The Bridal Party, page 15
‘So you think he’s capable of cheating on her too?’
‘What?’ Nada flusters. A pang of guilt gnaws at her gut.
‘Yeah, that’s what I was saying. He’s a cheater; anyone who is that jealous and controlling has to be. They fear in their partners what they see in themselves.’
They all look at Nada.
‘Maybe,’ she murmurs, a little unconvincingly. ‘He seems to be really into Clarisse, though.’
‘And when has that ever been enough for men like him?’ says Gaia. ‘He’s got that backpacker vibe, hasn’t he? Like he’s ready to have sex in a hostel dorm one moment, then talk about his girlfriend back home the next.’
Afreya laughs loudly at this. ‘Well, that’s one way to put it …’
‘I don’t know,’ Nada says, suddenly cutting through the laughter. She is not thinking; she blurts it out. ‘But if he is cheating on her, then that’s a serious thing. I don’t think we should be laughing about it.’
There is a momentary pause: Gaia gives Nada a queer look.
‘Hang on a second,’ Afreya says, looking past them, her eyes widening. ‘Is that him?’
Nada swivels in her seat, and her heart sinks. Noah is standing at the bar, looking around.
What the hell is he doing here?
Now
Twenty-One
Nada was paralysed; wedged into her seat. Panic rose within her, unstoppable, uncontrollable, making her hyperventilate, her heart beginning to pump at a hundred miles an hour.
She looked around the table; every face was a mask of horror, of shock.
Every face apart from Clarisse’s.
‘Members of the Hunt,’ Tamsyn announced, going back to her seat. ‘Read your parchments.’
Nada had forgotten about the parchments on the table. She tried to calm herself, to breathe, to keep the panic at bay. Her hands trembling, she took up the paper in front of her, and turned it over.
You are responsible. You came and went from the inn that night, ensuring the Nun was in her room, unsuspecting, while your friends committed the murderous deed. You sang her songs and spoke poetry, fully knowing that your companions were preparing a killing. Without you providing a smokescreen, the Nun would have discovered the truth; the crime would have been punished.
You must hide this; do not reveal your part in this death unless forced to do so.
You must act like a jester; a carefree joker, whose role it is never to take anything seriously, to have no alliances to anyone.
When it is your turn, confront the Doctor. Ask her about her oath, and whether she was truly convinced that the Traveller was dead.
Nada put the parchment back down, a sick feeling in her throat.
‘I will ask the questions first,’ said Tamsyn. ‘Then, one by one, we will question each other, turning the screw until we get the answer. Do not stop until you are satisfied; we are here to find the truth, the one responsible for the death of the Traveller. Noblewoman, I will start with you.’
Gaia’s face darkened.
‘Why were you at the inn that night?’
Her eyes flicked down to her parchment, taking in its information again.
‘Noblewoman?’
She swallowed, and read aloud in as even a tone as she could manage. ‘I was there to celebrate our travels; our good fortune on the road.’
‘You are close to the Nun, are you not?’
‘Yes. She is mainly in the nearby church; but when she can, she comes to my castle. We play games, amusing ourselves with music and literature. She teaches me about the Lord.’ Gaia gritted her teeth; sweat beaded on her veined brow.
‘Did you like the Traveller? Well?’ added Tamsyn when Gaia did not respond.
‘No, I did not like the Traveller. I thought he would bring her misery; that he was selfish for making her break her vow.’
‘You are the highest-ranking person here in this room?’
Gaia nodded slowly.
‘And they would all obey your orders?’
Gaia looked down at her parchment, seeing if there was any information pertinent to the question. The paper shook a little in her fingers.
‘Play the game, Noblewoman,’ came Paul’s voice, gruff, threatening.
‘Yes,’ Gaia said hesitantly. ‘Everyone here has to obey my word. I have the highest rank.’
Tamsyn made an encouraging gesture. Just keep going, it seemed to say. Get through it. Then her face went blank again, and she resumed her character, her trance, once more.
