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Late winter rains had swelled the rivers on either since of the village to twice their usual sizes, burst their banks, and turned Stonecrop into a giant boating lake. At least now the rain had subsided to a sullen drizzle.
Daniela paused at the top of the high street – the only street, really – to light a cigarette. It took her three attempts to spark her lighter.
Television footage of flooded towns always looked surreal. Water lapping at sandbagged doors. Residents in wellies. Cars submerged to their wheel-arches. Hanging baskets dangling serenely from lamp-posts like botanical lifeboats. It was so unreal to Daniela, to return to a place she knew so well, and find it like this. A kind of jarring nostalgia.
Her eyes sought out the details that’d changed. A plastic sign had replaced the metal one above the Corner Shoppe; the estate agent’s had been torn down to leave a gaping hole, and the antiques emporium that her dad had once co-owned was abandoned, its windows filmed with dust. Out of three businesses in the village, only one had survived.
But beneath the surface, the heart of the village was unaltered. Stonecrop maintained that quaint, chocolate-box appearance, like it was illustrating a magazine article about house prices in the rural midlands. The ruddy brickwork exteriors had seen few renovations. It was as if a lid had come down on Stonecrop when Daniela left, sealing everything in stasis. She wondered what she’d hoped to find. An untouched childhood memory? The entire village razed in an unreported hurricane?
Most of the community had been evacuated, but a few stubborn residents remained. Halfway along the street, where a natural dip caused a deep pool, a group of people were shoring up a garden wall. Two men in fishermen’s waders judiciously applied sandbags. A middle-aged woman – Margaret McKearney, Daniela recognised with a jolt, who owned the Shoppe and was apparently impervious to ageing – stood with her skirts hiked up to show off her flowery wellies, while she distributed cups of tea from a thermos.
And at the far edge of the pool, supervising the work while eating a chocolate digestive, was Sergeant Stephanie Cain.
She too had changed little in the seven years since Daniela had left. Maybe a touch heavier around the middle and below the eyes, a bit older and more tired, with the weight of the extra years on her shoulders. She’d always been big and broad, like their father. The police vest made her look dumpy. Daniela’s eyes flicked to the kit on the vest – handcuffs, incapacitant spray, torch, extendable baton. Prepared for everything.
Stephanie Cain was comfy in her role of village police officer, up to her shins in floodwater, with her police-issue waders and her chocolate biscuit. She’d found her place. Daniela felt a pang of jealousy.
Steeling herself, she waded towards the group.
Stephanie spotted her. Daniela watched the play of emotions across the officer’s face: polite alertness until she recognised Daniela, then surprise, disbelief … ah, and anger. That came an instant before the sergeant’s expression closed up like a door slamming.
At least now Daniela didn’t have to wonder if Stephanie was still upset.
Daniela stopped and waited. She didn’t want to interact with anyone other than her sister.
Stephanie took a circuitous route around the flooded dip in the road. Daniela discarded the butt of her cigarette into the water, and the sergeant’s eyes flicked to it. Her annoyance gave Daniela a petty satisfaction. In a perverse way, Daniela was looking forward to this fight.
Stephanie halted ten feet away. Like she didn’t trust herself to get too close.
‘This road’s closed,’ Stephanie said.
Despite everything, Daniela laughed. ‘Is that how you’ll greet me? You’ve got a million things you’d rather say.’
‘Why are you here?’
‘See, that’s what I’d expect. Want to maybe say I’ve got some nerve coming back home?’
Sergeant Cain’s mouth drew into a thin, angry line. The tips of her ears reddened.
‘Come on,’ Daniela said, still smiling. ‘Let’s sit down and talk, yeah?’
‘I’m busy.’
‘Too busy for family? That’s a shocking state of affairs, Steph.’
Stephanie swore under her breath. She glanced at the other villagers, who’d noticed Daniela’s arrival and were peering over. The two men were whispering. Margaret looked like she’d seen a ghost.
‘All right,’ Stephanie said. ‘We can talk. Quickly. I’ve got work to do.’
‘The water can supervise itself for ten minutes, Steph.’ Daniela cast a long look around the flooded village, then smiled at her big sister. ‘So, how about the pub? Is it still open, or have the ducks taken over?’
