Little Fingers! (25 page)

Mary Knightly
is not at all happy with the way that Tom and Charlie have been
looking after the house they rent off her. As far as she is
concerned, people who are living in other people's houses never
treat them the same way as they do their own. Besides, they are
young, and youth is negligent.

She glances at
the hedge. It has not been trimmed for months. The grass is too
long. There are weeds in the driveway. Paint is peeling off the
front door.

She
knocks.

Charlie comes
to the door. “Oh hello, Mrs Knightly. Do come in.”

“
Thank
you.”

“
We are
really sorry about Mr Knightly. It must have been a terrible blow.”
Charlie sent Mary flowers with a note immediately she heard of
George's death.

“
It
was.”

“
Would you
like some coffee?”

“
Thank
you.”

Charlie leads
her into the sitting room. There are magazines strewn across the
floor, and it needs a good vacuuming and dusting.

“
It's a bit
of a mess, I am afraid. We are all caught up with the wedding
arrangements.”

She goes to
make the coffee. Mary scrutinises the room. There is a crack in the
ceiling she has not seen before. The table has been chipped. The
windows have not been washed.

“
Do you take
milk and sugar?”

“
I'll do it
myself, thank you. Where is Tom?”

“
He is at
work.”

“
I was rather
hoping to talk to both of you.”

“
Well, if you
come back this evening, he will be here. We spend every evening now
making final arrangements and writing thank you letters. I did not
realise that so many people knew us. It's incredible.”

Mary
straightens up in abrupt formality. “I'll come to the point. I do
not think that you should stay in this house. You are not looking
after it properly.”

Charlie meets
her eyes. Mary is the first to disengage.

“
What do you
mean, Mrs Knightly?”

“
Look at this
sitting room. It is a mess.”

“
So?”

“
Can't you
use a vacuum cleaner?”

“
When I want
to. What has that got to do with you?”

“
That ceiling
is cracked.”

“
That ceiling
was always cracked.”

“
Not to my
recollection.”

“
We can show
you the photographs we took when we arrived, if you
wish.”

“
And that
table has been chipped.”

“
Not by
us.”

“
Assuredly by
you.”

“
Not
according to the photographs.”

“
And are
these so-called photographs witnessed?”

“
Of course.
My dad and Tom's dad did the inventory with us.”

“
I am not
sure that they count as witnesses.”

“
Why ever
not?”

“
They are
your family.”

“
Well, you
can argue that out with them.”

“
And the
garden is a disgrace.”

“
You are
meant to be sending Paul up here to tidy it up. You agreed on that
when we moved in. We said that there was no way we would have time
to sort out the garden which was pretty overgrown even then, and
you said that Paul could lend a hand. We have never seen him here
since.”

“
Show me
where it says that in the lease.”

“
I don't know
whether it is in the lease, but that is what you promised. My dad
and Tom's dad were witnesses.”

“
I am sorry,
but if it is not written in the lease, it does not
count.”

“
Then you had
better go off and do whatever you have to do, and we will use our
photographs and call our witnesses to show that you are
mistaken.”

“
Young lady,
I do not take kindly to being called a liar………”

“
I said you
were mistaken.”

……
and I am
sure that you would be much happier living elsewhere.”

“
We are very
happy here, thank you.”

Mary gets up.
“Well, I mustn't keep you.” She has resolved to make life very
difficult for Tom and Charlie from now on. She does not appreciate
being crossed by these disrespectful young people. “You should at
least clean the house.”

“
And you
should mind your own business.”

“
This is my
house. It is my business.”

“
Then send
Paul up to sort out the garden.”

Tom and
Charlie will answer for this, Mary decides. She has not been
bettered by anyone yet, and she knows how to use the
law.

And you cannot
fault Mary's timing, planning to turf out her tenants just a few
weeks before their wedding. Perhaps she believes that she will
never get them out once they are married, and then she will not be
able to live there herself.

Chapter
13

Mary is more
seriously agitated even than last time.

She is looking
exhausted, and she says she feels tired and sick, especially in the
mornings. “If I weren't in my forties, and if Frank and I had not
tried for years to have children without success, I would think I
was pregnant.”

“
Perhaps it
is a phantom pregnancy. Perhaps your body desires to be pregnant by
me.”

Mary laughs.
“Now that would be something. Caught out in my adultery, becoming
pregnant by another woman!”

“
The world
works in mysterious ways.”

“
I just feel
uptight and stressed all the time, and I cannot shake it off. It is
a heavy load of lead pressing on my stomach. Maybe it's depression.
Not wanting to eat, or drink, or get up. Buried in this deep, dark
hole, with a great weight pressing down inside me.”

“
Let me cheer
you up.”

“
If only you
could.”

I take hold of
her and I kiss her, pressing my body into hers. I can sense a
reluctance in her at first, not resistance, more a failure to
engage. Gradually though, as I slide my hands around her body, she
relaxes.

Naked, I have
to say that she is beginning to look pregnant. She has been eating
a lot, so she is overweight, but there is a definite curve to the
stomach area. I rather like the idea that in sharing this time
together she has become pregnant, although it would be disastrous
for our relationship. I let my eyes roam around her chalky skin,
the mole below her navel, her pubic hair. This is a body I want to
keep in touch with.

