Chapters (28)
‘Don’t let me interrupt. I’m just emptying my washing machine, anyway. Nice to meet you, Alfie.’ She nodded at Lucy and smiled; but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. ‘See you later, Stina.’
She promptly retreated back into the house and closed the door. We stared after her.
‘That was a bit random,’ remarked Lucy. She peered into the bag and pulled a face. ‘I’m not really a huge fan of fairy cakes, but this one here will polish them both off no bother.’
She paused. ‘There were rumours, you know, about the old girl,’ she said, almost conspiratorially, her voice lowered. ‘I remember my mum saying, years ago. They reckon they weren’t married, her and her fella. Everyone found them a bit odd. They’d moved from quite a distance away and no one round here knew anything about their past. All very cloak-and-dagger. Kept themselves to themselves – never had any family or friends visiting. A bit racy for the day, don’t you think, living in sin like that – if there’s any truth in it. She might look all prim and proper now, but maybe she was a bit of a goer in her time!’
I was taken aback – not so much by what she said, but more the derisory way in which she’d said it. Especially since the old lady had been kind enough to give her little boy cakes. Rumours could be just that, and I wasn’t one for gossip. It was so petty. I watched Lucy walk up the road and closed the door as she turned the corner. She had otherwise seemed nice enough, but I felt annoyed by her comments about Mrs Barley. The old lady had been so helpful to us and I didn’t like to think that people were being unkind about her. Even if she hadn’t been married, it was no one’s business but her own even at that time, and who on earth would care about such things these days? Perhaps this was the downside of living in a small community: small-minded individuals.
I went back into the living room, and was about to let an eager Jobie outside when my hand froze on the door handle. I looked from left to right and beyond before unlocking the door, a sudden wave of anxiety coursing through me. Maybe the grass wasn’t so very much greener here after all.