Accidents Happen A Novel

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT



Maybe it was the change in weather, but London looked monochrome today compared to the pale gold of summery Oxford. Archway Road roared unpleasantly with thick lines of traffic. Flowers that had burst forth in bright shades in the unusually early summer sat with their heads bowed in the still, fume-filled air.

Kate crossed back over Archway Road and started down the steps in the steep bank towards the Tube entrance.

‘Please be here,’ she whispered.

She reached the bottom step and peered around to the left.

Jago was standing, reading the Guardian just under the tunnel entrance, at the top of the stairs down to the platform.

Just seeing him gave her back a surge of the inner resolve she thought she’d lost today.

‘Hi!’ she had to stop herself saying too loudly, walking towards him.

‘Hey!’ He was wearing the fitted dark jacket again, and walking boots under dark khaki trousers. ‘You look nice,’ he said, putting his arm round her and kissing her. She wrapped her arms around him and stood there, against his chest, feeling the warmth of his body, refusing to pull back from the hug.

‘You OK?’ He squeezed her gently.

‘Hmm,’ she said, staying there. ‘Just glad to see you. Strange day.’

‘Ah,’ he said rocking her gently. ‘Shit. Of course – Highgate. I didn’t think.’

She pulled back reluctantly. ‘I thought that’s why you’d chosen it.’

‘No, not at all. It was actually Highgate Woods, I wanted to bring you to.’ He pointed his finger in the opposite direction to Highgate Village. ‘Sorry. I didn’t even click that they were the same thing. I don’t know London. Is it a bit close for comfort?’

She shook her head, relieved. ‘No. No, it’s fine. As long as we don’t have to go into the village.’

His brow wrinkled. ‘What – has it been a bit weird?’

‘A little.’

‘OK. Well then, I think a drink’s definitely in order. I saw a pub on the main road.’

She nodded.

And, with that, he rolled up the newspaper and offered her his hand.

She took it, relieved that she did not have to worry about anyone seeing them here, and walked up the slope, trying not to think of the hundred times she had done it with Hugo.

The pub was not one she and Hugo had visited. It was large and anonymous, with rows of tables and a sports screen in the corner. She sat down as Jago went to the bar.

‘What’s that?’ she asked, as Jago rested two shorts on the table.

‘Whisky doubles. Give us courage.’ He looked around approvingly. ‘Nice. Good table. Not a toilet or fire extinguisher in sight.’

She made a face at him but was secretly pleased. He was right. She hadn’t even thought about it. She waited for him to take off his jacket.

‘Aren’t you warm?’ she said, taking a sip. The whisky followed the bourbon down, turning her insides to fire.

‘Yes. But I can’t take it off.’

‘Why?’

He tapped the side of his nose.

‘What? The jacket is part of the plan too, is it? Oh God.’ She pointed at herself. ‘Is that why you told me to wear a hoodie?’

‘All will be revealed,’ Jago said, drinking his whisky. ‘So, how’ve you been? You let Jack go on his sleepover then?’

She made a face. ‘I’m trying not to call the mum right now.’

‘Really? Well, don’t. He’ll love it.’

‘But I am feeling good. Better.’

Jago put down his glass. ‘You look much brighter.’ He looked at her appraisingly, then grinned and leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips, before pulling back. ‘Sorry. Been thinking about doing that all week.’

Kate blushed. If he’d been thinking of getting back with Marla he wouldn’t have said that, surely? ‘Don’t be sorry. Well, I don’t know what you’ve done, but I’m really not thinking so much about the numbers at all. Just a few times a day, and I can stop myself quickly.’

‘Seriously? That’s amazing, Kate. To be honest, after the canal boat debacle, I thought you might pull out . . .’

Kate took another sip of whisky. ‘No, it’s been a good week. The best I can remember for ages. Anyway, how are things with you?’ She hesitated. ‘With Marla. What happened?’

Jago sighed heavily. She scrutinized his face, searching for something that might say: ‘Since I last saw you I have been in London making passionate love to my American ex-girlfriend, who has dropped the amazing news that I am about to be a father, so, after tonight, you won’t see me any more – bye.’