“
Now what?”
asks Mary.

“
Now what
where?”

“
Where does
our relationship go from here?”

“
That is a
difficult question.”

“
So what is
the easy answer?”

“
There are no
easy answers. I love you. I want to be with you, and to live with
you. You are married to Frank, and I do not believe that you would
put him behind you, especially if you were pregnant, but even if
you weren't. He has meant too much to you for too long. It seems
that we will coast along like this, until we don't, until Frank
finds out, and then we will either be dead, separated or more
together than ever.”

“
It's hard.
It's hard for both of us, for all of us. I want to be with you, and
with Frank. I want the two lives to be lived in parallel. I am
intensely jealous of both of you. I am scared of how Frank will
react when he finds out about us. Really scared. In my heart, I do
not think he would hurt either of us, but he might. He is more
likely to turn his back without a word and walk out. That scares me
as much. He is a good man, and I need him. I need both a good man
and a good woman. I want it all. I want you both.”

“
Maybe we
will get there. How do we tell Frank so that he will listen? Do we
cook him dinner together, play strip poker, compromise him, then
suggest a solution?”

“
I cannot
imagine Frank playing strip poker, and certainly not with two women
alone. He is far too shy.”

“
Well, I am
not looking to crowd the room.”

“
Me
neither.”

“
Yet we have
to find some solution. We are in a Hanged Man situation, and that
does not last forever. Either we tell Frank, or one day he will
find out. Or we stop.”

Mary starts
slightly. “I do not wish us to stop.”

“
Nor do I.
And maybe nor does Frank. Perhaps all this suits Frank fine. Maybe
he knows about us already. Maybe it does not matter to him so long
as you are here when he needs you, and you keep the books of your
company up-to-date. He has his fishing, and you have
me.”

“
I don't
think so somehow. I cannot imagine Frank being as broadminded as
that.”

“
Is he
confrontative?”

“
No, not if
he can possibly help it, unless he is really riled.”

“
Well perhaps
he does not want to confront the issue. I cannot believe that
somebody has not told him what is going on, not with all the
gossips, and spiteful ones at that, mentioning no names, in this
village.”

“
I really do
not think he knows. He would be worrying about it, tossing and
turning at night, coughing. He usually coughs a lot when he is
worried.”

“
So, let's
start again. Frank finds out, however he finds out. He turns on
you, and demands to be told how long it has been going on for, and
what your intentions are. What do you say?”

“
I don't
know. I truly don't know.”

“
That is not
an answer.”

“
It is the
only answer I have.”

“
Then we have
to create a better one. How long have we been seeing each other? Do
you tell him the truth?”

“
Yes, I will
have to tell him the truth.”

“
Good. And do
you intend to keep on seeing me?”

“
Yes, I do. I
have turned my back on you once, and that was disastrous. I am not
doing that again.”

“
And if he
gives you an ultimatum? It is him or me.”

“
Then I say
that I cannot choose between you. You are both special to
me.”

“
And if he
insists?”

"The
same."

“
And if he
goes upstairs and starts to pack his things?”

“
That is
still my answer.”

“
And if he
walks out of the house?”

“
Then I tell
him that he is welcome back anytime. He probably will not be
listening, though.”

“
And what
about at work?”

“
He will
probably get someone else to do the books.”

“
They will
still have to be briefed.”

“
Not when he
is around.”

“
So you now
have the house. Then what?”

“
Then it will
be up to Frank to decide whether to come back, or to divorce
me.”

“
OK, that is
one scenario. What about if Frank does not walk out? What about if
he asks for your solution?”

“
I still do
not have one.”

“
What about
if he suggests us carrying on as we are.”

“
Well, that
would be perfect.”

“
What about
if he suggests our living together, all three of us? We did discuss
that once.”

“
I cannot
imagine us all sitting in this room on a cold winter's night,
chatting away cosily.”

“
Why
not?”

“
I just
cannot imagine it.”

“
What about
if he gets overheated and suggests that he share both of us?
Alternate nights?”

“
That is more
a question for you. Would you be willing to do that?”

“
Yes, I
would. Could you cope with it?”

“
It would
certainly be bizarre. Imagine what the village would
say!”

“
Would you
care?”

“
No, actually
not.”

“
Would I
care? No. Would Frank care?”

“
He would
bloody belt them if they made any snide remarks within his
earshot.”

“
And Mary
Knightly would really care. With a bit of luck she would have a
terminal bout of apoplexy and die on the spot.”

“
Not until
after she has seen the music festival through. Mary is very
selective about what upsets her when. Do you know who would be the
most upset?”

“
No.”

“
Jeff
Berringer. He would be down on us like a ton of bricks.”

“
And maybe
that would not be a bad thing. We could throw a few of them back.”
I pause. “So, to recap, unless Frank turns violent, there is no
outcome we cannot cope with. The most unfortunate one would be if
he walked out. Other than that, we either carry on as we are, or we
carry on even better. It may be time to tell him.”