To Catch a Butterfly Read online

  “Come here.” Peter pulled her towards him, slopping coffee over his shirt,

  “Oh shit, sorry, you’d better get changed.”

  “It’ll be fine you know.” Peter kissed her nose.

  “No you can’t go out like that.”

  “I meant with Stevie.”

  “Oh, I hope so, I just think it’ll get worse before it gets better, I wish Stevie could stay here while all this crap was going on, I just worry that she’s stuck there with that woman..” Beth felt her heart race, “Do you think she’d ever hurt her, I mean really hurt her?” She looked worryingly at Peter, “Do you?”

  “No, I don’t, look Stevie needs to be with her mum and her family right now, I just think that Marie’s reaction is pure grief, she’s just lost her husband, suddenly, and now everything in her life and Stevie’s life has changed, people do strange things when they’re grieving Beth, but I don’t think she would ever hurt Stevie, but then I don’t really know the woman.”

  “She has hurt her before though hasn’t she; remember I told you when Stevie turned up to see Adam with that mark on her face.” She sighed.

  “I know, but we can’t even be sure that Marie had done that……” Peter’s voice trailed off.

  Ten minutes later there was a knock at the door and Beth went to answer it, “Hello Rose, thanks for coming”

  “What on earth happened?” Rose walked into the front room, placed her handbag on the sofa, she was flushed and slightly out of breath, she removed her cardigan and started to fold it.

  “Will died in an accident at work yesterday.” Beth was desperate to get round to Stevie’s and quickly told Rose about the night before, missing out the parts that concerned her the most. “We’ll just pop round and make sure everything’s alright, I’m sure it will be, if Adam wakes up..”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll tell him you’ve popped out, we’ll be fine, poor Stevie, must be such a terrible shock for Marie.” Rose shook her head, “Anyway, like I said, don’t worry about Adam.” She smiled at Beth and nodded at Peter

  “Thanks Rose, we won’t be long.” Beth pulled on her shoes “Help yourself to tea or coffee.” And with that they hurried out of the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  Catherine shook the water from a bunch of flowers and after sniffing the brightly coloured petals she placed them carefully across the child’s seat of her shopping trolley.

  “A lady should never have to buy flowers for herself.” The voice was deep and slow, Catherine turned to see a short, slightly plump man in his seventies standing there, his trousers sat four inches above his ankles and two inches below his chest. His creased shirt, once white had turned a strange grey and the threadbare collar sat awkwardly around his neck.

  “They’re not for me.” Catherine smiled politely, noticing that he had bits of stubble dotted around his chin.

  “Oh, someone’s birthday then?” His slightly buggy eyes were bright with enthusiasm.

  “No, no-one’s birthday.” Catherine couldn’t help but grin at this strange little man standing before her.

  “Don’t tell me.” He raised his index finger as if to silence her and closed his eyes, Catherine raised her eyebrows and quickly looked around to see if the man’s carer was perhaps frantically looking for him having escaped from some old peoples home.

  “I’ve got it, a sick friend!” He snapped his fingers and looked at her expectantly.

  “That’s exactly right, a sick friend, who I really should be getting back to, if you’ll excuse me.” She began to push her trolley towards the nearest checkout.

  “Nice to meet you!” The old man called after her and Catherine responded “And you.” She turned to see him making his way out of the store empty handed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  Beth felt her heart quicken as she knocked on Stevie’s front door, she noticed the curtains were still closed and stole a glance at Peter who was looking up at the bedroom window. The door opened and Beth was surprised to see a tall, older man standing there.

  “Oh, hello, we’re friends of Marie and Stevie, we thought we’d pop round to see how they are.” Beth’s words were broken and awkward “We were here last night.” She continued.

  “Please come in, I’m Marie’s father, John.” He was solemn and stepped back to allow them inside.

