Shed transferred from the West Midlands as an outsider, the new girl who had to prove herself. It had been a struggle at times, just as shed expected. But shed been focused, and shed worked hard. And now she got a lot of respect, though it was mostly from people she despised.
Fry went to the window, thinking shed heard a car in the street. But she could see no vehicles, not even pedestrians passing on their way home for the night. All she could see out there was Edendale.
No, wait. There was someone. Two figures parting on the corner, so close to the edge of her field of view that she had to press her forehead to the window pane to see them. A second later, one of the figures came into focus, walking towards the house. Angie.
Fry pulled away from the window before she was seen, and went into the kitchen. Two minutes later, she heard Angies key in the lock.
Hi, Sis.
Hi. Had a good day?
Sure.
What have you been doing?
Angie had that secret little smile on her face as she took off her denim jacket. It was hard for Diane to know how to feel towards her sister. She knew she ought to be glad that Angie looked so much better than when she first moved in. Her skin was less pallid now, her eyes not quite so shadowed, her wrists and shoulders less painfully thin and bony. Anyone who didnt know them might not be able to guess which sister was the recovering heroin addict.
Yet Diane was unable to suppress a resentment that was there every day now, barely below the surface of their relationship. No sooner had she been reunited with Angie than her sister had started to drift away from her again, and this time it seemed more personal. Would it have been different if shed found Angie herself, without the interference of Ben Cooper? She would never know.
Actually, Ive got myself a job, said Angie.
What?
Did you think I was going to sponge off you for ever, Di? Im going to pay you some rent.
Angie kicked off her shoes and collapsed on the settee. Diane realized she was hovering in the doorway like a disapproving parent, so she perched on the edge of an armchair.
Thats great, she said. What sort of job?
There was that smile again. Angie felt among the cushions for the remote and switched on the TV. Im going to work in a bar.
You mean youre going to serve behind a bar, said Diane carefully.
Angie looked at her, and laughed at her expression. What did you think, I was going to be a lap dancer or something? Do they have Spearmint Rhino in Edendale?
Diane didnt laugh. She tried to force herself to relax. What pub are you going to work in?
The Feathers. Do you know it?
Ive heard of it.
Ive done a bit of barmaid work before, so Ill be fine. A few tips, and Ill even have some spending money. Arent you pleased, Sis?
In her head, Diane was running through the wording of Police Regulations. Regulation 7 restricted the business interests of police officers and any members of their family living with them, including brothers and sisters.
As long as youre not going to be a licensee, or Id have to get permission from the Chief Constable.
She tried to say it lightly, but Angie flicked off the TV and stared at her in horror.
Youve got to be bloody joking.
No.
Your chuffing Chief Constable cant run my life. So what if he didnt give permission? What does he think he could do to me?
Nothing, said Diane. But Id have to resign from the force.
Oh, tough.
Angie bounced back on to her feet and picked up her shoes as she went towards her bedroom. Diane began to get unreasonably angry.
Angie
Her sister turned for a second before she disappeared. Quite honestly, Di, resigning from that bloody job of yours would be the best thing you could do. And then maybe Id get back the sister I remember.
Angie bounced back on to her feet and picked up her shoes as she went towards her bedroom. Diane began to get unreasonably angry.
Angie
Her sister turned for a second before she disappeared. Quite honestly, Di, resigning from that bloody job of yours would be the best thing you could do. And then maybe Id get back the sister I remember.
Diane remained staring at the door as it slammed behind Angie. She didnt know what else to think, except that shed never got a chance to ask who the man was shed seen on the corner of the street.
Ben Cooper felt as though hed been walking through hospital corridors for half an hour. He was sure hed turned left at a nurses station a hundred yards back, yet here was another one that looked exactly the same. Had hospitals always been so anonymous, or was it just a result of the latest improvements at Edendale General?
And then, in the corridor ahead, he saw a familiar figure wearing worn denim jeans and a thick sweater with holes at the elbows. Cooper smiled with relief. His brother Matt looked totally out of place in a hospital. For a start, Matt was built on a different scale to the nurses who passed him. His hands and shoulders looked awkward and too big, as if he might break anything fragile he came near. He wasnt a man youd want to let loose among hypodermic needles and intravenous drips.
He also looked far too healthy to be inside a hospital, even as a visitor. Constant exposure to the sun and weather had given a deep, earthy colouring to his skin that contrasted with the clinical white, the pale pastels of the newly painted walls.
