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‘I should have been meeting him at the hospital to go and visit Mum?’
    ‘Oh yeah. Will he be all right about it?’ Richard remembered what she’d said about her stepfather being a bully. It troubled him. ‘Tell him what happened. What you did. How you helped me.’
    ‘No.’ A short silence. And then: ‘No, he wouldn’t understand.’ She half-smiled, just one corner of her lips lifting. ‘You know? Picking up a stranger. He’d be bound to have a go at me for that.’ She tossed her hair back. ‘Not that it’s anything to do with him.’ Her words didn’t hide her nervousness.
    ‘But you’ll be okay? I could come with you to tell him what happened?’
    ‘No.’ She spoke sharply. Then her voice softened. ‘No, I’ll be fine. Honest.’ The way she jangled the keys in her hand showed her impatience to leave.
    ‘Right. Well, thanks again, then. See you around?’
    ‘I’d like that,’ she said. ‘Look, I know you’re only here for an interview … that you don’t live here. But I would like to see you again. I’m free Friday night?’
    ‘Yeah?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Oh.’ Richard grinned. He didn’t think he’d ever smiled this much. ‘ Gwych … great. And you never know, if I do get a place I’ll be up here all the time. Well, in Manchester, anyway. I didn’t ask you where you lived.’
    ‘Not far. Just outside Bradlow. Little village called Mossbridge.’
    ‘Okay.’
    ‘Have you a pen?’
    Richard looked around. ‘I don’t…’
    ‘There’s one there, by the newspaper. And a pencil.’ She wrote on the top margin of the crossword. ‘This is the number you can get me on. Give me a ring.’
    ‘I will.’
    ‘Between four and five in the afternoon’s best. I’ll be home from college then.’
    ‘Okay.’ He walked with her to the front door. ‘Still raining,’ he said, ‘so be careful driving home.’
    ‘I’ll be fine.’ Karen stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Even in her high-heeled boots she was still smaller than him. ‘Ring me.’
    ‘Yeah. Noso da.’
    ‘Welsh again?’
    ‘Yeah. Means good night.’
    ‘Oh. Nos da, then?’ Her pronunciation made him laugh. He was relieved when she joined in.
    Richard watched her drive off and turn onto Shaw Street before closing the door. He touched his cheek. His fingers brushed against his hearing-aid. She hadn’t mentioned it. And she couldn’t have missed it. He smiled to himself.
    Ted came out of kitchen, two mugs in his hands. ‘She gone? I thought…’
    ‘She had to. But I think she’ll be back sometime, Uncle, if that’s okay.’
    ‘Aye, fine. Now…’ Ted handed one of the mugs to Richard. ‘We must ring your mum and dad. Let them know you’re here.’

Chapter 8: Mary & Peter Schormann
    Llamroth, evening: Wednesday, September 17th
    ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have told Richard about Victoria?’ Mary Schormann replaced the telephone receiver but left her hand resting on it.
    ‘What did he say?’ Her husband touched the head of the large Alsatian dog that leaned against him, whining. ‘Quiet, Gelert.’
    ‘Not a lot – only for us not to worry, she’ll be back.’ Her forehead crinkled. ‘He said it had been a long day. It sounded as though he’d had a difficult journey.’ Always reluctant to speak on the telephone because of his hearing, her son had sounded even more strained than usual. ‘I hope he’s all right; it’s only a few weeks since his last operation.’
    ‘A small operation, Mary. And as you say, it is the last. And the university would not wait much longer; his interview has been deferred already. He is lucky they understood.’
    ‘Well, quite right they did!’
    A thought came to her, something she didn’t want to acknowledge but knew she must; the twins had always been close. ‘You don’t think he knows … knew what she was going to do, do you, Peter?’ Would he have deceived them as well?
    ‘ Nein. No. I am sure not.’ Her husband shook his head. ‘Richard is sensible,