  “Thank you, I’m Beth by the way, this is my husband Peter.” Beth stepped into the hallway and waited for John to close the door before walking into the front room, which was dark and musty, the only light was filtering through from the kitchen. Marie was sat squarely in the armchair, Beth and she looked straight at each other and Beth expected a barrage of abuse, which didn’t come. She felt uncomfortable standing in the middle of the room, Marie pushed herself up and stepped towards Beth her arms outstretched before her, “Hello Beth, thank you for coming, it’s so nice to have friends around you at a time like this.” She hugged Beth tightly and Beth came to the quick conclusion that the doctor had left her some pills and Marie had popped the lot.

  “No problem.” Was all that Beth could muster, shocked at Marie’s sudden change of mood. The bruises on Marie’s face were coming out, black and red, the swelling had eased and Marie saw Beth examining them, “I told mum and dad about me banging my face as I fainted yesterday, thank God you were there to pick me up Peter, I must have looked an awful state, please, sit down, both of you, thanks for coming, mum was just about to pour the tea out, would you like a cup?, silly isn’t it but no matter what happens a cup of tea always seem to make you feel better.” Marie never took a breath as she spoke, ranting on, her tone was cheerful and manic, it was only when Marie mentioned her mother that Beth noticed the tiny woman getting up from the sofa, she was the image of Marie, small frame, tight lipped, “Vera, Marie’s mum.” The woman abruptly introduced herself, before silently gliding into the kitchen like a spectre. Beth and Peter sat on the settee, “How’s Stevie?” Beth’s eyes worked around the room, looking for any sign that Marie had smashed ornaments or thrown Stevie across the room.

  “Oh, you know as well as can be expected, she’s sleeping, best not disturb her.” Marie dismissing Beth’s next question before she got to ask it. “She’s calmed down a bit now, she got upset earlier, started throwing things around, broke my favourite ornament, the little china horse, still never mind, it’s just an ornament after all.”

  Marie glared at Beth and the two women stared each other out, Beth felt helpless, Marie was lying and Beth knew that she would lie and lie again to cover her tracks, she would not get to see Stevie today, Marie would make sure of it, Beth decided to ask anyway, “Can I pop up and see Stevie, let her know that Adam’s thinking of her?” Beth’s tone was calm and matter of fact.

  “No, best not, let her sleep.” Marie again dismissing Beth and again the two women stared at each other for a moment.

  “Will’s parents are coming tonight, they’re travelling from Devon, they’ve been on holiday there, they’ll be staying here for a bit, help me arrange the funeral and well whatever else we need to do.” Marie looked up at her mother who was carrying a tray of tea and placed it on the coffee table, Marie scooped three sugars clumsily into her cup, “There’s so much to think about, I think it would be best if Stevie’s friends left her alone for now, she needs to be with her family, would you be so kind as to tell Rose for me, just so that Laura doesn’t come round?” Marie stirred her tea vigorously and dropped the teaspoon onto the tray, “Please help yourself to sugar.”

  Beth noticed Marie’s hands were shaking as she held her tea cup and for a moment she checked herself, she suddenly felt a pang of guilt, this woman had just lost her husband, Peter’s words returned to her and she tried hard to sympathise, to understand what must be going on in Marie’s head, the days that were to follow, the funeral, looking after Stevie, facing the world alone, her life ahead, widowed. Beth decided that she would try to be less judgemental of Marie and give her the benefit of the doubt, Beth nodded to herself and then r
ealised the room had fallen silent.

  She picked up the nearest cup of tea and put it to her mouth, noticing that the teabag was still in there, she sipped at it anyway. Peter declined the offer.

  “How’s Adam?” Marie broke the silence, lighting a cigarette as she spoke.

  “He’s fine, he’s with a neighbour.” Beth replied, she had resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to see Stevie and the atmosphere in the room made her feel uncomfortable. She drank her tea in silence, trying not to swallow the teabag that sat at the bottom of her cup. No one spoke; the room was silent apart from the exaggerated sound of Marie blowing out smoke.

  “Well, we’d better leave you in peace.” Beth put her cup down, and stood up, Marie dropped her cigarette into the huge glass ashtray that dominated the coffee table and jumped up from her chair, “Thanks for coming.” She made her way over to Beth and hugged her quickly.

