"Thanks very much." "Get in the back." "_" "Well, well." "God is in the house." "Ronnie." "Just the man." "Where's the coppers, then?" "Lurking over the hill?" "No." "It's just me." "I'm on my way up north." "Thought I'd make a stop." "We are blessed." "Before you stole that money, did it enter your head, just for a second, that this is all that Sylvia has?" "You look different." "I got it." "No dog collar." "Is your house nearby?" "Somewhere we can talk?" "Yeah, all right." "You asked." "Right, you two, get that ale in the barn." "Right you are, then." "And leave space for dancing or there'll be all hell to pay." "Hiya, Ron." "Who have we here, then?" "Luella, this is Sidney Chambers." "He's a vicar." "Let's just say he's an old friend." "A vicar?" "That right?" "It's a long time since a man of value's set foot in this place." "Welcome to paradise, Mr Chambers." "Easy with the music tonight, Pal." "Don't want you spooking my dad's horses now." "One last blast, Marcus." "Then we'll be off your land forever." "I pity them, whoever gets you next." "Now, now." "There's whisky in us already." "You know how it gets." "All right." "Come on." "A beach holiday?" "You know, hard as I try, Leonard," "I just can't quite picture that." "Oh, yes." "Sidney is never happier than with a... an ice cream in one hand and..." "..the reins of a donkey in another." "Well, I should have lent him our bucket and spade." "How remiss of me." "I think it's wonderful Sidney's thrown caution to the wind." "He's treating himself to a holiday." " One day, eh, Jack?" " One day, Sylvia." "Does it have a name?" "This bed and breakfast establishment, Leonard?" "Apologies." "No." "Hm." "Off he went, crack of dawn." "Hm." "Vanished." "In a puff of smoke." "It's no vicarage but it's home." "Right." "Let's get you sorted out." "There you go." "It's clean and dry." "Oh, stop being so proud." "Through there." "You did well to track me down." "Friends in the police." "It helps." "I had hoped to get to Lincolnshire by nightfall." "So if you could get me the money?" "There's an engagement party here tonight." "Luella and Abraham." "So why don't you stop fussing and have a drink?" "Just the money, Ronnie." " Then I'll be off." " What money is that, now?" "It's nothing, Pal." "Some pale posh lad turns up at my camp asking you for cash." "What cash?" "I've got some business with Ronnie." "Then I'll be on my way." "Oh, right." "Come on, Pal." "Not now." "Not before tonight." "Romanies don't always take kindly to outsiders." "They hated me when I came here." "_" "Some of them would still see me gone." "Ronnie, are you ill?" "I'll thank you not to pry." "Look, I'll get you your money." "But in the meantime..." "Do you like to dance, Vicar?" ""And the gypsy, who knew the riverside well, gave him directions which way to go." "And Toad set forth on his travels again... ..in the best possible spirits."" "All right, that's enough for one night." " Daddy." " Yes?" "Is Mummy going away somewhere?" "Mummy?" "What are you doing?" "Cath?" " I think that's everything." " Cathy." "There's two clean pairs of pyjamas in there." "Which should see you through for some time." "Oh, shaving kit." "Abraham, give us a hand with this." "Shift." "Urgh!" "Where the hell have you been?" "This is your party, Luella." "Chores to be done." "Just had an errand, Dad." "You've got her running around all over the place for you." "Things will be different when we're married." "She'll do as she pleases, I'm sure." "Careful, Ronnie." "Oh-ho!" "He's having a go at me, Pal." "Really trying, bless his heart." "Calm yourself, Abraham." "Come on, you two, with your jousting." "There's still plenty to be done, you know." "Could you use this one, Cora?" "Luella says he's a vicar." "Probably never got his hands dirty in his life." "I don't care who he is, son." "He's got muscles, hasn't he?" "Plenty of them." "Where do you want me?" "You're getting there." "I'm training you well!" "We should dance." "You need more drink." "Glad you stayed?" "Congratulations on your engagement." " Thanks." " How long you been together?" "Me and Abraham?" "Not too long." "Apparently, we're a