Page 13 of The Last Bench

And Vega almost ended the interview at this moment. She wasn’t sure she could bear to take them further into their memories. To be the one to make this lovely, kind couple remember why they could never give their daughter the wedding of which she’d dreamed.

To speak of their darkest moment, when their beautiful daughter Margaret had died.

But Vega had to continue probing because she was here not only to find out what had happened to Margaret, but also to see if the Davis family could help her discover where Hinges was.

Eleven

John

‘You’ve only taken one wrong turn,’ Anne said approvingly to Vega when she opted to go right at the next crossroads. ‘You have good instincts.’

‘I think I’d happily get lost in here for a couple of hours,’ Vega said. ‘I love how you’ve created these little resting spots throughout the maze, so people can enjoy the blooms. How many benches are there?’

‘We’ve four, but we might add another one this summer. My son and grandson have been plotting,’ John said as they reached the next clearing. ‘This is the grandkids’ favourite.’

He smiled as he watched Vega’s face light up, as most people’s did, when they came face to face with the treehouse he’d built twelve years ago, when Mary gave them their first grandchild.

‘This is brilliant!’ Vega exclaimed, looking upwards. ‘That must be over fifteen or twenty metres high!’

‘Nearer to thirty now, I’d say,’ John replied. ‘This tree was already in the field before we decided to start the blossom garden, so it had a head start on the trees we’ve planted over the past twenty-seven years. Its official name is Prunus avium “Plena”, but in plain talk it’s our native wild cherry. You see them all over Ireland, big spreading trees, and I’ve planted forty of them in the garden.’

‘I love the white double flowers,’ Vega said. ‘So pretty!’

‘You should see them in the autumn – their leaves are a vibrant crimson!’ Anne said. ‘You’ll have to come back. It will be like stepping into a different garden then. The pinks and whites disappear, but reds and oranges take their place. Nature sure is a wonder. And there’s no better place to see it all, but from up there.’

All three of them looked upwards. Around the sturdy trunk, about ten metres above the ground, John had built a viewing platform with a wooden ladder for access on one side and a slide on the other for coming down.

‘Will we go up?’ Anne said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

He was about to give Anne all the reasons why they should stay on firm ground, let Vega climb on her own, but he could tell by the stubborn tilt of her head that she had her mind made up. ‘Okay, but I’ll go first, and Vega can follow behind you,’ John replied, reaching out a hand to help Anne. She had the occasional dizzy spell due to her blood pressure. He wasn’t willing to take any chances that she might fall.

‘Oh, you can see everything from here!’ Vega said.

‘Our grandkids play all sorts up here. Pirates are their favourite at the moment,’ Anne said with a grin on her face, thinking of the little ones.

‘The bench is a genius addition too! I bet you made all of this yourself,’ Vega said, running her hand over the circular wooden bench that wrapped itself round the tree’s sturdy trunk.

‘Michael helped out.’

‘He’s very involved in the garden,’ Anne said. ‘We’re grateful that he lives near to us.’

‘Michael and Margaret were particularly close – he struggled when she died. His way of coping was to disappear, gallivanting all over the world once he graduated.’ John frowned. ‘For a while, we thought he might never come back to us.’

‘What changed his mind?’ Vega asked.

‘Time is a healer. Isn’t that what they say?’ Anne said. But her voice betrayed her. Time had not healed her wounds.

‘He’s married now, with two kids of his own and another on the way,’ John said. ‘Lives five minutes’ walk away. My right-hand man.’

‘If you were my parents, I’d want to live nearby too,’ Vega said, and John could see the sincerity on her face.

They stood side by side, leaning on the wooden railing that kept the kids safe, taking in the view.

‘We used to come up quite often, but we’ve fallen out of the habit. I don’t think I’ve been here in a couple of years,’ Anne said. Her voice softened. ‘Forth Mountain looks majestic today.’ She looked to John, a question in her eyes.

He understood, nodding. It was time to share what happened to Margaret.

‘You want to talk about Margaret’s death, don’t you?’ Anne asked Vega.