Death at Noon--book 1 by Valentina Morelli

Author:Valentina Morelli [Valentina Morelli]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: F
Publisher: SAGA Egmont
Published: 2022-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

9

"Damn!"

Isabella winced as Sister Agnieszka's silhouette detached itself from the crowd and the angry nun approached her.

"Damn! Damn!"

A group of passers-by in colourful clothing, some wearing straw hats, stopped, looking first irritated, and then amused.

"Please, pull yourself together!" Isabella gave her fellow sister a light tap on her flank. "You can swear like a trooper for all I care, but not at the convent stall, where God and everyone else can hear you. Please! Honestly, what are you doing?"

Sister Agnieszka had been gone exactly two minutes before returning to the stall.

"I'm swearing, what does it fucking sound like? I forgot the durum wheat flour for the ravioli."

"And?"

"What do you mean, 'And?' Galetti's Panetteria is five streets away. I really can't be going all the way back there. Bad enough that I've got to walk all the way back." She settled down on a board box, slipped off her right shoe and rubbed the sole of her foot. "My feet are killing me. This bloody corn. This bloody, bloody …"

"Agnieszka!"

"Am I not right?"

"I can go for you," Isabella suggested impulsively. And even as she spoke, she thought it was the best idea she had had all day. She was tied to the stall until one o'clock. But now an opportunity had arisen for her to hand stall duty over to Sister Agnieszka, and pursue her investigation. Besides, the durum wheat flour really was important. No one wanted to miss out on Hildegard's ravioli with spinach-ricotta-parmesan filling. Not least because the alternative was unadorned German home cooking, like her much-feared jacket potatoes with fried liver sausage, which she always served when she ran out of other ideas. No one in the abbey was in the mood for that.

Agnieszka looked at her uncertainly. "You would do that?" Isabella nodded.

"Sure. After spending all day standing around here, it can't hurt to stretch my legs a bit."

"Hmm." She knitted her eyebrows. "That might not be such a bad idea. The way you are with the customers, you might wind up doing more damage if you stayed put." Agnieszka winked at her.

Isabella played along: "Yes, I have a lot to learn and I vow to do better." She folded her hands and bowed her head, making them both chuckle. "See you in a minute. I'll hurry."

It felt liberating to emerge from behind the stall and take the first steps into her new-found freedom. Not that she hadn't been enjoying her new duty – on the contrary. She really liked direct contact with the villagers and tourists. There had been a few deep conversations – fewer about God, more about worldly things – and she had laughed a lot. But more than anything else, she wanted to find out about Aurora at the hotel. Perhaps an employee there could tell her the reason for the girl's hasty exit. Her mind made up, she strode through the din of the market towards the hotel and looked around as she went. She saw why this market attracted so many tour buses.

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