Where Everything Seems Double, Penny Freedman [best inspirational books txt] 📗

‘There may be an issue about sleeping arrangements and mobiles don’t work here,’ I say quickly, but I am speaking into a dead phone.

Chapter Eight ALLIANCE

Saturday

This was shaping up to be the weirdest day. She had woken up feeling good. True, Granny had made that cringe-making scene on the jetty last night (she could still hear her, yelling, ‘She’s only just thirteen!’ and it made her feel as though her whole body was blushing) but Milo had been so nice and told her not to have a row over it, and he had been right because she had been able to tell Granny about Dumitru, and now it was her problem to deal with and Freda could look forward to just an ordinary day. She was in such a good mood that when she and Granny were at the breakfast table she had been about to suggest that they did a bit of bonding, spending the morning together, going down into the town in search of a bookshop. And then Venetia suddenly appeared at their table, looking as though she was bursting with a secret.

Venetia did have terribly good manners, so she apologised to Granny for interrupting, but then she fixed Freda with a really intense look and said, ‘Milo has something he needs to do in town, and he’d like us all there. Can you come? On the 9.30 ferry?’

Freda could see her grandmother start to muster objections. She had picked up on Venetia’s excitement, of course – she was super sharp about that sort of thing – and she was suspicious.

‘I’m not sure, Freda,’ she started to say. ‘I wouldn’t mind so much, but without a reliable phone signal—’

But Venetia broke in, as smooth as you like, saying, ‘Oh, I should have said, Milo’s grandmother is going to be there too.’

‘Eve will be there?’ Granny sounded pretty unconvinced.

‘Yes. It was her idea, actually. There’s something she and Milo need to do. And he thought we would like to come too.’

‘So what is the something they’re going to do? What delights does the town have to offer?’

Granny said this all casually, buttering her toast, but Freda was not deceived. Venetia gave a little laugh. ‘Well, it won’t be a visit to the pencil museum,’ she said, ‘but I can’t say, I’m afraid, because it’s a sort of surprise.’

Freda watched as her grandmother chewed a mouthful of toast.

‘I think,’ she said when she had swallowed it, ‘I might come down into town too. I won’t muscle in on your surprise, but I can have a word with Eve and do some exploring myself.’

Venetia shot Freda a worried look, but there was nothing she could do. Granny put down her napkin and stood up. ‘On the jetty in twenty minutes, then,’ she said to Venetia. ‘Coming, Freda?’

There was nothing for it but to follow. Freda gave one helpless glance at Venetia and trailed off in her grandmother’s wake.

At the jetty Freda watched Venetia walking along the lakeside from her family’s house, which nestled in the trees just a little way from the hotel. She saw that Letty was not being included in this expedition. When she commented on this, Venetia said breezily, ‘Too young,’ which made Freda even more impatient to know what was going on. She hoped that Eve really was going to be there because there was going to be an awful row if it turned out that Venetia hadn’t been telling the truth. Venetia seemed quite comfortable, though, and when they got onto the ferry and found Micky there helping, she asked Barry, his father, in a very sweetie-pie way whether she and Freda could stand with them in the wheelhouse for a bit. Once they were there, Venetia took hold of Freda’s arm and whispered, ‘Milo’s granny is taking him to the police station. There’s something he’s got to tell the police.’

Freda’s immediate thought was that Milo had told Eve about her seeing Dumitru, and that meant she, Freda, would be questioned too. And what would Granny do when she found that out? There would be a scene, but if she was going to be questioned she would be quite glad to have Granny there.

‘Do you know what it is?’ she asked. ‘What he’s got to tell?’

Venetia looked at her assessingly, as though she was deciding how much information she could be trusted with. Then she said, ‘It’s something to do with Ruby’s phone. That’s all I can say.’

But not all you know, Freda thought, though she said nothing. She was relieved enough that it wasn’t to do with Dumitru.

The town turned out to be a ramble of winding streets except for a pedestrian square at its centre with a clock tower at one end and a church at the other. The police station was in the main square, but not very obvious, tucked in between two hotels which looked more impressive. That wouldn’t stop it from being scary, though, if you were going in to be interrogated, she thought.

Milo was sitting on a bench outside with Fergus and Eve, who was obviously not particularly pleased to see Granny, but the two of them walked away together for a bit and when they came back Granny said she would go off and take a look round, then go back to the hotel. And then, as if there had not been enough bombshells for one morning, she said to Freda, ‘I need to be back by lunchtime. David is coming up.’

David? she thought. Policeman David? David, who Mum thought Granny wasn’t seeing any more?

She was formulating a question when Granny said, ‘Phones work in the town, apparently, so keep in touch. All right?’ and then she marched off.

Eve watched her go and then turned to Milo. ‘All right?’ she asked. ‘Shall we get this over?’

Freda took in Milo’s appearance for the first time. He didn’t look like himself at all. She guessed that Eve had told him what to wear and