The Homecoming Read online

  In the small area that had once been the Chapel block, Tomos groaned and began kissing Molly again. The clear night had made it unnecessary to go into one of the dark rooms. Although the night was cold, the blankets added to their comfort and made lying together in the moonlight a delightful experience.

  ‘Shall we still do this occasionally, when we’re together for good?’ Molly asked. ‘There’s no need to forget what its like to make love out in the open, looking up at the moon.’

  ‘I wouldn’t mind living in a tent and making love under the stars just to be with you, love,’ Tomos said.

  ‘Oh Tomos, I’m so impatient, but for both our sakes we have to wait. For you and Melanie this isn’t the time, is it? There has to be the right moment. You have to give her time to find a new life, accept that you and she are finished, let her bow out gracefully.’

  ‘It’s hard, love, but yes, we have to be patient. I just hope that no one else finds out about us before we’re ready to announce our plans. I know it’s soft, but I hope Melanie leaves me. That way I wouldn’t feel we’re building our happiness on someone else’s sorrow.’

  ‘Fat chance,’ she sighed. ‘Who’d be daft enough to let you go?’ She kissed him lightly and stood up. ‘Let’s walk up to the battlements and look out over the sea. It must be beautiful now with a high tide and the moon full.’

  Tomos folded the blankets, threw them across his shoulder and, hand in hand, they stepped out of the doorway to walk along the open corridor towards the kitchen and the gateway, where stairs led up to the battlements.

  ‘What was that?’ Molly asked, clinging to him as a shadow passed in front of them.

  ‘Only a cat or something,’ Tomos laughed. ‘Come on, don’t tell me you’re getting scared. We’ve been here for almost two hours and haven’t heard a sound.’

  The stone steps, worn smooth by thousands of feet, curved upwards and soon they were standing above the arched gateway, looking out across the bay. It was almost as bright as day, the sea a shimmering pool with hardly a ripple of movement. The path of moonlight was faintly visible and seemed to lead their eyes on, beyond the horizon, a black line in the distance.

  ‘It does look as if the world’s flat, doesn’t it?’

  Tomos whispered. ‘Over there the saucer’s edge which drops down into – what?’

  ‘Don’t, Tomos, you’ll make me afraid.’

  ‘Go on with you! Nothing scares you!’

  The rumble seemed far away at first, like a lorry making its way along the road far below them. Then it became louder as if something was approaching very fast. The noise was all around them and they couldn’t guess the direction from which it came. They hugged each other from a danger they couldn’t recognise. The tranquillity of the night had been torn apart. The roaring sound slowed to a trickle and stopped before they had time to work out what had caused it. They turned away from the calm sea and looked around the ground below them.

  ‘Did we imagine that?’ Tomos whispered into the still, silent night. Cautiously they made their way back through the open corridor, their hearts beating louder as they passed each doorway; their thoughts unformulated but half expecting something to jump out at them. The moonlight made the rooms even darker than usual, and they would have had to stand for a long time before their eyes became accustomed to the light, before they could investigate.

  ‘We’ll head straight back to the window and get out. Tomorrow will be plenty soon enough to find out what happened,’ Tomos whispered.

  ‘It sounded like a wall falling, perhaps one of the areas they’re meaning to repair,’ Molly whispered.

  * * *

  The tall man stood on the narrow path below the window, his outline misshapen amid the bare branches of an ash tree. He didn’t hide, but listened as the footsteps approached the window inside the building. He heard the squeal of disappointment followed by the shout of anger when they realised their exit was blocked. He smiled as he heard their struggles to get up and reach the window. Perhaps now they’d be warned. He was satisfied that they couldn’t get out, at least for some time. They would have to rebuild the pile of stones. He ran around the outer walls and skirting the open ground, ran to the bottom of the castle mound. He paused for a glance back and smiled before running on and slipping down through the woodland onto the road alongside the beach.

  * * *

  It was as she was leaving her aunt’s house that Lydia heard the calls. ‘What’s that?’ she asked, turning her head to decide where the sounds were coming from. ‘Is it cats I can hear?’

