“Rogers,” said Bill. “Her uncle’s the vicar.”
Of course. The vicar was chairman of the school governors, and would have put in a good word for her. They’d got a new headmistress now, since old Betts had gone, and according to Sheila Stratford, it was much improved. So, a farmer’s son with a bit of imagination, and a vicar’s niece. It all seemed very respectable and suitable for New Brooms.
¦
“Right,” said Lois. “I’ll let you know in a day or two. But I will just say this. My team of girls is a good one. They work well together, and I’d expect you to do the same. Everything open and fully discussed at our meetings, and if there’s trouble with any of the clients, I expect to be told straight away. And no gossip, not with clients, nor anywhere else.
Bill nodded. He’d not been expecting anyone like Lois. An efficient woman, yes, but Mrs Meade was different. And quite fanciable, too. But he knew without being told that chatting up Lois would be out of the question. Well, it all seemed very promising, and he whistled happily to himself as he shut the door behind her.
¦
Heavy black clouds had drifted over the earlier clear sky, and Lois wished the car heater worked. Ah well, as soon as she had enough in the bank, she planned to invest in a shiny white van with
She almost missed the turn to the mill, and had to reverse back into a field opening a few yards beyond. It was not that the road was unfamiliar. She had been this way more times than she could remember, but had never had reason to give the mill more than a glance. In fact, as she’d said to Derek not so long ago, she always accelerated along this stretch, especially in winter. It was a silly fancy, he’d said. Everybody locally said it was one of the prettiest places for a picnic by the stream. So Lois kept her feelings to herself, but now she remembered, and felt reluctant to get out of the car. Still, she’d better get on with it. Her appointment back at home with Enid Abraham didn’t give her much time, and it would look strange if any of the Abrahams caught her snooping around the mill now.
She closed the car door quietly, and sauntered back up the road, trying to look as if out on a casual stroll. An icy wind whipped her scarf back from her throat, and she tied it more tightly. The mill house stood back from the road, and was approached by about two hundred yards of narrow, twisting track. Grass grew down the centre, and ruts and potholes abounded. Not exactly a warm welcome, thought Lois, as she walked on past. She glanced back at the house through a hole in the overgrown hedge. It was so dark now that even though it was the middle of the day, a passing farm vehicle had its lights on. But there were no lights coming from the house, and she could see nobody about. A dog barked suddenly. It was a frantic, hysterical bark, and then Lois heard a gruff shout: “Shut up! Down!”
That’s quite enough of that, Lois told herself, and walked quickly back to her car. She drove off with as much speed as the twisting lane would allow, and was glad when she came to the Long Farnden sign. She cruised along the High Street at an obedient thirty miles an hour to her own gate, and drove in with a feeling of relief. Why relief? She could not have said. All farmers shouted at their dogs. Enid and her mother could have been out shopping. And the brother wouldn’t be there. He’d done a runner, hadn’t he?
¦
“You were a long time,” said Gran, as Lois walked in. “Any good? Bill Whatsisname?”
“Stockbridge,” replied Lois, sniffing the clean warmth of the kitchen, and bubbling beef stew on the Rayburn. “Yep, he was really nice. Fanner’s son from Yorkshire. Girlfriend teaches in Waltonby village school. Cottage clean and tidy, and no problems that I could see.”
“Why does he want to be a cleaner?” said Gran, going for the jugular. Lois shrugged. “Maybe he’s heard New Brooms is the place to be? No, but seriously, I think he may not last long. He’s been working at the hospital for a while, since he came down to be with his Rebecca. Now he says the idea of going round the villages, being on the move, appeals to him. He didn’t really say, but I bet it’s not that easy to get farm work these days. All done by computers.”
Gran laughed. “Don’t you mean robots?” she said. “Anyway, I know what you mean. Bloody great machines in the lanes and whizzing over the fields. Men not needed, not like they were in the old days.”
Lois could see a rambling tale about picnics in the harvest fields coming up, and so excused herself, saying Miss Abraham would be here in half an hour, and she just needed to organize one or two things. Gran muttered on about another missed meal, but Lois said she was looking forward to beef stew for tea, and meanwhile she’d have a cup of coffee.
“Coffee!” humphed Gran. “That’ll do you no good…” But Lois was already in her office, checking phone messages, and preparing to receive Enid Abraham, spinster of the parish of Waltonby, writer of good letters, and probably totally unsuitable for the work Lois was offering.
? Weeping on Wednesday ?
Five
Gran went to open the door. She loved to do this. What some would call nosy, Gran regarded as healthy curiosity.
“Good morning!” she said brightly, looking approvingly at the neat figure in front of her. Well-cut grey coat, sober scarf.
Miss Enid Abraham, clutching a well-worn black handbag in both hands, said nervously, “Is this right for Mrs Meade? I have an appointment…” Her voice trailed off apprehensively.
Lois came out of her office and took over. This maid-of-all-work act of her mother’s irritated her, and she knew exactly why she did it. She liked to be kept informed, did Gran, and it never occurred to Lois that she herself might just be a chip off the old block.
“Come in, Miss Abraham, please,” she said, leading the way into her office. “D’you want to take your coat off? It’s quite warm in here, and you’ll not feel the benefit when you go out again.”
Enid Abraham’s face broke suddenly into a broad smile, miraculously transforming her colourless features. “Oh, goodness,” she said, “I’ve not heard anyone say that since my grandmother died! Oh yes, thank you, I’ll just put them on the chair.” She slipped quickly out of her coat, and folded her scarf. “It is really cold now, isn’t it,” she said, turning back to Lois and sitting down in the chair by Lois’s desk.
Lois nodded and smiled. Perhaps it was going to be easier than she had expected. She felt slightly uncomfortable, like some upper-class dame who’d inserted an ad for a mother’s help in
“Now, Miss Abraham,” she said firmly. “I’m looking for a cleaner. Someone who’s not afraid of hard work. We don’t gossip, and the girls are used to taking orders. We operate as a team, and you’d have to be happy to be out in all weathers and all times of day. You do drive, don’t you?”
None of this had wiped the smile off Enid Abraham’s face, and she replied mildly, “I drove here, Mrs Meade.”
“In your letter,” continued Lois, still in the stern, no-nonsense voice, “you said you could fit in ‘to some extent’. What did you mean exactly?”
Enid Abraham shifted in her chair. “I’d prefer not to be out after tea…that is, supper…as Mother is a bit nervous about…well, if it could be any time before fiveish…”
“How about early in the morning?” said Lois. Some of her clients liked their homes or premises to be sparkling before the working day started.