But there was nothing.

‘Or should I not ask,’ she tried, desperate for some sort of idea of whether it was really over or not.

He put his glass down. ‘I’ll tell you later, I promise. Right now, however, we have my dastardly plan to carry out, so no distractions. I’m a bit nervous about this one myself.’

‘You’re nervous? What the hell are we doing?’

‘Well, it’s a bit risky, but as you’ve now foolishly revealed your rather impressive adventurous past to me, I think we should go for it.’

She grimaced. ‘OK. But can we please not do something illegal this time. I have to think about Jack. And no more boats.’

Jago laughed. ‘Ah. OK. Well, it’s funny you should say that – what about bats?’

She thought she’d misheard. ‘Bats?’

‘No bat phobias?’

She examined his expression. ‘Bats? No, but . . .’

‘Good, because I’m taking you bat-watching in Highgate Woods. Have you done it before?’

She finished her whisky. ‘No. I’m surprised you got tickets – don’t you have to book months ahead?’

Jago winked. ‘Ah. Now, I said I was taking you on a bat-watch. I didn’t say I was taking you on the official bat-watch. And it may not end up being bats that we actually watch.’

‘What do you mean?’

He took a final swig and put his glass down. ‘Now, that would be spoiling the fun. Right, come on. Let’s go.’ Jago looked outside. He checked his watch, then looked back at her. He folded his arms on the table and leaned forwards on them until they were touching hers.

‘Did I say, I’ve got the car? I can take you home afterwards.’

Their eyes met. Kate felt her cheeks flush again, remembering the gentle trail of his finger across her body. He beckoned her with his eyes, and she leaned forwards to meet his second, longer kiss.

They entered Highgate Woods ten minutes later, through Onslow Gate, standing back to allow the last of the day’s buggies and joggers and dog-walkers out. A thick canopy of hornbeams and oak trees announced the start of the dense, ancient seventy-acre wood. Jago dropped his eyes as they walked onto the main path. He pulled up his hood, obscuring his face, and nodded to her to do the same. ‘This way,’ he muttered, taking her hand.

Kate did as she was asked, dipping her head down.

There was a noise behind her. She turned to see two small groups enter behind them. They were heading down the main path, which she knew led to the rangers’ hut and cafe in the middle of the wood. One group consisted of two loud, well-spoken men in their late thirties, accompanied by – and happily ignoring – two boys a little younger than Jack, with fashionable long shaggy haircuts and expensive fleeces, who fought with sticks and yelled at each other in confident mini versions of their fathers’ voices. A few steps behind was a separate group of two women in their early twenties, speaking to each other politely in heavy English, one with a Spanish accent, one possibly Polish. Lonely au pairs who’ve met through the school playground, Kate guessed.

‘Oi,’ Jago whispered, touching her arm.

‘What?’

Keeping his head down, he motioned sideways. Checking there was no one else behind them, and that no one from either group was looking back, he pulled her abruptly off the main path onto a smaller one that forked to the left. He broke into a fast walk.

‘Where are we going?’ she whispered.

Jago held his finger to his lips. He led Kate down yet another path, then forked left again. Then, without warning, he pulled her off it.

A giant fallen oak lay on the ground. Jago motioned for her to crouch down with him behind it. How did Jago know where they were? she thought, looking around at the thicket of trees. She’d come to this wood at least twice a week for years with Jack till he was five, and she had still occasionally become lost due to the lack of landmarks. Had Jago memorized a map?

‘OK?’ he said, turning round.

‘Oh, yes. Having a lovely time, thanks,’ she deadpanned, picking an insect from her face.

He grinned. ‘It won’t be much longer. The rangers are going to lock the park gates in a minute. They’ll come through looking for stragglers, so stay down.’

‘They’re going to lock us in? I didn’t know they did that.’

‘At night, yes.’

On cue, a distant roar of engines drifted across the woods.

‘Ssh,’ Jago hissed, putting his arm round her.

Kate crouched down into him.

The ranger’s truck passed on the other side of the trunk.

Kate’s stomach started to churn.

