The Second Bride by Katharine Swartz

Author:Katharine Swartz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lion Hudson
Published: 2017-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ellen

The Monday of half-term, Ellen rang up the chair of Goswell’s historical society, a man she knew only by sight, and explained about the death certificate.

“How fascinating,” he said, a note of laughter in his voice. “It seems like people are finding all sorts of interesting things in their houses. First Jane, and then Marin, and now you.”

“Oh yes, Marin found something in her garden, didn’t she?” Ellen said. She felt silly for a moment, as if she was just chasing a trend. “Well, this is probably nothing. My husband, Alex, has the dullest reason why it would have ended up there, and I’m sure he’s right. But I thought it would be fun to look into it.”

“Of course. I can do some digging, see who lived in your house before you. 1872, you say?”

“Yes, that’s right.” “I’ll have a look through our files and records and get back to you in a day or two.”

Ellen thanked him and rang off, turning to see Annabelle coming into the kitchen. Since Saturday she felt as if they’d silently agreed on a truce; Annabelle hadn’t been particularly chatty or friendly, but she’d ceased – mostly – with the theatrical sulks and sneers. They’d all had a good time out at the pub on Saturday night, or at least Ellen thought they had; Alex had asked Alyssa about her course and Annabelle had become a bit animated when she learned Alyssa was doing English, since that was one of her subjects. Alyssa had made things easier, too, by being friendly and relaxed, joking with Annabelle about the various teachers and horrors of Copeland Academy.

“Is the girls’ bathroom by the gym still a cesspit? The toilets always overflowed. It was like something out of Harry Potter, Moaning Myrtle included.”

“Yeah, no one goes in there,” Annabelle had answered, looking more animated than Ellen had ever seen her. “It’s revolting.”

“Completely,” Alyssa had agreed. Content to let them criticize the school, Ellen had sat back with her glass of wine and breathed a sigh of relief.

This morning Alyssa had taken the train back to York – without any more discussion about visiting her father – and Alex had gone back to work. Ellen was left with two very different daughters to manage, and she hoped she could find something to interest them both.

“So.” She turned to Annabelle. “I was just speaking to the man who runs the local historical society. He’s going to try to find out who lived here back in 1872. Perhaps it will tell us something about the death certificate, and why it was under your floor.”

“Mmm,” Annabelle said without any enthusiasm, and reached for the cereal.

Ellen watched her, battling a familiar frustration. Now that the weekend was over and the fun people had left, would Annabelle be back to her old tricks? Judging by the way she was slouching around the kitchen, trailing cereal all over the floor and seeming not to notice, Ellen suspected that might be the case.

“So I thought

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.