The Patterdale Plot by Rebecca Tope

Author:Rebecca Tope
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2019-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Bonnie was in much better spirits than she had been all week. ‘Guess what!’ she trilled, the moment Simmy was within earshot. ‘Ben’s coming home on Sunday. There’s a broken pipe on his floor in halls, and they’ve told them they should try not to be there until it’s fixed, because there won’t be any water. He’s staying tomorrow to finish an essay in the library, and then he’ll get a bus first thing on Sunday.’

‘All the way from Newcastle?’

‘Um … there was something about staying tomorrow night with another student who lives near Carlisle.’ She frowned. ‘Is Carlisle on the way to Newcastle?’

‘More or less. It’ll save Mr Harkness a lot of driving, anyway. When’s he going back?’

‘Probably early Monday on the train. He’ll miss a lecture, which is a worry, but nobody can take him, so there’s not much choice.’

‘When did he tell you all this?’

‘Seven o’clock this morning,’ the girl laughed. ‘They’d been up half the night trying to sort the plumbing out. Three rooms are flooded, apparently.’

‘Well, that’s nice,’ said Simmy, wondering whether she’d manage to see Ben herself. She had tried not to admit just how badly she missed him. Bonnie’s deprivation was obviously much worse, but even so, his absence made quite a hole in Simmy’s life as well.

‘The trouble is,’ Bonnie’s face had drooped slightly, ‘I don’t know whether it’ll be okay to mention the murder. Helen would tell me not to, if I asked her, but he’s sure to find out eventually, and be cross with me if I don’t say anything.’

‘Maybe Moxon will have solved it by then,’ said Simmy, with an optimism that felt wildly unwarranted. ‘It would be all right to tell Ben, if that happened.’

There were wisps of her dream still floating around her head. The berries especially haunted her. She had hoped to share it with Bonnie, but other topics were taking priority. ‘Christopher told me his friend Robin might have found us a house,’ she began, in an attempt to distract the girl. ‘He’s given us a heads-up, before it’s officially on the market.’

‘Great,’ mumbled Bonnie. ‘That’s you sorted, then.’

‘Hardly. But it is getting urgent. We can’t decide anything while it goes on like this.’

‘Sell yours and rent somewhere bigger,’ said Bonnie, as she had many times before. ‘That’s the simplest thing to do.’

‘It’s not actually much easier to rent than buy these days. Chris is going to have to move in with me in Troutbeck, and we’ll drive each other mad.’

Two customers came in, jostling each other for first place through the door. Bonnie and Simmy smoothly attended to one each, supplying the requirements quickly, smiling patiently. ‘That doesn’t happen very often,’ Simmy remarked, when they’d gone.

‘It was fun. Do you think they knew each other?’

‘That never occurred to me. What makes you think they might?’

Bonnie laughed. ‘Bored housewives, playing silly games. Racing each other to the Zumba class, or whatever it is.’

‘I don’t think so. Why would they want flowers for a Zumba class?’

‘A present for the teacher.

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