No Man's Island by Susan Sallis

Author:Susan Sallis [Sallis, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-07-30T23:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

They called in at Postern on their way back to Keyhole harbour, picked up Matthew and told him almost everything that had happened before they moored at the small quay, where a group of rather anxious schoolchildren were awaiting their return. Matthew, grim-faced, took them off and urged Binnie to ‘make sure they two are kept warm’. Binnie guessed that Daniel had probably been suffering from hypothermia after he went into the sea at Cherrington, and from the look of Will she thought he was near to it now.

She herded Daniel upstairs and Will into the Governs’ own bathroom.

Maggie flew around with hot towels and drinks. ‘Walter Polpen came over the minute your message arrived,’ she told Binnie. ‘Dear Lord, that Alf will be the death of himself and plenty of others before he’s finished with this mermaid business!’ She handed Binnie two kettles of boiling water. ‘Top up their baths with this, m’dear. The immersion heater will boost the hot water but this will help too.’ Which was fine as far as Will was concerned, not so good when it came to Daniel.

Binnie pushed the door open and manoeuvred the kettle on to the bathroom stool. ‘Hot water, Daniel!’ she called. ‘Keep the bath water as hot as you can stand it.’

He was not embarrassed. ‘Binnie. Come inside a minute, I have to talk to you.’

‘I’d better not,’ she said in as cheerful and matter-of-fact a voice as she could muster. ‘We’ll talk later.’

‘Binnie! This is serious.’ He let out a sigh. ‘I’ve used your bubble bath, if that helps you in any way!’

‘Oh.’ She stood just inside the door. The bath was oozing bubbles. He lifted the kettle and added more water. ‘Tell Maggie this is lovely. And stop looking worried. I’m all right. My immune system has been alerted so much in the past few weeks I’m inoculated against shocks!’ She didn’t laugh and he said, ‘Sorry, Binnie. Not in the slightest bit funny. But that’s why I have to speak to you.’ He looked at her through the steam. ‘You didn’t see anything. All right?’

‘Of course. You know very well I didn’t see anything.’

‘So you don’t know about Marigold. Right?’

‘But you or Will – I can’t remember – you said he was holding her dead body.’

‘Forget that. He was looking for her and he did not find her.’

‘What are you saying, Daniel? For goodness’ sake, when the helicopter winches them up—’

‘Will and I, we rolled her back into the sea. Alf’s leg is broken and, anyway, he could never get back over those rocks. He’s alone. That’s all anyone need ever know.’

The boiling water from the kettle had made a lot of steam and she could barely focus him. She said flatly, ‘I don’t get it. It’s all very sad but why pretend it hasn’t happened?’

His voice came at her, disembodied and unemotional. ‘It’s another can of worms, Binnie. We’ve got our own, haven’t we? Let’s leave as many lids in place as we can.’ He

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