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

to feel like that at any time previously in her life, she reflected, as she ducked beneath a rather large overhanging branch in her path. It was a little unnerving when she thought about it. And now Maria was coming over to see her. Well, her and Laura.

“I wonder what, if anything, Laura thinks about Maria’s visit?” She spoke out loud knowing she was alone and not very far away but out of sight a rabbit that had been happily feeding pricked up its ears at the sound of her voice.

Wishing the time away so that the day of her mother’s arrival would come quickly didn’t help and even though she threw herself into her work, the hours wouldn’t pass fast enough for her. By the time it got to Thursday, Bella had convinced herself to ask Cora about her sister, Ruth. Having made the decision then much time had been spent agonising over how to introduce the subject and come up with a plausible explanation as to how she’d found out. In the end, she’d decided that truth, or something close to it, would be the only way. From the time she had woken up and realised it was Thursday, the day Cora and Joshua came, she had begun to feel nervous about approaching the woman. Minutes later, as she had soaped herself vigorously in the shower, Bella had given herself a stern lecture, telling herself not to be so stupid and what did she have to worry about. Closing her eyes and picturing Cora’s grim features gave her an instant, unpleasant reminder.

“Then don’t do it, you silly cow!” she instructed herself, as she got out of the shower. “Christ, what are you worried about? What’s she going to do?” A vivid image of Cora waving a gnarled old wand and turning her into a slimy toad caused Bella to giggle, relieving some of the tension she was feeling.

“Needip, needip,” she said to the mirror, puffing her cheeks out like a bullfrog. Turning she saw Ubix sitting at the door, quietly watching. “Yes, I’m sorry Ubix. Your mistress has finally lost her marbles. Oh, and by the way, don’t you go wandering off this morning. I want you around when I speak to Cora, d’you hear?” Was that a grin on the cat’s face before it turned away and went out the door? She couldn’t help thinking it was.

After towelling herself down, she slipped into a robe and went back to her bedroom to get dressed. Be yourself, girl, her inner voice said and she heeded its advice. In her usual uniform of jeans and sweatshirt, Bella put her wet hair up in a towel then set off barefoot for the kitchen and breakfast. No make-up, no moisturiser, nothing. It would be plain Jane who addressed Cora A level playing field. Finding it hard to keep her eyes off the clock, Bella took her bowl of muesli and fresh fruit out into the garden and surveyed the morning sky for the promised rain. Although it was grey and overcast the sun was trying to break through and Bella took it as a good omen for the day. No great distance away, as she and Joshua made their way to Willow Cottage, Cora was studying the clouds too and wondering just what sort of a day it was going to be. Hardly having recovered from the shock of hearing Ruth’s name mentioned by a stranger after all this time, and trying to cope with Alfie’s reaction, she was looking forward to her chores at Willow Cottage as a means of taking her mind off things. Joshua Bodkin sat alongside her thinking about how the garden could really do with a nice drop of rain. Neither of them felt a great urge to talk to the other on their weekly journeys, outside of observing the basic rituals. In the mornings, it tended to be a brief greeting and the mandatory comments about the weather. On the way back it was generally something to the effect of looking forward to getting home and a curt farewell when they parted. They made an odd couple but their lives had followed similar paths. Each of them had been born in the village and neither had ever married or been outside the county borders in their travels. They knew each other as well as anyone ever would but that didn’t mean a great deal, as they knew very little of each other. There was a bond between them however, something that stretched back many years and, almost as though they were family, united them both. Once upon a time Joshua had been engaged to marry Cora’s sister, Ruth.

Whilst having breakfast Bella had decided that it would be best to try and let the subject of Ruth come up naturally during the course of a conversation, rather than make a point of raising it with the woman. The problem being that Cora wasn’t the kind of person you had a good old natter with or chatted to over a cup of coffee. That left the option of Bella starting the conversation as she saw fit, then guiding it round to the desired topic. Keen to carry on with her writing, she felt that the sooner she talked to Cora that morning the better. What had really struck her while she had been standing outside was the difference that someone’s personality made when it came to dealing with them. It was something that she’d had cause to think about often, in the past. With some people it was easy to talk about most things, or even have a rational argument, whereas with others even the simplest discussions often proved difficult or fraught with anxiety. What made them that way? Why was Cora Flint the way she was? If only she could chip through that granite exterior of her housekeeper and find the real Cora Flint beneath. Bella was in the kitchen when the pair