When Meg came back with the tea, she found her mother sitting on the floor with a battered brown envelope in her hands and a stunned expression on her face.
‘I’ve found them,’ Louise said. ‘They were wedged under the flap of something else. That was probablywhy Andrew couldn’t see them. What on earth do we do now?’
Chapter Fifteen
‘We must tell Andrew,’ said Meg. ‘And, I suppose, Justin?’ She really wasn’t keen on this idea. He definitely wouldn’t take the news calmly.
Louise’s expression told Meg she wasn’t keen on telling him either. ‘He’s bound to be furious. We’ve interfered in his family’s private papers.’
‘He will be angry. But I’ll make sure he isn’t angry with you.’ Meg smiled. ‘I’m used to him shouting. It’s what chefs do. Now, let’s have our tea, put the deeds back in the safe and then go and poke our noses into other private bits of this family. By which I mean bits of the property we’ve never seen before and they’ve probably forgotten all about.’ She paused. ‘I’ve just checked with Susan and Cherry. They’re very happy to do tea.’
‘And I’ve never seen anyone slice bread as thinly as Susan does,’ said Louise happily. ‘With the loaf tucked in the curve of her arm, in the old-fashioned way.’
‘I suppose it’s a skill one could learn,’ said Meg. ‘Like carrying plates all up your arms.’ She passed a plate to her mother. ‘Have a broken Linzer biscuit. Imade them with leftover pastry for the torte I made for Justin. They’re delicious, just very crumbly. Perhaps we should come clean and tell him about the deeds now?’
Louise thought for a moment. ‘No. I need to think a bit. The deeds are back in the safe and I’ve made sure the door is properly shut. Let’s go and explore. We can decide when to tell Justin later.’
‘He won’t mind about the deeds being found, I’m sure,’ said Meg. ‘But we did have to do a little safe-breaking to do it. That’s the difficult part.’
‘This time we’ve got keys,’ said Louise as they collected various rings of them from the board that hung in the passage on the way to the garden.
‘Not that we need keys,’ said Meg. ‘We have the special powers to make doors open at just a touch!’
‘Let’s go to the gardener’s cottage first,’ said Louise as they stepped outside. ‘I’ve wanted to get my nose in there ever since I arrived.’
‘I wish you could see Lizzie’s cottage. I think they may have extended it a bit, but it’s so sweet,’ said Meg, a little later, as they approached the gardener’s cottage. ‘It’s in the woods but gets the sun. She’s made it so pretty with curtains and cushions and clever things.’
‘We can make this cottage sweet too, if it isn’t in a dire condition,’ said Louise. ‘You can do a lot with some bright curtains and a coat or two of whitewash.’
She led the way down the path to the front door, a large bunch of keys held purposefully in her hand. Ittook a couple of tries before the right key was found and the door opened.
Inside it was terribly dusty, but didn’t smell damp although the smokey aroma of years of open fires pervaded. The two women stepped warily at first but as no bats flew out and the floorboards seemed solid, they went about with more confidence.
The house was one room deep and they had gone straight into the main living room. There was a large fireplace with a mantel above it on which a clock sat, silent and proud. Next to the clock were flat-backed figurines, ornamental jugs and candlesticks. Next to the fireplace was a wooden settle. Beams ran from back to front and large hooks were visible. Old lamps and various metal items that could have been traps hung from some of the hooks and old pictures decorated the faded wallpaper.
‘It’s all very quaint,’ said Louise, ‘but I understand why Susan didn’t want to bring her children up here.’
‘Where was the kitchen?’ asked Meg.
‘Originally it would have just been the one room but I’m fairly sure there’s an added-on kitchen at the back now.’ Louise opened the door to what was little more than a scullery. A large sink stood under the window on which were large flower pots, an ancient soap dish and some jam jars, most of which contained dead spiders.
‘It seems more or less OK, doesn’t it?’ said Meg. ‘Old-fashioned, but just needs a good clean.’ She turned on the tap. There was a lot of gurgling andspluttering but eventually water came out. ‘Running water, at least.’
‘Not exactly running,’ Louise said, ‘and it’s a funny colour, but it’s probably OK. Nothing to cook on though.’
‘There’d need to be some sort of stove if it was going to be rented out,’ said Meg. ‘But there’s room for it here. Let’s go upstairs. I expect the bathroom is up there.’
Louise was doubtful. ‘I don’t expect there was a bathroom, darling.’
Meg shuddered. ‘It’s hard to imagine that whole families would have lived in here.’
‘No wonder Bob didn’t want to but went to live with Susan in the village. Let’s go up.’
The stairs were behind a door and were very steep and twisty. At the top were two bedrooms, small but adequate.
‘The lack of a bathroom is a bit of a problem,’ said Meg.
‘There’ll be a privy in the garden and probably a tin bath hanging up somewhere,’ said Louise.
