The Loney

Chapter Nineteen

The new born lamb caused so much excitement that breakfast went on too long and we set off late for Mass. But no one seemed to be worried, jubilant as they were about it being Easter Sunday and excited about visiting the shrine the following day.

On the minibus, Mr Belderboss got out his harmonica and had everyone singing Come Let Us with Our Lord Arise and Jesus Lives and So Shall I. Miss Bunce smiled for the first time in days. Mummer sat with her eyes closed, enjoying the rare sunlight that was blessing the coast that morning and giving the sea a deep blue calmness that I’d never seen before. I felt the same sense of hope that I’d felt at Saint Jude’s the morning we’d set off. There was nothing to worry about. Parkinson and Collier may have hung the gruesome thing in the wood to scare us, but that seemed to have been the extent of their menace. They were nothing more than oversized children playing knock-a-door-run.

I took everything that was offered that morning — the warm sunlight, the soft shadows on the fields, the spangle of a brook as it wound under some willows towards the sea — and managed to convince myself that nothing would harm us.

Such naivety makes me laugh now.

***

The small spire of The Sacred Heart appeared and everyone stopped singing so that they could hear the bells. But there was nothing. Only the bleating of the sheep in the field.

‘That’s odd,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘They always ring the bells on Easter morning.’

‘I know,’ said Farther. ‘A full peal too.’

‘Why is everyone standing outside?’ said Miss Bunce as we pulled up next to the church.

‘What’s going on, Father?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

Father Bernard stopped the minibus and we all got out and joined the rest of the congregation as they milled about in front of the church doors.

The priest came over to meet us.

‘I’m sorry, I’m afraid there’ll be no Mass this morning,’ he said.

‘Why? What’s happened?’ said Mummer.

‘An act of vandalism,’ he said.

‘Oh no,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Is there much damage?’

The priest seemed lost for words. He could only look back at his flock, gathered around the main door. Clement was among them and when he saw us he waved us over to look.

There on the ground was the wooden Jesus that had hung over the altar smashed and splintered.

‘Good Lord,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘They’ve been at it with sledgehammers by the looks of it.’

‘Aye, you’re not wrong,’ said Father Bernard bending down to inspect the damage.

‘Five hundred and ninety years,’ said the priest from behind us. ‘Five hundred and ninety years that’s been hanging over the altar here. And now this. In five minutes of madness. I mean, why?’

‘Oh, there is no reason for it with these people,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘They’re just mindless thugs.’

‘It’s their upbringing,’ Mr Belderboss said. ‘They don’t teach them right from wrong at home anymore.’

‘Will it be kids from the village?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘Yes,’ said the priest knowingly. ‘There’s a few little hooligans that I wouldn’t put it past to do something like this. I’ve seen them spraypainting and littering.’

I saw Clement glance at Father Bernard. It was clear who he suspected, though he didn’t say anything.

‘Can’t you take it inside?’ said Farther. ‘See if there’s any way of salvaging it?’

The priest said nothing but pushed past us and went to the main doors. A huge chain had been passed through the handles and padlocked together. He lifted it up and let it fall back against the doors by way of an answer.

‘The side door’s the same,’ he said.

‘What about breaking a window?’ Mr Belderboss suggested.

‘Break a window?’ the priest said. ‘The glass is priceless, man, don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Have you called the police?’ asked Mrs Belderboss.

‘Yes, of course,’ the priest replied.

‘It might have been better to have fetched the fire brigade,’ said Mr Belderboss.

‘The fire brigade?’ said the priest, trying to untangle the chain in the vain hope that it might only be an obstinate knot. ‘What good would that do?’

‘Well, they have things which would cut through that like a knife through butter,’ said Mr Belderboss.

‘I can’t believe anyone would do something like this,’ said Mummer. ‘Locking people out of the church on Easter morning.’

‘What about saying Mass outdoors?’ suggested Miss Bunce. ‘Like they do at Glasfynydd.’

Mummer made a derisive noise and turned away, but the priest seemed to consider it a decent idea, given the circumstances, and asked the regulars if they agreed. They said little but nodded in supplication and the priest gathered us in front of one of the yew trees and began.

***

The police turned up half way through and went around the church, inspecting the doors and windows. I noticed that Clement had stopped singing and was watching them anxiously as they squatted down on their haunches to look at the battered crucifix.

