McQueen's Agency (30 page)

Molly tried to hold her breath but the woman kept pulling her under and because Lena was holding onto the back of her neck, she couldn’t prise Lena’s hand away. In desperation she suddenly jerked her elbows backwards and was gratified to know they had struck Lena a sharp blow. She let go of Molly’s collar and began wheezing in the cold water. It looked as if Molly had winded her.

Turning in the direction of the noise, Molly tried to aim a kick at Lena but only managed a half hearted blow. Later on, after it was all over, Molly suddenly remembered that she should have swam downwards as the other person wouldn’t follow. This was how it was taught in Australia but at this particular time all reasonable thought had deserted Molly’s brain and she was acting on sheer survival mode. Her first thought was to push Lena away and escape.

She went under the water again and panicked when she tried to think ahead.

Molly felt her arms and legs go numb and she knew she had to get away from Lena. She swam up to the surface and gasped for breath, her lungs on fire and her head throbbing. She was also so cold that she knew she couldn’t last much longer. The struggle with Lena had left her weak and breathless but she knew she had to swim as far away as possible from Lena. She couldn’t make out any landmarks but Lena was making a great deal of noise and splashing about in the water so Molly swam in the opposite direction. Lena began to shout and call out and Molly wondered if she had lost all sense of direction like herself. There was no way she was going anywhere near her because she had deliberately tried to drown her.

She tried to remember if the tide was in or out. If it was ebbing then there was the chance of being swept out to the North Sea. The strong currents tugged at her body and she decided to swim. But in what direction?

She heard a voice calling. ‘Molly, where are you?’

It was Kenneth.

‘I’m over here.’ Her voice was weak but she hoped he had heard her. She tried calling more loudly, ‘Kenneth, I’m over here.’

She heard the sound of someone swimming but was afraid it was Lena, but she almost cried with relief when Kenneth’s strong arm encircled her waist.

Molly still couldn’t see the boat and was afraid they would swim in the wrong direction and perhaps miss it altogether. Then through a break in the fog she saw the vague outline of the boat and within a minute Kenneth was pushing her on board where she landed with a heavy thud and a lot of water.

For a minute she lay still but then felt sick, having swallowed so much of the mucky river water. She hung over the side, trying to pull Kenneth on board and retching at the same time.

Kenneth was almost on board when Lena’s voice called out. She was screaming. ‘Kurt, Kurt. Help me. I’m drowning. Help me please.’ The scream carried over the quiet stillness and was all the more disturbing by its intensity.

Kenneth hesitated then slipped back in the water. Molly tried to hold his hand. ‘No, Kenneth. Come back in the boat.’

Lena screamed again but not so loudly this time. Kenneth turned his anguished face to Molly one last time, then began to swim away in the direction of the scream.

Molly tried to shout. ‘Kenneth, come back.’

She heard him call out. ‘I can’t, Molly. I’m sorry.’

Molly fell back on the deck. She tried to stand and managed to reach the wheel. But how did it start? Her head was throbbing and she couldn’t think.

She remembered Joe and made her way to where he was lying. She tried to wake him up but all she got for her frantic efforts was a loud snore.

She shook him again. ‘Joe, wake up. Joe, please wake up.’ But there was no reaction. Lena had done a good job with the sleeping pills and once again Molly was glad she hadn’t drunk any of the coffee.

She called out Kenneth’s name over and over again but there was no reply and Lena had stopped screaming. There was a silence from the river with only the waves lapping against the boat.

She knew that they had drowned and began to cry. Then this thought was replaced by the idea that they had both made it to the shore but she knew she was clutching at a false hope.

The boat was drifting but Molly had no idea whether it was heading for the shore or out to sea. The water lapped against the side and in the distance she heard the screech of seagulls but there were no other sounds.

She suddenly felt very, very tired and slumped down beside Joe. She was shivering violently now as her wet clothes clung to her body. She knew she should go into the cabin to look for a warm blanket but she was too tired. All she wanted to do was go to sleep.

She would never see Nell and Terry and the new baby or her parents again. Or Marigold and Sabby. And the strange thing was … she didn’t care. She was at peace as she settled down beside Joe.

