past and of ensuring we remain watchful for intolerance …’
At some point Felicity must have crept out to join us. I hadn’t noticed as I’d been in full flow.
‘Has something happened?’ she asked. Her face was open, but she was smiling, waiting.
Both Maggie and I looked up at her, standing in the doorway of the conservatory nursing a wine glass.
I didn’t know what to say, she had thrown me. ‘I … er … no … I was just thinking …’
‘Where have you been?’ she asked me directly.
I stared at her, lost for words. Why was she asking me that? Could she have known that I’d been to the castle? I was sure I hadn’t mentioned it to her on our last meeting. Nor to Maggie. I’d been too caught up with the mirror episode.
‘Well, anyway,’ she continued when I didn’t muster a response. ‘I think it’s a great idea,’ she said. ‘We could certainly start a campaign.’
‘Thank you,’ I stammered for want of anything else. Flick raised her glass to her lips and calmly took a sip.
I turned my face to Maggie, who seemed not to have noticed my jitters. ‘Well,’ I continued, ‘I have already done the ground work: I’ve found the witches. At least the ones on record. Though there were loads more that didn’t leave a paper trail. But we can factor that in …’ I was sitting up, right on the edge of the swing chair. ‘Now I don’t know how we do it but surely there is a way. A pardon is the right thing to do. Or if that’s too difficult, then at least let’s set up a monument, or piece of art, to commemorate the victims. To grant them forgiveness. Mercy.’ I said the last word with a shudder. The poor girl. She had suffered so much. I knew it was her. It had to be.
Maggie sniffed. ‘I’m not sure. We’ve never put our weight behind campaigns.’
Flick stepped away from the conservatory and spoke up again. ‘I know I’m not the editor.’ Her eyes latched onto Maggie. ‘But we can all make suggestions. Right? You were just saying we need to do something bold to bring in more readers, get noticed by advertisers.’ Her words were considered, measured out carefully, framed within a proposition that would suit their audience. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought she’d seen this coming. ‘It fits our profile – it’s to do with culture and perception. I think we should examine the possibilities it might open up for us. But,’ she inched closer to her boss, ‘if nothing else, it’s a brilliant publicity stunt.’
I zipped from Flick to Maggie then back to Flick. The latter winked at me. I leant back into the seat, not sure how to take it. Perhaps I was being oversensitive. Perhaps she was being insensitive.
The swing rocked gently back and forth.
Maggie seemed to be debating the matter with herself and lit another fag. You could tell Flick’s words had struck a chord somewhere in her brain. But she acted cool about it. She looked at Flick once more and said, in a quiet voice, ‘That’s an interesting take.’
I bit my thumb and said nothing.
‘Well, I think it’s an opportunity and I don’t mind leading it.’ Flick was saying more than I’d ever heard her say
before.
The wind crept over the fence and whispered in the apple trees. Maggie blew out a thin line of smoke that was instantly whipped up into the night. ‘You’re very gobby tonight, Ms Flick.’
The art director held her glass with both hands and smiled thinly over the top. ‘You were the one who said I needed to speak out more often in meetings, as when I do I make “valid and insightful comments”. Sic.’
Maggie brushed some bushy strands of hair from her face and took another light drag. ‘God I’m good,’ she said to me, then turned back to Flick. The co-workers shared a smile. Maggie exhaled her smoke with a slight, almost imperceptible, nod and Flick breathed out deeply, like she was satisfied. Then they both turned to me expectantly.
‘What?’ I said. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Then I got it. ‘Hang on – I’m not volunteering myself. I don’t think I can do much to help with the administration – I’ve got this book to nail. But, like I said, I’ve got all the research at home. I can point you in the right direction. I don’t mind sharing my sources