match made in heaven." "You don't look too sure." "Soon as we're wed, we're all moving on from here." "I'll miss it, with all my heart." "Sounds exciting." "Moving on." "New place, new life." "You're lucky." "Funny." "I think you're the lucky one." "Probably all settled in your neat, safe world." " Luella?" " Mm?" "You said you'd dance with us." "Yeah." "Come on." "Have a good night." "Found it on the floor of the caravan." "Why don't you borrow it?" "You could do with a lesson or two." "A vicar without a Bible?" "Don't seem right." "Oh." "This fell out of it." "You're not just here for the money, are you?" "I came here to right a wrong." "Oh!" "Keep telling yourself that, you might start to believe it." "Nobody ever admits they're running." "Perhaps we're not so different, you and I." "Excuse me." "I've got a speech to make." "A few words about our darling Luella." "Now, she may not be my true granddaughter..." "No bloodline in sight." "Yet more of a Romany than you'll ever be, boy." "She may not be my true granddaughter but she's as precious and as dear to me as my own." "Since she was seven years old," "I've watched that clever, funny face grow." "I'd like to wish you all the best for your marriage to Abraham, who may, or may not, deserve you." " So come on, Cora." "A toast." " A toast." "To my granddaughter, Luella." "To Luella!" "And to my beautiful wife and my beautiful daughters." " Where are they?" " Come on." "Come on, you two." " Cheers!" " Cheers!" "A thief and a bigamist." "Keep your voice down." "Why?" "Doesn't Cora know about your other wife?" "Of course she does." "We share everything." "Our life is without the usual constraints." "Bit like yours, Vicar." "What does Cora see in you, I wonder." "Sidney, you know it would have killed Sylvia to know the truth." "And she'd never have given me a divorce." "So..." "I just vanished." "Sometimes it's the only option left." "You know?" "Geordie." "It's late, I know." "Sorry, Leonard." "Is Sidney in?" "Oh." "You... haven't heard about his little... trip away." "No." "It was... a spontaneous decision." "I think he just fancied a little sea air." " Sea air?" " Mm-hm." "Has he gone alone?" "I believe so." " Leonard." " Mm-hm?" "I've known Sidney a little while now and we talk a lot about this and that but I can safely say his need for spontaneous sea air has never featured heavily." "Sometimes people can be unpredictable." "Yes, they can." "Not you, though." "I'm guessing you've always been an abysmal liar." " Oh, gracious." " It's no bad thing." " Where's he gone?" " Geordie." "I'm going to keep asking, Leonard." "Where's he gone?" " Please..." " Where's he gone?" "Please, stop." "He left." "He just left." "And the timing was..." "less than ideal." "Where?" "He's gone to find Ronnie Maguire." "Luella!" "Are you out there?" "Luella!" "No-ooo!" "Christ." "Ronnie?" "Get into his wagon now." "You too, Vicar." "Help us." "We must keep watch over the body as soon as life has passed." "Call the police." "We have a police force." "It's the head of the household." " And that'll be me." " What's happened?" "Where have you been?" "Here." "I've been here." "Nana?" "So, it' s my job to uncover what's happened here." "It's also my job to punish." "And you came here like no vicar I've ever known." "Asking Ronnie for money." "Now he's dead." "There's nobody here to protect you now, O, man of God." "They'll come looking for me." "We're good at digging holes." "Or maybe... you found out tonight why I came here." "What?" "Must have been a bit of a shock." "Finding out about Mrs Maguire the first." "Are you saying I killed Ronnie?" "I'd say the odds were on." "Stop it!" "Please, Pal." "Leave him." "Please, Pal." "The money." "It's gone." "My darling Ronnie's been robbed and murdered and all you can do is beat each other to a pulp." "Shame on you." "Operator." "Which service do you require?" "Police." "What were you thinking?" "You don't just waltz onto a Romany site asking for cash." "Geordie, you know what?" "Ronnie was dying." "Oh, not that again." "I found something in his place." "A hospital leaflet." "I think he was about to start