*
"I believe that Lady Buchanan was killed in the stableyard and that was what frightened Lavinia. Does she ride her pony or does riding frighten her now, as well?"
"Miss Lavinia rides well," said Scott, "But she has stopped over the winter. The weather has not been good."
"I was told that you were the one who found Lady Buchanan." said Arabella.
Scott pushed back his chair and stood up. "Best get back to work." he said and went out into the yard.
"Mr Scott was very fond of her Ladyship and doesn't like to talk about that day." reprimanded Mrs Makepeace.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Arabella, "Should I go and apologise to him?"
"Best to drop the whole subject. Lest said, soonest forgotten." replied Mrs Makepeace.
Arabella decided to heed her advice in general terms and the conversation moved to more general topics such as the price of detergent and a mild scandal at the vicarage. [29]
When tea was over she rose to go and addressed Mrs Makepeace. "I have discussed Lavinia's nightmares with Lord Buchanan and it has been decided that she will move down to my room for the time being. Would you arrange for her things to be moved down to my room ready for tonight." She smiled at Mrs Makepeace and left the room.
Going up to her bedroom to await the advent of Vinnie's bed she pondered what she had learnt. She had already known that it was Scott who had found Lady Buchanan's body but was hard pressed to understand his reluctance to discuss the matter. He didn't strike her as being a particularly sensitive man. And Vinnie had stopped riding at about the time that the nightmares had started. Why, after two years should her mother's death suddenly start to affect her in this way. She would have liked to ask Suzy, but the fact that she was one of only three of the servants who slept in the house and was always first on the scene after Vinnie had a nightmare meant that it would not be safe to confide her fears in that direction.
She felt that she had two avenues to pursue. She had intended to talk to Vinnie's doctor about the nightmares, and the talk of the scandal at the vicarage reminded her that the vicar might be able to at least tell her something of the family situation. She resolved to visit him at the earliest possible moment. [30]
And, with great reluctance she realised that she was going to have to talk to Vinnie herself about what was going on. Only the little girl could tell her why her fears had so suddenly surfaced after all this time.
Suzy returned from her visit to her mother in time to bath the children. By the time they had returned, tired and slightly sticky after their visit to their grandmother, Vinnie's bed had been installed, behind a screen, in Arabella's bedroom.
The evening passed uneventfully. Arabella and Edward dined in solitary splendor in the dining room and when dinner was over they retired to the morning room, which was the warmest room in the house, until it was time to go up to bed.
Vinnie was fast alseep behind the screen when Arabella peeked at her. the room had its own bathroom and she considered locking the door but realised that, having left her door open all evening so that she could listen out for Vinnie, it would be a bit pointless to lock it now. Nevertheless, she turned the key in the lock and left it slightly out of alignment to prevent its being pushed out from the other side of the door.
The night passed uneventfully with no nightmares, reinforcing Arabella's notion that someone was trying to frighten Vinnie. She was going to have to talk to her and try to get to the bottom of the reason for her fears. [31]
The next day was Saturday and Arabella hoped that the family would attend church on the following morning. That way she could meet the vicar without appearing to deliberately set out to do so.
The weather had turned wet and cold again so she and the children spent the day upstairs playing monopoly and snakes and ladders. Suzy had the weekend off and Arabella wondered what arrangements had been made for the children before her arrival. She asked them.
"We used to go down to the kitchen and help with the cooking." said Phillip.
Arabella grinned. "What did you cook?" she asked.
"We were allowed to mix up the cakes if we didn't lick the spoon." confided Rory, "But we were allowed to have the bowls when the cakes were cooking."
"And I was allowed to put the straw into the cakes to see if they were cooked." said Vinnie.
"Who did you used to help?" asked Arabella.
"Mrs Makepeace used to make the cakes on Saturdays." said Rory, "She said that a good housekeeper should be able to take over any duty in the house and she liked to 'keep her hand in.' "
"Was there anybody else there?"
"Only Scott. He used to come into the kitchen and he and Mrs Makepeace used to talk about the good old days. That is what they called them. I think that they were talking about when they were young." [32]
The next day dawned bright and clear and after breakfast the family set off for church. The children attended Sunday School while the main service was in progress. Arabella was pleased to see that the children had some contact with others of their own age but whilst the boys had each other, Vinnie was very isolated from her contemporaries, something which she, Arabella, intended to remedy if she could.
