Shadows at Stonewylde (25 page)

‘But why this sudden crisis? Surely you’ve been aware of the postal deadlines for some time.’

Harold looked across at Yul, his round glasses reflecting the columns of figures on the screen. He grimaced and looked embarrassed.

‘’Tis my fault. I decided to do a special promotion last week, after what you said at the last meeting about Stonewylde really needing more money. I sent out a marketing e-mail to all our previous customers just to see what’d happen. Some of ’em go way back to when we only sold honey and cider – they didn’t know we’d expanded our range. I didn’t realise the response I’d get. Honestly, Yul, it’s incredible! They can’t get enough of our Stonewylde stuff! The new felt hats especially! They’re unique and so colourful – we sold out o’ them within hours, and—’

‘Okay, Harold, put it in a report for me so I can see everything clearly. I need to speak to these two lads now. So bottom line – what do you need?’

‘Six extra people in the warehouse – quick, bright ones – for the whole o’ this week. That should do it. If they work hard, we’ll get all the orders picked and packed and out in time then. And if we could have any more of those hats made up quick …’

‘I’ll see what I can do and I’ll let you know what I’ve sorted out in the morning.’

When Harold had left, Yul came to sit opposite his two youngest brothers. Gefrin fidgeted and wouldn’t meet his eye; Sweyn lifted his jaw and met Yul’s gaze squarely.

‘Thanks for coming to see me. You’re aware of the problems Mother’s been having recently with Leveret?’ Yul began.

‘Yeah, we’ve been helping out,’ said Sweyn. ‘Keeping an eye on Lev for her.’

‘She’s been really bad!’ said Gefrin. ‘She won’t even—’

‘We don’t like seeing Mother so upset,’ interrupted Sweyn. ‘We want to help any way we can.’

‘How admirable,’ said Yul drily.

‘Yeah, well, Rosie’s busy with her family, Geoffrey and Gregory have little ones on the way too, so it’s down to us. You can’t help out, can you?’

Yul tried to conceal his dislike as he regarded his youngest brother. It wasn’t Sweyn’s fault that he looked so like his father.

‘I do what I can but it’s not easy when I have so much else to deal with. Leveret’s going through a difficult stage at the moment and it’s important we all support Mother.’

‘Yeah, we know that. We—’

‘So what I wanted to talk about was something Leveret said the other day. She became very upset, really distressed, and she said that you two were to blame.’

‘She’s just—’

‘Hear me out, please, Gefrin. She said that you’d locked her in a cupboard.’

‘
A cupboard?
’

Sweyn’s pugnacious features were puzzlement itself.

‘The one up in my old bedroom – that little cupboard under the eaves.’

‘But nobody could fit in there!’ said Sweyn firmly, shaking his head. ‘Oh … hold on, I know what she’s on about! Yeah, we did try to put her in there once, but that were years and years ago. We were bad when we were little – you probably remember – and Mother left us on our own a lot, being so busy. And we’d just lost our father too. We were horrible to Leveret as little ones, weren’t we, Gef?’

‘Well, yes, a bit, I suppose.’

‘No, let’s be honest – we did tease her a lot. But ‘tis all in the past, and we’d never lock her in a cupboard now. That was just stupid kids’ stuff and anyway, she’d hardly fit in that little place, would she?’

Yul nodded slowly, watching them both carefully.

‘I thought so too. So when she said—’

‘It just ain’t true – honest, Yul. Why’d we do something daft like that? We only want to help Mother. Though if you want the whole story, we did have a go at Lev that night when we went round to keep an eye on her. We told her off for being so selfish and upsetting Mother and I shouted at her, but I were so angry! And she had that funny turn too – she’s always a bit weird afterwards.’

‘That’s the other thing I wanted to ask you both about. She had one of those turns in here, and she said some strange things when she came round.’

‘She’s always saying strange things – maybe that’s where she got the idea about the cupboard from? Maybe she dreamed about it when she passed out? Mother said Lev looked like she’d taken something she shouldn’t have at Samhain. Her eyes were really weird. But I don’t know …’

‘Okay, that’s sorted out then,’ said Yul briskly, relieved to have got to the bottom of it all. ‘I must say, I did wonder when she said about the cupboard. I remember it as being really small.’

