Dying Fall

looking forward to retirement in a Cromer seaside chalet. No, that’s going too far. When he retires it’ll be to a place with decent rail links.
    Inside, a long trestle table is filled with food and drink. Nelson moves forward, remembering what Ruth told him about Cathbad’s cooking. To his disappointment, though, breakfast is light on bacon and heavy on things likekedgeree and grapefruit compote. Across the room he can see two of the druids tucking in with a vengeance. He takes a roll and some cheese and then, on second thoughts, goes back for a Danish pastry. Might as well make the most of the last days before his traditional post-Blackpool diet.
    ‘Detective Inspector Nelson.’
    It’s the blonde woman, Elaine Something, who was mixed up in the Clayton Henry murder. She is rather inappropriately dressed in a flowing dress and shawl and has a look in her eyes which Nelson privately characterises as ‘bonkers’. Nothing that Sandy has told him about the history department makes him revise this judgement. Sam Elliot seemed to spend most of his time dressing in women’s clothes, Elaine and the others were all members of some loony sect that danced on the hills at night pretending to be King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. He remembers Clayton Henry bouncing around his converted windmill on a giant rubber ball. It’s not exactly a good advertisement for higher education.
    ‘Hello,’ he says now, warily.
    ‘I’m so pleased to meet you,’ says Elaine. ‘Ruth has told me
all
about you.’
    Nelson glances at Ruth who is standing by the door to the garden talking to Cathbad. Cathbad is holding Kate, looking for all the world as if he is her father. Nelson suppresses his irritation, knowing that he’s not in a position to object. He doesn’t believe Elaine’s statement anyway. Ruth never tells anyone
all
about anything.
    ‘I love Ruth,’ Elaine is saying. ‘She’s such a warm, caring person.’
    At that moment, Ruth looks over and catches Nelson’s eye. She sees Elaine and raises her eyebrows. Warm and caring are not the words that spring to mind.
    ‘She has her moments,’ says Nelson.
    ‘You know she’s found King Arthur’s bones? She’s going to do a full investigation. King Arthur will live again!’
    She raises her glass of orange juice and looks more unhinged than ever.
    ‘And you don’t mind what colour he turns out to be?’ asks Nelson drily.
    ‘Oh no,’ says Elaine. ‘That was Sam, not the rest of us. We never got involved with that side of the White Hand.’
    Nelson, remembering some of the things that Sandy told him about the group’s activities, is not convinced by this airy disassociation. From what Ruth says, Elaine suspected that the White Hand were behind Dan Golding’s death. This must mean that she knew exactly what kind of organisation it was. All the same, the arrest of Sam Elliot has meant that Sandy and Tim were at last able to infiltrate the group. With any luck, that will be the last of the Neo-pagans at Pendle University. Maybe, without their baleful influence, Elaine will be able to live a normal(ish) life.
    ‘And I’m in AA,’ she is saying, waving the orange juice. ‘Guy and I are thinking about getting married.’
    Nelson hasn’t met Guy but he knows what his advice to him would be.
    ‘Congratulations,’ he says. ‘Excuse me. I must go and talk to a friend.’
    *
    Ruth and Cathbad are looking out into the garden. There is still a neat trench where Arthur’s skeleton was excavated. Ruth looks at it with pride. Tomorrow, she’ll be back in Norfolk and she can start preparing for a new term. She’ll have a lot to do, writing up the case of the Raven King, but she’s determined to do more real archaeology. Maybe she can bring a team up to Ribchester.
    ‘Looking forward to going back?’ asks Cathbad, displaying a flash of his old sixth sense.
    Ruth smiles. ‘Well I can’t wait to see Flint again. And I’d like to see something of Shona before the end of the holidays.’
    ‘Give her my love.’
    Ruth looks at him. ‘You’re not coming back, are you?’
    Cathbad shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry, Ruth.’
    ‘Are you going to live here? In Dame Alice’s cottage?’
    ‘Yes. I like this house. It has good energies.’
    ‘Despite … despite what happened here?’
    Cathbad pats Thing, who has come galloping through the hedge to his side. He is trailing mud and hawthorn branches but Cathbad doesn’t seem to mind.
    ‘Yes. I feel