Saving Kitty - completed

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Phoebe muttered angrily to herself all the way back to the cottage. Never had she felt so angry! 'Poxy little man' she kept thinking. Back at the cottage, Phoebe carried in the bags of shopping and found aunt Martha sitting in the large kitchen. A fresh pot of tea sat on the table, "hello love, did you get everything?"

"Yes I think so," Phoebe was still seething inside.

"Something wrong?" Aunt Martha was quick to pick up on Phoebe's mood. Unfortunately for Phoebe she would never make a successful poker player.

"I think I just met the most infuriating, most hateful man ever, not to mention mentally deranged and paranoid!" Phoebe flung herself down on a kitchen chair and managed to rock the heavy oak table.

"Oh really... in Padstow? Wasn't by any chance a traffic warden was it? There seem to be an ever increasing number of them, one minute over your allotted time, that's all you have to be round there, I think the council will soon be bleeding us all dry," aunt Martha stood and fetched a mug from the cupboard, "what you need is a nice cup of tea, solves everything you know."

Phoebe smiled, aunt Martha, although she was no relation, was just like her mother, all of the world's issues could be solved over a cup of tea, if only. "No, he wasn't a traffic warden. Boris decided to overheat..." aunt Martha looked completely confused, 'the car, mum's idea to name him Boris, well I was driving back from Padstow and 'Boris' decided to have an over-heating fit and so I pulled into a pub on the way home, to let him cool down, the car that is, well... I went in and had a meal and I was just making out a list of all the jobs I had to do, then this deranged psycho flew out of the kitchen and was well... very rude that's all I can say!"

"What pub did you call in?" Aunt Martha asked gingerly, her rosy cheeks grew rosier.

"The Ship's Bell, on the corner, I can't remember the name of the village."

"Oh... don't suppose the most hateful man on the planet was tall, had long dark hair, and was wearing a bandanna?"

"Why yes? You had a run in with him too? Honestly, he was despicable, I'm still not sure what he was rambling and raving on about." Phoebe watched aunt Martha pour the tea, her hand wobbled slightly. "Are you all right?"

"Oh yes dear, it's just that well, you just met my son, James!"

Phoebe sat perfectly still, her cheeks coloured as she lowered her head, how embarrassing! "I'm so sorry... I don't know what to say..."

Aunt Martha waved away Phoebe's apologising, "don't be sorry dear, he can be very frustrating at times, I know my own son, and he's been told before to curb his temper, but I don't understand how you have come to have such an altercation with him?"

"I'm not sure myself... your son, wow... wasn't expecting that, I vaguely remember you having a son, but he looks so different than I remember."

"We've all got older dear, and he is a bit older than you by about 8 years, I think that when you were here as a child he was probably out chasing girls, or out with his friends, in fact I never thought he would settle down, I still can't believe that he's engaged."

"Engaged?" Phoebe hadn't meant for her voice to sound quite so surprisingly high. What mad woman would tie herself to him?

"I know, a miracle really, he's had plenty of girlfriends mind you, too many to my mind and a few of them were very unsavoury, I never thought he would settle down but then he met Jackie about a year ago and, bam, a few months later they were engaged. However, between you and me..." aunt Martha lent slightly across the table and whispered, why on earth she did this Phoebe had no idea, there was no one around to hear them, "I think she's more besotted with him than the other way round."