‘Well, either she’s dreamed it or else she’s lying and trying to dump us in it,’ said Sweyn. ‘She does that, don’t she, Gef?’

‘Yeah, she’s always telling tales and making things up,’ he agreed. ‘Lucky for us Mother takes no notice o’ her.’

‘Okay, boys – I’m sorry to have got you in here like this but I had to be sure. I’ve kept Leveret at the Hall for a couple of weeks to give Mother a break but now she’s back home, maybe you can both help out if needed? I’m sure that we can sort Leveret out together, and now I know what she’s up to, I won’t take any notice of her lies in future.’

Yul was just thinking he may have a few minutes to himself when there was another knock on the door. His heart sank when Clip appeared in the doorway – just what he didn’t need tonight when he was so busy. Yul sighed wearily and gestured to the sofa.

‘It’s about this Yule dance for the youngsters,’ began Clip. ‘Martin came to see me and—’

‘Oh for goddess’ sake! Why all this damn fuss? It’s only a dance!’

Clip nodded and leaned forward slightly, his pale grey eyes strained. Yul thought he’d never seen Clip looking quite so old and worn.

‘Believe me, Yul, I don’t want to get involved. But Martin came to find me especially and he’s very upset. You know that he and I have never enjoyed a … close relationship, so that alone’s an indication of how strongly he felt.’

‘Why the hell didn’t he come to me himself?’ asked Yul angrily. ‘Why try to go over my head?’

‘He said he did try to speak to you but you wouldn’t listen.’

‘That’s ridiculous! He said something to me a few minutes after I made the announcement in the Dining Hall, in front of everyone. It was hardly the right time or place for a discussion!’

‘Of course not. He should’ve come to speak to you another time. But he thought you wouldn’t listen so—’

‘So he came running to tell tales to you instead! Well it won’t make any difference, I can assure you.’

‘Yul, I don’t want to take sides. I’m just warning you about how he feels, and according to him, many of the older ones too. Apparently since you announced the dance at dinner tonight, Martin’s been dashing around doing a straw poll amongst the older Stonewylders and they all agree with him. I thought you should be aware of it.’

‘Fine. Thank you – is that all?’

Clip sighed heavily and raked a hand through his wispy white hair.

‘Yul, don’t treat me like the enemy. I’m not against this dance.’

‘Well that’s good! Because the dance will go ahead regardless of Martin or anyone else whinging about it. I have to look ahead for our young people – our lifeblood. It’s all very well sticking to traditions and following the old ways, but our society at Stonewylde will implode if something drastic isn’t done soon.’

‘Yes, I realise—’

‘Our gene pool is tiny. We
have
to do something about this huge generation my father encouraged. Our youngsters can’t find partners within the community – we’re in danger of inbreeding already and it’s a constant worry to me. That’s one of the reasons I’ve really encouraged this age group to go on to college in the Outside World, even though some of them are clearly more suited to manual labour on the estate. I’ve pushed them into college just so they’ll meet partners who aren’t Stonewylders. And in that spirit, this Yule dance is an important step forward.’

‘I can appreciate that, Yul. As I said, I’m not against the dance. All I would say is firstly, expect some backlash from Martin and the older Stonewylders, the ones who grapple with any changes. All the members of the Council whom you didn’t consult when you made the decision to hold the dance. Think how you can make this easier for them to accept rather than just forcing them to do so.’

Yul bridled at this but Clip continued doggedly.

‘And secondly, think through how you intend to handle an influx of Outsiders to Stonewylde. I don’t mean now at the dance, but in the future if your plan is successful. Would they take part in our rituals? Would you allow them to bring Outside artefacts, clothes and gizmos into Stonewylde? You need to plan very carefully, to consider how it would work. Otherwise the whole thing could backfire and make a hell of a mess.’

Yul looked at his watch, eager to get on with his work. It was growing late and since Sylvie’s upset last month he was loath to sleep downstairs and leave her alone with the children all night.

