The Way We Were_ A Novel - Marcia Willett [111]
‘And what's in it for Cat? Why is she so keen to lay her hands on this statue that she comes prowling round like a burglar?’
‘I can't think why you all dislike her so much.’
‘Can't you, love? Well, you'll just have to use your imagination and your memory. As for the Merlin, Liv said that you'd mentioned it in an email, and I've had a quick scout round but I think the best thing is for you to come and look for it yourself. It's probably one of a thousand cheap copies of this statue you're so excited about, otherwise we would never have let you play with it when you were children. Can you honestly believe we'd have allowed you to use even a slightly valuable statue as a toy? Liv says you need to get real and I agree with her. Anyway, I suspect that it must have got lost during the move to Washington because none of us can find it. Feel free to come and search. You, not Cat. Will you do that, Andy?’
‘OK,’ he said reluctantly, after another silence. ‘But if you're really sure it's just a cheap copy there's not much point, is there?’
‘Not really. And, Andy, keep Cat off our backs. If you can't resist her that's your bad luck. We don't want to know, perhaps because our memories are better than yours. She's always been a troublemaker. She's lied to me and to Caroline, prowled round our houses and nearly got Liv the sack. And don't tell me that she's changed. I've just met her again and I'm not impressed.’
‘OK,’ he said again, sulkily. ‘You've made your point, Mum.’
‘Good,’ she said lightly. ‘Zack's home tonight and Caroline's about to pop so I'll telephone when I've got some good news. Night, love.’
Julia sat for some moments, still holding the telephone. She hated to pull the heavy mother act, though sometimes it was necessary; but had it succeeded this time? She'd felt it was important to make the point strongly even though it was fairly clear that Cat had been working off her own initiative.
‘Please don't let him be in love with her,’ she prayed.
She raised her head, saw her reflection loom at her in the windowpane, and realized with a little shock of fear that it was getting dark. Jumping up quickly, she hurried to draw the curtains, something she never did in the summer. When she let Frobisher out, she hooked the bag on her arm and took the torch. She strayed hardly any distance from the door but stood waiting anxiously until he returned and they both went back inside. Every window was checked, the doors locked before she took Frobisher upstairs with her, the bag still hooked over her arm. How empty the house felt; how silent. Frobisher padded round the room and then settled down at the end of the bed.
Julia bundled the Merlin into the bedside cupboard and undressed, alert to any noise: was that the creak of a floorboard beneath a stealthy foot or simply the wind rising? Quickly she climbed into bed and picked up her book but she was too anxious, and her head was too full of memories, to be able to concentrate.
1977
‘You were right,’ Julia says to Aunt Em a few days later. ‘Pete and I have had it out but I didn't accuse him. I waited, like you said, and I didn't say a word about the phone call. In the end it all happened very naturally.’ She explains about Angela and the books and Pete's reaction once he'd heard the other side of the story. ‘He was furious,’ she says. ‘Something changed in him. Once we'd talked about it properly, not me accusing and him defending like we usually do, it was all different. We were on the same side at last. Honestly, I felt so good, and when Angela turned up I just saw her off. It was amazing. I almost felt sorry for her. I could see exactly what you meant about my fear allowing her to manipulate our marriage. I felt so confident.’
‘But?’ prompts Em, seeing her frown.
‘Well, it's nothing really. It was just that, even while I was feeling that new confidence, I had a strange sense that it wasn't all over. But the weirdest thing was that the threat seemed to come from Cat rather than Angela. She was teasing Charlie and Zack and I was afraid for