Ghost Walk by Alanna Knight

Author:Alanna Knight [Alanna Knight]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, detective, women sleuths, historical
ISBN: 9780749013707
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2012-06-21T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Back at the farm, Mrs Macmerry was watching our approach along the lane. ‘You haven’t got That Dog on a rope,’ she said accusingly, pointing out the obvious.

‘He isn’t used to walking with a lead,’ I replied.

She sniffed. ‘All dogs except for our two and Rex have to have leads whether they like it or not, and That Dog is no different from any others.’

I smiled and thought, how surprised she might be if she knew the truth.

Taking my smile as defiance she said, ‘There’s soup waiting for you and tea in the pot. Once you’ve tied That Dog up again.’

Smiling sweetly, I said that was my intention.

And Mrs Macmerry marched indoors, her lips tighter than ever, looking a little disappointed at my lack of argument as if she had been hoping for a disagreement and spoiling for a fight.

After seeing Thane settled once more and promising him another walk soon, I went into the kitchen to be met by a delicious smell of baking.

Jack’s father was seated at the table with the weekly local newspaper spread before him.

As I sniffed the air appreciatively he grinned. ‘That’s your wedding cake, lass. Jess has a friend in the village who is great at decorating. All three tiers.’ And then with a guilty look, he added, ‘I wasn’t supposed to tell you. It was to be a secret.’

I smiled and said consolingly, ‘I’ll pretend that we never had this conversation and knew nothing about a wedding cake.’

We heard footsteps and I immediately sat down at the table and we both tried to look innocent.

‘Perhaps you’d like to read all the local gossip,’ said Mr Macmerry.

‘Not much for a city lass, Andrew,’ said his wife, ‘there’s only farm and church news, the parish pump at its best.’

‘True enough, Jess. But there’s something stronger for the headlines this week. Look at this.’

Mrs Macmerry leaned over his shoulder and read, “Body of an Unknown Man near Berwick.” Well, I never. Wait till I find my glasses –’

‘Don’t bother, I’ll read it for you, Jess. “The body of an unknown man was found on the railway embankment near Berwick Railway Station. The police are investigating a suicide or the possibility that he fell by accident from the evening train to London from Edinburgh on Monday.”’

‘Oh, that was the day before our Jack came home,’ said Mrs Macmerry dramatically.

‘Listen to this,’ Mr Macmerry went on, ‘“A railway guard reported that the communication cord was pulled soon after the train left Berwick Station. When he went to investigate the compartment was empty and the carriage door down to the railway line was lying open. He saw nothing amiss but reported the incident to the rail authorities, as was customary. It now transpires that this was within a short distance of where the man had made his death leap.”’

‘Would you believe it, Andrew, that’s the very same train our Jack gets when he comes to see us. You’re not safe anywhere these days – as for those carriage

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.