After the blessing, the priest seemed a little calmer for having got through the unusual Mass and that the police had arrived. He went around shaking hands and accepting condolences and finally went off to speak to the two policemen who had been standing patiently by, their helmets under their arms, as though they were at a funeral.

‘What a disappointment,’ said Mummer.

‘I thought it was quite nice, really, in the end,’ said Miss Bunce. ‘Quite liberating.’

‘Don’t worry, Esther,’ said Mrs Belderboss, patting Mummer’s arm. ‘It’ll be all better when we go to the shrine tomorrow.’

‘Yes,’ said Mummer. ‘I know. I know.’

‘You can’t let something like this get you down. It’s not worth it. It’s what these little villains want.’

‘I know,’ said Mummer. ‘You’re right. I just wish we could have had a normal service and that Andrew could have taken communion.’

‘Come on, Esther,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Don’t be sad. There’s nothing more you can do now but trust that the Lord will visit Andrew tomorrow. All the signs are there.’

I saw Clement wave Father Bernard over to the shade of some cypress trees, where he had been lingering as the policemen went around taking statements. Father Bernard excused himself and went over to speak to him. They had a conversation that I couldn’t hear. Father Bernard put his hand on Clement’s shoulder. Clement nodded, and then Father Bernard came back to where we were standing.

‘It’s alright if Clement comes back for a bite to eat isn’t it?’ he said. ‘His mother’s out and it seems a shame for him to be on his own today.’

Clement hung behind him, scratching the back of his neck, pretending to scrutinise the inscription on one of the gravestones.

‘Well, I don’t know,’ said Mummer. ‘I’ve not really catered for another mouth, Father.’

She caught Miss Bunce’s eye.

‘But,’ she said. ‘I’m sure there’ll be enough. It’ll be nice to have another guest to celebrate with us.’

***

We sat down at the dinner table as soon as we got back. If nothing else was going to go right, Mummer at least wanted to eat on time.

Clement had been persuaded to take off his filthy jacket and hang it up by the front door so the smell was at least confined to the hallway. Underneath, he wore a bulging tanktop of red, black and orange chevrons, a khaki shirt and tie that seemed to be strangling him.

Outside, the day had turned overcast and rain was starting to set in again. The room became gloomy enough for candles, which Father Bernard lit one by one.

Mummer, Miss Bunce and Mrs Belderboss came in and out with trays of steaming meat and vegetables, a loaf of bread, sauces in silver boats. A warm plate was set in front of each person and once everyone was sitting down, Father Bernard invited Clement to say grace, not noticing, or wilfully ignoring, the look of horror that Mummer tried to slide discreetly his way, as though on a folded piece of paper.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Clement said, ‘Lord, we humbly thank thee for the food thou hast set before us and ask that thou bestow on us thy blessing on this glorious day. Amen.’

There was complete silence as everyone looked at him. It was the most he had ever said in one go.

‘Thank you,’ said Father Bernard and Clement nodded and dug his fork into the mound of potatoes.

Everyone watched as he shovelled the food into his mouth and slopped gravy down his tie. Hanny was especially fascinated by him and barely touched his own food for watching Clement eating his.

‘How are things on the farm?’ Father Bernard asked. ‘It must be a busy time of year for you.’

Clement looked up briefly and then went back to his potatoes.

‘Not too good, Father.’

‘Oh, why’s that?’

‘We’re going to have to sell up.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Father Bernard. ‘What’s happened?’

Clement looked around the table again and said nothing. Mr Belderboss tried a different tack.

‘We were all wondering, Clement, if your mother had had an operation or something.’

‘Eh?’

‘Well she came with firewood the other day.’

‘Oh, aye,’ he said. ‘Aye, she’s had an operation.’

‘And now she can see alright?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘Aye.’

‘It’s amazing what they can do nowadays isn’t it?’ she said.

‘Aye,’ said Clement, without looking up from his plate. ‘It is.’

The dishes were cleared away and Mummer brought out the simnel cake she had made the day before with its sugar paste face of Jesus in the middle and its twelve marzipan balls around the edge representing the disciples.

She placed the cake in the centre of the table and everyone, apart from Miss Bunce, made a fuss over it, praising the detail on Jesus’ face, how intricate the thorns were, how the cochineal colouring had made the blood trickling down his cheek so vibrantly red. Hanny picked up the cake slice, but Mummer took it gently from him and went back into the kitchen, returning with a fistful of leaves left over from Palm Sunday.

‘It seemed fitting,’ she said.