‘Okay, Clip, I’ll bear it in mind. Now I’m sorry, but I really must—’

‘There was one more thing. How’s Sylvie?’

‘Sylvie? She’s fine.’

‘I’d heard some rumours … just gossip really, but I gather she had some kind of anxiety attack last month? And you may recall I was worried about her at Samhain, when I told you I’d step down this year?’

‘Just gossip, as you say. Nothing to worry about, but if you’re so concerned, why don’t you ask her yourself?’

After Clip had gone, Yul poured himself a drink and stood in the French window looking out at the garden beyond. The moon was almost full and the grass gleamed brightly, the crystals of dew on every blade reflecting the moonlight. Would Sylvie tell Clip what the problem was, he wondered? Because she certainly wasn’t telling him. She’d refused to discuss it, trying to gloss over both the incident at Hare Stone during the Owl Moon, and before that, the awful night at Samhain when she’d suddenly turned on him just as they were about to make love.

Memories of that night still haunted him. One minute she’d been eager and welcoming, kissing him and murmuring encouragement. And then suddenly, without any warning, she’d screamed and hit him in the face, rolling away and leaping out of bed. Apart from the horrible sense of rejection, she’d frightened him that night. Since then they’d managed to make love a few times but both knew it wasn’t right. Their beautiful love-making had turned into something mechanical and tense, and Yul longed for a return to their normal spontaneous and abandoned passion.

He’d tried to get Hazel involved, talking to her in detail of Sylvie’s irrational behaviour during both incidents. He was so worried that she was becoming psychotic again and had told the doctor that if this was the case, he thought they should act immediately this time and get help from the outset. Hazel, however, had remained non-committal and this had infuriated him. If she’d been more decisive last time, maybe they’d all have been spared the pain of seeing Sylvie falling apart before their eyes as the voices she claimed to hear became louder and more demanding, and her sense of reality dimmed. But here was Hazel once more advocating caution, once more telling him they must wait and see how it developed. Yul drained his glass and abandoned any further notions of work that night. He’d better take himself upstairs and make sure that Sylvie was alright. Harold and his warehouse packing issues would have to wait until morning, as would the shortage of felt hats.

‘I wish Auntie Leveret was still here,’ said Bluebell at breakfast. ‘I miss her now she’s gone back to the Village with Granny Maizie.’

‘So do I,’ said Celandine. ‘Auntie Leveret’s very magical.’

‘We can write some more of our story for her!’ said Bluebell. ‘She’d like that.’

Yul stared at his daughters in surprise.

‘I thought Leveret hardly spoke to you two!’ he said. ‘I never saw her being friendly in all the time she stayed here. Not that I saw much of her, I suppose.’

‘She wasn’t friendly at first,’ said Celandine. ‘She’s never really said much and we always thought she just didn’t like us. But this time … Auntie Leveret’s really nice and I think she was a bit shy.’

Sylvie smiled at her eldest daughter; Celandine could be very perceptive for a six year old.

‘I think you’re right – she was a bit shy and also quite unhappy,’ Sylvie agreed. ‘I’m so glad you girls were kind to her and made her feel welcome. You cheered her up, I think.’

‘Yes, we did, Mummy!’ cried Bluebell. ‘Once when you were in the Village and Auntie Leveret was looking after us and putting us to bed, we found her crying and—’

‘Blue!’ said Celandine warningly. ‘That was private!’

Yul frowned at them, helping himself to more scrambled egg.

‘Crying? I hope she didn’t upset you girls.’

‘No, Father,’ Celandine said patiently, ‘it was Auntie Leveret who was upset. We gave her a cuddle and read her our new story, the one about the hares, and she really liked it. It made her much happier and after that she wasn’t so shy anymore.’

‘No, she was smiling and I expect it’s ‘cos she loved our story! And her name means “Baby Hare” so we’re going to make a new hare in our story who’s actually our Auntie Leveret!’ giggled Bluebell.

‘I’m really pleased you cheered her up,’ said Sylvie. ‘I must get to know Leveret better myself. I always thought she didn’t like me much either, but maybe I was wrong too. From now on I’ll try to talk to her more even if she doesn’t seem very friendly.’