Chapter 41
The text that had just flashed up on Mimi’s phone was from Lois.
Can you come over? Need some help.
Mimi had been working on a presentation for a possible future client. She texted back: On my way.
What had happened? Was it something to do with Felix? Since the other evening when the oh-so-casual battle of the Instagram accounts had taken place, Lois had been decidedly on edge and she and Felix had been avoiding each other.
But when she arrived at the house a couple of minutes later, she found Lois kneeling in the front garden, in the middle of a flower bed, clutching something black on her lap.
Mimi said, ‘What’s happened?’
‘I just found him out here. Not sitting on the window ledge like he usually does. He was lying on the gravel path.’ Lois gingerly stroked Truman’s silky head, as if half expecting him to hiss like a snake and sink his teeth into her fingers. ‘And he never lies on gravel. Then he crawled over here and climbed onto my lap, and he definitely never does that. I think he’s been sick too. He’s not right at all.’
Mimi crouched down. ‘He doesn’t look right.’
‘I need to get him over to Henrietta. Will you come with me?’ Lois grimaced. ‘If I go on my own, she’ll accuse me of tipping bleach down his throat or something and we’ll end up in a slanging match.’
The last time they’d encountered each other, in the village shop, Eamonn had been complimenting Lois on her new shoes and Henrietta had eyed them with disdain before announcing how nice it was that Felix’s new girlfriend possessed both style and class. It had taken all Lois’s self-control not to pelt Henrietta, Tom and Jerry style, with the contents of her shopping basket.
‘I suppose I could take him.’ Mimi made the offer without enthusiasm. ‘Or you could call Felix, see if he’ll come over and pick him up?’
‘I already texted him. He’s at work. Come on, we’ll go together. Safety in numbers,’ said Lois as with Mimi’s help and the cat safely supported in her arms, she managed to stagger to her feet.
Ivy-clad Fox Court was even more imposing at close quarters than it was from a distance. Most properties of this size in the Cotswolds had long since been turned into hotels, but Henrietta had flatly refused to countenance such a plan. Officially she occupied the south wing, but in reality the house was her domain and the lack of privacy was one of the things that had driven Lois to distraction.
Ringing the bell of Henrietta’s separate front door got no response. ‘Surprise surprise,’ Lois muttered as they made their way back round to the entrance of the main house that until seven weeks ago had been her own home.
This time the door opened to reveal Henrietta, stiff-shouldered and wearing her sourest expression. Her gaze flickered from Mimi to Lois, and then down to Truman cradled in Lois’s arms. ‘Why are you carrying my cat?’
‘He’s ill. I found him in my garden.’
‘What have you done to him? Did you run him over?’ Henrietta held out her arms to take him and Mimi sensed Lois bristling with annoyance.
‘I did not. He was lying on the gravel path and he’d been sick. The only thing I’ve done is bring him over here to you.’
Mimi held her breath. You could feel the tension crackling in the air between them.
‘Have you been putting rat poison down in that garden? Because if that’s the case, I’m going to make sure—’
‘I haven’t, OK?’ Lois’s eyes flashed. ‘And I don’t know what’s wrong with Truman but I’m starting to wish I’d left him there.’
‘Just give him to me,’ Henrietta snapped. But Truman’s body was so soft and floppy that attempting to complete the changeover without their hands touching proved impossible. Each time there was a risk of physical contact, both women veered away like repelling magnets.
‘Look,’ Lois said finally, ‘let me into the house and I’ll put him down on his bed. Then you need to call the vet and—’
‘Don’t tell me what to do.’ Henrietta spat the words out like teeth. ‘And don’t pretend to care about my cat.’
‘Are you worried that if you let me over the threshold I’ll handcuff myself to the Aga? Trust me, I can’t wait to be out of here.’ Marching straight past Henrietta, across the polished oak floor of the wood-panelled hall, Lois headed for the kitchen. After a moment’s hesitation, Mimi followed her.
‘Thought so,’ said Lois when she saw the cushioned cat bed in the kitchen that had until recently been her domain. She crouched down and carefully decanted Truman. ‘Right, done, he’s all yours.’ But as she indicated to Mimi that it was time for them to leave, she stopped in her tracks and said, ‘What’s that smell?’