Everyone drew one from her hand. Clement was last and looked around the table before taking one for himself.

‘Now,’ said Mummer, ‘let’s see.’ And everyone placed their leaves down on the table.

Clement had drawn the shortest.

‘What does that mean?’ he said.

‘It means,’ said Mummer, trying to hide her disappointment that he of all people had won. ‘That you get to throw Judas on the fire.’

‘Pardon?’

‘Choose one of the balls on the cake,’ said Farther, leaning towards him. ‘And toss it into the fire.’

Clement looked at the cake and then at the fire churning in the grate.

‘It’s alright,’ he said. ‘Someone else can do it.’

‘But you’ve won,’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘Aye,’ said Clement. ‘But I’d rather not.’

‘It’s only a bit of fun,’ Father Bernard said.

‘Go on, son,’ said Mr Belderboss, plucking one of the marzipan balls from the cake and handing it to him.

Clement looked at the thing in his hand and then, holding it as though it were a delicate glass marble, he edged his chair back across the stone floor, stood up and went over to the fire. He glanced back at the table and then tipped his hand and sent Judas into the flames. Everyone clapped and for the first time Clement managed a smile. Albeit a self-conscious one that made him run his finger round the inside of his collar.

‘What was that?’ Miss Bunce said through the applause. She half stood up, holding onto the table. The clapping died away and we sat in silence listening to the rain pummelling the yard outside.

‘What’s the matter, dear?’ Mrs Belderboss said.

‘Shh,’ said Miss Bunce.

A screeching noise came from outside.

Hanny gripped my hand under the table. Everyone turned to look at the window. But there was nothing to see, only the rain beating down.

‘Owls,’ said Mr Belderboss, picking up the cake slice and handing it to Mummer. ‘I’ll just have a small piece.’

‘No, no, it’s not,’ said Miss Bunce.

‘It was owls,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘Barn owls, if I know anything.’

The noise came again, closer this time. The shriek of something in agony.

‘You might be right, Reg,’ said Farther. ‘It certainly sounded like a barn owl.’

Everyone apart from Clement got up and crowded at the window as we heard the sound of barking. In the field beyond the yard, a small white dog was edging backwards, dragging something in its mouth.

‘Isn’t that your friend’s dog, Father?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘Which friend is that?’

‘Your pal who helped fix the minibus.’

‘I wouldn’t call him a pal, Mrs Belderboss.’

‘Heavens. What is it doing?’ Mummer said.

‘Has it caught a bird, Father?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘It’s certainly got its teeth into something,’ said Father Bernard.

‘I told you. It’ll have got a barn owl,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘They screech like stink when there are dogs about.’

‘Don’t be silly, Reg,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘How on earth could a dog catch an owl?’

‘It’s not an owl,’ said Miss Bunce indignantly. ‘It’s much bigger than that.’

‘What is it?’ Mummer said again.

Far away someone whistled and the dog looked up and after a moment shot off across the grass, leaving whatever it had been chewing to die in the middle of the field.

Monro was pining to be let out, lifting himself up and pawing at the door.

‘Hey, hey,’ Father Bernard went over and tried to calm him down.

‘What’s the matter with him?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

Father Bernard struggled to get hold of Monro’s collar.

‘It’ll be the dog outside,’ he said. ‘He’s not good with other dogs.’

‘Oh, get him to stop that awful noise, Father,’ said Mrs Belderboss.

Clement was looking anxiously from one person to another.

‘Come on, you silly wee beggar,’ Father Bernard said gently and put his arms around Monro’s neck.

But Monro was still as white-eyed as Clement and jumped out of his grasp and knocked over the small table next to the door on which Mr Belderboss had left the earthenware jar.

It smashed on the floor and its contents spilled everywhere. A few small bones. A piece of leather cut into a crude heart shape. Iron nails pickled with rust. And there was the missing Christ from the nativity set stained the colour of malt whisky.

‘Oh, my Lord,’ said Mrs Belderboss as her feet were soaked. ‘What on earth have you done, you great lump?’

‘That smell,’ said Mummer, covering her nose with her hand. ‘I think your dog’s been.’

‘It’s not Monro,’ said Father Bernard. ‘It’s what was inside.’

A dark yellow fluid was leaking from the jar onto the stone floor.

‘What’s that?’ said Miss Bunce, backing away.

In the puddle of urine there floated what looked like strands of human hair and nail clippings.