  “If there’s anything we can do, you know where we are.” Beth made her way to the front door, nodding at Marie’s parents who nodded back, “If you need some time alone, you know, to sort things out, Stevie can always come over to ours.” Beth looked into Marie’s eyes.

  “We’ll be fine thanks, Stevie needs to be with her family right now.” Marie smiled an irritating smile and opened the front door, and without another word, Beth and Peter left.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  Catherine carried the last of her shopping bags into the kitchen, as she looked out of the window into the garden she noticed a cat sitting under the wooden table. She watched it for a moment, motionless until it heard a rustling in the bush behind it, its ears moving back and forth to pick up the sound.

  Catherine started to unpack the bags, every now and then checking what her visitor was doing, she turned on the kettle before making her way upstairs, carrying an armful of toiletries into the bathroom, secretly hoping that the cat would still be there when she took herself outside with a cup of coffee.

  Back in the kitchen, she filled the sink with water and stood the wrapped flowers up in it, a glance into the garden confirmed the cat was still there, a gentle breeze was now blowing its long fur away from its face, it sat like a little lion surveying its territory, eyes, slowly closing, head tipped slightly back, catching a scent on the wind.

  Once Catherine had finished putting her shopping away she made herself a coffee and with mug in hand she carefully opened the back door and stepped outside, not wanting to startle her little friend, she spoke quietly, “Hello little one.” The cat looked up at her, Catherine stood motionless, “Well, who are you then?” The cat stood up, stretched and walked towards her, then pushed its head affectionately against her leg. She smiled and crouched down, just as it flicked its bushy tail upwards, tickling her face, then it collapsed dramatically onto its side and offered its tummy to her, Catherine obliged and rubbed her fingers in little circles up and down its belly. She noticed thick clumps of matted fur and could feel that under its heavy coat that it was very scrawny.

  “You’re all skin and bone aren’t you?” She said as it delighted in rolling on its back collecting dust and leaves to add to its already bedraggled appearance, a check at one end revealed no collar and a check at the other revealed it was a boy.

  “Look at the state of you, you’re a very scruffy boy.” Catherine’s legs began to ache in her crouched position and she pushed herself upright, smiling as she went back to the kitchen to get her cigarettes. As she returned to the garden she noticed that he had gone and wished immediately that she had stayed with him a little longer, “That’ll teach you for smoking.” She muttered to herself and shook her head at her own foolishness; the thought had crossed her mind while he was rolling around what she had in her cupboards that he could eat. But now her fleeting visitor had vanished. She lit a cigarette and sat back in her garden chair, drinking her coffee and closing her eyes as she listened to ‘Moon River’ drifting across from next doors open window. She absorbed the moment and took advantage of the feeling of calm that washed over her and wrapped itself around her.

  As she sat there she looked around her garden, so many jobs to do, the grass needed cutting, the fence needed creosoting, she turned in her seat and looked at the house, the windowsills needed painting, the chimney re-pointing, and the top windows needed a clean. So much to do. Her eyes then fell on the kitchen window and there, as bold as brass was Scruffy Boy, sitting on her draining board sniffing the flowers that stood in her sink.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  Rose Fielding heard the car pull up and was up, opening the front door, she watched as Beth and Peter walked up their path.

  “How did you get on?” She asked eagerly before they’d even got into the house.

  “Yes, ok, Marie’s mum and dad were there, is Adam still asleep?” Beth put a hand on the back of the sofa and kicked off her shoes.

  “He hasn’t stirred, did you see Stevie? how is she?” Rose asked.

  “No she was resting, but everything seemed fine, well not fine obviously, but calm.” Beth had only ever had brief conversations with Rose in the past and realised she didn’t really know her at all. She did know that she had thrown her husband out and was excessively protective over her daughters, Laura especially. She always seemed a very sturdy and upright person, said what she meant, no fluff, no flowers, just said it how it was and Beth liked that about her. She was however apprehensive about sharing her concerns about Stevie with her.