‘So you had the motive, and the means. Who else could have coordinated such a murder? I declare, as the Bard, that you must be responsible. You might have had others do the deed on your behalf, but the whole foul affair started with you. You asked for the murder to occur, and everyone obeyed.’
‘No,’ Gaia grunted. There was a little flash of panic. ‘It wasn’t just me. Not at all.’
‘So you admit to knowing about the scheme?’
Gaia had nothing more to say. She picked up the wine she had refused to drink beforehand, and drained it, pointedly, in one gulp, keeping her eyes locked on Tamsyn.
‘Everyone bear witness to this,’ Tamsyn said, casting her eyes around the table. ‘The Noblewoman is the leader of this party, the protector. Everything that happens does so with her consent. Do we really think a murder was carried out in her company and she knew nothing? And if so, what kind of a noblewoman is she? What kind of house does she keep? No one cared more for the Nun than she did; no one was more invested in making sure she shunned the Traveller.’
Gaia did not respond. She glared openly at Tamsyn, at the game they were playing.
‘You must have something else to say, Noblewoman.’
Gaia did not move. Paul moved towards her, holding the axe aloft. ‘You have words to say. Say them,’ he said in his croaky, theatrical voice.
Gaia picked up her parchment and turned to Elena. ‘Peasant,’ she said, reading from the paper. ‘You left the inn. Explain why.’
Elena was holding her own parchment, but it began to tremble violently and so she placed it on the table. ‘I could not afford the inn; its prices were too high,’ she said, glancing at the text in front of her.
‘And so where did you go?’
‘I accompanied the Nun back to her chambers, as she was ill.’
Tamsyn intervened. ‘And you stayed with her the whole night?’
Elena nodded unconvincingly. ‘Yes.’
‘Liar!’ shouted Paul, thumping the axe down onto the floor. ‘You were seen leaving the Nun’s chambers later that night. Why? Where were you sneaking off to in the dead of night, while she slept?’
A tear pooled in the corner of Elena’s eye.
‘Thank you, Executioner,’ said Tamsyn. ‘So, in summary, so far we have two suspects. The Noblewoman, who had the power to coordinate the assassination of the Traveller; and the Peasant, who was seen sneaking away from the Nun’s chambers in the dead of night. Now, we proceed …’
Nada stole a glance at Clarisse. Throughout the conversation there had been a look of blank confusion on her face, as though everyone else had been speaking in a language she didn’t know.
But now she was looking at Elena, studying her and her words, and Nada could see the beginnings of a suspicion.
Clarisse was starting to understand.
Before
‘You guys don’t like me very much, do you?’
Noah leers over them; he is drunk, his eyes unfocused. He is ugly like this, Nada realises. This is him at his ugliest.
The night has thickened; with the hills around them, there are few lights. It is as though the pub garden, bordered with fairy lights, is suspended in a void. Everything else is darkness.
‘We just want to know what you’re doing here,’ says Tamsyn. ‘It is a bit of a shock, seeing you turn up, if I’m honest.’
‘I’m just looking for my girl, aren’t I? I want to take her away; I’ve booked this amazing cottage just around the corner from here for the weekend.’
Tamsyn frowns. ‘Did you drive here?’
‘Of course. Clari told me where you guys were camping. I thought I’d check the local pubs and come and find you. Did I just miss her or something?’
‘How much have you had to drink?’ Afreya demands.
He raises an eyebrow. ‘I’m fine to drive, if that’s what you’re asking.’
Tamsyn leans forward, and speaks. She finds this hard, Nada can tell. She is someone who normally avoids confrontations at all cost. ‘I don’t get it, Noah. Why have you booked a cottage? She’s spending the weekend with us.’
‘What, camping? Do you honestly think that Clari would prefer a bloody tent to a nice cottage?’
This hurts. Nada can see immediately that Tamsyn is offended; she emits a little note of surprise, and then purses her lips tightly.
‘Listen, Noah,’ says Afreya. ‘Clarisse has headed back to camp. You’ve missed her. Why don’t you go back to wherever you’re staying, and you can meet up with us tomorrow.’
