walk in one day, but Iâve been backwards and forwards across the moor in the last few days and havenât seen any gypsy wagons ⦠not actually on the moor, anyway.â
âMy grandmother doesnât live in a wagon caravan. Sheâs a gorgio , like my dai â my mother. My Dado was working on their farm when they met and they were married in a proper church. His family never forgave him, but my motherâs family welcomed him â well, most of them â and heâs very fond of my grandmother.
Sheâs not too well right now and I thought he might have gone there to see how she was, but she hasnât seen him.â
âAre you saying heâs gone missing?â
âI wish I knew. But he hasnât been home for a couple of days and although he often disappears for a day or two he always tells me when heâs going to be away. This time he didnât.â
Something in what the girl had said struck a chord in Tomâs mind and, recalling what Bessie Harris had mentioned when he and Amos visited her, he said, âThat must be a worry for you ⦠but we havenât introduced ourselves. Iâm Tom ⦠and you?â
âZillah ⦠Zillah Smith.â
âZillah is a very unusual name ⦠but a pretty one. Is your wagon actually in North Hill village, Zillah?â
âNo, itâs actually at Slippery Hill, on the Launceston road.â
Now Tom knew his surmise had been right. He was giving a ride to the daughter of Jed Smith, the gypsy who dealt in unwanted babies. âThatâs a couple of miles beyond North Hill, Iâll take you there then come back to North Hill.â
He felt her draw back from him and she demanded, âWhy would you do that, what do you expect from me in return?â
âOnly your company. Besides, after what happened at Trelyn on Tuesday night Iâd like to make certain you get home safely.â
âWhat happened on Tuesday night?â
The question surprised Tom, then he realized that if Zillah had been alone in her wagon home since the murder she could have spoken to no one who knew what had happened to Kerensa Morgan and her baby. It was also highly unlikely the news would have reached her grandmother at her remote farmhouse on the moor.
âThere was a particularly nasty murder up here, at Hawkâs Tor. The wife of the estate steward at Trelyn Hall was found battered
to death and her baby who was with her at the time is missing.â
Zillah was behind him so Tom was unable to see her face but he sensed she was startled.
âYou mean ⦠Kerensa Morgan?â
âYes, did you know her?â
âI met her once or twice when we had our wagon on Sharptor, but my Dado didnât like me talking to her. She did have me make a shawl for her when she was expecting, but he said she wasnât a nice girl for me to know.â
âFrom all Iâve heard about her your fatherâs opinion was probably right.â
â What have you heard about her, youâre not from these parts or I would have seen you before â and you donât talk like a Cornishman? Where did you hear about Kerensaâs murder and how do you know what sort of girl she was?â
Tom hesitated before replying. The chances were that if he told her the truth she would want nothing more to do with him. The duties of a policemen were seen as including moving on gypsies. To the establishment they were perceived as invariably dishonest and classed as vagrants. As a result, a mutual antipathy had developed between gypsies and those whose duty it was to uphold the law.
Nevertheless, Tom knew that if he lied to Zillah now he would never have her trust in the future ⦠and it was something he might need, especially as there now appeared to be a mystery concerning her fatherâs whereabouts. Tom felt strongly that the gypsyâs disappearance was somehow connected with Kerensaâs death and the