The Crossed Swords stood at the junction between the high street and Winterbridge Farm Road. The land there was slightly higher, leaving the pub currently marooned on a tiny island some hundred yards wide. But it hadn’t escaped unscathed. The basement was flooded, and water lapped the back door. A defensive barrier of sandbags blocked the entrance to the car park. The building looked like a castle with an unruly moat.
Daniela stepped over the sandbags ungainly in her wellies and damp jeans. A welcome light burned in the windows of the Crossed Swords. Daniela was more than ready to be inside in the warm.
‘Does Chris Roberts still own this place?’ Daniela asked.
‘Yes.’
That was all the conversation Daniela had coaxed out of Stephanie so far. To be fair, Daniela hadn’t said much either. Everything she had to say needed careful wording. Otherwise she could ruin everything. Again.
Above the door, trailing wisteria partially obscured the sign depicting two painted swords on a black background. Fat green leaves dripped water onto the flagstones. Pockets of flood debris dirtied the corners of the doorway.
It felt strange to walk on dry ground after so long wading. Daniela felt lighter, less tired. The door opened with a wash of warm air. Daniela wondered whether to take her boots off, but, judging by the carpet, the other patrons hadn’t bothered.
A few things had changed since Daniela’s last visit. A partition wall had been knocked through from the main lounge into the gentleman’s bar at the back. Plasma screens hung in pride of place. But the décor, a combination of muted browns and vibrant oranges, looked so much like home that a lump formed in Daniela’s throat.
A familiar face was behind the bar as well. ‘Morning, Sergeant,’ Chris Roberts called. ‘Not here on business, are you?’
The landlord was a slight man with a receding hairline and square glasses. He looked like he’d wandered behind the bar by accident. But his constant bemusement meant no one could ever dislike him. At present, he was seated near the cash register with a newspaper spread out on the bar.
His head tilted as he peered around Stephanie, blinking to focus. When he recognised Daniela, he put a hand to his chest in over-dramatic surprise.
‘Daniela?’ he asked. ‘Young Daniela Cain? Now, is that really you?’
Daniela waved in acknowledgement. ‘Hey, Chris. How’s business?’
‘All washed up.’ Chris cackled. ‘You’d think everyone would want to drown their sorrows, but most of them have scarpered. All my precious customers.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘So, what can I get you, youngster? Bottled lager only, I’m afraid. The pumps are off. The bitter’s on a hand-pump though, if you fancy.’
Daniela deferred to Stephanie, but the officer had already sat down by the window, where she resolutely faced forwards. She took off her hat, placed it on the table top, then clasped her hands. Her black hair was pulled back into an austere bun.
‘Pint of bitter for me,’ Daniela said to Chris. ‘Better make it a coffee for the big lady.’
Chris nodded as he rose from his chair. ‘You’d think normal rules about drinking at work could be suspended, given the flooding. But she’s a stickler.’
Daniela searched her pockets and came up with enough change to cover two drinks, just. She’d brought only limited funds and had to be careful. She eyed the price list while Chris fiddled with the coffee maker at the back of the bar. That was another thing that’d changed.
She glanced at the lights above the bar. ‘I see the power’s still on.’
‘More or less,’ Chris said. ‘They told us we only needed to shut the electricity off if the building flooded out. Since that’s not happened, I figured we’ll leave it on for now. Plus, we’ve got the emergency generator out back if things get desperate. I reckon we can stay open so long as the toilets still flush. That’s the important thing, right? So, are you staying, or is this a flying visit?’
‘I’m not sure.’ Daniela avoided looking at her sister. ‘It kinda depends. Might be a day, or a couple of days.’
‘Well, if you need somewhere to bunk, we’ve got rooms. Can even give you mates’ rates, since we’re not technically open for staying guests.’ Chris lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. ‘Just don’t tell the rozzers, yeah?’
Daniela returned his grin. ‘I’ll think about it. Thanks, man.’
It felt good to talk to the landlord again. It was as if Daniela had only been gone a few weeks, which was bittersweet. So much had changed for her.
Daniela took the drinks to the table and sat opposite her sister. Stephanie had switched her gaze so she stared out at the flooded streets. She could’ve been thinking about anything. Beneath her chin was a crescent-shaped scar, where she’d been hit with a golf club, years ago.
Daniela sipped her drink then pulled off her boots and turned them upside down in the vain hope they’d dry out. She considered taking her socks off but thought that might be impolite. She circled her weak left ankle, which always ached when it was damp.
