The Ghost Fields (Ruth Galloway #7)

by Elly Griffiths

‘Bloody hell,’ says Nelson. ‘What a creepy place.’ ‘There are a lot of these abandoned airfields in Norfolk,’ says Clough. ‘They call them the ghost fields.’

Ruth is aware of a distracting presence at her left elbow, a sort of rustling, hopping motion. After a few moments, she takes pity on it. ‘This is Phil Trent, Head of Archaeology at North Norfolk.’ ‘Phil!’ Aimiee-Louise extends a hand and flashes a brilliant smile. ‘Great to meet you. I’m just organising an interview with Ruth here. You must be very proud of her.’ ‘Oh, tremendously,’ says Phil. ‘Of course it’s a team effort really.’

Ruth clenches her hands on the wheel, trying to keep the car steady. The rain has started too, huge drenching waves of it that seem to be flung against the car by some malevolent hand. Ruth switches on Radio 4 for comfort but it’s a dramatisation of Wuthering Heights, and after a few minutes of desolate moorland and doomed love, Ruth turns it off again. I cannot live without my life. I cannot live without my soul. That’s all very well, Ruth tells Cathy, but sometimes you just have to.

But now she’s determined to do it properly. She has had an induction with a charming young man called Dean and, for the last month, has been to the sports club three times a week. She spends half an hour in the gym, following the programme designed for her by Dean, and then she swims for half an hour. She hates it. She hates the other members in their designer sportswear, running marathons on the treadmill, then stopping to do complicated stretches, carrying their little bottles of water everywhere. She hates the changing rooms where the women strip off and then wander around naked chatting about their Pilates sessions. She even hates the pool, which is too warm and emits a stinging smell of chlorine. It’ll be worth it if she gets fit but, so far, she has only lost one pound. It doesn’t help that the only place in the club that she likes is the cafe, which sells delicious Danish pastries. But today Ruth is determined. The party is tomorrow. Surely it’s not too late to change her body shape completely? She slogs away on the cross-trainer, ignoring the flashing lights informing her that she has so far burnt one hundred calories, approximately a third of a Mars bar.

Ruth and Kate are going to her parents in Eltham for Christmas. Ruth hopes that Blue Bear will approve. She has a feeling that there will be rather too much churchgoing for his taste. She has him down as a rather free-thinking bear.

‘There are real Brownies in the choir,’ says Cassie, as if people are in the habit of substituting fake Brownies for the real thing. ‘Great,’ says Ruth. In a few years Kate can join the Brownies, if Ruth can get over their militaristic habits of saluting and wearing uniforms.