Noah turns to Nada.
Nada recoils. No, she thinks. Please don’t talk to me. Just shut up and go. I don’t want to have anything to do with you.
‘You know, out of all of you, I think Nada might be the only one who likes me. Don’t you Nada?’
Please. Nada begs with her eyes. Leave me alone.
‘Well don’t answer too quickly!’ Noah smiles.
Gaia peers at Noah, then at Nada, her brows knitted. Nada’s skin crawls.
‘I think Afreya is right,’ she says. ‘You shouldn’t be driving in this state.’
‘I had to drive all the way from London by myself. I think I deserve a few beers, don’t I?’
He stares at them all, one by one, seeing if anyone will answer.
‘Fine,’ he says, getting up. ‘I’ll go to wherever it is you guys are set up. Pick her up there.’
‘That’s not a good idea, Noah,’ warns Afreya. ‘You can’t drive there anyway. You have to walk.’
‘Well I’ll walk there then.’
‘No.’ Tamsyn gets up. ‘I won’t let you do this, Noah. I won’t let you fuck this up. Clarisse is spending the weekend with us; I won’t let you interfere, and I won’t let you drive her away when you’re this drunk. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.’
Noah eyes Tamsyn for a moment, squinting a little.
He turns to Nada. ‘Did you know, Nada, that Tamsyn and I had a thing at school?’
Tamsyn stiffens; she stares at him from across the table. Gaia gets up too; she puts a hand on his chest, and says: ‘You need to go. Now.’
‘We had a thing, I tell you. She’s never forgiven me for it …’
Nada has never seen Tamsyn so angry; her lip is curled in a sneer, her voice hard and cold. ‘I’m serious, Noah. Fuck. Off.’
Gaia, with her hand still on his chest, adds: ‘You heard her.’
Noah holds up his hands in mock surrender, and smiles. He places a hand on Nada’s back, and says, ‘Goodbye, Nada,’ before slinking off.
He disappears into the void.
Tamsyn sits back down like a boxer collapsing onto his stool. Tears flood her eyes. ‘God, I hate him so much.’ She looks up at the first scatter of stars appearing in the sky. ‘I hate him so much …’
Now
Twenty-Two
Tamsyn gestured towards Afreya. ‘Please, Doctor. Continue.’
Afreya gritted her teeth, and held up her parchment like it was a script. ‘You have accused two of us, Bard. But you have not mentioned that you were there yourself, at the inn, that fateful night.’
Tamsyn chewed these words over. ‘Yes. I was there.’
‘Why?’
‘I come and go. I am a bard.’
‘You seemed to recognise the Traveller, when he came into the inn. Everyone said that you changed; that it was like you’d seen a ghost.’
Tamsyn drew a long breath. ‘It was true; I knew the Traveller from my past.’
Afreya glanced at Paul; he grinned back, axe in hand. She continued: ‘Tell us, Bard, how you knew the Traveller.’
Tamsyn spoke mechanically, as if trying not to think about the words. It was as though it was more painful than anything else she’d had to say so far; any script she’d had to perform.
‘The Traveller and I grew up in the same village. We were young, when we knew each other. I tricked him into thinking that I loved him; he announced to everyone that he was going to have me as his wife and lover. But when he came to me with flowers and courtesies, I laughed at him, mocked him. He was ashamed; a laughing stock. I told everyone about how I’d tricked him, how he had been completely swept up in my lies.’ She put her hand on the table, as if to steady herself. ‘It was then that he decided to become a traveller, to leave the village behind and roam the earth, trying to find somewhere where his reputation was intact. And it was then that I became a bard, to tell more stories and lies, and to amuse others.’
She had barely looked up during this whole speech. She was staring into space, resigned to saying the worst of herself.
Clarisse leant forward; there was a flicker of recognition across her face. ‘Tamsyn, that story—’
‘Silence!’ cut in Paul. ‘There will be no breaking character. You will refer to her as Bard, and nothing else.’
