Angel Kiss - Laura Jane Cassidy [57]
This was crazy. Des was going out with my mum. I was pretty sure she really liked him. I just couldn’t understand why nobody had told us this sooner.
‘If he didn’t do it, then who did?’ I asked.
‘The killer hasn’t been found,’ said Lydia flatly. ‘But I know Des isn’t capable of murder. You and Rachel have nothing to worry about. He didn’t do it.’ She sounded so sure.
Nevertheless I couldn’t just ignore what I’d heard. I would have to tell Mum. How on earth was I going to tell her that the guy she really likes and has been dating was a suspected murderer?
I made the walk back home last as long as I could. I wanted to let Mum have a few more carefree minutes. Also, I had to decide the best way to tell her. She might think I was overreacting, exaggerating whatever I’d heard because I didn’t want her to go out with Des any more. She thought I didn’t like him. But the truth was I’d got to like him a lot and thought he was a really nice guy. I didn’t want Mum to go out with anyone, but I guess, if she was going to date, it might as well be someone like Des. That was before I’d gone into the shop of course. Before I’d overheard Sergeant Reynolds. I put in my earphones and played some music to help me focus. To help me figure out what I was going to say.
When I got back to the caravan Mum was crouched down, rooting through the cupboard.
‘I’m making pancakes,’ she said. ‘Want one?’
‘No, thanks,’ I answered. I took a deep breath.
‘Is there something up?’ she said, abandoning her search and standing up. She must have known there was something wrong as pancakes were a favourite of mine.
‘There’s something I have to tell you …’ The details all came pouring out: what I’d overheard in the shop and what Lydia had said. Mum’s eyes widened, and for a few seconds she said nothing. When she eventually spoke her reaction was pretty much the same as mine.
‘Why did nobody tell us this?’ she said, sitting down at the table and shaking her head in disbelief. She didn’t sound as angry as me – just really upset.
‘Not everybody thinks he did it,’ I said. ‘But Sergeant Reynolds seemed pretty sure he’s guilty. I think you should be careful, Mum.’
‘I will be,’ she answered. She went back to making pancakes and didn’t say anything else about it for the rest of the evening.
Chapter 18
Candy floss – possibly one of the greatest foods in the world. A delightfully fluffy little cloud of sugar. Sticky and sweet and wonderful. Colin and I walked around the fête with two huge helpings of it, struggling to protect it from the crowds of people milling down the main street. The road had been closed to cars for the day and stalls now spanned its length, selling everything from handmade jewellery to chocolate-chip muffins. At one table you could get a henna tattoo and at another you could learn how a bodhrán is made. You could get your fortune told or your tealeaves read; you could buy a friendship bracelet or a patchwork quilt, a crystal to hang in your window or a framed photograph to put on your wall. The fête didn’t have one particular theme: it was a wonderful mish-mash of all kinds of different things.
Multicoloured bunting joined the buildings and helium heart and star-shaped balloons were tied to each stall, trying to break free into the overcast sky. Mary stood in the middle of the crowd, staring up at a grey cloud hovering overhead, with a look that said Don’t you dare try to ruin my fête. She really had done a super job in organizing this event, but there was nothing she could do about the weather. She whipped a black walkie-talkie off her belt and spoke into it. ‘Check the rain cover for the generator. Over.’
A stage had been erected in front of the hall. Music was to be played there all day and a list of acts and times was written on a chalkboard beside the steps. Upcoming performances ranged from a string quartet to a gospel choir to a group of guys doing Metallica covers. The headliners were the highly respected Avarna Céilí Band, and I was really looking forward to seeing them. Right now a swing band was treating