treatment." "Sidney, there was no record of any treatment at any hospital." "I saw it." "It was there." "What if a man is dead because I came here?" "Why did you come?" "To get Mrs M's money, send it back." "And after that?" "I didn't have a plan." "I had some idea of Mablethorpe." "There's a little shop." "My first Bible came from there." "A present from my mother, back when I was filled with the wonder of God." "Have you and the Lord had a row?" " I don't want to talk about it." " You could have phoned me." "I would have taken you for a pint." "I think this is going to take more than a pint." "You have to come home." "People need you." "Says the exemplary husband!" "Aren't you going to ask me how Amanda is?" "Please, Geordie, don't..." "You can't shut her out, Sidney." "It's not fair!" "Are you honestly saying that to me?" " All right, we're leaving." " No!" "I saw Leonard's bandages." "Nice timing." "Leaving him to carry your load." "Leonard's stronger than he thinks he is." " He needs you." " No." "No, he needs a friend." "He doesn't need some impossible word of God, telling him how he should live or who he should marry." "I can't do it, Geordie." "I can't be that..." "guiding, shining light, that bastion of good behaviour, any more." "For once, I need some time for me." "And wouldn't that be nice?" "Bouncing around the countryside doing what the hell we want." "You're jealous." "Mrs Maguire needs to know about Ronnie." "Come home and tell her." "Oh, no." "No, you don't." " You have to." " Why?" "Because you're the policeman." "You're the bloody vicar." "Thanks for coming, Geordie." "Tell Mrs M for me." "Bye." "Pal?" "It's the little ones I feel sorry for." "Free to bury him, fellas, as and when." "All right, then." "A man has just been murdered!" "The sergeant was content it was an accidental fall." "Hold on." "What did you just give him?" "Oh, me and Sergeant Stokes go way back." "You want him gone because you're hiding something." "You've got that wrong." "I want him gone because I want to find and punish the bastard that killed the love of my mother's life." "I saw someone with a shotgun." "In the woods, last night." "That was just Marcus." "Landowner's son." "Checks his traps, morning and night." "I saw Abraham too." "Abraham's all right." "He'll take over from me one day." "Would he do it for the money?" "He's beautiful." "Yeah, we're getting there." "Been neglected." "Want him gone." "Think he's weak." "He looks happy with you." "What do you want?" "All this will be yours, will it?" "We're Romanies." "We own wagons, not land." "But you and Luella will be in charge one day." "Yeah, looks that way, if Pal hands over to me." "I saw you last night, heading towards the woods." "I think you were seeing things." "Some money went missing, Ronnie was robbed, then killed." "I wouldn't know anything about that." "Any idea why he'd go back to his wagon in the middle of a party?" "I just saw Cora run back there, crying." "Summat about that first wife of his." "What?" "Well, folk heard you and Ronnie talking at the party." "And word wasn't going to take long for it to reach her." "What are you burning, Cora?" "Ronnie's possessions." "It's what we do." "Here." "Nearly went." "Thank you." "Will you come in?" "Read something." "I'm not best placed to give comfort." "Not at the moment." "No vicar should refuse a widow." "If a vicar is what you are, Sidney Chambers." "I..." "I can't read for you, Cora." "Not as God's agent." "Come inside." "Please." "You didn't know... about Sylvia." "Word went round." "The vicar brings news of a living first wife." "He told me you knew." "He told me she was dead." "Is that why you confronted him last night?" "When you found out?" "What do you believe happens to us when we die?" "You're avoiding my question." "You're avoiding mine." "I believe in the universe - nature." "It's the only God I know." "Cora, what are you burning?" "Please, will you read?" "You don't even believe in God." "Ronnie did." "He escaped many things but... his belief was something he couldn't shake off, much as he tried." "Please." "I can't." "Why?" "Has he deserted you, that God of yours?" "I think