The Twelve Deaths of Christmas by Marian Babson

Author:Marian Babson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2019-11-18T16:00:00+00:00

Iris waved goodbye as Anne and Tom went out, having decided to stay together as far as Baker Street Station before they parted to go their separate ways. She winced as the door slammed violently behind them, reverberating through the hallway.

The reverberations were quickly drowned out by more laughter from somewhere at the top of the house. Quickly, before anyone came down to distract her, Iris plugged in the vacuum cleaner and got to work on the hall carpet. She did not expect to do more than make a start on it, and the babble of voices and laughter were upon her before she had done more than a few feet of carpet.

“Such energy at this hour.” Patti halted at the foot of the stairs and linked arms with Pammi.

“It’s not that early.” Iris was determined not to be seduced into a long conversation. She was due for a Christmas lunch with one of her advertising agency clients and wanted to be on time. Not that Maude would complain if the housework were skimped, but she did not want to take advantage. She was periodically conscious of just how lucky she had been when she had looked Maude up with such happy results. Apart from which, this was going to be a week of guesting at agency and magazine Christmas parties and she did not want to begin skimping work too early.

“It is for us.” Patti and Pammi had been standing there, arms linked, looking, in the way that siblings did, not particularly alike. Now, on the same beat, they tossed their heads back, rocking with hilarity, and might have been identical twins. Although she had noticed the phenomenon before in members of her own family, Iris found it faintly uncanny.

“That’s all right for you,” Iris defended. “But my holiday hasn’t properly started yet. I’m still on duty for the rest of the week.”

“Poor Maude. You make her sound like a dreadful slave-driver. And she isn’t—” Patti turned to Pammi earnestly. “Maude is sweet—although you wouldn’t always notice it. But just look at the way she’s giving this Christmas party for all of us. She really is a softie at heart.”

Iris glanced nervously towards Maude’s door, but it appeared safely closed and soundproof.

“Iris doesn’t think we ought to talk about Maude right outside her door.” Patti had not missed Iris’s swift glance. “It would be more convenient if Maude didn’t have the ground-floor flat, wouldn’t it? Then she wouldn’t be able to keep track of all our comings and goings either—” Patti paused wickedly, “It would be more convenient for all of us.”

“Well, I don’t think you ought to talk about the lady right outside her door, either.” Pammi abruptly became the severe elder sister. “You know you’d be more embarrassed than either of us if the door opened and she was standing there.”

“I suppose so.” Patti shrugged, admitting her sister’s point, but there was still a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

“You know you would.” Pammi looked at her sister fondly.

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