Taking both Willow’s hands in hers, Gina held them close to her chest while she spoke softly, her words simple yet firm. ‘I want you to promise me something,’ Gina waited a beat, then realised that nobody could do that until they’ve heard the conditions so laid them out.
‘Try to remember what I’m saying, Willow, please, it’s really important. From now on you mustn’t take any notice of what your dad says. Because it’s not true. You arenotevil, and you willnotbe going to hell. Your dad is wrong, okay?’
Willow didn’t respond yet appeared to be hanging on Gina’s every word.
‘We always believed that Jesus was one of the nice guys and God was good. They’re our heroes, so trust in themnotyour dad. You are beautiful and good – inside and out – so don’t let him scare you or make you sad. Promise me, Willow, promise me you won’t listen to him anymore.’
Willow scrunched her eyes and nodded, her voice cracking as she answered, ‘I promise.’ Then pushing her face into Gina’s chest she repeated, ‘Don’t let him scare me, I’m not evil, I promise not to listen,’ and as the tears began to fall, her frail body was racked by each sob.
Taking Willow in her arms, trying hard to be brave, Gina stroked Willow’s hair, soothing her with hushes, promises to be there, to find the answer… and then a glimmer of inspiration.
‘I think we should be patient, and if we trust and believe in our heroes and the angels, they’ll come through for us. I know they will.’
Maybe it was wrong, to give Willow false hope but it was better than the alternative, a nagging gnawing thought that was crawling its way to the front of her brain, remembering another little nugget passed on by Babs.
Was the vicar purposely trying to antagonise Willow? It wouldn’t surprise Gina because he was a sly one, she knew that for a fact. And according to Babs, who’d recently overheard a conversation as she silently polished the banister in the hall, so was Nate.
Nate and the vicar were in the study, the door slightly ajar, sharing their concerns about Willow, and Robin’s unhealthy attachment to her. They’d agreed that Willow should be cared for professionally. This thought had chilled Gina to the bone.
When finally, the tears subsided, Willow’s limbs and head became heavy, lolling into Gina’s shoulder as she drifted gently into sleep. And in the silence of the room relief made its presence known. They’d ridden out a moment that could have easily whipped up a storm.
A wave of sorrow washed over Gina, not knowing if or when Willow would be back. As it ebbed, the sadness was replaced by something useful. Knowledge.
Never before had Willow shared her desire to be with Maya, but in doing so she had given Gina a window into her mind and some idea of what she saw through misty eyes. A clue to what she might be saying to the invisible angels, her lips mouthing words only they could hear.
And then came a revelation, and that word alone sent shivers down Gina’s spine, tingles along her arms, her mind racing all over the place to put her thoughts in order. A passage from the Bible had pinged into her head. Not word for word, more a vague imprint on her subconscious.
The end of the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation. God sent down his angel to tell the disciple John what will come to pass, and Willow believed in angels. Was it a sign? And then something else… what was it?
Goosebumps covered her body when she remembered that Satan is the deceiver of the whole world, and this was apt because as far as Gina was concerned the vicar could be one of his covert disciples. A father, masquerading as a man of God, using holy words to keep his daughter under control. Or, as he would argue, God’s law in order to keep her safe. That was the greatest deceit of all, and Gina saw through it. Twisting the rules, the commandments, breaking them, bending people to his will. That was the vicar’s trademark and if they resisted, like Cris had done, then they were cast out.
How she despised the Reverend Edmund Hilyard, one of the greatest narcissists of all, hiding in plain sight. In that instant she knew she had to tell Robin what he was up to, and together they could protect Willow, shield her from his influence. It wouldn’t take much for her to spiral. They couldn’t let that happen again and give the vicar a reason to cast Willow out.
It would not come to pass and with or without the help of the angels, Gina swore a silent oath that while she had breath in her body, Satan wouldn’t win.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
BABS
The October eveningswere drawing in but checking her watch, Babs still had plenty of time before dusk when the country road became a bit too creepy to walk alone. With each step she took the two bottles of Prosecco clinked against each other in her rucksack, that also contained a giant bag of Doritos and a Mexican Dip selection. She’d decided to leave her car behind so she could have a glass or two and relax, then Gina was going to drop her off home, to save walking back in the dark.
She was a good girl, was Gina and since their little chat seemed to have perked up because there’d been no more mention of job-anxiety, although, what if she was just putting on a brave face? Babs decided she’d wait for an opportunity to ask later.
Babs was really looking forward to the get-together with Robin and Gina. The atmosphere at home was rock-bottom ever since she’d earned the title ‘worst expectant-gran in the world, ever’.
The only person on her side was Demi who was also sick to the back teeth of being squashed into the noisiest three-bed semi in The Willows. She too was praying that Isaac and Fiona would bugger off, so she’d finally have her own space. Poor kid. All she wanted was a quiet place to study and not listen to Sasha yakking on in her ‘customer service phone voice’ while she booked appointments.
Living arrangements and frosty vibes aside, as she marched towards the vicarage, Babs focused on a more pressing matter – the worrying bit of info about Nate. At first, when Demi mentioned it, Babs erred towards overactive imaginations and girly gossip, but now she wasn’t sure, and neither was Gina.
Thinking back, she went over the conversation with Demi, so she’d get her facts right because messengers always got shot but it’d been decided that at their girls’ lunch, Babs was going to put her life, or less dramatically, her friendship, on the line.
Nate probably had no idea who Demi was, or just hadn’t recognised her. But why would he, amongst the thousands of new students who’d enrolled at the college? However, she knew him and was adamant she hadn’t misread what she’d seen.
Babs and Demi had been enjoying a bit of them-time and as always after a hard day’s slog, one in lectures, the other with a loo brush in hand, they sat at the kitchen table with a brew and biscuits and shared notes on their day.
On this occasion, Demi had more than notes, it was an exposé. ‘Mum, I’mnotimagining it. I saw him as I walked through the car park to the bus stop. He was in his car. I’ve seen it parked at the vicarage when I’ve come to meet you after work, and one of the English lecturers was in the passenger seat. I’ve seen her around. She’s got long dark hair that was tied in a ponytail, and he reached over and was fondling it.’
‘Fondling! What do you mean, “fondling”?’ Babs was in the ‘shocked and incredulous zone’ but wanted to be sure and know more, obviously.