‘This place was better before the smoking ban,’ Daniela said. She sniffed. ‘All you smell now is cheap bleach and old alcohol.’
‘That was ten years ago,’ Stephanie said. ‘You weren’t old enough to be in here then.’
‘When did that ever stop us?’
At last Stephanie looked at her. ‘Get to the point,’ she said. ‘I’m supposed to be working.’
‘We’re all supposed to be somewhere. If I had any choice I wouldn’t be here. Not right now, anyways.’
‘Why are you here?’
Daniela hesitated. ‘Well now. What explanation would you like? I can—’
‘The truth would be a nice change.’
‘That goes without saying. But what variant of truth? I can give you a tear-jerking breakdown, or a bald statement of facts, or—’
‘You need money.’
Daniela winced. ‘Okay, we’re going for stark, unvarnished truth.’
‘I’m not giving you money, Dani.’
It’d been years since anyone called her Dani. Heat flushed her face. ‘It’s not as bad as you assume,’ she said carefully. ‘I don’t want your money.’
‘So, why’re you wasting my time?’
‘I want my money, Steph.’ Daniela sipped her drink. ‘The money Dad left me. That shouldn’t be problem, right?’
Stephanie eyed the cup of coffee on the table. Her need for a warm drink was apparently less urgent than her wish to stay angry with her younger sister, and she pushed the cup away.
‘You can’t have it,’ Stephanie said.
‘I understand there’ll be procedures. Paperwork. It’ll take time. What I’m hoping is—’
‘You can’t have it. There’s no money, Dani.’
Daniela’s smile slipped. ‘What d’you mean?’
‘Dad left you a share of the house.’ Stephanie clasped her hands on the table again. A police officer’s pose; demonstrating calm, concern, patience. ‘Once it’s been sold, you’ll get some of the money.’
‘It’s not sold yet? Steph, it was two years ago.’
‘Three. There didn’t seem any hurry to sell.’
Daniela sat back. It was a disappointment, but not unexpected. If the house had been sold and the money released, someone would’ve told her. ‘So, what? It’s sitting empty?’
‘No.’
‘No? C’mon. If I have to drag every answer out of you—’
‘Auryn’s living there.’
Daniela’s eyes widened. ‘Auryn’s here?’
‘She was. She left a few days ago, before the floods got bad.’
‘God, I thought she’d got out long ago. Isn’t she a barrister in London?’
‘Solicitor.’
‘So, what happened? Why’d she come back?’
Stephanie paused. ‘Some kind of breakdown,’ she said. ‘I said she could come home, since no one was using the house, while she got her head together.’
Daniela’s fingers tightened around the glass. Despite everything, she still felt protective of Auryn, the baby of the family, who’d always been quiet and withdrawn, especially compared to the rest of them. Stephanie and Franklyn had looked out for Auryn in their own way, but it’d been Daniela who was closest to her. For a time, anyway.
‘Glad the old house is still in the family,’ Daniela said, with what she hoped was a sincere smile. ‘Lots of memories in that place. I’m surprised you’re not living there as well.’
‘Why would I go back?’
‘Same reason you never left Stonecrop. It’s comfortable and reassuring. Are you still living next to the police station in Hackett or have you found somewhere a bit more … separate from your work?’
Stephanie gave her an unfriendly look. ‘Listen, until the house gets sold there’s no money for you. So, you can take your sob story elsewhere.’
‘That’s harsh.’ Daniela adopted a thoughtful look. ‘But there’s other money, right? Dad’s investments. His savings. You got the pay-out from the insurance company—’
‘That’s nothing to do with you.’
Daniela leaned forwards. ‘I’m asking for a favour, Steph. I know what you’re like – you’ve got that money stashed in an account somewhere, nice and safe. I need—’
‘You need a slap. A favour?’ Stephanie laughed without humour. ‘The best favour you could’ve done would be staying gone. What do you need money for anyway? Drugs? Loan sharks? The old ladies at Payday-Cash-4-U coming to break your legs?’
‘I’m not asking for anything that isn’t mine.’
‘Technically you are.’
‘It’d just be a loan, all right?’ Daniela resisted the urge to shout. ‘A small amount to tide me over. Once the sale of the house goes through, I’ll see you right.’
Stephanie sat back and folded her arms. ‘How much?’ she asked.
Daniela moistened her lips. ‘Well, I’m due eighty-five grand once the house is sold …’
‘The house isn’t worth that much anymore.’
