Sister Joan drove back to the convent feeling that pleasant things ought to happen more often. It was full summer now and very hot. The town water supply was said to be threatened by the drought and there was talk of standpipes. There was always talk of standpipes if the summer lasted for longer than a fortnight.
The grass was browning at the tips and the air had a scorching dusty feeling. The van windows were open but the steering wheel felt hot and sticky. She slowed down as she neared the old schoolhouse, her spirits rising further as she saw a familiar figure tinkering with the old car.
‘Brother Cuthbert, you’re back!’
Scrambling down from the van she hurried towards him.
‘Like a thief in the night, Sister! How are you? The door was open so I simply walked in. Isn’t it glorious weather?’
He shook hands, his freckled young face flushed with heat and pleasure.
‘Some wouldn’t agree, but I like the heat,’ Sister Joan said. ‘They allowed you to return here then?’
‘Father Superior said that as I was so useless as a member of the community I might as well stay down here and concentrate on my spiritual life,’ Brother Cuthbert said. ‘It chimed so well with my own wishes that I felt quite guilty! But another year or two may bring me maturity, don’t you think? And prayer rises up so readily here where the moors stretch to the sky. How are you, Sister? And the other dear sisters?’
‘Sister Mary Concepta had a short spell in hospital and is home again now. The rest of us are well. There was someone staying in the schoolhouse while you were away. It’s a long story.’
‘To do with evil?’ Brother Cuthbert looked uncomfortable.
‘As a matter of fact, yes.’
‘Evil only exists where there is a complete absence of good,’ Brother Cuthbert said.
‘But you sensed evil?’
‘I sensed confusion,’ Brother Cuthbert said. ‘A mind turned against itself. A love twisted into hatred. Don’t worry, Sister. I’ll air the place with a few Hail Marys and a couple of Paternosters. Evil never lasts.’
‘And hatred?’ she queried.
‘The other side of adoration,’ Brother Cuthbert said cheerfully. ‘God knows which side of the coin to judge! Are they all well in town? I did call at the presbytery but everybody was out.’
‘At a presentation at the children’s home. I’ll tell you about it later.’
‘And that very nice police officer?’ He thought an instant, then clicked his fingers. ‘Detective Sergeant Mill! Nice fellow.’
‘He’s very well.’
‘He absolutely adores you,’ Brother Cuthbert said. ‘When I think of you two I think of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, sister and brother in Christ.’
‘Good heavens!’ Sister Joan said faintly, vainly trying to picture Detective Sergeant Mill in the role of that pantheistic saint.
‘Not that he’d admit it, of course,’ Brother Cuthbert said, strolling back with her to the van. ‘He’s an agnostic, isn’t he?’
‘Somewhat!’
‘Agnostics are people who haven’t found the right road,’ Brother Cuthbert said. ‘What a blessing you must be to him!’
‘I’ll tell him some time. God bless.’
Climbing back behind the hot and sticky wheel she waited until she had driven a little way out of earshot before she allowed herself to laugh. She was still chuckling as she drove though the convent gates, all evil fled away and the hot sun blazing.
THE END
ALSO BY VERONICA BLACK
SISTER JOAN MYSTERY SERIES
Book 1: A VOW OF SILENCE
Book 2: A VOW OF CHASTITY
Book 3: A VOW OF SANCTITY
Book 4: A VOW OF OBEDIENCE
Book 5: A VOW OF PENANCE
Book 6: A VOW OF DEVOTION
Book 7: A VOW OF FIDELITY
Book 8: A VOW OF POVERTY
Book 9: A VOW OF ADORATION
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GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH USAGE FOR US READERS
A & E: accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetables or flowers
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Au pair: live-in childcare helper, often a young woman
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in a seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money, e.g. ‘That must have cost a few bob.’
Bobby: policeman
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: escape, e.g. ‘do a bunk’
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips, battered fish and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch (in an altercation) or register
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land or lower class
Comprehensive school (comp.): a public (re state-run) high school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, who decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone paid to look after children
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
DC: detective constable
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Digs: student lodgings
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole, also DMs, Docs
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: emergency department of a hospital
Eagle: children’s comic, marketed at boys
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled, runny egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
GCSEs: exams taken between age 14 and 16, replaced O levels in 1988
Gendarmerie: French national police force
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth, can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Hoover: vacuum cleaner
I’ll be blowed: expression of surprise
In care: refers to a child taken away from their family by the social services
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
Jane/John Doe: a person whose identity is unknown/anonymous
JCB: a manufacturer of construction machinery, like mechanical excavators
Jerry-built: badly made
Jungle: nickname given to migrant camp near Calais
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous British aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974 and was never found
Lorry: truck
Lovely jubbly: said when someone is pleased
Luftwaffe: German air force
M&S: Marks and Spencer, a food and clothes shop
Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie, often used to imply a busybody, especially of older women
MOD: Ministry of Defence
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
MRSA: A strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Myra Hindley: famous British serial killer
Naff: tacky/corny, not cool
Naff all: none
National Service: compulsory military service, in the UK ended in 60s
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent lace curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of the UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person, can be used affectionately
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
O level: exams taken between age 14 and 16 until 1988 (replaced by GCSEs)
Old bag: old woman (insulting)
Old Bill: police
OTT: over the top
Owt: anything
Pants: noun: underwear, adjective: bad/rubbish/terrible
Para: paratrooper
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone on which you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
Pear-shaped: gone wrong
Petrol: gasoline
Pictures: movie
Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence
Pillock: fool
Pips: police insignia indicating rank
Piss off: an exclamation meaning go away (rude), can also mean annoy
Pissing down: raining
Playing field: sports field
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Post: mail
Planning Department: the local authority department that issues licences to build and develop property
PNC: police national computer
PSNI: Police Service of Northern Ireland
Prat: idiot, can be used affectionately
Premier League: top English soccer division
Proms: annual concerts held at the Albert Hall
Public analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes
RAF: Royal Air Force
Rag: newspaper
Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
Randy: horny
Recce: reconnaissance
Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter
Resus: resuscitation room
Right state: messy
Ring: telephone (verb)
Roadworks: repairs done to roads
Rozzers: police
RSPB: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
RTC: road traffic collision
RV: rendezvous point
Royal Engineers: British army corps dealing with military engineering, etc.
Rugger: rugby (posh American football)
Sarge: sergeant
SCO19: Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command
Scrote: low life
Section: to have someone committed to a mental hospital under UK mental health laws
Semi: semi-detached house, a house with another house joined to it on one side only
Shedload: a large amount
Shop: store
Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way