  Rose Fielding on the other hand knew quite enough about Beth and Peter Daniels from her own observations and from what Laura had said to know that she was going to voice her opinion right here and right now.

  “I think Marie Buchanan is a very strange woman, don’t get me wrong, I know she’s just lost her husband and I feel for her, he was a lovely man, a really decent person and so young, but I just hope she doesn’t take her grief out on Stevie, poor little mite to lose her dad like that.” Rose shook her head, “Strange woman though, don’t trust her, sorry but I don’t.”

  “What do you mean?” Beth leant against the back of the sofa and crossed her arms.

  “Well, my Laura’s up at the Doctors’ surgery quite a bit what with her little turns.”

  Beth nodded, listening intently; she spotted Peter out the corner of her eye making the letter ‘T’ with his fingers from the kitchen doorway.

  “Sorry Rose, would you like a cup of tea?” Beth interrupted.

  “Oh yes, I will please, three sugars.” Rose responded abruptly, “Anyway, as you know Marie works at the surgery on reception and I can go in there one day and she’s as nice as pie, the next time she hardly acknowledges that she knows me.”

  “What did you mean when you said you didn’t trust her?” Beth pressed as Peter hovered in the doorway waiting for the kettle to boil.

  “Can’t trust someone who doesn’t look you in the eye, call it women’s intuition if you like, I always feel she’s got something to hide.”

  “Like what?” Beth frowned.

  “I don’t know, can’t put my finger on it.”

  Beth and Rose turned at the same time to see Adam coming sleepily down the stairs.

  “Hello darling.” Beth smiled, she thought he always looked like an angel when he’d just woken up, sleepy eyes, tousled blond hair and pink cheeks.

  “Is Laura here?” Adam presumed at seeing Rose and leant against Beth who placed an arm around his shoulder.

  “No we’ve been to see Stevie, Rose stayed here in case you woke up.” Beth went on to answer all of Adam’s questions before he asked them albeit not completely honestly.

  “Stevie’s fine, her grandma and granddad were there but they don’t want too many visitors at the moment.” Beth knew that now that Adam was up that the rest of the conversation with Rose would be all la de da and what nice weather we’re having. Peter brought the tea in “Do you want some juice son?”

  “No thanks.” Adam made himself comfortable on the sofa. The three adults engaged in petty conversation an
d after taking her empty cup out to the kitchen Rose said her goodbyes and made her way to the front door. Beth stepped out behind her, pulling the door to, “Marie obviously doesn’t know that Laura went round there or that you called us, she just asked that we told you what happened to Will so that Laura doesn’t go round to see Stevie.” She explained, her voice low and direct.

  “Right, okay then. Well call me if you need anything, you can always pop in for a chat.” Rose replied and let herself out.

  Later that evening after Adam had gone to bed; Peter and Beth opened a bottle of wine and settled on the sofa. Peter tapped his leg for Beth to put her feet up.

  “Rose is quite sweet really isn’t she?” Beth spread out her toes and studied her feet.

  “Yeah she’s okay.” Peter grinned, “Not like Marie’s parents, they were a bit strange weren’t they?”

  “Yeah, I guess it runs in the family.”

  “Shit.” Peter checked his watch, “I didn’t ring the office, be too late to call Simon at home now.”

  “Call him first thing in the morning, when did you say you were going back to work?” Beth closed her eyes as Peter massaged her foot.

  “I didn’t, I just said I’d ring in today, I should really go back in tomorrow.” Peter tapped her big toe and gave it a squeeze. I mean there’s not much I can do here really is there?”

  “I suppose not, except I like having you here.” Beth peeked over the top of her wine glass at him.

  Peter smiled and turned to look at her, she looked so beautiful, even though her face revealed how exhausted she was. Tired eyes. He ran his finger along her leg and pinched her knee making her jump. “You’re a bad influence on me Mrs Daniels, I’ve got important accounts to look after you know.”