  ‘Cats indeed! There’s someone in that castle again,’ Stella said. ‘I’ve heard noises coming from there several nights this week. Heaven alone knows what’s going on up there. If the council want to close it why don’t they make a proper job of it? Dangerous it is.’

  ‘Shall we call the police?’ Lydia suggested. ‘If someone else has been hurt we can’t ignore it, can we?’

  ‘Best we have a look first. But then, how am I to get over the gate? You’ll have to go, Lydia. Take a hammer for protection and my big torch.’ So an hour after deciding she could never visit the castle at night, Lydia had to change her mind. Hearing someone up there, obviously in trouble might have been sufficient to make her overcome her fear, but in addition, she knew without doubt that the person calling for help was Molly.

  A man was approaching, coming from the direction of the main road and he stopped and called to them as Lydia was being helped up onto the gate. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked. ‘Can I help?’

  ‘I… er…’ Lydia hesitated. If it was Molly stuck up there, the fewer people who knew the better. But she looked up at the mysterious walls and valour failed her. She accepted his offer to go with her thankfully.

  Stella wasn’t so sure. ‘We don’t know you, do we?’ she said.

  The man introduced himself. ‘I’m Matthew Hiatt,’ he told them. ‘I lived around here when I was a boy. I saw you in the Surf café with Glyn Howe. You’re Billy Jones’s daughter aren’t you? I knew your father and his friend Gimlet Howe. They used to chase me for pinching apples out of Gimlet’s back garden. And for other things as well! Did they mention meeting me a few days ago?’

  ‘Matthew Hiatt?’ Stella looked at him frowning. ‘Well I never! You’re the brother of poor Rosie who disappeared all those years ago?’

  ‘That’s me. I’m just down here for a bit of a holiday. And you are—?’

  ‘Stella Stevens. And this is my niece Lydia—’

  ‘—Jones, Billy’s daughter,’ Matthew interrupted with a smile. ‘Come on then, Lydia, before that poor woman up there loses her voice with shouting.’

  Stella offered them the use of a ladder and dropping it into the castle grounds, Matthew helped Lydia over the gate surprising her with the ease with which he lifted her, and they set off up the steep climb. With Matthew striding out beside her she felt the anxiety of approaching the castle at night slipping from her like a discarded cloak. A stranger, but one in whom she had confidence. The promise Glyn had asked her to make was forgotten.

  Molly’s calls were less frequent as the likelihood of being heard made her spirits flag, and it was Tomos whose voice led Lydia and Matthew to the window. Matthew was ignorant of the pathway and asked to hold Lydia’s hand to be guided, a request to which she found no difficulty in acceeding.

  Using the walls, out of which some stones protruded as a natural ladder, Matthew Hiatt reached the window and called to let the anxious couple know that help had arrived. Then leaving Lydia near the window he went back to the gateway to collect the ladder.

  As his footsteps receded, Lydia was afraid. Alone, even though there were two people the other side of the stout walls more afraid than herself. The moonlight teased her with dancing shadows. Her back felt the chill of vulnerability, the trees held imaginary eyes, each movement was someone crouched, preparing to pounce. Every sound was a precursor of danger. She felt an atavistic desire to run.

  Fortunately Matthew re
appeared almost immediately, and she helped him to push the ladder up to drop it through the opening. He then sat on the window’s edge guiding Tomos’s attempts to secure the ladder and encouraging Molly to stay calm. Although by this time, Molly was treating the whole thing as a joke. Once the temporary prisoners were safely on the windowsill, the ladder was hauled through and reset to enable them to climb down onto the path.

  Molly and Tomos carried the ladder and led the way back down to Stella’s house which, Stella laughingly said, was becoming the first aid post for castle victims. More slowly, Matthew walked with Lydia, his arms around her, comforting her out of a fear she had long forgotten. His arms were so reassuring she thought she would never be afraid of anything again.

  Although enjoying being a part of the adventure, Stella was worried about the couple’s exploits. ‘I don’t think you should go there again,’ she warned. ‘Whoever’s up there could be dangerous.’

  ‘We don’t know if anyone pushed those rocks over, Mrs Stevens,’ Tomos said. ‘The pathway wasn’t made by castle builders, to last for centuries, just kids making an easy way in.’

