Chapter 78 – Solstice – Part 11
KLEMPNER
Cara tugs at my trouser leg. “Quack quacks.”
“What?”
She points down the hill to where battalions of ducks work in squadrons to relieve pickers of their
lunch. “Quack quacks, Gandy Kay.”
“Mitch, what’s she talking about?”
Mitch sets her knitting down. “Cara, you want to feed the ducks?”
She bursts into a smile, nodding. “Quack quacks.”
“Larry, why don’t you take Cara to feed the ducks. You can give them that leftover hot dog. Adam, do
you want to go too?”
“Sorry, what am I doing?”
Mitch adopts a trying my patience expression. “You’re taking Cara and Adam to feed the ducks.” She
stares up at me. Her head tilts. “Did you never feed the ducks as a little boy?”
“I don''t think so.”
You little bastard.
Do as you''re fucking told. Get inside.
The fist…
Da... No...
She looks away. “That was thoughtless of me. I''m sorry.”
I shrug it away. “Don''t be. It''s not as though I remember much of it.”
“You remember enough.” As though someone threw a switch, her voice turns cheerful. “Alright, Adam,
Cara. We’ll go and show Grandad K how to feed the ducks, shall we. I’ll just get everything packed up.”
Cara bounces up and down, pping and yelling. Adam copies her. Mitch packs pic, sk and
knitting into the back of the stroller with the efficiency of a sergeant ordering his squad to decamp. “You
take Vicky’s buggy will you.”
The source of the excitement is down by the river, an area cordoned off by a picket fence simr to the
y area. In theory, it’s a kids’ paddling pool. In practice, adults supervise gaggles of small children,
tossing bits of bread in the water, to be immediately assaulted by battalions of ducks.
Mitch produces the pic leftovers, passes me a bread roll. “Tear that into small pieces for Cara.” A
woman close by gives me an odd look.
But Cara squawks with delight as I turn a perfectly good bread roll into crumbs, shove a handful into
her grubby hands and another handful into Adam’s. Bear groans protest as the fragments are tossed
into the water.
“Isn’t it dangerous having them so close to the water’s edge?”
Mitch sniffs, dismissively. “It’s only six inches deep. And that’s why we, as responsible adults, stand
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over them.”
“So, remind me why we’re feeding ducks? They’re wild animals. Can’t they feed themselves?”
“It’s all part of the magic of childhood.” Mitch slides me a sidelong nce. “I realise you didn’t see a lot
of that, but there’s no reason you can’t enjoy it from the adult perspective now.” She nods towards the
excitedly squealing Cara. “Don’t tell me you don’t enjoy seeing your granddaughter enjoying herself so
much.”
“I’ll admit, it’s… charming.”
She looks away, but she’s smiling. Her hand slips into mine.
A squadron of ducks converges on Cara. She squeals and tosses herplete handful of bread at
them. Adam squawks, turns and runs, hugging up to Mitch, but Cara looks at me uncertainly.
“They can’t hurt you,” I say. “They’re only ducks. If they p at you, p back.”
They can’t hurt you, Sweetie… They’re only ducks…
…
…
“Larry?” Mitch’s voice prates. “Larry, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I… A memory just surfaced. I… did do this when I was small. My mother was with
me…
Brown eyes…
A mop of curly hair…
A smile…
Mitch’s face lights up. “Really? You’ve just remembered that?”
“Yes…” I haver, rubbing at the back of my head, trying to unearth more of the memory…
Abruptly, something sshes into the water. Ducks scatter and lift, raucous with protest and panic.
Cara yells aint. Mitch hunkers down, calming her and Adam. Other kids start bawling. Adults
mutter, looking around. Women stoop, picking up toddlers. Men turn and scan, searching for the source
of the disturbance.
The stone, if that’s what it was, seemed toe from a thicket of small trees a little way from the pool.
Still, nothing looks out of kilter now.
But my radar is twitching.
A bit of petty meanness.
A familiar pattern…
Is it the same one? Or just a coincidence?
Cara’s still wailing. Adam too. “Look…” Mitch points to a kiosk. “We’ll have an ice cream, shall we.” She
could have flicked a switch. The wails be yells of enthusiasm. Cara bounces up and down. Adam
follows her lead.
I fish some change from my pocket. “Here, get the ice cream with this. Are you okay here for a few
minutes?”
Mitch frowns. “Why? Where are you going?”
“Just to stretch my legs. I won''t be long. You okay with that?”
She gives me a sunny smile. “I’m a big girl now. Sure, yes. Enjoy your walk.”
Parking Vicky by a handy bench, I saunter away from the pool, but as soon I’m away from Mitch’s line
of sight, I step out smartly, striding back up the hill to the gate.
