Free Secrets on Saturday by Ann Purser

Ellen said sympathetically. “The forecast is good for tomorrow. Anyway, what woods were you talking about?”
    “Up on the hill behind Farnden.” Lois finished the last of the cake crumbs and licked her lips. “Very good cake,”she said, getting to her feet, as always. “Thanks a lot, Ellen.”
    “You mean old Cox’s woods?” Ellen was suddenly serious, and Lois sat down again.
    “Did you know him?” she said. “O’ course I did,” Ellen said. “He married my sister Martha. She was a fair bit younger than him, but died first, poor gel.”
    “Was he a good husband?” Lois saw that Ellen was tired, and felt bad about asking her questions when the old lady should have been settling down for a nap. But this was important. It was very likely that Cox had seen Herbert Everitt walking his dog in the woods, and could well know something about his disappearance. Something connected with the past?
    “Not what I’d call a good husband,” Ellen said flatly. “If I’d had the chance, I reckon I’d have said no, but she was mad keen. His family weren’t so enthusiastic, as I remember. Reckoned their William was marrying beneath him.”
    “Were they nasty to her?”
    “Not exactly nasty … They just ignored her. Never sought her out for comin’ to tea. Blamed her for not havin’ children. But she were quite happy on the farm at first. Liked the animals and them woods you were talking about. Bluebells and primroses in there in the spring, y’ know. Loads of ‘em.”
    “And what else was in the woods?” Lois said.
    Ellen turned her head sharply and stared at Lois. “What d’ you mean? D’ you know something about them woods?” Lois shook her head, unwilling to lie, and Ellen continued, “Because if you do, Lois Meade, and they’re still at it, you’d do well to stay clear. I reckon it was something in them woods that frightened my sister into the state she was in. Never really got better, and faded away.”
    “What
were
they at? And who’s they?”
    “No need for you to know, if you don’t know already. Just stay well away, that’s my advice. Now, my dear, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a little shut-eye. It’sabout my usual time. Thanks for coming, and take care of that family of yours.”
    L OIS PONDERED ON E LLEN ’ S SUDDEN INTEREST IN HER walking in the woods. So her sister had been Cox’s wife. The sister of a servant would not have gone down well as William’s future bride, and the family were clearly not very kind to her. Was it them that turned the middle of the woods into a prohibited area? Only the clan allowed to watch a traditional sport? But William hadn’t seemed too keen on badger-baiting. Lois had seen the result of his position with her own eyes. Derek had said most of the village was involved at one time. An exaggeration, she was sure, but clearly it had not been a minority sport in Farnden in young Martha’s day.
    Anyway, why am I so interested? she asked herself. It was not as if she was a seasoned campaigner against cruelty to wildlife. Not her thing at all. No, she was more than ever convinced that the disappearance of Herbert Everitt and the secrets in Cox’s woods were in some way connected. And that shadowy woman with her killer terriers—fighting terriers?—why was she so curious about Lois’s mundane cleaning visits? Tomorrow was cleaning day at Herbert’s, so perhaps an excuse would occur to her for a call on the woman behind the curtains.
    W HEN L OIS ARRIVED HOME , A LARGE AND SHINING motorbike stood in the drive. Jamie! Her heart leapt. Her youngest son had given no warning that he would be coming, but then that was quite usual. She suppressed the thought that he only came home when he wanted something, often money, and rushed in to greet him. He was sitting at the kitchen table with Jeems on his lap, his grandmother’s eyes fixed fondly upon him.
    He stood up, handed the puppy to Lois, and then hugged them both. “Hey! You’re squeezing