Clarisse twitched a little, startled by Paul’s interruption. ‘Bard … that story … is it a true story? One from your life?’
Tamsyn’s eyes welled up; she swiped away the tears and regained her composure. ‘Yes. It is true.’
Afreya waited for a moment, before she looked down at her script and continued. ‘So therefore we have a third suspect: the Bard, who knew the Traveller from another life, where she tricked him and they hated each other.’
Clarisse held up her hand, curiosity getting the better of her.
‘Bard … what is this mystery? What does it mean?’ She was trying to get through to Tamsyn. ‘Why is it … about us? About Noah?’ She paused for breath, and then said hesitantly, ‘Whose is the body on the table?’
Tamsyn returned her look with sadness. ‘You’ll see,’ she said.
Before
They walk back, using a torch to illuminate the path ahead of them.
It is not far to where they pitched their tents, and it is not late. But they are so cut off from light and civilisation that it feels as if it could be the dead of night. It is an uneven path, and with only one torch between them, it is slow going, with a lot of stumbling and grasping of each other’s hands.
On the right of the narrow track, winding its way round a hill, is a steep incline down into woods and a stream below. They can hear it gushing in the darkness. They hug the far side, where they are not in danger of tumbling down.
Nada cannot get the image of Noah out of her mind. He has always been so precise, so completely in control of everything he does and says. To see him drunk like that was disconcerting; she does not know what he might be capable of. The way he singled her out and touched her back made her skin crawl. She wonders if anyone suspects anything, and finds herself thinking back to Gaia and the strange look she gave her at the pub.
Hopefully everyone just thinks that he was picking on her because she is quiet, amenable. But what about next time he gets drunk? What will he say then? How long will it be before he spills their secret?
Nada cannot stand the idea of being found out. What would everyone think? Would her only friends in the world turn against her? Would Clarisse fire her? God knows she would be able to do so without much difficulty; the school would be more than ready to replace her.
She realises that she doesn’t know Noah as well as she thought. What aspects of his character has he successfully kept hidden? What should she be afraid of?
‘Tamsyn,’ she says. ‘What happened when you were at school? What was Noah referring to?’
Tamsyn sighs. ‘It’s the reason why Clarisse kept him away from us for so long. She knew that there was bad blood between us.’ She pauses for a bit, picking her way along a tricky part of the path. ‘He may be good-looking now, but to be honest, he didn’t have much going for him at school. He didn’t get good grades; didn’t have many friends. From what I heard, he was the same at university; he just didn’t get on with people. No wonder he decided to go to the other end of the world. Anyway, at school he was a bit of a creep. There was one summer when I’d been with a few guys in our year. Just a teenager having fun, right? But then I got branded as easy. And for a creep like him, it was a green light. He pestered me, followed me. It was like I owed him something, just because I’d got with some of his classmates.’
She lets the words settle for a moment before continuing.
‘And then it got ugly. He started to send me weird messages, demanding to meet up. I ignored him for as long as I could, but then decided to have it out. I hoped I would be able to tell him how I felt, and that he would get the idea.’
Nada waits for her to continue.
‘It was horrible. Because I agreed to meet, he thought he’d succeeded in winning me over. He thought he was going to lose his virginity right then and there, in the park next to the school. I was appalled. It got messy. He called me all kinds of names, said I was a whore and …’ she takes a deep, gulping breath that catches in her throat, ‘well, he tried to stop me, but honestly, if I hadn’t ran out of that park, I think he could even have become violent. I remember thinking at the time that he was capable of anything. He’d grabbed hold of my bag before I ran off, and I found it on my doorstep the next day, completely ripped to shreds.’
‘God,’ Nada breathes. ‘And Clarisse knows about this?’
‘Of course. She was so nervous when she told me they were going out. She assured me a hundred times that he was different now, that it was like meeting a completely new person. But I still see it: he’s always had these fixed ideas in his head, always lashed out if anything or anyone contradicts them.’
Disgust rises in Nada’s throat. She’s kissed this man, slept with him. How did she not see how vile he was?