The sound of a foghorn brought her back from a deep sleep. Then there was a ray of orange light sweeping over the river. She heard voices calling and tried to shout back.

The dark shape of a boat came into view and Molly rose stiffly to her knees to peer over the side.

It was a lifeboat and its crew were soon on board. She was wrapped quickly in a survival blanket as was Joe, and taken into the lifeboat.

She said in a whisper. ‘There are two people in the river. Kenneth and his sister.’

They searched for quarter of an hour but there was no sign of Lena or Kenneth.

‘We have to get you back,’ said one of the men and the boat headed towards land.

Christie had sprung into action the minute Kenneth had sprinted down the jetty and leapt onto the boat. He heard the engine splutter before chugging off into the mist. Going to the sheds, he saw Mike lying with the rack over his leg. It was clear that his leg was broken but Christie was worried about the bad head wound. There was a pool of blood on the concrete floor.

Mike was still conscious but groaning loudly. Christie knelt down beside him and said, ‘The ambulance is on its way, Mike. It won’t be long.’ He didn’t want to touch or move him in case he did more damage to his injuries. He did, however, try and lift the rack and, after a great deal of effort, managed to set it upright.

He heard the sound of the ambulance coming into the courtyard and he hurried out to meet it. It took the two medics quite a while to set his leg and look at his head wound but soon Mike was on a stretcher and being lifted in to the vehicle and away to the hospital.

Christie hurried down to the edge of the jetty but there was no sound of an engine. Suddenly he heard screams and shouting although he couldn’t judge how far out the boat was. Then he heard splashing and more screaming.

He ran back to the house and dialled the emergency services. The operator put him through to the police.

Then he went upstairs and went into Lena’s room.

Molly woke up in a warm bed, although she was still shivering. The nurse came in with two hot water bottles and tucked them under the covers. ‘These will keep you warm,’ she said. ‘I’ll be back later to change them when they get cold.’

To start with, Molly was disorientated and wondered where she was. Then realisation dawned and she tried to sit up. She was in a large ward and some of the other patients were gazing over at her.

The elderly woman in the next bed leaned over.

‘How are you now, dearie? Feeling any better?’

Molly tried to speak but her voice seemed to have deserted her. The entire dreadful incident flashed into her mind and her body shook with an intense bout of shivering. Kenneth and Lena were both dead. She was sure about that because no one could last long in the cold waters of the river.

‘There’s been a policeman sitting by your bedside but I think he’s gone off to get a cup of tea,’ said the woman. Her shrewd grey eyes alive with interest.

Molly was alarmed. ‘A policeman?’ Her voice came out in a whisper. ‘Did he say what he wanted?’

The woman thought for a moment then said, ‘He didn’t speak to me. In fact I don’t think he spoke to anyone except the doctor and nurses, dearie, but I did hear him tell the doctor that he had to question you over the accident.’ She pulled her bed jacket closer to her body, as if she had also been in the river and was suffering from hypothermia.

Joe was also awake but feeling terrible. He had been sick again and his brain felt woozy, like a lump of cotton wool. There was no sign of Kenneth or Lena but he hoped they would hold their tongue over whatever had happened. If only he could remember. No one in the hospital had mentioned the accident, so there was no way he was going to tell the police anything.

Hopefully he would get home soon from the hospital and he would warn Mike to keep quiet as well. He lay back on his pillow, feeling totally drained of energy and sweating heavily. These hospitals were always so hot.

Christie made the hospital visiting time with twenty minutes to spare. He had three patients to see. He decided to see Molly first.

She was sitting up in bed and feeling a lot better. Although she still looked pale and tired, she had managed to eat something and was looking forward to going home. The policeman hadn’t stayed long, much to her neighbour’s dismay, but he would be coming to see her when she got home.

Christie arrived at her bedside with a bunch of flowers and sat down in the chair by the bed. ‘How are you feeling, Molly?’

Molly said she was well on the road to recovery and asked after Joe and Mike.

‘I’m just going to see them both after I leave here.’

Suddenly Molly gripped his hand and she began to cry. ‘They both drowned, didn’t they, Christie? Lena and Kenneth. Why?’

Christie said he didn’t know but perhaps it was an accident.