Through the commotion, Clement started to call out. Everyone turned back to the table and stared at him. He had left his dinner half finished and had, in the custom of the place, left his knife and fork crossed on the plate. He had his hands flat on the table and was staring at the remains of the jar on the floor.

‘I’d like to go home now,’ he said.

***

Clement went out to fetch his jacket. Everyone watched him go and then Mummer swept up the pieces of the jar while Farther laid down some newspaper to soak up the spillage.

‘I hope you’re going to lock that room up for good,’ said Mummer.

‘Of course I will,’ said Farther. ‘I’m sorry everyone.’

‘It was hidden for a reason.’

‘I know, I know.’

‘You can’t leave things alone, can you?’

‘Oh, Esther, that’s enough,’ he said. ‘I’ve apologised. What more do you want me to do?’

‘Alright,’ said Father Bernard. ‘Let’s not dwell on it. What’s done is done.’

‘Well I’m still none the wiser,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘What that jar was for.’

‘I don’t know, Reg,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Perhaps it was a litter bin. Now give it a rest. There are more important things to worry about.’ She eyed the door through which Clement had just gone.

‘I was only saying.’

‘And I was only thinking of poor Clement,’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘How do you mean, poor Clement?’ said Mummer.

‘Well it’s obvious isn’t it?’ replied Mrs Belderboss.

‘What is?’

Mrs Belderboss lowered her voice, aware that Clement might be able to hear them from the hall.

‘They’ve had to sell the farm to pay for his mother’s operation, haven’t they?’

‘They do have the NHS up here, you know,’ said Mummer.

‘Oh, they’ll not have got that done on the National Health so quickly,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Will they, Father?’

‘I shouldn’t think so.’

‘No, it’ll have been some private place,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘Very expensive.’

‘What a wonderful thing to do for someone though,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Give everything up like that.’

‘Aye,’ said Father Bernard.

‘I wonder what he’s going to do now, though?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘Leave us alone to salvage what we can of the day, I hope,’ said Mummer.

‘Esther,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Don’t be unkind. It’s Easter Sunday after all.’

Well,’ said Mummer. ‘A grown man going all strange at the dinner table like that just over a broken old pot. It was so awkward.’

‘He didn’t make as much fuss as you,’ said Farther scrunching up the newspaper and feeding it to the fire.

Mummer gave him a look and went back to the conversation around the table.

‘His nerves are probably bad,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘He has had to sell his farm.’

‘So he says,’ Mummer replied. ‘But you know what he’s like.’

‘What do you mean?’ said Mrs Belderboss.

‘Aye, what is he like exactly?’ said Father Bernard.

Mr Belderboss leant in towards him and Father Bernard listened, still with his eyes fixed on Mummer.

‘He’s one of these that tends to exaggerate things sometimes, Father. Doesn’t quite live in the same world as you and I, if you know what I mean.’

‘But I don’t think he’s making it up this time,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘I mean his mother can see again. There’s no disputing that. They must have got the money from somewhere.’

‘I must say, I’m inclined to agree with you, Mrs Belderboss,’ said Father Bernard. ‘I think we ought to make allowances for the poor man, and if he has had to sell everything then we should perhaps consider what we can do to help. Isn’t that the reason we’re here?’

‘Well, if you think, Father,’ Mr Belderboss replied, with a hint of defensiveness.

Father Bernard lowered his voice. ‘I don’t want to get on my high horse about it, but can you think of anything worse than losing your home? When I was in The Bone I saw people left with nothing. Good families who had their houses burned down in front of their eyes for no other reason than being Catholic or Protestant. Can you imagine what that does to people?’

‘It’s hardly the same thing,’ said Mummer.

‘You must admit it was their choice to sell, Father,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘Clement and his mother’s. No one forced them.’

‘What do you think Wilfred would have done, Reg?’ asked Father Bernard. ‘He wouldn’t have just ignored it, would he?’

‘Of course he wouldn’t have ignored it, Father. But all the same, I don’t think he would have liked us to have got involved. It’s nothing to do with us.’

‘Isn’t it?’

Miss Bunce hadn’t said a word throughout, but now she put down her cup and said, ‘I think Father Bernard’s right. Think of the Samaritan.’

‘Hear, hear,’ said Farther from the fireplace.

Mr Belderboss smiled at him sympathetically and then at Miss Bunce.

‘The thing is, Joan, what you have to understand about these country folk is that they don’t want help, and certainly not help from outsiders like us. They’re a proud people. It’d be an insult to them. There are times, like Esther says, when the greatest kindness is to leave people be. Isn’t that right David?’