‘What?’ Nada flusters. A pang of guilt gnaws at her gut.
‘Yeah, that’s what I was saying. He’s a cheater; anyone who is that jealous and controlling has to be. They fear in their partners what they see in themselves.’
They all look at Nada.
‘Maybe,’ she murmurs, a little unconvincingly. ‘He seems to be really into Clarisse, though.’
‘And when has that ever been enough for men like him?’ says Gaia. ‘He’s got that backpacker vibe, hasn’t he? Like he’s ready to have sex in a hostel dorm one moment, then talk about his girlfriend back home the next.’
Afreya laughs loudly at this. ‘Well, that’s one way to put it …’
‘I don’t know,’ Nada says, suddenly cutting through the laughter. She is not thinking; she blurts it out. ‘But if he is cheating on her, then that’s a serious thing. I don’t think we should be laughing about it.’
There is a momentary pause: Gaia gives Nada a queer look.
‘Hang on a second,’ Afreya says, looking past them, her eyes widening. ‘Is that him?’
Nada swivels in her seat, and her heart sinks. Noah is standing at the bar, looking around.
What the hell is he doing here?
Now
Twenty-One
Nada was paralysed; wedged into her seat. Panic rose within her, unstoppable, uncontrollable, making her hyperventilate, her heart beginning to pump at a hundred miles an hour.
She looked around the table; every face was a mask of horror, of shock.
Every face apart from Clarisse’s.
‘Members of the Hunt,’ Tamsyn announced, going back to her seat. ‘Read your parchments.’
Nada had forgotten about the parchments on the table. She tried to calm herself, to breathe, to keep the panic at bay. Her hands trembling, she took up the paper in front of her, and turned it over.
You are responsible. You came and went from the inn that night, ensuring the Nun was in her room, unsuspecting, while your friends committed the murderous deed. You sang her songs and spoke poetry, fully knowing that your companions were preparing a killing. Without you providing a smokescreen, the Nun would have discovered the truth; the crime would have been punished.
You must hide this; do not reveal your part in this death unless forced to do so.
You must act like a jester; a carefree joker, whose role it is never to take anything seriously, to have no alliances to anyone.
When it is your turn, confront the Doctor. Ask her about her oath, and whether she was truly convinced that the Traveller was dead.
Nada put the parchment back down, a sick feeling in her throat.
‘I will ask the questions first,’ said Tamsyn. ‘Then, one by one, we will question each other, turning the screw until we get the answer. Do not stop until you are satisfied; we are here to find the truth, the one responsible for the death of the Traveller. Noblewoman, I will start with you.’
Gaia’s face darkened.
‘Why were you at the inn that night?’
Her eyes flicked down to her parchment, taking in its information again.
‘Noblewoman?’
She swallowed, and read aloud in as even a tone as she could manage. ‘I was there to celebrate our travels; our good fortune on the road.’
‘You are close to the Nun, are you not?’
‘Yes. She is mainly in the nearby church; but when she can, she comes to my castle. We play games, amusing ourselves with music and literature. She teaches me about the Lord.’ Gaia gritted her teeth; sweat beaded on her veined brow.
‘Did you like the Traveller? Well?’ added Tamsyn when Gaia did not respond.
‘No, I did not like the Traveller. I thought he would bring her misery; that he was selfish for making her break her vow.’
‘You are the highest-ranking person here in this room?’
Gaia nodded slowly.
‘And they would all obey your orders?’
Gaia looked down at her parchment, seeing if there was any information pertinent to the question. The paper shook a little in her fingers.
‘Play the game, Noblewoman,’ came Paul’s voice, gruff, threatening.
‘Yes,’ Gaia said hesitantly. ‘Everyone here has to obey my word. I have the highest rank.’
Tamsyn made an encouraging gesture. Just keep going, it seemed to say. Get through it. Then her face went blank again, and she resumed her character, her trance, once more.
