Village Fortunes (Turnham Malpas 17) (18 page)

Jimbo nodded. ‘Everything was going fine until he told me twice that it was Fran who was more than willing, he said . . .’ Jimbo began laughing again. ‘He said, “
C’est la vie
, Jimbo,
c’est la vie
.” And that did it. I saw red and punched him, right there on the jaw, and he fell down. He’s not dead, well, he wasn’t when I left, but you should have seen him. You should have seen him! He went down like someone pole-axed. I’d no idea I could do something like that any more.’ Jimbo rubbed his knuckles and then picked up his tea and drank the whole cup down in one go. ‘Can I have another one, I’ve got the most terrible thirst?’

‘I didn’t know you could either.’

‘I was just so incensed. I found Johnny then, and told him what had happened.’

‘What did he say?’

‘Nothing at all. He just looked shocked.’

‘And?’

‘Then I left for home, as there was no point in hanging about because I wasn’t sorry, just blazing mad. Chris isn’t sorry, you know. I expect that for him the miscarriage has solved a very awkward problem.’

‘No doubt it has. I’m sorry Fran’s had to go through it, but in one way it’s solved a problem for her too. But on the other hand, we’ve lost our first grandchild.’

Jimbo sobered up. ‘I didn’t think about it like that. Of course we have. Have you told the others?’

‘I will when I’ve started feeling better about it all. What an experience! Never again, I hope.’

The other person who couldn’t stop laughing was Alice.

Whether it was the shock of it or what, Alice couldn’t decide, but the prospect of Jimbo walking calmly into their house needing as he said ‘a word with Chris’ and then knocking Johnny’s fabulous brother out stone cold on the study floor, well, who wouldn’t find it funny?

Chris had to be taken to hospital because, firstly he’d been knocked unconscious and was only just coming round when Johnny found him, and secondly he had this rather nasty-looking wound on his left temple with a lot of blood about, so obviously that needed looking at too.

Between Johnny and Alice they managed to manhandle Chris into the 4×4. And then Alice was left to smother her smile as best she could and, as Chris had once so pointedly reminded her, to look after the children.

She knew, though Johnny hadn’t said anything, that he was steaming with temper. All the effort he’d made to renew relationships with the people in the village, people who were already beginning to accept him as their rightful Lord of the Manor, had possibly been thrown away by his own brother. Johnny was never openly critical of Chris and his wild ways, but Alice knew his attitude to life seriously disappointed Johnny.

Johnny waited at the hospital until some decisions had been made about Chris’s care. The powers that be decided he needed to stay in for at least one night as they were none too happy about the wound on his temple and so Johnny went home, collected some overnight things for the invalid, went back to the hospital to find Chris still in emergency, waiting until they found a ward bed for him.

He had a steadily swelling lump on his jaw where Jimbo’s fist had landed that not even Chris would be able to find a believable excuse for, and a dressing on his temple over the cut made by the spike of the fireguard, and now around the edges of the dressing, a rapidly spreading bruise was becoming more obvious.

‘Right. Here’s your stuff. I’ll ring the hospital later on to see how you are. If you can come home, you can ring for a taxi. We’ll talk when you get home. Other than that I have nothing to say. Bye, Chris.’

‘He told you, did he?’

Johnny nodded.

‘You’ve brought my cigarettes?’

‘No. They won’t allow you to smoke.’

Chris gave Johnny a lop-sided grin. ‘I’d get round them somehow.’

Finally Johnny could take no more from him. ‘How could you have been so careless? Have you no conscience?’

‘I was careless once, that’s all. Just once when she caught me by surprise.’

‘You do know the very first moment I feel you are on the mend, you’re going home. If I have to handcuff you and drag you there all the way, so be it. I just regret I didn’t send you straight back home. Why did you come back? Really?’

‘To see Fran, of course. I kept thinking about her such a lot, and so I thought I’d come to see if the old magic was still there. And I did briefly toy with the idea of taking her back to live in Rio . . .’

‘And have you?’

Chris grinned. ‘Have I what?’

‘Seen Fran?’

‘No. Well, I did, yes, in the store briefly. But she refused to have anything to do with me. I sent her a note telling her I’d see her in the Wise Man that evening, but she never turned up. Other than that . . .’ Chris tried to settle himself more comfortably, but found the effort too much. ‘God, my head. Aaah!’

