The Knapthorne Conspiracy by Malcolm Ballard (best english novels for beginners txt) 📕

memory stick. There was no letter accompanying it just one of those small, yellow reminder notes gummed along one edge which was with the contents. The simple message read, ‘Thought this might be of interest to you. Your loving sister, Laura.’

“What’s she up to now?” Bella put the object down on the worktop and picked up her piece of toast, by now long cold, and it crumbled in her hand as she bit into it. Ubix looked on, hopefully, always game for something to supplement his biscuits with. She put another couple of pieces of bread in the toaster and turned to the cat, bending down to stroke it.

“It’s all very well my sister sending me a memory stick but do I really want to see what's on it? As it’s from Laura it's guaranteed to upset me.” Without further thought she stood up and grabbed the device. Opening the bottom drawer in the unit next to her she dropped the memory stick in and closed the drawer.

“That’s taken care of that, puss, now let’s see what’s in these letters, eh?”

Cora and Joshua came while she was upstairs working and, much to her surprise, Cora came up to inform her they had arrived, something she’d never done before. She’d even brought Bella a couple of freshly-baked scones which she left with her but her manner was still remote and aloof. Any attempt at making polite conversation was rebuffed with a curt response which Bella read, accurately or not, as saying mind your own business.

“One day, perhaps!” she sighed, watching Cora leave the room and immediately had the thought that it might be nice to go and say hello to Joshua. Just thinking about his face, under the old hat, made her smile. There and then she got up from her seat and went down to the garden. The day had improved from a little earlier when she had met the postman. A light breeze had sprung up and the sun was beginning to burn off the early cloud. Bella was surprised how warm it was but there was Joshua, resplendent in a crumpled old brown, pinstripe suit complete with waistcoat. It suddenly struck her what the old boy reminded her of. He was the spitting image of the classic scarecrow. Stick a broom handle across his sleeves and stuff some straw under his hat and voila!, she thought. The picture she’d conjured up put a wide grin on her face as she approached.

“Mornin’ miss,” Joshua greeted her, touching his hat.

“Morning, Joshua. I thought I’d come out and tell you how pleased I am with the way you’ve got the garden looking.” His smile revealed a missing tooth.

“What are you up to today?”

“Sortin’ out a place for a compost bin I’m goin’ to make and I want to build a little glasshouse for your seeds. I got the materials from the village. Put it on your account as usual, Miss.”

“You’re a gem, Joshua. I don’t how you do it. Keep up the good work.” He touched his hat again as she turned away, loathe to leave the warmth of the garden for her chilly room. It made her wonder what it would be like upstairs in the winter and if it wouldn’t be better to move everything downstairs. Time enough to think about that later, she conceded, as she returned upstairs and settled herself back at the keyboard. Every now and then the odd sound would filter up from below as Cora went about her work or Joshua hammered nails in but it in no way intruded on Bella’s concentration. More than content in her isolation she worked on, stopping only to have one of Cora’s scones with her coffee until she began to feel the need for something more substantial to eat. As she went to get up, the phone rang and Bella answered it only to discover that it was Ben Hollingsworth.

“Hello, stranger!” As soon as she’d recognised his voice, Bella remembered that in just over twenty-four hours Kyle would be arriving for the weekend and she hadn’t even thought about what they were going to eat, or anything.

“Yes, sorry I’ve not been in touch. I can’t talk for long but I needed to speak to you.”

“Is something wrong, Ben?” She thought he sounded quite ill-at-ease.

“It looks like Tina and I are going to split up.”

“What?” Whatever Bella might have been expecting to hear, it wasn’t the news she had just been told. “This is all a bit sudden, isn’t it?”

“Oh, I think it’s been on the cards for a long time but both of us were simply turning a blind eye to the situation and carrying on as if everything was ok.” There was a little-boy-lost quality to his voice and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“So what are you going to do?”

“It’s early days yet but I really need to see you.” Right at that moment she was so pleased that she hadn’t contacted him last weekend. “Are you coming up here soon?” It certainly wasn’t the time to tell him she’d only just got back.

“I hadn’t planned to, Ben. No chance of you coming down here, I suppose?” The instant the words were out she regretted saying them.

“Absolutely not. I’ve got some problems at work that need to be sorted out, too. It’s impossible for me to get away right now. What are you doing this weekend?”

Quick as a flash the lie came to her lips.

“My mother’s coming to stay.”

“Oh!” He said it so quietly she hardly heard him. Presumably he had been counting on the fact that she might drop everything and dash up to see him. The lie weighed heavily upon her.

“Can’t we talk now, on the phone?”

“No, I need to see you!” he stressed. “Look, I’ve got to go. Can I ring you, say, one evening next week?”

“Of course, Ben. I’ll look forward to it.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Right, I’ll talk to you then. Bye.”