‘So you had the motive, and the means. Who else could have coordinated such a murder? I declare, as the Bard, that you must be responsible. You might have had others do the deed on your behalf, but the whole foul affair started with you. You asked for the murder to occur, and everyone obeyed.’
‘No,’ Gaia grunted. There was a little flash of panic. ‘It wasn’t just me. Not at all.’
‘So you admit to knowing about the scheme?’
Gaia had nothing more to say. She picked up the wine she had refused to drink beforehand, and drained it, pointedly, in one gulp, keeping her eyes locked on Tamsyn.
‘Everyone bear witness to this,’ Tamsyn said, casting her eyes around the table. ‘The Noblewoman is the leader of this party, the protector. Everything that happens does so with her consent. Do we really think a murder was carried out in her company and she knew nothing? And if so, what kind of a noblewoman is she? What kind of house does she keep? No one cared more for the Nun than she did; no one was more invested in making sure she shunned the Traveller.’
Gaia did not respond. She glared openly at Tamsyn, at the game they were playing.
‘You must have something else to say, Noblewoman.’
Gaia did not move. Paul moved towards her, holding the axe aloft. ‘You have words to say. Say them,’ he said in his croaky, theatrical voice.
Gaia picked up her parchment and turned to Elena. ‘Peasant,’ she said, reading from the paper. ‘You left the inn. Explain why.’
Elena was holding her own parchment, but it began to tremble violently and so she placed it on the table. ‘I could not afford the inn; its prices were too high,’ she said, glancing at the text in front of her.
‘And so where did you go?’
‘I accompanied the Nun back to her chambers, as she was ill.’
Tamsyn intervened. ‘And you stayed with her the whole night?’
Elena nodded unconvincingly. ‘Yes.’
‘Liar!’ shouted Paul, thumping the axe down onto the floor. ‘You were seen leaving the Nun’s chambers later that night. Why? Where were you sneaking off to in the dead of night, while she slept?’
A tear pooled in the corner of Elena’s eye.
‘Thank you, Executioner,’ said Tamsyn. ‘So, in summary, so far we have two suspects. The Noblewoman, who had the power to coordinate the assassination of the Traveller; and the Peasant, who was seen sneaking away from the Nun’s chambers in the dead of night. Now, we proceed …’
Nada stole a glance at Clarisse. Throughout the conversation there had been a look of blank confusion on her face, as though everyone else had been speaking in a language she didn’t know.
But now she was looking at Elena, studying her and her words, and Nada could see the beginnings of a suspicion.
Clarisse was starting to understand.
Before
‘You guys don’t like me very much, do you?’
Noah leers over them; he is drunk, his eyes unfocused. He is ugly like this, Nada realises. This is him at his ugliest.
The night has thickened; with the hills around them, there are few lights. It is as though the pub garden, bordered with fairy lights, is suspended in a void. Everything else is darkness.
‘We just want to know what you’re doing here,’ says Tamsyn. ‘It is a bit of a shock, seeing you turn up, if I’m honest.’
‘I’m just looking for my girl, aren’t I? I want to take her away; I’ve booked this amazing cottage just around the corner from here for the weekend.’
Tamsyn frowns. ‘Did you drive here?’
‘Of course. Clari told me where you guys were camping. I thought I’d check the local pubs and come and find you. Did I just miss her or something?’
‘How much have you had to drink?’ Afreya demands.
He raises an eyebrow. ‘I’m fine to drive, if that’s what you’re asking.’
Tamsyn leans forward, and speaks. She finds this hard, Nada can tell. She is someone who normally avoids confrontations at all cost. ‘I don’t get it, Noah. Why have you booked a cottage? She’s spending the weekend with us.’
‘What, camping? Do you honestly think that Clari would prefer a bloody tent to a nice cottage?’
This hurts. Nada can see immediately that Tamsyn is offended; she emits a little note of surprise, and then purses her lips tightly.
‘Listen, Noah,’ says Afreya. ‘Clarisse has headed back to camp. You’ve missed her. Why don’t you go back to wherever you’re staying, and you can meet up with us tomorrow.’
