The Ghost Tree: Gripping historical fiction from the Sunday Times Bestseller. Barbara Erskine

      ‘How can you be absolutely certain it was him if it was dark?’ George Murray asked.

      ‘There was a candle stub still burning, sir. Just enough light to see by.’

      ‘And you are prepared to swear to this on oath?’

      ‘Yes, sir.’

      ‘It has been known for hammock fastenings to be loosened as a joke,’ George Murray put in.

      ‘Yes, sir.’

      ‘As it was when I was a middy,’ the captain put in, ‘and no doubt when you were too, George.’

      ‘Indeed, sir,’ the lieutenant said slowly. He scowled. ‘So this could have been a practical joke that went wrong.’

      ‘Midshipman Farquhar is a bully, sir. He hated Robbie,’ Tom put in. ‘He had done it before and he must have known the boy would be badly hurt.’

      ‘So you are saying he deliberately set out to hurt him?’

      ‘Yes, sir.’

      ‘But not to kill him?’

      Tom hesitated. ‘I don’t know, sir.’

      The captain and the lieutenant exchanged glances. ‘Very well. Have Midshipman Farquhar taken up and put in irons, Mr Murray,’ the captain said wearily. ‘We will have a full investigation and then I will hear the case. Only if a court of officers finds him guilty of murder will we proceed to a court martial when we reach port. Otherwise the matter will be dealt with on the ship.’

      ‘Very good, sir.’ The lieutenant sighed. ‘We will have to inform Robbie’s mother that her son is dead and the navy will have to pay the woman compensation.’ He glanced at the captain. ‘Shall I draw up the letter, sir?’

      ‘Indeed. Perhaps you can use Tom as your amanuensis so he can see what has to be done. It is all part of his training. And Thomas,’ Sir John’s tone was stern again, ‘I would advise you to watch your step below decks. I would guess you will have made an enemy or two by pointing the finger at Farquhar.’

      ‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.’ Tom saluted.

      ‘And, George,’ the captain added, his voice very weary, ‘prepare the ship for a burial at sea.’

      ‘You know I said I was going to go and film in the Hebrides for my TV show?’ Finlay said as he walked into the dining room on Sunday evening. ‘I’m afraid I am going to have to love you and leave you far more quickly even than I expected.’ The table had all but disappeared under an array of papers and notes and Ruth was busy with her laptop. She looked up for a moment, her expression vacant. She had been reading an account of burial at sea in the eighteenth-century Royal Navy.

      Finlay peered over her shoulder. ‘This looks more like the background to a novel than family research to me.’

      Ruth pushed back her chair. ‘Harriet has lent me a book which actually mentions Thomas, but it’s heavy and weird. Very esoteric. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet. This is far more exciting. Thomas was only just fourteen when he went into the navy. How shocking is that?’

      ‘It must have been a hellishly hard life.’ Finlay grimaced. ‘Right, well, I shall have to postpone our trip to Barbados. If you’re happy to go on working here and house-sit for me, I’m off to the Isle of Skye instead. I’ve been doing some phoning around and one of the people I want to interview up there is going away for a few weeks imminently so I have to catch her now if I want her in my programme. It’s a bit premature as I haven’t signed a contract yet, but I am going to hook up with someone there who will film me with her.’ His eyes were sparkling. ‘I might stay and do a bit more while I’m there, it all depends. Can I leave you here? I’m so sorry, in your hour of need.’

      Ruth smiled. His anxious eager expression reminded her of a puppy that isn’t sure whether or not it’s going to get a promised reward. ‘I’ve told you I don’t mind, Fin.’ She meant it. ‘I’m just so grateful to have this place to escape to. And I now have a project on top of sorting out Number 26.’

      She was, she realised, going to feel utterly lost without his noisy, enthusiastic presence. She took a deep breath. It was ridiculous to be relying on him already. His absence would give her a chance to collect herself, chivvy up the solicitors and start making plans. Stand on her own two feet. And she had her new hobby, not stamp collecting, her mouth twitched with amusement at the thought, but history, and already she had sent off for a couple more books to fill in some of the background to Thomas’s life.

      When Fin said at once he meant it; he was going the next morning, flying to Inverness. As he assembled his case, his laptop and his overcoat in the hallway, he stopped and dramatically slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. ‘There is so much I have forgotten to tell you! But we will be in touch every day by phone or email or whatever, I promise. Right. I have a cleaning lady, who comes every Thursday, and there is Lachy who comes in to mow the lawns and do the heavy work. He’s not regular. It depends on the weather and how busy he is.’ He walked back towards the kitchen and the corkboard on the wall near the door. ‘Here’s his name and phone number, so ring him if you need anything doing. Inside or out. And all the other people you might need are here – gas, electric, doctor, all that sort of thing. They are all brilliant.’ He beamed at her. ‘And they will all send me bills or wait till I see them, so don’t worry about paying anyone.’

      Behind him the doorbell rang. ‘There, that’s the taxi. Goodbye, sweetheart!’ He gave her a smacking kiss on the forehead. ‘See you soon.’

      ‘But, Finlay—’

      She was too late. He had gone, banging the front door behind him.

       16

      In the end, after driving away from Cramond, Timothy had found his way to the Hawes Inn at South Queensferry, had drunk too much and booked himself in for the night. He expected April to be angry when he returned home next morning; in the event, angry didn’t even begin to cover the mixture of rage and fear and indignation she hurled at him. She appeared to have been waiting in the hall for, as he put his key in the lock, the door was wrenched out of his hand and pulled open. He stared at her. She was deathly pale with huge circles under her eyes, her hair unkempt and there was a cigarette in her hand. He stared at it, uncomprehending. Since she had given up smoking two years before, she had been evangelical about not smoking in the house. Not that he ever did smoke. Much.

      ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ It was obviously more than his absence overnight that had upset her.

      ‘Where the hell have you been?’ She caught his arm and dragged him inside.

      ‘I followed the Macdermott guy, as you told me to.’ He wanted to make that point clear. ‘I couldn’t come back earlier. It was all too interesting. Ruth was out there with him. I think they’re an item.’

      ‘So why didn’t you ring me?’

      ‘My battery was flat.’ That may not have been true last night but it was now. ‘What is it, April? What’s happened?’

      She was still clinging to his arm. ‘Come and see.’

      She almost dragged him upstairs to the door of the second bedroom; the room he thought of as his own. Abruptly she released him and gave him a push. ‘Go in. Go in and see for yourself.’ Turning, she ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where she slammed the door.

      Timothy hesitated then put his hand on the door handle. Nothing frightened his sister ever.

      Slowly he pressed down the handle. There was a squeak in the spring and he stopped, holding his breath, then he nudged the door open. The room looked as it normally did, sparsely furnished with the extra boxes and suitcase and the pictures