I might have deserted him." "Please." "I can read with you." "Come on." ""Be strong... ..and of a good courage." "Fear not, nor be afraid of them." "For the Lord, thy God," "He it is that doth go with thee." "He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."" "Uh..." "What's she like, his first wife?" "Cora..." "It's you, isn't it?" "You're the one who's ill." "Cancer." "That's why Ronnie took the money." "To save your life." "How?" "Head injury." "Sidney had stopped off there, hoping to get your money back." "It's sweet." "Do drink, Mrs M." "Mrs Maguire..." "I don't know how to..." "There's no..." "There's no easy way of saying this so I'm going to be perfectly direct with you." "Ronnie had found love again." "And some years ago, he decided to get married." "She is from the Romany community." "I'm sorry?" "Sidney tells us that they have two children together." "Bloody hell." "Unbelievable." "Is it?" "Well, I wouldn't say so." "One could say it was entirely in character." "A gypsy, you say?" "Do you know where this... place is?" "Mrs Maguire..." "Do you know?" "It's against our tradition to seek medical help." "Doctors are unclean, they reek of death." "But Ronnie was insistent." "He wanted us to have more time." "Why did you need the money?" "You could have been treated at any hospital." "No address or National Insurance number." "I don't pay my taxes." "I need to have private treatment or nothing." "Does Pal know about the illness?" "Yes." "He's the only one that knows." "And we didn't want to worry Luella." "Not yet." "She has her own war to fight." "What do you mean?" "With who?" "She's not happy about our move away from here." "She loves this place." "I think she'd do anything to stay here." "Good work." "Thanks, Geordie." "You see, the upside of being a terrible liar is you're brilliant at telling the truth." "I could learn a thing or two off you, Leonard." "Luella?" "What do you want?" " Where is she?" " In the barn." "Why?" "She's not at the barn." "She wants to stay on this land." "She'd do anything." "What are you saying?" "It could have been an accident." "She could have asked Ronnie for money, he said no, she lashed out." "Careful, Vicar." "We need to find her." "So... here we are again." "Yup." "But we know how it goes, Amanda." "He'll lose his head for a few days, then he'll be back." "What do we do until then, Geordie?" "Just stand here, pouring Martinis strong enough to blow our heads off and... wait for his whimsical storm to pass?" "No." "The point is, he needed to go because we couldn't help." "Have you thought about that?" "You and I have been rendered useless." "We have absolutely no part to play in this." "And that is what's really hard." "The moment you realise the person you love doesn't... ..need you." "Luella!" "I packed a piece of apple dumpling cake." "Just in case Sidney's missed a meal." "What are you doing with my girl?" "Abraham, no!" "I am not yours!" "I can't be a Romany wife." "It's not what I want." "It..." "It is so." "Dad!" "No!" "Lay off him, please!" "I'm going to marry Marcus!" "Luella." "What's in your bag?" "Can I see?" "Please..." "Just not..." " Did you make her do this?" " No!" "Ronnie lied for you, didn't he?" "He said you were running errands but you were with Marcus." "Marcus, did you meet her in the woods on the night of the murder?" "Might have done." "Did Ronnie know?" "For the love of God, Luella." "Did you kill Ronnie for this money?" " You have Ronnie's money." " I didn't kill him!" "He was the only one I trusted to tell about me and Marcus!" "How could I tell you?" "So when did you take it?" "I just panicked, OK?" "Ronnie was gonna talk to Dad after the party, get him to call off the wedding." "He said he had money for me to run, if Dad didn't see sense." "And then suddenly Ronnie was dead." "And the money was just there." "So I took it." "Jesus!" "The money..." "You can't keep it." "Mrs Maguire." "Mrs Maguire." "Don't suppose you thought to iron his shirt." "Doesn't trouble me much." "It troubles me." "I wouldn't have said Ronnie would choose a woman with such long and wayward hair." "I always preferred a neat and