Noah turns to Nada.
Nada recoils. No, she thinks. Please don’t talk to me. Just shut up and go. I don’t want to have anything to do with you.
‘You know, out of all of you, I think Nada might be the only one who likes me. Don’t you Nada?’
Please. Nada begs with her eyes. Leave me alone.
‘Well don’t answer too quickly!’ Noah smiles.
Gaia peers at Noah, then at Nada, her brows knitted. Nada’s skin crawls.
‘I think Afreya is right,’ she says. ‘You shouldn’t be driving in this state.’
‘I had to drive all the way from London by myself. I think I deserve a few beers, don’t I?’
He stares at them all, one by one, seeing if anyone will answer.
‘Fine,’ he says, getting up. ‘I’ll go to wherever it is you guys are set up. Pick her up there.’
‘That’s not a good idea, Noah,’ warns Afreya. ‘You can’t drive there anyway. You have to walk.’
‘Well I’ll walk there then.’
‘No.’ Tamsyn gets up. ‘I won’t let you do this, Noah. I won’t let you fuck this up. Clarisse is spending the weekend with us; I won’t let you interfere, and I won’t let you drive her away when you’re this drunk. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.’
Noah eyes Tamsyn for a moment, squinting a little.
He turns to Nada. ‘Did you know, Nada, that Tamsyn and I had a thing at school?’
Tamsyn stiffens; she stares at him from across the table. Gaia gets up too; she puts a hand on his chest, and says: ‘You need to go. Now.’
‘We had a thing, I tell you. She’s never forgiven me for it …’
Nada has never seen Tamsyn so angry; her lip is curled in a sneer, her voice hard and cold. ‘I’m serious, Noah. Fuck. Off.’
Gaia, with her hand still on his chest, adds: ‘You heard her.’
Noah holds up his hands in mock surrender, and smiles. He places a hand on Nada’s back, and says, ‘Goodbye, Nada,’ before slinking off.
He disappears into the void.
Tamsyn sits back down like a boxer collapsing onto his stool. Tears flood her eyes. ‘God, I hate him so much.’ She looks up at the first scatter of stars appearing in the sky. ‘I hate him so much …’
Now
Twenty-Two
Tamsyn gestured towards Afreya. ‘Please, Doctor. Continue.’
Afreya gritted her teeth, and held up her parchment like it was a script. ‘You have accused two of us, Bard. But you have not mentioned that you were there yourself, at the inn, that fateful night.’
Tamsyn chewed these words over. ‘Yes. I was there.’
‘Why?’
‘I come and go. I am a bard.’
‘You seemed to recognise the Traveller, when he came into the inn. Everyone said that you changed; that it was like you’d seen a ghost.’
Tamsyn drew a long breath. ‘It was true; I knew the Traveller from my past.’
Afreya glanced at Paul; he grinned back, axe in hand. She continued: ‘Tell us, Bard, how you knew the Traveller.’
Tamsyn spoke mechanically, as if trying not to think about the words. It was as though it was more painful than anything else she’d had to say so far; any script she’d had to perform.
‘The Traveller and I grew up in the same village. We were young, when we knew each other. I tricked him into thinking that I loved him; he announced to everyone that he was going to have me as his wife and lover. But when he came to me with flowers and courtesies, I laughed at him, mocked him. He was ashamed; a laughing stock. I told everyone about how I’d tricked him, how he had been completely swept up in my lies.’ She put her hand on the table, as if to steady herself. ‘It was then that he decided to become a traveller, to leave the village behind and roam the earth, trying to find somewhere where his reputation was intact. And it was then that I became a bard, to tell more stories and lies, and to amuse others.’
She had barely looked up during this whole speech. She was staring into space, resigned to saying the worst of herself.
Clarisse leant forward; there was a flicker of recognition across her face. ‘Tamsyn, that story—’
‘Silence!’ cut in Paul. ‘There will be no breaking character. You will refer to her as Bard, and nothing else.’