After the service she was introduced to the vicar, a young-looking middle aged man who shook her hand energetically and invited her to come and visit the church at any time - he would be only too happy to show her around. She thanked him sincerely and resolved to do just that; it would give her an opportunity to talk to him about Vinnie and the death of Lady Buchanan. She intended to also sound him out about activities for Vinnie in which she could play with other children.
On the way home in the car Edward called for suggestions as to how they should all spend the rest of the day. Sundays, he said, were for families. The twins clamboured for a ride to the river past the village where tadpoles could be found in the springtime.
"Do you ride, Arabella?" asked Edward.
Smiling, she replied, "I used to ride a lot but have not had the opportunity do do so for some years now. I'll probably be stiff tomorrow morning if that is what we are going to do."
"Excellent," said Edward, "I'll tell Scott to have the horses ready after lunch." [33]
Arabella found that a lovely little bay mare had been provided for her and she felt touched that Edward had been so thoughtful in catering for her needs. She had not ridden for several years - ever since her father had found himself in straited circumstances and had sold her horse. At her suggestion the horses had been brought around to the front of the house, thus avoiding distress for Vinnie.
The children mounted their ponies with alacrity and trotted on ahead while Edward and Arabella followed at a more leisurely pace. It was too early in the year for frogs eggs or tadpoles but the boys looked anyway and were not in the least disappointed when they didn't find any.
On their return Arabella checked her bedroom for signs that it had been disturbed in any way. "I'm getting paranoid!" she told herself. Nevertheless, she felt happier when no signs of intrusion were detected. She would talk to Vinnie in the morning and try to get to the bottom of her fears. The little girl was happy after her ride in the fresh air and it wouldn't do to upset her so close to bedtime.
The next morning, after breakfast, she settled the boys down to some arithmetic and took Vinnie aside.
"How did you enjoy your ride yesterday?" she asked by way of an introduction.
Eyes shining, Vinnie replied, "It was good. We looked for tadpoles but of course it was too soon for them yet. They need warmer water."
"What is your pony's name?"
"She is called Snowdrop and she is a Welsh pony."
"Do you visit her in her stable very much? Do you take her apples and carrots?"
The child's face closed up and she shook her head. "No." she whispered. [34]
"Why not, darling?" asked Arabella.
"There is a bogyman there. It is scary. It frightens horses."
"But the horses live in the stables and they are not frightened."
"It frightened my mummy's horse. I saw it."
Arabella was astounded. Vinnie had seen her mother's accident?
"Tell me about the bogyman, darling." she said. Might as well strike while the iron was hot.
"It is huge and grey and it frightened Mummy's horse and then sucked Mummy's blood until she died." Vinnie buried her head in Arabellas shoulder and sobbed.
Murder?? But why would anybody want to kill Lady Buchanan? From all accounts she was much loved in the neighbourhood.
Supposing that Vinnie had really seen her mother murdered! Was somebody trying to frighten her so that any tales she told would be discredited? Or was there a more sinister motive?
Comforting the little girl as best she could, Arabella resolved to talk to Edward about his wife's death as soon as she could. Perhaps it would be best if Vinnie went to stay with her grandmother for a while, until the whole business was sorted out. There was possibly a danger to her very life if she stayed in the house, especially if people started taking her tales seriously.
She would go immediately to Edward and state her fears to him; and a visit to the vicar now became important. She had to find out what the official line on Charlottes' death was. [35]
"Tell me all that you saw that day with your mummy and her horse." she commanded Vinnie.
"I was in one of the rooms where we are not supposed to go and I could see out the window. Scott had Mummy's horse saddled and after Mummy had checked the girth, Scott helped her on and went to open the gate, I think. I couldn't see the gate from the window. The horse started to buck and jump around and Mummy fell off. Then the bogyman came out of the stable and sort of sucked Mummy into it. Then it went away and Scott came running back to help, but Mummy didn't get up any more.
Scott was as the scene when Charlotte was killed? Why had he not given that evidence at the inquest? Or had he? Arabella decided that she needed to talk to the vicar as soon as possible - he would know about the findings. From the gate Scott must have seen exactly what happened. If he had seen the accident and had kept quiet about it he must have had something to hide. Even a countryman's reluctance to get involved should not have stood in the way of his eyewitness account.
So many questions! Had Scott somehow engineered the death of Charlotte that day? He was not visible to Vinnie when the horse started bucking.and she assumed that he had gone to open the gate. But had he? Was there another way into the stables? Could Scott have been the bogeyman? And above all - why?
If Scott realised or even suspected that Vinnie had seen him in the vicinity of the stables that day then it would explain why somebody - ( Scott himself? ) - was trying to frighten her so that nobody would believe her tales of bogeymen.
