Page 32 of Forgive Not Forget
“Not that they hadn’t said already,” she said, filling the teapot with water from the kettle.
“Security?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Well, I’ve come up with a plan. If the police can’t do anything, then we need a better deterrent than some signs. We need a tent.”
“A tent?” Katherine laughed. “How on earth is a tent going to help us?”
“We’re going to camp out, catch the culprits in the act.”
“Us, camp out? In a tent, on the abbey grounds?”
“Yep,” Anna replied, peering over at Abigail to make sure she was still occupied. Confirming she was, Anna leaned closer to Katherine and whispered, “Have you ever done it in a tent?”
Katherine bit her lips together and then checking for herself that Abigail was preoccupied, mouthed, “No,” at Anna.
“I have,” Anna whispered back.
Abigail got up from the floor where she had been stroking Virginia and climbed up on a stool beside Anna.
“Anyway, I’m not sure I’m the kind of woman who sleeps in a tent,” Katherine added.
“Are you going camping?” Abigail asked. “We have a tent you can borrow. Dad used to take Tom camping.” She paused for a moment, then added, “And me, sometimes.”
Tom appeared in the doorway. “I’m bored. Can I go home and get my bike?”
“I’d rather you didn’t, Tom. Your mum has placed you in my care, and whilst you’re in my care, I’d rather know where you are,” Anna replied firmly. Tom had to be the only child to ever get bored when they had every channel available to them under the sun.
“I’ll only be outside in the street, where I always go. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go around here.”
It was a reasonable request, and one Laura wouldn’t have a problem with; however, Anna strongly felt that for the few hours she was responsible for her friend’s son, she wanted eyes on him at all times.
“No, Tom, sorry. Perhaps when your mum arrives you can ask her.”
“When will that be?”
Anna checked her watch. Laura’s appointment was happening now, and as it was a private consultation, likely it would be running to time. “Soon,” she replied, not wanting to make any promises.
Tom turned with a grunt and returned to the sitting room.
“He’s cheery today.” Katherine poured the tea into the mugs.
Abigail rested her head on her hands. “He’s always like that since Dad died.”
Katherine passed the mugs around and then sat on the stool opposite Abigail. “We all react differently when someone dies. When you lose someone very close to you, or not even close to you, it can change you and change your behaviour. It can take a long time to get over it. Sometimes you never do.”
Katherine fell silent, as she often did when she spoke about loss. Anna watched her as she stirred her tea. She often wondered if Katherine was truly over the loss of Helena and the baby, if it was something someone could ever move on from or get over, as Katherine had said.
“Now, pass me one of those biscuits before Anna eats them all,” Katherine said, snapping her attention back to their afternoon snack.
After tea and biscuits, Katherine prepared dinner whilst Anna gave Abigail the full tour of their home. Anna thought it was amusing to see the girl’s jaw drop as hers once had at the beautiful feature wall in the bedroom. It was a wonderful opportunity to explain how houses used to be built, and Abigail drank it all in.
“When I grow up, I want to live in a house like this. I don’t suppose I will.”
“When I was growing up in Nunswick, your mum and I used to play around the abbey. It was just a ruin in those days, not a tourist attraction like it is today, so we could do what we wanted — within reason, of course. It was in the garden of this house, and there was no fence then to divide them. I’d look at this house and think, ‘Firstly, why is no one looking after that poor house?’ It was in a bit of a state in those days. And secondly, I’d think, ‘I’d love to live there.’ And hey, presto — I do.”
Abigail’s face lit up.
