Saving Kitty - completed

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Phoebe was half afraid to open her eyes when she awoke. She was terrified what she might see, however after forcing herself to look, she was pleased to find that everything was normal. There was no one or anything in the room that shouldn't be there. After glancing at the clock, Phoebe groaned, it was 6.45, and she had to be downstairs in the kitchen by 7. Scrambling out of bed Phoebe rushed to the bathroom, she washed and changed in 10 minutes flat. Running down the stairs, Phoebe nearly lost her footing only just managing to correct her footing by the bannister. Aunt Martha was in the kitchen singing away as the bacon and eggs were cooking.

Breakfast was a hectic time, so Phoebe thought it best to wait until after service, before asking if she could change to another room in the house. By 8 o'clock all the guests were sitting and waiting. Phoebe took their orders and relayed them back to the kitchen; it was only her second morning, and she was still getting used to the breakfast rush. Phoebe hadn't realized just how many different ways you can cook an egg. Baked beans also seem to be a bone of contention and like marmite, guests either loved them or were horrified at the thought of them being produced on a plate.

9 o'clock soon arrived and with it the guests were departing from the dining room. Half the guests were leaving that morning; however they were to be quickly replaced by others, and the rooms had to be cleaned and the bed linen changed quickly. Phoebe cleared away all the breakfast things, and waited in the kitchen for her orders from her aunt. It was such a busy morning that there never seemed to be the right moment to ask about sleeping in another room, and as the morning went on, it became clear that each room in the house was occupied. Lunch time was the first opportunity for Phoebe and her aunt to sit down. The next lot of arrivals were due to be booked in at 4.

"Right, well, we've only got a few hours and I really need to get to Mrs Grimshaw's or my name will be mud! Are you still wanting to visit that museum?"

"Yes, I'd love to... aunt Martha?"

Aunt Martha was already taking out the meal she had prepared for her friend, whilst ticking off things on her to do list, "yes my luver."

Phoebe felt a huge pang of guilt, her aunt had such a lot to do, there was no way she could add to the pressure or wanting to change rooms ... "Oh nothing, are we going then?"

"Yes, we'll go in my car, unless of course you want to take yours?"

"No that's fine, however I would like a garage to check Boris over especially after yesterday," up until now, Phoebe had not given yesterday's awful experience any more thought, now, however it all came flooding back and so did the image of the raving lunatic chef.

"There's a garage on the way, old George's place, he's getting on a bit, but he's good and more to the point he's trustworthy! Why don't you follow me in your car? It's on the way, and we'll leave it there."

Good... they had a plan, twenty minutes later they set off, Boris did his usual splutter, cough and a bang to life. The garage wasn't exactly aimed at the high end of the market. It was in desperate need of a complete revamp, there were two fuel pumps, which like the garage, were practically antique.

George was indeed an older gentleman with grey hair and going by the speed that he strolled out from the garage's small shop onto the forecourt Phoebe wondered if he was as old as the garage itself. Much like all the locals his skin was bronzed and well weathered, he was dressed in blue overalls which had also seen better days.

After exchanging a few limited words, George took the keys from Phoebe; they arranged for Boris to stay overnight and George would let her know in the morning about the car's condition. Phoebe suspected a hefty bill may follow. Aunt Martha and Phoebe were soon back on the road, and twenty minutes later they were parked up on the dock in Padstow, which was already bustling with coach loads of tourists.