Vinnie had kept her secret to herself because she was in a part of the house which was forbidden to her but that was no guarantee that she would stay silent for ever. Her very life could be in danger. Edward was away for the day so that left the vicar. Slowly she went to the phone and dialled up his number. [36]
When he came to the phone she made herself known to him and asked if she could visit him to talk about some sort of schooling or fellowship group to which Vinnie could become a part. "As soon as possible, please." she said.
Having made an appointment for early that afternoon she went to Mrs Makepeace's parlour to find out about using the car. She explained that she wanted to talk to the vicar about companionship for Vinnie and that she has arranged to see him that afternoon.
"Scott could drive you over in the big car," said Mrs Makepeace, "Or you could take the mini if you have your license. Lady Buchanan used to use it to run down to the village. It is regularly serviced and driven, though there is nobody uses it now. I don't have the license and I wouldn't trust Suzy to drive it. I'm sure that Lord Buchanan would be happy to see you using it. It is very isolated here and there will be times when you will need to go off on your own."
"Thank you. That sounds like a good idea. Do I see Scott about it? Who has the keys?"
"I'll tell Scott that you will be needing it after lunch." Mrs Makepeace smiled at Arabella and made it obvious that the interview was at an end.
Feeling that it would not be safe to leave Vinnie alone for the afternoon she decided to take her along. It would add credence to her story about her reason for talking to the vicar and she hoped that there would be somebody at the rectory to look after her as she didn't feel that what she was about to investigate was fitting for small ears. Poor little Vinnie had problems enough already. [37]
At 1.45 the mini was waiting at the door for her with Scott in attendance to hand her over the keys. She strapped Vinnie into her seat and they set off for the journey to visit the Reverend Mr Henry Jones, vicar of the parish. Vinnie was familiar with the road to the vicarage and the journey was accomplished without mishap.
The vicar being a single man, they were ushered in by the housekeeper who showed Arabella into the study and took Vinnie off to the kitchen to see a litter of kittens which were being kept warm by the stove.
Mr Jones stood up when she arrived and, shaking hands with her, he seated her in a comfortable chair by the fire. Sitting opposite to her he asked, "How can I help you?"
Arabella decided to be frank and said that although she needed his advice about some sort of companionship for Vinnie, she had really come to tak to him about a more serious matter. She explained all which had happened since her arrival at Chalgrove house. "What I really need to know is some details of Lady Buchanan's death and the findings of the inquest. I assume that there was an inquest."
"Indeed there was, " said Mr Jones, "And the finding was that of accidental death. Lady Buchanan hit her head when she fell and the blow was fatal."
"Vinnie says that Scott was present when the accident happened. Did he give evidence?"
"Scott said that he was in the kitchen when it happened and Mrs Makepeace backed him up. She said that she had just poured him a cup of tea."
"Surely it would be odd for him to have gone to the kitchen while Lady Buchanan was still in the stable yard!" said Arabella.
"Now that you come to mention it, it does sound a little strange."
"Why would Mrs Makepeace give him an alibi? There was never any question of foul play, was there?" [38]
"There was never any evidence of foul play. As far as I can recall, there was never a suggestion of it. In the absence of witnesses there was a certain amount of conjecture as to what happened but dear Charlotte was certainly thrown from her horse and died as a consequence. So Lavinia says that she saw what actually happened. Dear, dear!!! Perhaps we had better present this story to the police and allow them to judge whether or not it is worth an enquiry"
"But why would Mrs Makepeace give Scott an alibi?" persisted Arabella.
"Scott is her husband. If there was anything in Lavinia's story she could never be made to give evidence in court but if there was anything untoward in the events of that day I would suppose that it was to deflect any investigations into Scott's whereabouts at that time." Mr Jones was clearly worried.
"Scott and Mrs Makepeace married?"
"It was a long time ago and as they do not live as man and wife people tend to forget. At the inquest, naturally, it was mentioned. Mrs Makepeace was obliged to give the oath in her legal name."
"But why would Scott, or anybody else for that matter, want to kill Lady Buchanan?" persisted Arabella.
"I think that we had better present this story to the police. Inspector Gilmour is a friend of mine and often drops in for a chat. As Lavinia is here with you it would, perhaps, be better to telephone him and ask him to drop in here for afternoon tea - you have time to stay for afternoon tea?"
Arabella nodded.
"Lavinia can tell him what she told you and I am sure that we can safely leave things in his hands." said Mr Jones calmly. [39]