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘yes, I’m fine. Nothing a hot, sweet tea won’t cure.’
I knew I was talking gibberish but I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t want a fuss. I just wanted to be left alone.
‘Do you mind if I call by later to find out how he’s doing?’ she asked.
‘Not at all,’ I said, ‘and thank you for your help.’
Matt drove us back to the cottage in Mags’s truck in silence. Minnie for once settled on my lap, intuitively aware that this was not the time to take a chunk out of Matt, not that I would have been inclined to stop her.
‘Are you happy now?’ I spat as he parked on the drive. My temper had been gently simmering during the short journey back, but now it had reached boiling point. ‘Are you satisfied?’
‘What?’
‘Well, this is all your fault, isn’t it?’
‘Mine!’ he gasped, looking horrified. ‘How do you work that one out?’
‘Well, if you hadn’t gone spouting lies and spreading rumours about me, that poor little lad wouldn’t have been pedalling down here trying to find out what was wrong between me and his mum, would he?’
I didn’t care if what I was saying was right or fair. I had been betrayed, Ed was badly injured and Will had been viciously slandered, and the person responsible was sitting right next to me and I was determined to call him to account for his actions.
‘You might not have dumped whatever it was that was lying in the road, but you as good as put that poor boy in the back of that ambulance,’ I accused. ‘I don’t know what your motives have been, Matt, and right now I don’t much care, but I do know I never want to see you or your cousin or any of your damn family ever again. Now get off my property before I set my dog on you, and don’t you ever come back.’
It wasn’t until he was gone and I was in the house that I realised I had nursed Ed and spoken to the ambulance crew wearing nothing more than a blood-splattered lacy bra and the tiniest pair of shorts imaginable. Not that it mattered, I supposed. I may have been scratched, bitten, bruised and bloody but I was in a far better state than poor Ed, and I hoped that Mags could find it in her heart to forgive me for being at least partly responsible for the state her dear son was in.
On autopilot I threw my soiled clothes in the washing machine and then jumped in the shower and let the warm water rush over me. I didn’t wait to dry my hair but fed Minnie and shut her in the kitchen then went back outside to Birdie. I had absolutely no idea how to get to the hospital, no satnav and no phone signal, but fortunately I did have a huge dose of luck as just at that moment Amber pulled on to the drive.
‘Will telephoned from the hospital,’ she explained. ‘He told me what happened and asked if I would come over to see if you’re all right.’
‘I’m OK,’ I told her. ‘A bit shaken up but otherwise all right, although I could do with directions to the hospital. I was just going to try and find my way there.’
‘I can do better than directions,’ said Amber, leaning across and opening the passenger door. ‘Hop in and I’ll take you now. This is certainly one occasion when you can get away with not driving yourself.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course,’ she nodded. ‘Mags is going to need all of her friends around her right now.’
‘Has anyone phoned Liam?’ I asked, jumping in the passenger seat and trying to ignore the pain in my legs inflicted by the stinging nettles. It felt unnervingly familiar and reminded me of my first few days at Cuckoo Cottage.
‘Jake was trying to get hold of him as I left,’ Amber said. ‘He’ll find him, don’t worry. Let’s just get there and find out how Ed is.’
En route I explained to Amber what had played out in the pub the evening before and how that was the reason why Ed was on his way to see me when he hit something in the road and ended up in the ditch. Needless to say, I didn’t mention what had happened between Will and me in the interim.
‘I’ve never told a soul about what you have planned for Cuckoo Cottage,’ she said the second I had finished my explanation of events. ‘I haven’t told anyone. Not even Jake.’
‘It’s all right,’ I reassured her. ‘I didn’t think for one second that you had said anything.’
‘So how did Matt know?’
‘Well he didn’t, did he? He just took what little he had seen for himself and decided to fabricate that evidence and make up the rest.’
‘But why?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said, biting my lip and looking out at the mysterious landscape. ‘I still haven’t worked that one out yet, but he also lied about Will and why he had to leave the army. He said some terrible things, which I’m guessing he knew would keep the two of us apart, but I get the feeling this is about far more than just trying to stop me becoming friends with my neighbour,’ I mused.
‘But you know the truth about why Will left now?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’ve spoken to him myself and everything that needs to be out in the open finally is. I’ve also told Will that I never had any intention of harming the wildlife or jeopardising the field and he’s explained to me why he felt the urge to knock Matt out before everything became such a muddle.’
‘And what was his reason?’ asked Amber as we reached the town and turned down the road marked with a large ‘H’.
‘If you don’t mind, I’d rather not say.’
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business.’