functional style." "If it's a war you want, I'm not interested." "I'm too tired." "Too tired?" "Ten and a half years, I waited for him." "Ten and a half years!" "But he was here, all along." "Here." "In this... pit." "Those poor children." "Born to the wrong mother." "How dare you judge me, lady?" "This is how he chose to live." "Get out." "Gladly." "Oh, and my money." "I'll be needing it back." "Geordie?" "I'm just here for Mrs Maguire." "That's for you, Sidney." "And you can wipe that smile off your face." "I'd like to clip you round the ear for running away and joining this circus." "But I don't want to reduce myself in present company." "It was better for everyone that I left." "Like Ronnie." "You are nothing like Ronnie Maguire." "Ronnie ran away from a marriage that was over." "But you, Sidney Chambers, just need to grow up." "Come home." "And let's hope the water's hot at the vicarage." "I rather think you'd benefit." "Nana!" "Nana, is it true?" "About your lungs, is it true?" "Yes, my love." "I'm sorry." "You took it?" "I was scared and Ronnie understood." "Oh, sweetheart." "It's all right." "I'm sorry." "Luella stole the money." "She wanted to get away." "Hm?" "There's a lot of it about." "So why kill Ronnie if it wasn't for the money?" "Well, you tell me, Gypsy bloody Rose Lee." "You're the native here." "You know how their minds work." "You need to work on the wiggle a bit." "Other than that, it's all quite convincing, this new identity of yours." "What?" "Always trying to be something he's not." "We need to get back to the forge." "Oh, Christ." "Abraham." "You're making a mistake, Abraham." "This isn't who you are." "You didn't mean to do it, did you?" " No, don't." "Shh." " Steady, Sidney." "But Ronnie made you feel like he was a better Romany, even if it wasn't in his blood." "No." "And then Luella." "All those errands for a man who made no secret of thinking you were weak." "Showing you up in front of Pal." "You knew he was covering for her." "You went to talk to him but he was arguing with Cora." "You wanted to find out the truth." "Where Luella was going." "But he wouldn't talk to you." "He never took you seriously." "Do you feel at home here, Abraham?" "What?" "Well, it's one thing for someone to accuse you of not belonging." "It's another to know it in your heart that they're right." "The plans were set." "I..." "I'd take over from Pal." "And run everything, marry his daughter..." "But then Ronnie sniffed you out." "He was right." "I'd never be the big man." "I was a runt." "Trying, always trying." "To be this, you know?" "If Pal had gone into that wagon, he would have got the answer." "Me, I can't even manage that." "Sylvia." "This is yours." "Your children." "If your illness worsens, is there anything you might need?" "These wagons are my village." "My home." "My friends, my family." "They'll hold us dear." "I can see why he needed to keep you well." "Your children are beautiful." "Take half." "You're a good woman, Sylvia." "You didn't deserve to be treated like that." "Sidney, you will be careful?" "A row with Him upstairs isn't a row with everyone." "Don't wake up tomorrow and realise you've chucked out something precious." "Because it will haunt you." "I promise you that." ""The Lord is my shepherd." "I shall not want." "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." "He leadeth me beside the still waters." "He restoreth my soul." "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."" " Are you coming in?" " No." "You look nice." " Different." " I have a marriage... ..a family that I need to try and fix." "I need to tell you this." "This wasn't nothing, Margaret." "It's nowhere near nothing." "Goodbye, Geordie." "Amanda." "Can I come in?" "Where were you?" "I needed some time." "For?" "To work out whether you can bear it?" "This whole family lark." "And what did you decide?" "Cos I..." "I need to know, Sidney." "Whether I can depend on you or whether I'm raising my child alone." "Amanda, please." "It's..." "not simple... or clear." "All right, well, let's make it really simple and really clear, then, shall we?" "It's me... ..or the Church." "Easy."