Free Fields of Blue Flax by Sue Lawrence

squeeze.
    Christine withdrew her hand from her cousin’s clasp and took a tissue from her pocket. ‘Some Easter this has been,’ she said, shaking her head.

 
    Chapter Fourteen
    2014
    A week later, Mags was stirring a pan of soup in her kitchen while the sound of piano music reverberated through the house. She loved to play Lottie’s piano CDs when she was cooking and this was one of her favourite composers, Ravel; perfect to peel, chop and stir to. She had just phoned Christine to suggest a visit to Register House. Mags was worried about her cousin; she was fraught all the time, even though Jack was recovering well. Gerry had told Doug she was mollycoddling him but no one wanted to tell her to back off.
    Mags thought she might distract her with the family history project, but Christine had said she definitely had no time to do any more research. Mags wondered if she might go alone, to continue the search for Elizabeth Barrie.
    And to think, I was the one not interested in the family history at all, she mused as she ground black pepper into the pan. She tasted the soup then added a little salt.
    She took out her mezzaluna and started chopping some parsley, mulling over something Christine had said the day before.
    Mags had popped in to visit Jack and catch up with Christine. Anna joined them, and they all sat around Jack’s bed. Anna scolded her brother for being in bed, telling him he needed to get up and move around.
    ‘I want to be up, it’s Mum who’s not letting me.’
    ‘The doctor said you need to rest.’
    ‘Not all day though, Mum,’ said Anna.
    ‘I’m going to start getting up at lunchtime at least. I feel fine, just a bit tired.’ Jack took a sip of water from the tray on his bedside table and looked pleadingly to Christine.
    ‘I don’t want you to overdo it, Jack. Remember you said you still had a bit of blurred vision when we walked round the block yesterday.’
    ‘ Limped round the block!’ Anna laughed.
    ‘At least I never had puffy black eyes like yours,’ he said, lying back against the pillow. He looked up at his mother’s anxious expression. ‘Mum, I was fine after the walk, don’t exaggerate.’
    ‘Mum, stop treating him like an invalid. Beanpole’s fine. Though he’s gonna become Fatboy if he lounges in bed much longer,’ said Anna, smirking.
    He grinned and hit out at his sister but she leapt off the bed. ‘Right, I’m out of here. Meeting Lottie for a catch-up at her flat.’
    Later, as Christine saw Mags out the front door, she said, ‘I’ve been trying to find out as much as possible about Colin Clarkson.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘You know, the guy who rammed their car, caused the accident.’
    Mags was putting on her coat. She turned round, an incredulous look on her face. ‘Why?’
    Christine’s blue eyes flashed with anger. ‘Because he almost killed my two children. Isn’t it obvious?’
    Mags continued fastening the buttons on her coat then said, ‘Chris, is this a good idea? What’s the point? Surely there’ll be a court case and he’ll plead guilty and…’
    ‘He might not plead guilty – he might not even appear in court. It’s the magistrates’ court in Gateshead.’ Christine twisted her hands round and round. ‘He lives in West Yorkshire – Pontefract – and I just have the feeling he won’t attend and then…’
    ‘What’s this got to do with Jack and his recovery?’
    ‘I want him to suffer. He can’t get away with it.’
    ‘Chris, don’t talk like that.’ She pulled up the collar of her coat. ‘How do you know where he lives anyway?’
    ‘We were sent the police report for our insurance company, it had all his details, including his address.’
    Mags had given her cousin a hug and stepped outside, promising to phone her the next day. She had brushed off Christine’s outburst as a reaction to the stress she was under, but as she stood chopping parsley she found she couldn’t get Christine’s twisted expression out of her mind.
    The