‘It’s not that,’ I told her. ‘I’d just rather wait and see if there’s any more to find out before I say anything. By this time tomorrow I’ll probably have even more to add to the terrible tale.’
I had no idea just how true that statement was going to turn out to be.
Amber expertly parked the truck and we rushed off to A and E to find out what we could about where Ed had been moved to.
‘He’s already heading up to the ward,’ said the busy nurse behind the reception desk. ‘And I don’t know if you’ll be able to see him. He already had a couple of people with him.’
‘We don’t mind waiting,’ said Amber. ‘We just want to make sure he’s all right.’
‘He’s going to be fine,’ said a voice behind us.
‘Will,’ I gasped, spinning round and throwing myself, without a care for who could see me, into his arms.
‘Come outside,’ he said to Amber over the top of my head, ‘and I’ll explain what’s happened.’
As suspected, Ed had a broken leg and the gash on his arm, although deep, didn’t have anything nasty stuck in it, but did require stitching. Apparently he had been incredibly brave and the team looking after him were extremely sympathetic. Mags, now the initial crisis was over, was a little weepy, which was hardly surprising.
‘Do you think you should get back to her?’ I said to Will once he had finished bringing us up to speed.
‘No, it’s all right,’ he said, ‘Liam arrived just a few minutes before you did. He’s with them now.’
‘Did Ed tell you why he was out on his bike?’
‘Yes,’ frowned Will, ‘and if it wasn’t for that buffoon over there, he’d still be walking about on two feet instead of hobbling about on one.’
‘What the hell?’ I muttered as I followed his gaze and found he was looking at Matt, who had just pulled into a parking space. ‘What’s he doing here? You’d think he’d seen enough of this place in the last few days.’
‘Shall I go and warn him off?’ suggested Amber. ‘Let him know he isn’t welcome?’
‘No,’ said Will, levering himself off the back of his truck, ‘I will.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I will. This mess has more to do with me than anyone else. I’ll speak to him. You two go and wait inside. I won’t be long.’
Ignoring Will’s protests that my suggestion wasn’t a very good idea, I set off across the car park.
‘What are you doing?’ I demanded, as soon as I was in earshot.
‘You said I couldn’t come anywhere near the cottage,’ said Matt. ‘You can’t stop me coming here.’
‘But why would you want to?’ I seethed. ‘Don’t you think you’ve done enough?’
‘I want to explain,’ he said, his eyes beseeching me to listen, ‘and to leave this for Ed.’
He opened the back door of his van and inside was a bike. Not dissimilar to Ed’s old one but obviously in perfect condition and, if the tag on the handlebars bore any truth, brand new.
‘Where on earth did you find that in such a hurry?’ I scowled, not at all moved by the gesture. ‘And more to the point, why?’
‘I had to do something to make it up to Ed,’ he shrugged, ‘because you were right, Lottie. He’s here because of me.’
‘I’m glad you realise that.’
‘I never should have gone along with it all in the first place. If I’d stood my ground then none of this would have happened.’
‘What do you mean, “if you’d stood your ground”? What are you talking about?’
‘Let me buy you a coffee,’ he said, ‘and I’ll explain.’
Having reassured Will and Amber that I was fine, Matt and I went together to the hospital cafeteria.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he began. ‘This whole mess has been my uncle’s idea and it goes back months, years actually.’
‘Then you’d better start from then, hadn’t you?’
‘All right,’ he said, running his hands through his sandy sun-bleached hair.
I can’t say I felt a single ounce of sympathy for him, but he did look absolutely worn out.
‘It all started when the barn that Will now lives in came on the market. My uncle was absolutely thrilled. He’d been waiting literally years for the farmer who owned it to part with it.’
‘But why?’ I asked. ‘From what I’ve heard, it was a crumbling mess.’
‘Yes,’ said Matt, ‘it was, but it was a crumbling mess that came with some land and no agricultural ties and he was looking for somewhere suitable to relocate his plant yard and store his machinery. It would have been perfect for his business.’
‘So why didn’t he end up buying it, then?’
‘Because the farmer wouldn’t sell it to him. It didn’t matter how much money my uncle offered, the chap knew what he had in mind and absolutely refused to take the bait. He was insistent it would go to someone who wouldn’t knock the remains of the barn down but would create something from the little that was left.’
‘And consequently not decimate the land in the process.’
‘Exactly,’ said Matt.
‘But I don’t understand what this has got to do with me having all these so-called remedial repairs carried out on my cottage.’
Matt sighed and the rest of the colour drained from his tanned face.