  ‘But what if there is someone up there?’ Lydia said. ‘It can’t be coincidence: three times someone has tried to discourage people from going there. Dad didn’t hit himself on the back of the head and I’m sure Gimlet didn’t do it!’

  ‘Probably a tramp,’ Molly said. ‘He’d be so pleased to find a place to spend the winter he’d want to keep it for himself.’

  ‘Luxury, that old castle, for someone without a home,’ Tomos agreed. He winked at Molly slyly and added, ‘Lying under the stars at night, earth for a pillow and the moon for a blanket.’

  ‘You’re getting poetical, aren’t you Tomos?’ Lydia said, seeing the look of conspiracy that passed between the couple.

  ‘You’re probably right, it must be a tramp, some of them can be a bit unhinged,’ Stella agreed. ‘Poor man, let’s hope he won’t be disturbed any more.’

  ‘What are you doing back here?’ Tomos asked Matthew who had been quiet during the conversatlon.

  ‘Just a holiday. I plan to go walking in the Brecons before going back to take up a new post as headmaster in a school in Hereford.’

  ‘I’d never imagined you as a teacher,’ Tomos laughed. ‘I bet if the parents knew some of the things you did as a kid, they’d have you sacked.’ He turned to Lydia. ‘Matthew Hiatt was the sort of boy all mothers warned their children against. Isn’t that right, Matthew?’

  ‘I can’t deny it,’ Matthew laughed. ‘I was chased by the mothers, fathers, and even the police a few times. But things change, you grow up.’

  ‘But tearaway to school teacher, that’s quite a jump,’ Stella said. ‘Good for you, Matthew. You’ve done well.’

  ‘It was Rosie’s disappearance that changed me. With Mam and Dad too busy fighting each other to care what I did, there was only Rosie and when she left, I knew I had to move on.’ He turned to Lydia. ‘I lived with my grandmother for a while but she didn’t really want me there, so I joined the army. It was there I began my education. Finished it when I was released and, well, that’s my story.’

  ‘So you aren’t back here for good?’ Tomos asked.

  Again Matthew looked at Lydia before replying. ‘No, not for good. More’s the pity.’

  ‘Goodness, look at the time,’ Stella said, rising and beginning to gather the cups and saucers.

  ‘I’ll walk Lydia home,’ Matthew offered. ‘Perhaps I’ll go in and make some excuses to her father.’

  ‘No need,’ Lydia smiled. ‘Mam and Dad will be asleep long since.’

  As they were leaving, Matthew looked at the bow window of Stella’s house. ‘Wasn’t this a hairdresser’s once?’ he asked. ‘Or has my memory failed me?

  ‘It was, and you should remember. You kicked my cellar window in twice!’ she said sharply. ‘I closed the business years ago. I didn’t want to continue with it once Sam died.’ Stella didn’t explain that it was looking after her sister Annie, and not the death of her husband, that had made it necessary to close down her very lucrative business.

  ‘I’m glad my memory wasn’t wrong,’ Matthew smiled. ‘Sorry about the windows. Now, on Sunday we must all meet and you can show me around the place and introduce me to anyone who would remember me.’

  ‘As long as they haven’t been saving a hiding for some remembered misbehaviour,’ Tomos laughed.

  ‘Like smashing windows,’ Stella added severely.

  Stella watched as the four people walked towards the main road. ‘Matthew Hiatt,’ she muttered. ‘I wonder what he really wants? Surely he isn’t hoping to find his sister after all these years?’

  Chapter Four

  Glyn was working at The Pirate. Besides cleaning the cellars, he was employed to paint the walls in the kitchen and store room, which necessitated moving a huge number of boxes and containers. He was very tired, as, besides the work at the pub, he helped out with the taxi whenever Tomos or Gimlet needed a few hours off, and he had even found a few hours work digging over a garden or two.

  ‘I don’t know what’s got into the boy,’ Billy said to Lydia one Sunday morning. ‘He told Gimlet and Tomos he wouldn’t be working with them at Howes’ Taxis, and there he is snatching every hour he can. He’s acting as if money is the only thing that matters.’

  ‘This Cath of his must have grand ideas,’ Lydia replied, rubbing harder at the brass fender. ‘Perhaps she won’t have him until he can buy her a house and all that goes with it. Some girls are like that, unwilling to start small and build a home together.’