Johnny said, ‘I’ll be off then. I shan’t visit tonight. I’ve lost such a lot of time today.’

‘Would Alice come? I’m in need of some tender loving care.’

‘That’s up to Alice, I doubt it though, as she hasn’t stopped laughing since Jimbo left.’

‘Alice!
Laughing
at
me
?’

‘Yes. Bye.’

Johnny pulled up outside the Big House, switched off the engine and sat thinking about what to do next. He wasn’t going to Jimbo’s to apologise; that was for Chris to do, although Johnny guessed he wouldn’t do it without pressure. Poor Fran. She was a lovely girl, good looking, sweet natured, hard-working. She didn’t deserve Chris tempting her. Well, it hadn’t happened in his house, that was for certain. The trouble was that Chris was so hard for women to resist; he had such charm, he was so handsome. Well, the moment he was well enough to travel he was going home.

Johnny thumped the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. Damn him. So careless with other people’s emotions was Chris. Since he was fourteen he’d ridden roughshod over people, caring only for his own physical satisfaction, and nothing for them. But for it to be Fran, that was the worst part of this mess. Everyone who knew Fran was fond of her, and she was genuinely very likeable. But for Jimbo to knock Chris out, it must have been an almighty punch. Suddenly Johnny’s amusement tipped the scales and he was laughing like Alice had. Alice had always had a much more frank assessment of Chris’s character than everyone else, not being quite so bowled over by his good looks.

Johnny leapt out of the car and went into his house, his happiness rising as he entered. The Big House always had that effect on him, partly because he loved the house so much, and also because inside were the three people he adored more than anyone else in the whole world. Charles came running to meet him. ‘Dada. Dada.’ His arms spread wide, ready to clutch his daddy’s legs. Johnny caught hold of him and swung him up on to his shoulders, and the two of them went to find Alice and Ralph.

They knew there was some connection, Bel had almost let it slip to Dottie that there was a very serious connection between Chris and Fran. But the fact that Chris had gone back after only five days in Turnham Malpas and most of that had been spent in hospital, and the fact Fran was nowhere to be seen, gave everyone something to speculate about.

So on the following Monday afternoon when the embroidery class met as usual there was no need to scratch their heads for something to talk about. It was there waiting to be discussed, the most interesting part was that none of them had any answers. But Evie needed to speak first.

‘Good news, everyone. It’s settled, they’ve accepted the new design. I’ve brought all the materials we need and so we can begin at last. Here we are, look.’ Evie unrolled a detailed plan of what the congregation had decided upon, and was delighted by the admiring silence while they studied it.

Eventually Sylvia said, ‘Well, you’ve done some brilliant designs in the past but this, well, it’s the best ever. It’s wonderful, Evie, and we’re all so very lucky to have you in charge. Fantastic.’

Some of them were speechless, so captivated were they by what she showed them.

‘We’re privileged, totally privileged to work on this. I’m gobsmacked. They’ll come from far and wide to see it. It’s marvellous,’ said Barbara the weekender.

Merc, who felt humbled by Evie’s spectacular talent, said softly, ‘Amazing! Absolutely amazing! Thank you, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to work on such a splendid hanging. I love the colours. I love the face of the saint, so strong, yet compassionate, and the background, by Jove, Dottie, that’ll keep you busy.’

Dottie was overawed. ‘It will, it will. I shall be proud too, yes, proud to work on that.’

‘I like that gold thread, Evie,’ said Sheila, wondering if she, Sheila Bissett, with her humble origins, was clever enough to do justice to Evie’s design. ‘I wish I had talent like this. You are lucky, so lucky, Evie.’

‘They took a while to decide they’d accept it. It was the new vicar who persuaded them, he gasped when he saw it.’

‘And so he should. Well, let’s get cracking,’ said Barbara. ‘I can’t wait to start.’

It took a while to sort everyone out but none of them could leave until they’d actually made a start on their part of the hanging. ‘Let’s stay another hour, shall we? It’s already quarter-past three and we’ve done nothing yet,’ Evie suggested.

They all nodded their agreement and it was silent for a while until Evie had made the tea and as they always did – tea and embroidery not being good bedfellows – they’d moved away from the big table they used to work at to a couple of the tables reserved for the coffee mornings. It was then that Dottie asked if anyone had any more news about Fran and better still about why Jimbo was suffering with a painful hand.

‘When I was in there this morning choosing a card for my gran’s birthday—’ began Barbara.