Matt looked up and began to move towards him. He put his arm round his brothers shoulder, a rare gesture of affection that made Bens heart lurch with apprehension.
Ive spoken to the doctor, said Matt. Not the top man, just some houseman or whatever they call them. Come down to the waiting room. We can get a cup of tea.
I want to see Mum.
Shes asleep, Ben. They say she needs to rest. Actually, I think they gave her something to put her out.
Matt
Come on, its this way. I think the WI still do a canteen for visitors, so the tea should be all right.
Ben felt he was being swept along by his brother, dragged in his wake. Almost the way it had been with their father for so many years.
Matt, never mind the tea. I need to know how Mum is now. What happened?
Instead of answering, Matt began to move along the corridor again. He was a couple of inches taller than his brother, and much heavier. Ben knew it was pointless trying to dig in his heels, and tried to keep up with his brothers stride instead. He felt a warm flush of resentment starting, a rush of anger that he knew was born of fear.
Tea, said Matt. And then Ill tell you everything I know.
Matt Cooper walked carefully back across the hospital cafeteria balancing two cups of coffee. He looked terrified of spilling liquid on the polished vinyl tiles, in case someone slipped and broke a leg. An accident in a hospital would seem worse than one that happened anywhere else, somehow.
Ben wrapped his hands around the cup, needing only the warmth and the comfort of watching the movement of steam anything to settle his impatience.
Kate says she saw you earlier today, said Matt. Your car was parked on Scratter.
Where?
Scratter. The road between Wardlow and Monsal Head. Thats what they call it.
Ben frowned. Come on, Matt, get on with it.
His brother sighed as he eased himself into a chair. It seems Mum had a bit of a fall at the nursing home.
What do you mean it seems?
Well, all right she had a fall. But the staff at Old School arent sure how it happened. And you know how confused Mum gets. I managed to speak to her before they sedated her, and she hadnt a clue where she was.
How badly is she injured?
Shes broken her hip.
Shit.
I know. And they think she might have banged her head when she fell, too. She was very dazed, and couldnt really remember anything.
Somebody from the nursing home ought to be here, said Ben. Why arent they here? Its their responsibility.
Ben, calm down. The senior nurse came to the hospital with her and stayed for two hours until I sent her back. The managers been on the phone twice to see how Mum is. Theyre all concerned about her.
So they should be. Theyve got some questions to answer.
Matt took a drink of his coffee, but Ben didnt even lift his cup. He found that his hand was shaking with anger, and he knew he would only spill it.
Someone had left a copy of the evening paper on the table, folded to the top half of the front page. Ben could see only the first inch of a photograph above the fold, but he recognized it straight away. Hed been looking at it for a large part of the day. At least Media Relations had done their job properly.
When will Mum be awake? he said.
They want to keep her sedated until they can do the X-rays and get her into theatre. Tomorrow we can talk to her, perhaps. But we can go and sit with her for a few minutes, if we ask the sister.
Ben stared at his cooling coffee. It looked particularly unappealing now that the steam had vanished.
Lets do that, then.
Its just a fall, Ben. A broken hip sounds bad at first, but shes not all that old.
Dont you know what head injuries are like? Even a minor knock Ben stopped, took a deep breath. OK, Im sorry. You think Im overreacting.
Yes, you are.
Sorry, Matt, he said again. Work, you know
Getting you down again?
Ben didnt like the again part. As they walked back down the corridor towards the ward, he felt another surge of anger. He put his hand on Matts arm.
Whats the name of the manager at Old School?
Robinson. Why?
When I leave here, Im going to go and see him.
Ben, you wouldnt do any good.
I need to know exactly how this happened, and what theyre going to do about it.
Matt took hold of his arm, gripping a little too tightly. His face was flushed a deeper red than usual, and he was breathing too heavily.
Im warning you dont start lashing out at everyone you can find, Ben. You cant get rid of your guilt feelings this way.
Broken earth lay under her feet, like shards of glass. Two days of rain had splashed her legs with mud, and now it lay dark and damp in the cracks between her toes and in the line of an old fracture on her left thigh. Ants had emerged from the leaf mould on the woodland floor to wander among the stiff folds of her dress and crawl across her hands. One of them paused at her scentless flowers before climbing upwards. But it didnt seem to know what to do when it reached her head. It wasnt aware of the sky, or even of Alder Hall Woods. The ant saw only its own tiny patch of her body an inch of her neck, its surface white and hard, and smooth to the touch.