Underbelly Read Free

left Scotland, and, as she couldn’t help him with his enquiries, his answer was equivocal, as he told her what he was doing (‘I’m here seeing the Highlands’) without telling her why. Reverend Stuart was up later than the others and felt like despairing at Mary’s generosity, likely leaving herself with next to nothing in her pantry just to feed them. His meal was already cooked and on a plate ready for him and he ate it, figuring it pointless to let it go to waste, aware that however forceful he was, Mary still wouldn’t eat it.
    “ I’ve been telling them there’s some fine walks round these parts, Reverend. Maybe you could show them,” Mary suggested as she cleared away the dishes, Father Sciali helping her with the washing up (of his own volition and against Mary’s wishes, Mary wanting to wait on the holy men and unhappy at seeing him toil, unable to stop him).
    “ Perhaps, but I think we have other plans today,” Reverend Stuart said, Father Rossi subtly nodding across the table at this.
    “ Really? What will you be doing?”
    “ I was thinking of introducing Father Rossi to some of the…and Father Sciali too…introducing them to some of the villagers.”
    “ That’s a good idea, Reverend. Marie Walker and her girls are definitely your lot…sorry, Father, you know what I mean. It’ll be a nice surprise for them because the nearest Catholic Church must be at least 20 miles away. I think the Booths are too. Aren’t they Reverend?” Mary said.
    “ Yes, they are,” Reverend Stuart said, rushing to finish his food so they could make a move. “Thank you for the meal, Mary, but don’t leave yourself short.”
    “ I don’t need much, Reverend. Can you tell Marie that I should be finished making her Dawn’s jumper tomorrow?”
    “ If we see her, yes,” Reverend Stuart said, making a sharp exit before she asked who they would be visiting (probably so that she could drop in on them), followed by Father Rossi and Father Sciali.
    “ A very nice woman,” Father Rossi said, Father Sciali nodding at this statement.
    “ Yes,” Reverend Stuart said, feeling like a sinner for being a little cross with her. “Who would you like to see then, Father?”
    Father Rossi had compiled a short list which he pulled from his pocket, putting on a pair of spectacles to read it, Reverend Stuart sneakily looking across at the list, which only had ten names on it, the oldest villagers except for the last name, Laura Spencer’s. Father Rossi read it and then passed the note to Reverend Stuart (had he caught him looking?) and asked who lived nearest to them.
    The first conversation was uneventful, the Catholic priests gaining entry by being accompanied by the trusted Reverend Stuart, but the conditions were not conducive to the sort of chat Father Rossi had planned. The woman he hoped to interview was an elderly grandmother who lived with her daughter and husband in a small house with many children running from room to room noisily, heeding each warning to be quiet only for a few minutes before they started again. The grandmother was distracted and when Father Rossi asked about Laura Spencer she said that she barely knew her and when he asked about her mother she said that she didn’t know her at all, Father Rossi bringing the conversation to a premature conclusion. After the two priests had left Reverend Stuart felt compelled to lie to the bemused woman to explain what the questions had been about, inventing a tale of a wounded soldier in Italy who they were trying to help by tracing his fiancée. The next woman they talked to, Ella Bright, lived in similar circumstances, with her son and his family, though they were given privacy and order was maintained with the children. Reverend Stuart had not seen her at church for a while and after Father Rossi had talked to her for a little while it became clearer why this regular churchgoer had been absent. Her once sharp mind was not what it was and while she was willing