‘She must be a big age, how old is she now?’ someone asked

Barbara answered, ‘One hundred and three on Thursday.’

‘No!’

‘Well, anyway, he moaned a bit about his hand hurting and said he’d sprained it. But I don’t think you get bruises on each knuckle when you sprain your hand; it didn’t look right somehow. Harriet said how painful it was and quickly changed the subject. Grandmama Charter-Plackett came in to say she was going to their house and did she need to take anything with her for lunch? Harriet said no and almost pushed her out before she could say any more. So Harriet’s working in the store instead of Fran, and the old lady’s making lunch. So they can deny it as much as they like, but things aren’t right, whatever they say.’

Sylvia, who wished she still worked at the rectory because then she might have got to know a bit more, said, ‘Bel and Tom know nothing, they say, and instead of a big laugh when you go in it’s more like the reception at MI6, blank expressions and mum’s the word, with a bit of avoiding-looking-you-straight-in-the-eye thrown in. They’ll be asking us for identification soon, us that’s known them for years.’

It was Dottie who contributed the most mind-blowing piece of information. ‘Well, I clean Thursday afternoons for Harriet, as you know, but I’ve been told this week I don’t need to go, but they’ll pay me double next week when I go, because they know I rely on the money.’

This information from Dottie shocked them all. ‘Pay you for doing
nothing
! That doesn’t sound like Jimbo at all, he must have had a nervous breakdown. There must be something very serious going on. But what?’ said Sheila, intrigued by this piece of extremely worthwhile gossip.

Grandmama went straight round from the store to Jimbo’s house, glad to be of use. She’d been given a key and as she let herself in she called out, ‘Fran. It’s me, dear. Ready for your morning coffee? Because I am.’ She got no reply. ‘I’ll make it, then.’

Though Katherine Charter-Plackett sounded cheerful, she didn’t feel it. First she was horrified to find that the lovely Chris, whom she’d met a couple of times and who had impressed her with his charm and good looks, had been, as they said now, ‘having it off’ with her granddaughter. First she’d been livid, then she’d accepted it happened nowadays (and had frequently in the past for that matter, except then it was all swept under the carpet), but for her Frances to undergo all that . . . If Johnny hadn’t despatched Chris off to Rio, she’d have personally gone up to the Big House and told Chris what she thought of him. As she filled the kettle, she laughed at the thought of Jimbo punching him. Served him right. If she’d been twenty – well, perhaps thirty – years younger she’d have done the same.

Grandmama, tray in hand, cautiously climbed the stairs calling out, ‘Sit up, I’m nearly there. Now, darling, how are you this morning? I’ve brought a lovely steak pie for tonight for supper, made by my own fair hand. Here’s your coffee. Have a sip and tell me if I’ve got it right.’

Fran looked a better colour this morning but she obviously wasn’t up to scratch. There was not a remnant of a smile yet.

‘Gran.’

Well, at least she’d spoken. ‘Yes, dear, I’m all ears.’

‘I’ve been such a fool.’

‘No, Fran, you haven’t. You fell for a perfectly gorgeous man. I know I did myself, except I was much too old for him.’ She grinned wickedly at Fran. ‘Because he is, or rather was, utterly wonderful and so good-looking, though not so much now perhaps, now your Dad’s sorted him out. Men like Chris, who are so very tempting, are very rare. But he is, or rather was, just a mite too unscrupulous for such a lovely girl as you.’

‘But Dad knocked him out cold.’

‘Don’t feel sorry for him, it was just what he deserved. Have you had a shower today? I’ve brought you a new shower gel of mine. I think it’s wonderful, and so would you like to try it? If you like it, I might be persuaded to leave it with you.’

Fran ignored the offer, but she did say, ‘He sent me some lovely flowers.’

‘That was kind.’ Frankly Grandmama rather thought it might be Johnny who’d done that, but he’d put Chris’s name on them; it seemed more a Johnny gesture than a Chris one. ‘We mustn’t let that naughty man put us off for the rest of our lives must we, you and I? I’m certainly not going to. I know it’s been hard but remember the good times.’ She wished she hadn’t said that. ‘The times when you laughed and when you thought about how lovely and exciting he was. Those are the times to cling to, not the time when he forgot you were a human being and left you feeling desolate, because that’s what he’s done. This new shower gel, it’s not old lady’s lavender. Have a smell.’