‘I’m not coming up there,’ I whispered, glancing over to where Nora was still engrossed in her phone.
Becky looked torn.
‘I’ll stand right here where you can see me. Look, Alice is just there. Go! I’ll be fine for two minutes.’
‘Three minutes and forty-five seconds.’
‘Go!’
It was Becky’s role to move our focus from the past onto the future. She spoke about the plans for the orchard, and the retreat, the opportunities to develop skills and forge relationships. She mentioned all those businesses and individuals who had helped get things off the ground, or promised their support in the future. She even floated an idea about converting the barn into a wedding and events venue, which had Daniel raising his eyebrows in my direction. I shrugged and managed a sort of smile. Maybe we would hold our wedding there one day.
As Becky ran through the list of people she wanted to thank, she then took a deep breath, lifted her chin and said, ‘I would like to finish by thanking Nora Sharp, the well-known food and event reviewer, for taking the time and trouble to come and visit our little festival. I do hope that having seen what Damson Day is all about, you’ll be able to write one of your inspirational, positive reviews!’ She paused then, thrown by the sneer on Nora’s face, before pressing on, voice now wavering. ‘Well. Either way, all publicity is good publicity, right?’
‘Let’s put it this way – it’ll be an honest write-up.’
Nora, to my surprise, stepped out of the crowd and went to stand by Becky. She allowed the stunned silence to linger, sharp eyes roaming over the shocked faces, until they stopped dead. On me.
‘Eleanor.’ She smiled. It felt as though the temperature suddenly plummeted about twenty degrees. ‘Finally decided to stop hiding from me?’ She waited for me to reply, but I couldn’t breathe, let alone speak. ‘I’m sure you’re all wondering why I bothered travelling over a hundred miles into the backside of nowhere, for a – and I’m being polite here because children are present – bog-standard little fete. I had a backstage pass for Take That at the O2 tonight. Why on earth would I come here? Well. I’m sure EleanorSharpley could explain perfectly.’
She thrust one pointed finger in my direction, which felt a little overdramatic, but that was Lucy for you. There was a collective hiss from the people around me. I think I swayed a little, but my head was numb so it was hard to tell.
‘Yes, up until January this year, I was Nora Sharp’s assistant.ThatNora Sharp. I spent two years devoted to building her profile, curating her image,standing in for herat events and in the videos. Painstakingly planning her diary. Editing her reviews so that they are actually readable. Basically, doing it all while getting paid in a few cast-off clothes and leftovers.
‘And then, the moment my videos started outshining her sad little columns, she fired me.Via answerphone message. Oh, don’t look so surprised – what else would you expect from Nora? A generous redundancy package and a goodbye hug? She didn’t even write me a reference. Although I ended up not needing one, because the moment her editor knew I’d been dumped, he fired her and gave the real Nora the job.’
‘That still doesn’t explain why you’re here, or what that has to do with Damson Day!’ Alice, God bless her, called out. ‘This is about the Ferrington Feud, not whatever issues you happen to have going on with Eleanor.’
Nora went deathly still. I could feel the animosity of her stare boring through my head into the back of my skull. ‘I thought it only right that you knew what you were getting yourselves into. Eleanor Sharpley, Nora Sharp, whoever she’s pretending to be these days, didn’t just try to ruin my life, she’s destroyed countless others over the past few years. Don’t be fooled like I was. Once a lying, secretive, callous bitch who enjoys profiteering from other people’s misery… always the kind of woman who turns up on the doorstep of a supposed best friend – such great friends she hadn’t even realised she’s passed away! – and decides to profiteer from hijacking that friend’s dream! She’ll do anything for attention.’
‘That’s utter crap!’ Becky yelled, voice trembling as she turned to look at me, her expression pleading with me to deny the whole thing.
‘I think you’d better go,’ Luke said to Nora. I could barely hear him. It felt as though the bees had come back to life and burrowed into my brain.
I forced myself to drag my head up and find Daniel, standing off to one side with Hope, staring at me with a look of utter horror.
‘No.’ I don’t know how I managed to speak, but instantly everyone whipped their heads around to focus on me. ‘I’ll go.’
Before anyone could try to stop me – not that anyone did – I turned and ran.
35
Stumbling, wheezing, I found myself in the farmyard. My first instinct was to head inside, and bury myself under my duvet until I was in a fit state to start packing. But it would be the first place Becky or whoever else came looking would expect me to be.
Instead, spying the barn, I lurched over to it, before veering off around the corner to where I remembered there being a smaller, ramshackle outbuilding that as far as I knew was in disuse. It took a few moments of working at the rusted latch before I could push the rotting door wide enough to slip inside. In the muted evening light I could still pick out several old farm implements and shelves lined with huge cider jars thick with cobwebs. I pushed past a wooden sledge, a ride on lawnmower with only one wheel, and stacks of splintered pallets. Spiders scurried into the shadows, and I heard a scuffling that could definitely have been a rat. I squeezed into a gap behind a large crate and the back wall, and sank to a squat, hoping that I could stay undetected long enough to unscramble my thoughts and collect my breath. Dropping my head onto quaking hands, I tried to piece myself back together so that I could begin to figure out what I was going to do next.
Despite every effort to the contrary, I had now become the tawdry talking point of Damson Day, contaminating the best moment of the day –of over thirty years– with my disgusting secret.
Crap.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but it failed to dam the torrent of tears.
* * *
It must have been twilight, judging by how the light had dimmed through the cracks in the roof, when I finally made my decision. As tempting as it was to sneak inside, pack up my bags and flee before anyone noticed I’d gone, that was not how this was going to go down.
Whatever anyone might think of me, thanks to Nora’s revelations, I was done with running away. Daniel and Hope meant far too much for that.Iwas worth more than that. It was time to own up to who I was, who I’d been and what I’d done. Daniel would either still love me, or he’d find me utterly repugnant, but at least it would be the real me.
I was flexing my toes, trying to ease agonising leg cramps before I made a move, when I heard footsteps approaching the outhouse door.
