Page 20 of The Cottage in the Highlands

My thoughts were criss-crossing over each other so much about my impending interview, I almost forgot to ask Mum and Dad about Lily Cruickshank.

She pondered the name for a few moments. I didn’t think it likely she would know about her but to my surprise, she erupted. “Well, goodness me! That’s a blast from the past. Lily Cruickshank. I haven’t heard that name for years.”

I bent down and rubbed Harley behind her triangular velvet ears, my optimism rising. “So you knew of her then?”

“Well, your grandparents mentioned her but from what they used to say, I don’t think anybody really knew Lily Cruickshank. She was friendly enough by all accounts but tended to keep herself to herself. Your Nonna described her as a quiet little thing with gorgeous red hair, if I recall. She said she was very pleasant though.”

I processed what Mum was saying. “Lily’s Loaves was the name of her business, wasn’t it?”

Mum was impressed. “Someone’s been doing their research! That’s right. How on earth do you know that?”

She dropped her voice, although I wasn’t sure why as it was only me and Dad who were able to hear. “Her husband, Bernard, was Silver Ness born and bred. I don’t know if the rumours were true, but folks said he was a nasty piece of work. He used to watch her like a hawk.”

“And did you know much about him?”

Mum’s voice was firm in my ear. “No, but some of the other locals did. He had a reputation for being a prickly bugger. Not the chatty, sociable sort.”

I considered this. “Did Nonna ever say if they had a happy marriage, Mum? Lily and Bernard, I mean?”

“I don’t recall her saying anything specifically, but from what I heard about him, I would guess he wouldn’t have been an easy man to live with.”

“What did this Bernard do, Mum? Do you know where he worked?”

She hesitated as she thought about it. “I think he used to work in a shop down by the harbour, selling fishing tackle. He was the manager, if I remember the stories rightly. He used to travel a fair bit to buy new stock as his boss, old Mr Capshaw, didn’t keep so well.”

Mum again dropped her voice and I had no idea why. “I heard that it was on one of his business trips that he met Lily.”

She sounded puzzled. “Nonna used to say she seemed the complete opposite to him though. Lord knows what she saw in him.” She murmured away again to herself. “Don’t know what happened to her. She hasn’t been heard of for years.”

“She’s still living around here, Mum,” I confirmed.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” I then went on to explain about coming across Lily Cruickshank when Harley ran off after the fox.

“Goodness me,” remarked Mum, incredulous. “I thought she had moved away, right out of the area, or had passed on. Nobody saw her or heard from her again after Lily’s Loaves floundered.”

“The business floundered? Are you sure? She just didn’t decide to sell up?” From what I read in the newspaper article and the little I’d gleaned from talking to Lily, she didn’t come across as the quitting type. To someone like her, I would have thought failure wouldn’t have been an option.

“That was the story going around at the time. The rumours were that Lily’s Loaves was a bit of a five-minute wonder. It started off with a flourish and then when the local supermarket started stocking fresh breads and cakes at cheaper prices, some folks started saying Lily couldn’t keep up with the competition. Others said that husband of hers had been syphoning money out of the shop for his gambling addiction, and that he didn’t like how successful the business was becoming.”

“What, he was jealous of his own wife?” I gasped, struggling to comprehend it.

“Yes. According to the gossip your Nonna heard back in the day, a lot of folks round here said she was making a name for herself; he didn’t like it and so he forced her to close down Lily’s Loaves and he put out a story that the business wasn’t doing so well and so they were cutting their losses and moving on.” Mum tutted. “Such a shame. The locals said she was so enthusiastic and put her heart and soul into it too

“So… what happened?”

“My goodness, Leonie,” laughed my mum down the line. “What’s with all the interest in Lily Cruickshank?”

“I’m looking into a story,” I answered. “To do with an old deserted house. I think the place is linked to Lily in some way.”

“Well, that is a surprise,” breathed Mum down the line. “Where is she living now then?”

“In a cottage on the outskirts of Drummond.” I thought again about what Mum had said about Lily’s husband. “What happened to him? Bernard?”

“I have no idea. Lily’s Loaves started to fail and she couldn’t bear to see the business struggling, so the story was that they sold up and moved on. No one knew where or heard from her again after that.”

I tried to gather together everything Mum was telling me, mentally sorting it all out and pushing pieces together in the hope they might fit.