Read Palmer-Jones 04 - A Prey to Murder for Free Online Page B

Environment rings on their legs. Perhaps there was not such a contradition after all in Eleanor’s attitude to Fenn. She could be determined that the peregrines on her hill should be allowed to live in the wild while admiring Fenn’s skill with raptors which had been bred and reared in captivity. All the same he was disappointed in her.
    While George was watching the falconry Molly walked on, past the other stalls, to the quiet corner of the garden where the folk singers were performing. There she saw Helen and her young man, lying together on the grass. They did not notice her. She was a shabby, elderly lady with cropped hair and schoolboy glasses, hidden in the crowd. Besides they would hardly notice anyone because they were so absorbed in each other. Molly watched the young people with pleasure and amusement. How intense they were, how happy and vulnerable! She watched Laurie run off up the slope and saw Helen wander sadly away in the opposite direction.
    Molly did not follow Laurie. She was interested in people but did not have the sort of curiosity which needs to pry. She had been looking for George and saw the boy again much later, quite by chance. He was behind the row of poplars which marked the boundary of the birds’ weathering ground and which hid the stallholders’ cars and vans from the event. He was talking to a small middle-aged man. They were half hidden by a parked Range-Rover. They were talking in angry whispers and it seemed to Molly that the man just wanted the boy to go away. He was looking around him, so concerned that he might be overheard that he did not give the boy his full attention.
    ‘Steve said you’d be here,’ Laurie said.
    ‘He had no right to say anything.’
    ‘He thinks you’re going to give him a job.’
    ‘Carry on like this and you’re going to lose me my job.’
    ‘Leave us alone,’ Laurie said desperately. ‘We’re all right. We don’t need you now. Don’t upset the kids again.’
    ‘I’m not here to cause bother,’ the man said. ‘ I won’t come near the house. I won’t try to see your mother. I’m here with my work.’
    He had begun to whine and Molly could sense the boy’s disappointment in the man who must be his father.
    ‘Look,’ the man said, ‘I thought Steve might like to help me. I thought I could do him a favour. Just clear off now will you or you’ll get me into trouble.’
    ‘Dad …’ Perhaps the boy was preparing some gesture of reconciliation or understanding but the man turned away.
    ‘I’ve got work to do,’ he said. ‘Clear off.’ He set off with a rolling, swaggering walk down the drive, away from the house.
    Molly watched him go through the gate and into the lane. The boy watched him too, then slowly followed.
    Molly found George on the other side of the weathering ground. The birds had finished their last display and the area was quite empty of people. The birds were in a field invisible from the other stalls and it was very peaceful there. Fenn stood looking at his watch and frowning.
    ‘My assistant’s disappeared,’ he said. ‘I was hoping to leave soon. Have you seen Eleanor? I thought she might come to see me. I haven’t seen her since this morning.’ But he seemed not to expect them to respond and walked away to sit in his Range-Rover beyond the line of poplars. He tapped impatiently on the wheel, and looked at his watch again.
    Molly and George went to the conservatory where Veronica was serving tea. It was late afternoon and the crowd in the garden was beginning to disperse. A snake of cars was winding down the hill towards the town. The conservatory was nearly empty and Veronica brought the tea herself. She seemed tired and strained but she kept up her bright chatter to the ladies of the WI who had been recruited to help her serve the pots of tea and plates of scones. They seemed able to maintain the thread of conversation despite the numerous interruptions as customers gave their orders, and George marvelled at