Chapter 5

“Tomorrow isn’t fine, is it, Madam?” Asked Eleanor as the pair cycled home.

“No, we are losing too much time. I did not expect them to have all the details of local vehicles at the station but frankly, they can do these enquiries faster than that if they so wish. He was putting us off.”

“So he’s involved?”

“No, Eleanor, he won’t be. But he thinks he needs to ask some questions himself of the Harvest Hotel, Fulsome Dairy and probably Mrs Gibbens. He suspects I am chasing something he thinks he should know about.”

“The answer is to ask farmers. They know what vehicles come and go on these roads,” said the slave.

“There are a lot of farms round here,” said Matilda. “Waiting for that call is quicker.”

“The farmer’s lad I spoke to, when you were making calls, would help I’m sure for starters. He was keen on me.”

“And rest assured, slave, he will not be fucking you, as he would no doubt have it. I lend you to women of repute for their pleasures, not working men.”

“No, Madam, of course not. Perish the thought. My body is yours. Or any to lady you determine.”

“Indeed you are my property, and don’t you forget it. But you think you could entice information from this lust-driven man?”

“I am sure of it, without letting him up my skirt.” Eleanor paused. “But he would do anything for just a kiss.”

Matilda gave a low groan. “I may regret this, but ... Just a kiss then. One. No promises. And he better have some useful information or I shall tie you up and leave you in the hole for a couple of days.”

“Ouch,” said Eleanor. She hated being in the hole as it was called for even a day. Longer would be unbearable, standing bound in the narrow hole out in the garden and being rained on, feeling the cold water round her tied ankles and insects crawling over her.

“Take me home, girl, then take an ordinary bicycle to that dizzy farmer and find something out. Or else. In the meantime I will go and talk to Mrs Gibbens, who may have some more information about Porrett that could help us.”

“Us, madam?” Eleanor was grinning again.

“You are still a slave, but yes, it is us for now. Then it is all for me, as you serve my needs. So behave, slut, and be careful. Owners do not like to be messed around.”

“Yes, Madam. Promise.”

Matilda Minerva was pacing her study deep in thought, glancing occasionally at the map she had drawn on a blackboard of the various incidents and trying to figure out the connections, when Eleanor arrived home breathlessly a little over an hour later.

“I have something, Mistress, the girl beamed. “And I did not even kiss the farmer. Well, his boy. Young chap he was.”

“I am not interested in his age,” said Matilda, “but if he didn’t touch you and he gave you some information you may well avoid a spell in the hole.”

Again, Eleanor grinned. “Thank you, Mistress. Well, it seems that the lad saw something in the lay-by. He was on his tractor when he saw a car pull in. Nothing unusual but a man got out—a small man, he said, though could give no other description—and stood by the bonnet of his car, eating and contemplating the road behind the car, looking away from Resterford-On-Water, towards Layham. The farmer’s lad thought the man was looking for someone else to arrive. He repeatedly consulted his pocket watch.”

“I take it our man was eating a pork sandwich?”

“The farmer’s boy couldn’t see, but he confirmed he was eating while waiting. Just as he finished his sandwich a vehicle drew up behind the parked car, and a woman got out.”

“From a lorry?”

“No, Mistress. A car. Not one he had seen before, he said. The woman spoke to the man and our farmer’s lad thought they became agitated. He stopped his tractor and watched as the couple appeared to be discussing something. Then the woman brought a person out of her car—”

“A person? She wasn’t alone?”

“No, Mistress. The new arrival had a woman with her, and she was struggling. He said he thought this one was unable to resist somehow.”

“Bound, I fancy,” nodded Matilda.

“Certainly this woman was unable to resist being hauled around. The woman took the struggling female and then did the strangest thing: she lifted the bound woman’s skirt and allowed the man to see her legs and underwear. Then the man got into his own vehicle and left, heading towards Resterford-On-Water.”