Clarisse twitched a little, startled by Paul’s interruption. ‘Bard … that story … is it a true story? One from your life?’
Tamsyn’s eyes welled up; she swiped away the tears and regained her composure. ‘Yes. It is true.’
Afreya waited for a moment, before she looked down at her script and continued. ‘So therefore we have a third suspect: the Bard, who knew the Traveller from another life, where she tricked him and they hated each other.’
Clarisse held up her hand, curiosity getting the better of her.
‘Bard … what is this mystery? What does it mean?’ She was trying to get through to Tamsyn. ‘Why is it … about us? About Noah?’ She paused for breath, and then said hesitantly, ‘Whose is the body on the table?’
Tamsyn returned her look with sadness. ‘You’ll see,’ she said.
Before
They walk back, using a torch to illuminate the path ahead of them.
It is not far to where they pitched their tents, and it is not late. But they are so cut off from light and civilisation that it feels as if it could be the dead of night. It is an uneven path, and with only one torch between them, it is slow going, with a lot of stumbling and grasping of each other’s hands.
On the right of the narrow track, winding its way round a hill, is a steep incline down into woods and a stream below. They can hear it gushing in the darkness. They hug the far side, where they are not in danger of tumbling down.
Nada cannot get the image of Noah out of her mind. He has always been so precise, so completely in control of everything he does and says. To see him drunk like that was disconcerting; she does not know what he might be capable of. The way he singled her out and touched her back made her skin crawl. She wonders if anyone suspects anything, and finds herself thinking back to Gaia and the strange look she gave her at the pub.
Hopefully everyone just thinks that he was picking on her because she is quiet, amenable. But what about next time he gets drunk? What will he say then? How long will it be before he spills their secret?
Nada cannot stand the idea of being found out. What would everyone think? Would her only friends in the world turn against her? Would Clarisse fire her? God knows she would be able to do so without much difficulty; the school would be more than ready to replace her.
She realises that she doesn’t know Noah as well as she thought. What aspects of his character has he successfully kept hidden? What should she be afraid of?
‘Tamsyn,’ she says. ‘What happened when you were at school? What was Noah referring to?’
Tamsyn sighs. ‘It’s the reason why Clarisse kept him away from us for so long. She knew that there was bad blood between us.’ She pauses for a bit, picking her way along a tricky part of the path. ‘He may be good-looking now, but to be honest, he didn’t have much going for him at school. He didn’t get good grades; didn’t have many friends. From what I heard, he was the same at university; he just didn’t get on with people. No wonder he decided to go to the other end of the world. Anyway, at school he was a bit of a creep. There was one summer when I’d been with a few guys in our year. Just a teenager having fun, right? But then I got branded as easy. And for a creep like him, it was a green light. He pestered me, followed me. It was like I owed him something, just because I’d got with some of his classmates.’
She lets the words settle for a moment before continuing.
‘And then it got ugly. He started to send me weird messages, demanding to meet up. I ignored him for as long as I could, but then decided to have it out. I hoped I would be able to tell him how I felt, and that he would get the idea.’
Nada waits for her to continue.
‘It was horrible. Because I agreed to meet, he thought he’d succeeded in winning me over. He thought he was going to lose his virginity right then and there, in the park next to the school. I was appalled. It got messy. He called me all kinds of names, said I was a whore and …’ she takes a deep, gulping breath that catches in her throat, ‘well, he tried to stop me, but honestly, if I hadn’t ran out of that park, I think he could even have become violent. I remember thinking at the time that he was capable of anything. He’d grabbed hold of my bag before I ran off, and I found it on my doorstep the next day, completely ripped to shreds.’
‘God,’ Nada breathes. ‘And Clarisse knows about this?’
‘Of course. She was so nervous when she told me they were going out. She assured me a hundred times that he was different now, that it was like meeting a completely new person. But I still see it: he’s always had these fixed ideas in his head, always lashed out if anything or anyone contradicts them.’
Disgust rises in Nada’s throat. She’s kissed this man, slept with him. How did she not see how vile he was?
