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

in her ergonomically-designed chair savouring the intense pleasure generated by his phone call. It was one of those rare periods in her life where everything seemed to be falling into place. Jane had scoffed at her suggestion of fate but Bella knew better than to dismiss it. So many strange things happened to people that couldn’t be explained by mere coincidence. Was it Freud who’d called it synchronicity? No matter.

“Well, Ubix, my friend, I think you’d better brush up on your manners before Kyle comes back.” The cat looked up, lazily, at the mention of the name he had quickly become accustomed to. “You might just have to get used to seeing him around more often!” Ubix miaowed, stridently, as if giving his opinion on the matter, then lay his head down once more, the subject closed. Feeling pretty pleased with life in general and with a self-satisfied smile firmly in place Bella returned to her task with renewed enthusiasm. Before her fingers even touched the keyboard, much to Bella’s amazement, the phone rang again.

“Bella Foxton!” There was no answer, immediately, and Bella had an awful, sinking feeling who her caller was.

“Hello, sister dear. I bet you couldn’t wait to hear from me!” Bella closed her eyes as her happy mood disintegrated at the sound of Laura’s voice and the room seemed to grow cold. She said nothing, waiting for Laura to continue, not wishing to encourage her in any way.

“Maggie and I will be down for lunch, on Saturday, to have a look round. Unfortunately, we can’t stay as Maggie’s got a show to attend on Sunday but at least we can see where we’ll be staying, in future, when we come down. We’re so lucky that you’ve got this place now!” The thought of locking her in the saloon bar of The Lamb, with the locals, then throwing away the key, suddenly occurred to her.

“Laura, why are you doing this? I don’t want you here, you must know that…”

“Precisely, Arabella!” Laura seized her opportunity like a predator grasping its prey. “Like you never wanted me in your life when you were younger. It’s all been so easy for you, hasn’t it, especially with Rupert’s help, the old pervert. Fancy playing around with your own brother’s daughter. You could always see how much he fancied you, you could see it in his eyes.” Just like your eyes, Bella thought, when you looked at your own brother. Listening to Laura, Bella felt nothing but anger, infuriated by her groundless insinuations.

“Well, you’ll just have to take your chances, if you persist with this ridiculous idea. I’ve got a visitor coming down so I may or may not be in. As for directions to the cottage, you’re certainly not getting them from me. I don’t want you here, Laura, it’s as simple as that!” If it had been a receiver she was holding, Bella would have slammed it back down. As it was, she felt like hurling the portable across the room after cutting her sister off.

“Serves me right for feeling so bloody pleased with myself!” she exclaimed, pushing her seat back, violently, and standing up. “I should have known better.” Not sure exactly where she was heading, Bella took herself downstairs, finally ending up in the back garden, taking deep, regular breaths of fresh air. What she really craved, of all things, was a cigarette. Christ, it must be bad, she reflected. The thought of Laura turning up at the weekend was distressing enough, to say the least, but what if Ben and Laura met? Laura was about as stable as nitroglycerine with a similar explosive capacity. Should she warn Ben? And say what? Oh, it was all too much. From feeling so good twenty minutes ago her world had been turned upside down, thanks to one phone call. And look at this garden, she said to herself. I really must do something about it. Being outside felt so good after being cooped up for the past couple of days that she decided a spot of weeding would be ideal therapy and help to restore her good mood.

By the next day, Bella had reconciled herself to the fact that there were some things in life that it really wasn’t possible to do anything about and Laura came into that category. Weighed up against the positive things that were happening, her visit wasn’t likely to cause more than a gentle blip on the Richter scale of life’s dramas. By 7am she was immersed once more in the process of creating popular fiction and looking forward to getting her car back at some time during the day. When the doorbell rang a little over two hours later, Bella stopped what she was doing immediately and flew down the stairs, eager to see what her vehicle looked like. One thing was certain, it definitely didn’t look like a pony and trap which was what she spied through the window. Quickly trying to get her thoughts in order to cope with this unexpected turn of events, Bella put a smile on her face before answering the door.

“Cora…” the name died on her lips as she faced not one but two people at her front door.

“This ‘ere’s Joshua Bodkin.” The man she referred to stood next to her, only coming up to her shoulder. Bella’s first impression was that he looked crumpled, like he had been caught in a compacting machine and squashed. At a guess, he would be around sixty to sixty-five years old, she imagined. Dressed in a baggy old brown suit and flattened trilby hat, his flat rounded face bore a grin that virtually closed his eyes and compressed his lips across toothless gums. Sporting a pensioner’s version of designer stubble he came very close to looking like a human turnip and the fact wasn’t lost on Bella and she wondered if Jane’s ears were burning. She found it difficult not to laugh.

“Joshua’ll look after your garden, if that’s what