Live the Dream (41 page)

Luke was immensely grateful. 'Good night, Edna.'

'Good night, sir.'

She nodded and smiled, and was gone in an instant Luke ate his cottage pie and thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards he carried the used crockery to the sink, where he piled it up inside the porcelain bowl. Then he poured himself a small measure of brandy, which he downed in one gulp. He was not a drinking man, but lately there had been times when he'd felt the need of a drink; but never more than one, and never on a regular basis.

Going to the sitting room, he dropped his weary body into the wide-armed, well-worn leather chair and, stretching out his legs, he closed his eyes and quietly reflected on the tumultuous events of these past weeks.

How could he forget that heart-stopping moment when he stood before his burning factory, when everything he had worked and schemed for was being reduced to ashes before his eyes?

Then, when news broke that there were two people inside the burning building, and then that those same two people were Daisy and Roy, it was one of the worst moments of his entire life.

In fact, though he was working all hours God sent to keep his business running in difficult conditions, he didn't think it was the long, back-breaking hours that wearied him to the bone. Instead he believed it was the trauma of that night, and the searing question: who had set fire to his business? And, more importantly, did they realise that Roy and Daisy were trapped inside?

Luke could not imagine anyone setting that fire, for whatever reason. Time and again he had gone over the events of that night and the questions they raised with the police. How did they get in? Who else had access to keys? Why would anyone want to torch his business? Had he got enemies or competitors who might bear a grudge? Were there any former employees who might think they'd been badly treated?

Luke answered their questions as best he could. He told them how he had no idea how the arsonist had got in, although Roy had already admitted how he and Daisy had climbed in through a small window that had inadvertently been left open. As far as keys were concerned, it was only trusted employees who had access, such as his clerk and his manager, and as far as he knew they had no reason to burn down the building and jeopardise their own incomes with it. They were trusted men. And no, he did not know of any former employee who might think he had been badly treated; but he gave them a list of people who had formerly worked for him anyway.

He explained how his successful business would always have its fair share of competitors who might be pleased to see him cease trading, but he personally could not think of anyone who would stoop to such a terrible thing as burning down a factory.

The watchman couldn't help either because as he already told them, 'I nodded off, but only for a minute or two! It must 'a been then, when the buggers sneaked past me!'

And so the investigation was still ongoing.

Questions, questions, and none of them yet answered. And now, made drowsy by the brandy, Luke fell asleep, and still the disturbing questions played on his mind.

Some time later he woke with a start when a cold, soft hand touched his face.

'Luke?' Inside his head the whisper reverberated in an echo. 'Luke, it's only me.' Her velvet voice thrilled through him.

When he opened his eyes, she was so close he could feel her warm breath bathing his face. 'Georgina!' Leaping out of the chair he crashed against the fender, which then went backwards into the hearth and sent him off balance. 'What the devil are you doing?' A rush of alarm scrambled his senses

'Ssh!' Putting her finger to her lips she calmed him. 'You'll wake them up!'

'But what are you doing here?' Shaking his head he gathered his wits. 'For God's sake, Georgina!' He glanced at the mantel-clock. 'It's nearly midnight!'

'I couldn't sleep,' she answered. 'I was so worried. I didn't leave here until way past eight o'clock, and you still weren't home. You're overdoing it, Luke. You've got to slow down. You can't turn back the clock and undo what's been done. It's bound to take time. You can't rebuild in weeks what took years to achieve.'

He began pacing the floor, not thinking straight. 'How did you get in here?'

She smiled, surprised. 'You gave me a key, remember?'

'You shouldn't have come out this time of night.'

She tutted. 'I need to check up on Sylvia whenever I'm worried, whatever time it is.' She looked at him from under her eyelashes, her smile flirtatious. 'In fact, it was very naughty of you to ask Edna to stay, when you could have asked me. After all, I am her sister.'

Luke turned to study her—always impeccably dressed, with her hair beautifully groomed and that smile, which though he begrudged saying it, always outshone her sister's. There was no denying it: Georgina was an extremely beautiful woman. 'How did you get here?'

'I walked.'

Shocked, he took her by the arms and gave her a little shake. 'You
walked
, at this time of night? That was a foolhardy thing to do. And all that way…whatever were you thinking of?'