Not going to lose you this time…
*****
How long is it since that stone was thrown?
Five minutes? Two?
I can’t have lost much time.
Where are you?
Striding out, I make for the main gate. There’s no guarantee he’s doing the same, but Hoodie went that
way before, the first time I saw him but I lost him in the chaos milling police, press and panicking
crowds. All the while I walk, I scan ahead…
There…
Just vanishing out of the park, a grey-hooded figure.
Is it him? The same one?
I step up another gear.
Don’t lose him in the crowds again…
This time though, I know for sure he’s gone through the gate. He’s somewhere out in the square.
I’m warm by the time I reach the square myself. Uncertain, I hover, eyes shaded against the sun as I
search for…
Gotcha!
Portrait of a man’s back, walking away from me.
Following, I try to pick out detail that might identify him. There’s annoyingly little to work with. Medium
build. Not short but, at most, medium height. Long-legged though in his everyday jeans. Sneakers. And
of course, a grey hoodie.
I’d give a lot for a look at his face.
Just on the off-chance, I snap at him with my phone camera. For what it’s worth.
What do I have?
Portrait of a man’s back.
Hoodie veers for a left and disappears around a corner. I break into a jog as he vanishes…
… and reach the corner just in time to see him, several hundred yards ahead, turn another corner.
Damn…
I step up my jog.
From a pocket, my mobile rts out...
… And I shoot a hand to p it onto mute…
… but by the time I catch up, the bastard’s vanished again.
Where the hell is he?
Wherever he is, it’s nowhere I can see.
What else is here?
Budget stores…
Cinema…
Petrol station…
Greasy-spoon cafe…
Neon sign… Sapphire Club! Exotic Dancers!
Catching my breath, I straighten my clothes and stroll across.
It’s early yet and everything’s shuttered down. A ce like this probably doesn’t even open its door
until nine or ten. Just on the off-chance, I try the door, but it’s locked.
So, why would Hoodie bother to hang out here?
And that’s even assuming that my suspicions have any substance at all.
Aimless again, I wander to the next street turnoff. And the next. They’re all much the same. Cheap
housing. Cheaper apartments. Nothing that gives me any hint of where to go next.
Frustrated, I m a fist at the nearest wall…
Fuck!
… then regret it as I skin my knuckles against dirty brickwork. Sucking at the slight seepage of blood,
waiting for inspiration to strike, I drift to the cafe.
On my second coffee top-up, I still have the feeling I’m missing something. Something important.
Something that’s staring me in the face.
*****
The feeling still gnaws at me as I park up and head for Mitch’s apartment.
What the fuck is it?
Something…
But as I touch the handle, the door opens ahead of me. Mitch stands there, legs nted wide, mouth
tight.
Crap…
“Mitch…”
“Where the hell have you been?” she demands.
“There was something…”
“You said you were going for a walk. Two hours I waited, thinking you''de back.”
“You were alright. You had Bear...”
“And Vicky. And Cara. And Adam. And the stroller. And Vick’s buggy. And unfortunately…” She spits
the words… “… no car. Because you saw fit to take the keys with you. What the hell were you thinking,
Larry?”
Oh…
The obvious finally dawns on me. “How did you get home?”
“Now he asks. I called James. Richard sent Ross to collect me. And I might mention you owe Richard
the cost of a valet on his car. Bear took up the back seat and it’s covered in dog hair.”
“Mitch, I’m sorry. Look, let me exin inside.”
She sets fists on hips. “Inside? So, you want toe inside, do you? Now it’s convenient for you
again.”
I’m tired. My muscles ache. “Mitch, please. Let’s talk about it in the morning. I need to sleep.”
“The morning? Go to hell. We’ll talk about it now. Why did you abandon us like that?”
“I saw something. I needed to check it out.”
“And you couldn’t have called me? Let me know there was a problem?”
“I was preupied…”
“Preupied? You couldn’t answer your phone either?”
“I turned the sound off because…”
Crap…
Realising how it sounds, I let the words trail away.
Mitch droops her head, her chest rising and falling in a series of deep breaths. Then, face jerking up,
she swings, delivering an open-handed p that makes my head ring and my eyes water.
I press my palm against the burn on my cheek. “Mitch, don''t do that again.”
Her lips press t and the hand swings again. But this time I snatch her wrist, mid-air, mid-strike, before
it connects. “I said, No. I’m sorry. What you say is right. I was wrong to do what I did without contacting
you. It was thoughtless of me. But I''ve apologised already, and it won''t happen again.”
Her eyes slit. “Damn right it won’t happen again.” She wrenches free of my grip, turning away. “Don''t
even think about getting into my bed tonight.” And the door ms in my face.