Dying Fall

expression of pure joy is painful to see. Ruth almost wishes she hadn’t told him but how could she not?
    ‘After me?’ he whispers.
    ‘I don’t know,’ says Ruth, but deep down she thinks that Judy did name her baby after Cathbad. Why else would she be so defensive about it? What does it mean? That Judy is acknowledging Cathbad as Michael’s father or that she’s giving the baby his first name because he’ll never have his last?
    ‘Do you think she wants to see me?’ asks Cathbad.
    ‘I don’t know,’ says Ruth. ‘After Kate was born I really wanted to see Nelson. It seemed all wrong that he wasn’t there. But it’s different for Judy. She has a husband.’
    ‘But who does she love?’ asks Cathbad.
    ‘Don’t ask me,’ says Ruth. ‘I don’t even know who I love.’
    And, as if inspired by druidical sixth sense, Max walks into the room.
    *
    The evening isn’t too bad. They go to a nice Italian restaurant and Phil doesn’t complain too much about the prices.Shona looks stunning in a pink velvet mini dress but Ruth, in black trousers and a vaguely sparkly top, doesn’t feel too frumpy in comparison. Max and Phil talk easily about the Swaffham dig, about surveying and total stations and the impossibility of gaining English Heritage funding. After a while, Ruth gets fed up with being relegated to baby talk with Shona.
    ‘I might be involved in an interesting dig soon,’ she says.
    ‘Really,’ says Phil, his money-making antennae on alert. ‘Anything to do with that guy at Pendle? I was the one who gave him your number.’
    What do you want, thinks Ruth, a medal? She hasn’t forgiven Phil for this intrusion on her privacy.
    ‘Yes. He wants me to give my expert opinion on some bones.’
    She stresses the word ‘expert’. God, she must be drunk.
    ‘Were these the ones found at Ribchester?’ says Phil. ‘He mentioned something about them to me.’
    ‘Ribchester?’ says Max. ‘That’s a really important Roman site. There have been excavations there since the eighteenth century. It’s a cavalry fort. Very interesting. I’ve dug there myself.’
    Ruth doesn’t like the way that Phil turns to Max as if relishing the chance to hear from a real expert. She was the one requested by Dan, she is ‘one of the country’s leading experts on bone preservation’. At that moment, she resolves to go to Pendle.
    ‘I’m looking forward to seeing it,’ she says, sprinkling parmesan on her pasta.
    ‘When are you going?’ asks Max. He smiles at her across the table, making Ruth feel ashamed of her annoyance.
    ‘At the end of July,’ she says, smiling back. ‘When term ends.’
    ‘Perhaps I could come too,’ says Max. ‘For some of it at least.’
    ‘That would be great,’ says Ruth, wondering why she doesn’t feel more enthusiastic about the idea. ‘I’m not quite sure when I’m going yet.’
    ‘Will you take Kate?’ asks Shona. She is leaning against Phil’s shoulder, hair tousled and eyes sparkling. How can she fancy him?
    ‘I don’t know,’ says Ruth. ‘Depends how long I’ll be there. If it’s only for a few days, I might ask my parents to look after her. They’d love it.’
    This is true. There is nothing Ruth’s parents would like better than to get their hands on Kate while she is still young enough to brainwash.
    ‘You should go,’ says Phil, pouring himself more wine without offering it round. ‘It’s been a while since you’ve done any original research, hasn’t it?’
    *
    Ruth feels rather embarrassed, coming home with Max to find Cathbad on the sofa watching Graham Norton. It’s as if she and Max are carrying a huge banner saying ‘We’re just about to have sex’. Max is rather tactful, though. He goes into the kitchen to make tea, leaving Ruth and Cathbad to talk.
    ‘How was Kate?’ asks Ruth. She has sobered up at bit but is still finding it an effort not to slur her words.
    ‘Fine. Not a peep out of her.’
    ‘It was very kind of you to babysit.’
    ‘Not at all. I enjoyed it.’ He gets up and reaches for his jacket. Ruth feels rather sad that he isn’t wearing his cloak.
    ‘Bye, Cathbad,’ says Max from the kitchen. ‘See you soon.’
    At the doorway, Cathbad turns and says, with elaborate casualness. ‘Oh, Ruth. If you are going to Lancashire, I’d love to go with you.’

CHAPTER 7
    As they turn onto the motorway, a huge sign above them points the way unambiguously to The North. Ruth, rather stressed from following Cathbad’s