'I was thinking of Sylvia,' Georgina said. 'And you. I was thinking how I'm the only family you've got, and I was thinking that we should look after each other. We don't need Edna. We don't need anyone.

'Oh, Georgina! I'll never understand you.' Taking a deep breath, he blew it out through his nose. 'I don't understand your way of thinking, but there's no use taking you back now.' Ruffling his hair with his two hands as he did when troubled, he told her, 'You'd best sleep in the spare room.'

She smiled a slow, satisfied kind of smile, like the cat that got the cream. 'Is it all right if I warm myself by the fire before I go up?' she asked sweetly. 'I got so cold, walking all that way.'

If Luke had been thinking straight he would have realised that Georgina was not the kind of woman who would walk two steps if there was a taxi in sight.

'Of course.' Mortified at his own bad manners he offered,I'll put a few more coals on and make you a mug of cocoa. Then I must say good night. I've an early start in the morning.'

She watched him bring in the coals and stack them neatly into the grate, and she thought how wonderful it would be if Luke was hers and not Sylvia's. In that moment, as many times before, she imagined what it would be like with Sylvia out of the way.

There would be no one to stop them then…her and Luke. They might even become lovers. And oh, but wasn't that what she had wanted from the first minute she'd set eyes on him?

Rage flooded her senses. Sylvia had everything; even when they were children, it was always Sylvia, sweet, darling Sylvia, the quiet one, the delicate one. The one who smiled easily and laughed at silly things, just to please people.

She had always been in the way. She was in the way now, because Luke loved Sylvia. He had always loved her. Even now, when she was nothing but a burden, he took care of her like no one else could.

'Here we are!' Luke's voice shook her out of her reverie.I'll back the fire up, but don't forget to put the guard in front before you go upstairs,' he advised.

'Don't worry,' she answered sweetly, 'I won't forget.'

Like a cat with a mouse, she never took her eyes off him. She watched while he kneeled before the fire, shovelling new coals on the old, and revitalising the dying embers to create a warm glow. She studied his profile, that handsome, classic profile that she had studied so often before. She imagined herself kissing those lips, stroking her hands through that thick hair. Now, when she closed her eyes, she could almost feel his arms round her. She wanted him more than ever. She needed him, more than she had ever needed any man before, and there had been plenty.

Then she looked around the room. Like the rest of this beautiful house, it was grand and spacious, with expensive furnishings and a tasteful ambience. Sylvia was mistress of this house. But it should be
her
, Georgina, who was mistress, with Luke as master. Was it so impossible, she thought. Was it so unattainable?

Now, as Luke straightened himself up from the fireplace, a feeling of desperation overwhelmed her. In a moment she was behind him, running her hand up the inside of his shirt, her heart leaping and bounding and everything that made her a desirable woman coming into play. 'I love you,' she whispered. 'I've
always
loved you!'

When he spun round, a look of shock and astonishment on his face, she grabbed him by the hair and, drawing him down, kissed him full and strong on the mouth.

He snatched away, the palms of his hands pushing against her breast. 'What the hell d'you think you're doing?'

She would not let go. 'Hold me, Luke.' She reached down, touching him where a man likes to be touched, and as she did so, her part-opened mouth found his and this time the kiss was softer, more enticing, and for one crazy, wonderful moment, he was tempted.

He did not pull away. Instead his arms came up to encircle her as he drew her to him, his mouth covering hers and his senses reeling. He was a man who, for too long now, had not enjoyed that intimate warmth and passion that a woman could give. Sylvia was out of his reach, but now Georgina was here—too beautiful, too close; deliciously stirring the manhood within him. His resolve began to melt, and for one mad, wonderful moment, he enjoyed the kiss.

But this was wrong. Sylvia was upstairs and it was Sylvia he loved…but what about Amy?

What
about
Amy?

But no, he must not think of her—he
must not
. The dream had become a habit it was hard to break.

In the moment Luke raised his arms to hold Georgina back, he heard a sound, looked up and was shocked to the core, for Sylvia was lunging herself at them. 'Jesus! Sylvia, NO!'