She looked around at the darkening wood and thought of Jack. Quickly, she whipped out her phone and texted:

are you all right?

She waited, but nothing came back. He was probably too embarrassed in front of his friends to reply, she thought, putting her phone away.

Jago leaned into her ear. ‘The bat-watchers gather by the wildlife hut, for the ranger talk. Then they give them bat detectors and set off when it’s properly dark.’

‘Right. So what are we doing? Stealing the rangers’ sandwiches from their hut?’

‘No, but that’s not a bad idea. I haven’t had any tea.’

She snorted suddenly, and put her hand over her mouth as he poked her in the side. ‘No. We’re going to build on our canal boat escapade. Step Five: Monster in the Dark.’ He pointed at her. ‘That’s you, by the way. The monster.’

‘What do you mean?’

Jago pushed her hair away from her face, trailing a finger across her cheek as he did it. Any resistance she felt to tonight’s experiment started to drain away.

‘I’ll tell you in a minute.’ He looked back up. ‘Right. They’ve gone. Scared?’ he whispered.

‘What do you think?’ she said sarcastically.

She watched him take a black box out of his pocket. He shook it and it made a crackling sound.

‘What’s that?’

He gave her a mischievous grin. ‘I got it off the internet. Are you ready?’

She shrugged.

‘Good. Come on, then.’ He grabbed her hand and headed off through the woods.

They crept along the lane towards the rangers’ hut, staying among the trees. Gradually, a murmuring of voices reached them. The wildlife hut loomed ahead. Kate surveyed its familiar shape with a shock.

This place?

She’d completely forgotten about it.

A hundred potent recollections filled her mind. Jack had loved that hut. How many times had she taken him to see the wildlife exhibits, opening the nesting boxes and crouching down beside the stuffed fox.

As they crept along through the trees, more buried memories came back to her. Jack had been a different child then. A child who whined like normal children. Cried if she didn’t let him stop to colour in the sheets the rangers left in the hut. Laughed if she chased him around the cricket field. Let her kiss his cheeks and ears again and again, when she caught him, then returned them to her, the kisses of a child; soft, wet, toddler lips hungry on her cheeks.

As Jago pulled her along, Kate looked back in the direction of Highgate Village.

And then those men had come to their house one night and . . .

For the first time in years, Kate felt that sickening hatred return.

Maybe it was being back in Highgate after four years, but with a painful clarity, she saw the long-term consequences of the men’s actions. At the time, they’d just stolen Hugo. Now she realized how much else they’d taken. They’d ripped her and Jack from their home and friends, from Jack’s school, and forced them to move far away. They’d given her no choice but to rely on Richard and Helen. They’d turned her into a nervous wreck. Turned Jack into a fragile, frightened boy who had to turn to Richard and Helen or his friends, even his friend’s mother, because Kate was so damaged, so lost to him . . .

Jago put out a hand, making Kate jump. They stopped behind a thick trunk.

‘OK. We’ll wait here till they start moving across the field,’ Jago said.

‘I still don’t get this.’ She heard a tone of bitterness in her voice, and tried to eliminate it. It wasn’t Jago’s fault.

Jago took her hands.

‘Kate,’ he whispered. ‘You’re convinced you’re cursed. That you and Jack are fated to fall into the path of bad people. The burglars in Oxford. The poacher who shot the deer. The robbers who stabbed Hugo . . .’ She winced. ‘But you’re not. You’ve just had some really bad luck. We all do at some point. You took control of the numbers at the canal boat. Now I want you to take control of those monsters that scare you.’

Kate shivered, despite the warm air.

‘How?’

‘I want you to become one. See how it feels.’

She shook her head, not understanding.

Jago ushered her forwards.

The sky was darkening now, but in the distance, crossing the wide open acres of the cricket field encased by forest, she could see the torchlight movements and shadowy outlines of a group of twenty bat-watchers. She could hear the boisterous boys with long hair shouting from here. Two rangers with torches walked beside the pack, talking.

‘Them,’ Jago said, pointing.

Kate followed his finger and saw the young au pairs at the edge of the group.