  ‘I think he’s in trouble,’ Billy said. ‘He’s been in the navy since he was a boy and should have some savings, but he’s grubbing about for every penny like he’s got debts. Gimlet thinks it might be gambling. Why don’t you try and persuade him to talk? If we knew the problem we might help.’

  ‘Not my place to interfere, Dad. He made it clear that he and I were nothing more than friends. And I don’t even know if I want that. Glyn isn’t my responsibility, let this ‘Cath’ woman sort it out.’

  Since talking to Matthew Hiatt it was easier for Lydia to talk so casually about Glyn. Glyn had hurt her badly but Matthew, with his deep, fascinating eyes so filled with admiration for her, had eased the pain in a remarkable way. She remembered how safe she felt with him beside her walking up to investigate the cries from the castle, and the way he held her hand on their return when fear was no longer an excuse.

  When there was a knock on the door at mid-morning, she opened it still flushed from polishing and dusting the living room. Expecting Molly, she felt flustered at seeing Matthew there, looking at her with a hesitant smile on his tanned face. ‘Am I disturbing you?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course not, come in,’ she smiled, patting her hair and hoping she didn’t look a mess.

  He stepped inside and followed her up to the living room.

  ‘It’s Matthew, Dad,’ she said unnecessarily.

  ‘I called to see if you are all right after yesterday’s adventure,’ he explained. With unconcealed admiration in his eyes he added, ‘I can see that you are.’ He turned to Billy and said gallantly, ‘You have a lovely daughter, Mr Jones. And I wondered if you’d allow me to take her out this afternoon.’

  ‘That depends where you think of going,’ Billy responded ungraciously. He was confused. This wasn’t like the Matthew Hiatt he remembered, all polite and mannerly. Besides, young men didn’t approach fathers for permission to take girls out. not these days they didn’t.

  ‘Dad!’ Lydia protested.

  But Matthew laughed. ‘I want to walk around the village, relive a few memories, that’s all. I promise we’ll be back in good time and I will look after her.’

  Feeling foolish at his pompous response to what was after all only politeness, Billy stood up and walked towards the stairs. ‘I think I can hear your Mam calling,’ he muttered as he disappeared.

  ‘Doesn’t like me, your dad,’ Matthew chuckled. ‘I’ll ha
ve to see if I can change his mind.’

  Being locked in the castle was a good story but one which neither Lydia nor Molly could tell. The thought of the distress the news would give to Tomos’s wife, Melanie, was sufficient to hold Lydia’s tongue and they easily convinced Stella to do the same. Having Matthew with whom to discuss it was, therefore, a luxury and when they met for their first date, Lydia chatted to him about the mystery of Tomos and Molly being locked in and about the attack on her father.

  Telling Matthew about her father and Gimlet’s plan to frighten the couple had them laughing. Making light of her father’s injury, the story was embellished and exaggerated and Matthew’s deepset eyes glowed as he looked into hers, giving a wonderful feeling of belonging. Sharing an adventure, even one so innocuous, had started their friendship with a closeness they might otherwise have taken weeks to achieve.

  The walk around the village, and up over the top of the hill from where they could look down over the whole of the bay and the mountains beyond, was perfect. It was one of those days when the sun had burned off every vestige of mist revealing the distant hills as clearly as the boats bobbing below. There was excitement in the air which was more like spring than the approach of winter.

  Matthew talked mostly about his childhood and his frequent brushes with the law. He likened himself to the notorious Neville Nolan and assured her that although the boy was a nuisance, he was likely to grow up into a model citizen.

  ‘Like you?’ she queried.

  ‘Oh no, not as perfect as I,’ he teased. The smile on his face softened to admiration and Lydia felt her mind drift away from the hill and its view and thoughts of Neville Nolan and his little gang of ruffians. All she could see was those fascinating eyes and that tempting mouth. Her mind filled with the wonder of this new sensation, and a belief in love at first sight.

  He put an arm around her and they walked in silence back through what had become a hollow lane, with the ground indented into a curve by years of wear, and trees and bushes arching high above them. Then down the long shallow steps back to the seafront.