Free Midnight is a Lonely Place by Barbara Erskine Page A

make sure you have everything you need.’
    ‘Thank you. I’m fine.’ She took a deep breath, astonished at how pleased she was to hear the sound of his voice. ‘I came by earlier to leave my car again so I saw you were out.’
    ‘We were having lunch with some friends in Woodbridge. Nice people. They had read your book.’
    ‘Nice people indeed.’ She smiled wryly. ‘Roger, tell me, how do I make this woodburner thing stay alight all night?’
    She heard an exclamation of impatience. ‘Didn’t Greg show you? I’m sorry, my dear. Those things take a bit of getting used to, but once you’ve got the hang of it you can keep it going for months without it going out. Do you want me to come up and show you?’
    She shouldn’t drag him over when he was ill, when he had been out all day and must be tired, but suddenly the thought of a visitor was very tempting. ‘Would it be an awful imposition? I’ve got a good whisky here.’
    She heard him laugh. ‘I’m on my way.’
    It was scarcely fifteen minutes later that she saw the headlights of the Land Rover appear from the trees. Roger climbed out. ‘Greg’s away for a day or two. I’ll give him a good bollocking when he gets back. He was supposed to show you how everything works.’
    ‘He must have forgotten. I had so much stuff to bring in.’ She closed the door behind him and led the way into the living room. She had put the whisky bottle on the table with two glasses. She poured, then she watched as he knelt before the stove and pulled the doors open. ‘Start with a good blaze, like this,’ he instructed. Magically a fire appeared beneath his thin hands. ‘Then put on one or two of the logs. Like so.’ He pushed two huge logs into the small cavity and miraculously they fitted. Then he closed the doors. ‘Now, leave it for a while with the dampers open like this. Once the fire has caught properly – about two-thirds of the way down that glass, I should say – we close them tight. The secret is to get it burning slowly and steadily and then to cut off as much air as possible. You have to stack the logs in really tight last thing – that’s an art you must practise I’m afraid, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. It keeps this place really snug once it’s working properly.’
    He took the glass she offered him and sat down in one of the armchairs, gazing round the room. ‘You’ve made it look very comfortable.’
    The tall, thin man sprawling in the chair in his shabby cords and old tweed jacket was so reassuring and normal that Kate found the wave of nervous loneliness which had hit her earlier was receding fast. ‘I gather your son used to live here. I’m sorry my coming here has upset him,’ she said as she sat down opposite him.
    ‘He’s no business to be upset.’ For a moment a shadow passed across Roger’s face. ‘He knows we need the money. Sorry if that sounds crude, but it’s a fact of life. And it’s nice for us to have a congenial neighbour.’ He smiled comfortably. ‘As you’ve gathered, it’s fairly isolated up here. And to that end, Diana has instructed me to ask if you would like to come and have some supper with us on Wednesday. We quite understand if you’d rather not because you are working, but – ’
    ‘I should love to.’ She replied so quickly she surprised even herself. ‘I shall look forward to it immensely.’
    ‘Good.’ His smile was expansive, deepening the network of wrinkles around his eyes. ‘You’ll have the pleasure or otherwise of meeting our other two children, Allie and Patrick.’ Draining his glass he stood up. ‘If there’s nothing else I suppose I’d better go home. Di will have supper ready soon.’
    Stay, she wanted to say. Please, stay and talk to me. She liked his presence in the room. It was comforting. Solid. And safe. She said nothing. Smiling, she showed him to the door. ‘I’ll report back on my success or otherwise with the stove when I see you.’
    ‘Do that.’
    She