Too late! She snatched the poker and raised it high. When it came down it hit him hard on the side of the head, flooring him, and all the time she was screaming wild, primitive screams that had Georgina running for her life.

The manic screams woke Edna. She grabbed her robe and, pushing her feet into the slippers, she ran down the stairs calling Sylvia's name. As she came down into the hallway, Georgina was already fleeing out the front door/and Sylvia was only steps behind.

'SYLVIA!' Edna's frantic voice fell on deaf ears.

From the corner of her eye she saw Luke, his body twisted across the tumbled fender, blood seeping from a wound in his forehead. 'Oh dear God!' Whether to go to him, or to Sylvia? Her instincts sent her towards the door. Sylvia was her baby. She had no choice.

Georgina was trying desperately to put some distance between her and Sylvia but, driven by what she had seen, and convinced that Georgina was the 'other woman' that Luke had long denied, Sylvia was rapidly narrowing the distance between them. By now they had reached the main road, quiet at that time in the evening. When in her frantic haste, Georgina tripped, it seemed there was no escape.

She was at Sylvia's mercy.

When Edna found them, Sylvia was sitting on the ground, rocking backwards and forwards with Georgina in her arms.

'Sylvia?' Edna ventured forward.

Sylvia continued rocking, whimpering, her stricken eyes looking up at Edna. 'I saw them,' she sobbed, 'kissing. He lied to me.'

Edna lowered her gaze, and what she saw chilled her to the bone. Georgina's bloodied face was almost unrecognisable.

Suppressing the horror that threatened to engulf her, Edna held out her arms. 'Come with me, Sylvia,' she entreated. 'Come on, child. Get up from there.'

The whimpering stopped and Sylvia roughly pushed aside her sister's lifeless body. 'He lied to me!'

Edna nodded. 'We have to go,' she said, choking back the tears. 'We have to tell them.'

Sylvia stood before her like a frightened child, not rebellious, yet not content to go with her. 'Where are you taking me?'

Realising that Sylvia had completely lost her mind, Edna smiled encouragingly. 'It'll be all right, child. They'll understand.'

Sylvia took a step back. 'They'll…kill me!'

'No, they won't.'

Sylvia eyed the older woman with a curious, shifty glance. 'They don't know what I did.'

Edna glanced nervously at the ground, where Georgina lay crumpled and lifeless.I'll tell them if you like, my dear, Edna suggested lovingly.I'll tell them about Georgina…how it was.'

Sylvia leaned forward, whispering intimately. 'She wanted to take him away from me. The factory took him away too, but I burned it.' She smiled, and slowly the smile curled into a grin and the grin emerged as a high-pitched chuckle that sent shivers through Edna's soul.

Shocked, but never cowardly and always filled with love for this poor injured creature, Edna continued softly to coax her.I'll tell them everything,' she promised, 'only I need you to be there when I tell them.'

Sylvia feverishly shook her head. '…Don't believe you…want Edna.'

'I'm here, child.' She had tried so hard, but now, with Sylvia unable to recognise her, Edna was devastated. She could not stop the tears that now ran down her face.I'll look after you,' she whispered. 'Trust me. I've never lied to you, and I never will.'

Reaching out, Edna managed to take hold of her, but Sylvia put up a fierce struggle as the night tram rumbled towards them. Realising Sylvia's intention, Edna fought with her. 'No!'

Sylvia twisted, Edna lost her grip and all she could remember later was the awful sound when Sylvia went under the iron wheels of the tram: a whoosh of brakes, the driver shouting through his window and Sylvia's screams.

Then the silence.

That eerie, unforgettable silence that was to haunt Edna for the rest of her days.

Two weeks after the tragic event, both sisters were laid to rest in a peaceful churchyard high above Blackburn. There was a respectful presence of police officers, and local folks, who had been deeply moved by the sequence of events that had rocked the community, together with those curious bystanders who chose to peer over the fences and watch the service from a distance.

When it was over, the mourners dispersed leaving only two people: the tall, tragic figure of Luke Hammond, his shoulders stooped and his face a mask of pain and disbelief; and Edna, that darling little woman whose grief was so crippling that a body would be forgiven for thinking that Sylvia had been her own flesh and blood.