‘My uncle never got over losing out, and to an incomer, of all people,’ he went reluctantly on.
‘And what did Will make of that?’ I asked, momentarily sidetracked from my beloved Cuckoo Cottage.
‘He had no idea that my family had any interest in the place at all and I wasn’t really involved until recently.’
I should have realised that. If Will had had even the slightest inkling about Matt or his ruthless uncle, he would have stopped him in his tracks before he started any work on the cottage.
‘My uncle knew that Gwen was as stubborn as the farmer,’ Matt went on, finally weaving my own home into the fabric of the story, ‘and that she had played a part in helping ensure the barn didn’t come our way.’
‘Oh,’ I said, ‘I see.’
‘So obviously there was no way she was going to sell Cuckoo Cottage to us.’
‘Which I’m guessing your uncle wanted, because he knew there were no restrictions tied to it either.’
‘Exactly. After the site where the barn was located, the cottage was the next best thing, and as soon as Gwen got wind of the fact that my uncle had his eye on it, she had a watertight will drawn up to ensure it could never come to us. My uncle tried everything to find a legal loophole but David had it all sewn up.’
‘Of course,’ I realised. ‘He must have been the guy who sent me flying when I first arrived in town. So what was the plan when I moved into the cottage?’
‘I,’ Matt swallowed, looking thoroughly ashamed, ‘was assigned the task of bleeding you dry and doing everything I could to make you fall out of love with the place. It was down to me to make you think that selling up was the best and only thing to do and then being conveniently on hand to take the place off you in a speedy cash sale.’
‘You bastard,’ I said under my breath. ‘And all that time you made out you were doing me a favour, that you were my friend and that you thought I was attractive to boot. How could you?’
‘I couldn’t in the end,’ he said, trying to reach for my hand. ‘But the whole situation got so out of hand. Don’t get me wrong, Lottie, you’re an attractive girl, but I only kissed you to see if I could make you fall for me rather than Will. It didn’t work of course. Despite the height difference, you two are made for each other and consequently he’s been a thorn in my side, right from the start.’
‘That’s disgusting behaviour, Matt.’
‘I know,’ he said, hanging his head. ‘But I was desperate. At one time I would have said and done anything to drive a wedge between you.’
‘But why?’
‘Because I wanted, in the beginning at least, the same outcome as my uncle.’
‘What do you mean “in the beginning”?’
‘The day you caught me up the ladder,’ he went on, ‘I was searching for any evidence of the owl Will had said was about. My uncle knew that it might be a problem and, and . . . ’
‘And what? You were supposed to somehow get rid of it?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I just knew then that it was all getting too out of hand. I honestly didn’t want any further part in it, but I didn’t know how to get out. I owe my uncle money, you see, and he could make life very difficult for me. Not that any of that matters now, of course.’
‘And what about Simon? Is he part of all this as well? I’m guessing he’s the son of this ruthless uncle?’
‘No, he isn’t,’ Matt insisted. ‘My uncle hasn’t got any kids of his own so eventually I would have been left the business. Simon’s actually from the other side of the family. He hasn’t got a clue about any of this.’
‘So you’ve deceived him as well?’
‘So it would seem.’
‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’ I spat.
‘I am, but if it’s any consolation, I had hoped, once it was all over, that I could help you find somewhere else to set up your business.’
‘But you don’t even know what I want to do!’ I shouted, drawing the attention of the people at the next table. ‘And I know now that I never told you everything because I never really trusted you.’
‘I wish you had,’ he said, biting his lip. ‘I could have found the courage to stop things sooner and help put everything right again.’
‘Of course you couldn’t,’ I said, standing up, ‘because you’re too selfish. You’re the sort of person who has no concept of what is right and wrong, Matt, and this conversation goes to prove it. You spout on about feeling guilty and knowing how wrong it all was, but you didn’t actually stop. Even today you turned up at the cottage looking for more work to do.’
‘Please don’t say these things, Lottie, I need you to understand. I need you to forgive me.’
‘I can’t,’ I said, stunned that he could think it would be that easy. ‘And I don’t think I ever will. I just wish now I’d taken on board what it was that Minnie was trying to tell me about you from day one. Gwen never offered you work at the cottage, she didn’t even know you, did she?’
Matt said nothing.
‘Did she?’ I shouted.
‘No,’ he admitted, his head in his hands. ‘No, she didn’t. I got the number for the cottage out of the phone book and made up the rest.’
I pushed back my chair and stood up to leave.
‘You’re a weak and devious man, Matt,’ I told him, just in case he still hadn’t worked it out for himself, ‘and I hope you have the future you deserve.’