David put his arm around Miss Bunce.

‘I think Mr Belderboss is right,’ he said.

Miss Bunce looked at him and then down at her teacup. Mummer took up the reins and steered the conversation back to Father Bernard again.

‘You see when Father Wilfred brought us here it felt as though he was able to draw a circle around us. To keep us focused on our own relationship with God, and allow him to guide us through the days with an attention that he wasn’t always able to give us back at Saint Jude’s. That was the whole point of being here. It wasn’t just a pilgrimage, Father. It was a sanctuary too. It might be worth bearing that in mind.’

Everyone was looking at Father Bernard. He stood up.

‘I’ll be taking Clement home now,’ he said.

‘Yes, alright, Father,’ said Mr Belderboss.

‘Do you want me to come with you?’ said Farther. ‘Make sure you don’t get lost.’

‘No, no, Mr Smith,’ he said. ‘It’s kind of you to offer, but I’ll be alright.’

‘If you’re sure.’

‘I’d rather you got that fire going for when I get back. The weather looks fair brutal out there.’

‘I will, Father,’ he said and began untying the bundles of firewood Clement’s mother had brought.

‘Mind how you go, Father,’ Mrs Belderboss called after him as he went out to get his coat. ‘Oh dear,’ she said once the door was closed. ‘I hope we haven’t upset him.’

‘I think we did,’ said Miss Bunce.

‘I was right, though, wasn’t I?’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘I mean no one’s persecuting Clement are they? It’s not our fault.’

Mrs Belderboss patted his hand.

‘No, it’s not,’ she said and then shook her head. ‘What a mess,’ she continued. ‘I don’t remember it being so — difficult — when we came with Wilfred.’

‘He kept everything simple, that’s why,’ said Mr Belderboss. ‘And he didn’t go prying into other people’s affairs.’

‘Still,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Everything will be better tomorrow, when we go to the shrine.’

‘Yes,’ said Mummer and managed a smile.

‘What’s that bit from Isaiah?’ About not worrying about the days that have gone?’

‘“Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past,”’ said Miss Bunce and finished off her piece of cake.

‘That’s the one,’ said Mrs Belderboss. ‘Tomorrow’s another day.’

***

Clement was still waiting patiently on the little chair in the hallway, his walking stick balanced on his knees.

‘Can I go home now?’ he said.

‘I think Father Bernard’s just getting his coat,’ I replied.

He looked down at the floor.

‘I told them not to ring that bell,’ he said.

When I didn’t respond, he looked up again.

‘The bell on Coldbarrow. You know the one up in the old tower next to the house?’

‘Yes.’

‘It were boarded up for years. But they went out to it.’

‘Who did?’

Clement was about to answer but stopped short when a door opened along the hallway. Father Bernard appeared and frowned as he zipped up his coat.

‘What’s going on?’ he said and Clement waved him over and made him sit on the stairs.

‘Parkinson and Collier, Father. They went out to Coldbarrow on New Year’s Eve just gone and took the boards off the tower and started ringing that bloody bell. And not a day or two later there were lights on at Thessaly, and then all this business started.’

Father Bernard looked at me and then back at Clement. ‘What business?’

‘They told me not to come here anymore,’ he said. ‘They said they’d get me sent back to Haverigg, like they did last time. But I had to come and warn you about what they’ve done. And now that your dog’s broke that bottle, it might be the only opportunity I get.’

‘That old jar in the dining room? What’s that to do with anything?’

‘Don’t you know what it is?’

‘No.’

‘They’re meant to keep witches away from the house,’ he said. ‘But you have to keep them sealed. And now it’s been opened …’

‘Clement,’ said Father Bernard. ‘Is there someone you want us to call? A doctor maybe. Will your mother be in when we get back? Maybe I ought to speak with her. See if we can get you some help with whatever it is that’s bothering you.’

Clement lowered his eyes.

‘You don’t understand, Father,’ he said. ‘You must keep away from Parkinson and Collier.’

‘Why? What is that you think they’ve done?’

But Clement didn’t have time to answer before someone knocked at the front door with a heavy, rhythmic thud.

Hanny came out of the dining room and grabbed my arm, wanting me to open the door. Gradually everyone was gathered in the hallway and we all listened to the singing coming from outside.

‘Who on earth is it?’ said Mummer and she sidled through the throng to see.