‘No, it wasn’t. Lena was acting like she was deranged and then we fell into the water. Kenneth saved me first but then he went to try and rescue his sister.’

‘Look, Molly, I have to go and see the other two patients, but I’ll come and see you soon, at your house when you get home. I promise.’

Molly wiped her tears and tried to avoid the scrutiny of the woman in the next bed.

Christie found Mike and Joe in the same ward but while Mike was near the door, Joe was further up on the left-hand side.

Mike’s bed had screens around it and when he asked the nurse on duty, she said he couldn’t have any visitors because he was recovering from an operation on his leg and his head wound had also been treated.

‘I’m a work colleague,’ said Christie. ‘Is he very ill?’

‘He’s got a badly broken leg but there is no skull fracture. Just a very bad cut where the metal rack hit the side of his head and he’s had quite a few stitches in the wound. He’s got concussion and will be in hospital for some time but he’s young and fit and he’ll recover. It’ll just take time.’

Christie thanked her and went in search of Joe. He also had screens around the bed but he could have visitors. He looked terrible. He was unshaven and his eyes still looked a bit dazed. However, he recognised his visitor.

‘Thank goodness you’ve come,’ he said, as soon as Christie had sat down. He sounded upset and worried. ‘Tell Mike not to say a word about Lena and Kenneth. Tell the police it was a domestic argument, and I’ll sort it out with them when I get home.’

Christie was taken aback by this.

‘Joe, you know that Lena and Kenneth are both dead. You were all out on the boat and they drowned in the river. Mike is in this ward too, with a broken leg and head injuries. He’s not allowed any visitors and won’t be speaking to anyone for some time. Molly almost drowned as well but Kenneth saved her. She’s also in this hospital.’

Joe turned his head away.

The bell sounded, heralding the end of visiting time and Christie was relieved to be leaving.

Edna and Mary arrived in the evening to see Molly. They had heard the dreadful news about the event but were both under the impression it was an accident. Molly didn’t want to alarm them so she let them keep that assumption.

After asking her how she was feeling Edna said, ‘The agency is working away fine, Molly.’ She turned to her companion. ‘Mary has been a gem and is still working at Rough and Fraser’s bakery while I’m doing two jobs; helping John Knox with his book and back at the grocer’s shop. Nancy has taken another cold seemingly.

‘Jean is holding the fort on reception. Her husband doesn’t mind her being in the office. It was going out and meeting homicidal maniacs he was worried about.’

After they left, Molly sank down on her pillows and tried to sleep. Perhaps if she managed that, the dreadful memories would vanish.

Still, she was getting home tomorrow and thankfully would be in her own house and able to grieve properly for the dead.

Marigold arrived in the late morning, after the doctors had done their rounds. She looked so healthy and sensible that Molly began to feel better. She had brought a small brown attaché case with clean clothes.

‘Right then,’ she said. ‘Let’s get you home.’

Molly could have cried with relief at her no-nonsense attitude.

‘I’ve got a taxi waiting to take us to the station and I’ve ordered another one at Wormit to take us home.’

Molly was a bit slow at putting on her clothes, as if she had aged ten years in the last few days. Her arms and legs were still weak but the doctor had said she would recover fully; it would just take time. He had wanted her to stay another day or two in hospital but she had persuaded him to let her go home and recover there.

The sun was shining as they got into the taxi and the journey over the Tay Bridge wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. She sat in the middle seat so she couldn’t see the river. However, it was a different matter when she got home.

Marigold had pulled the blinds down in the living room and that helped. She had been taken aback to see the Anglia parked in the drive.

‘I forgot all about the car,’ she said. ‘How did it get back here?’

‘That nice man, Christie, brought it back. He was on his way to the ferry so he drove it from Cliff Top House.’

She sat beside Molly and took her hand. ‘Try and forget all what’s happened.’

‘I wish I could Marigold but I can’t. I keep seeing Lena and Kenneth’s faces and Joe lying there. If Kenneth hadn’t saved me I would have drowned as well.’ Then without warning, she burst into tears. Marigold made sympathetic noises and told her to cry for as long as she wanted. ‘Better to get the grief out than store it up Molly.’ Then Marigold went to get a clean handkerchief for her tears.