Saving Kitty - completed

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

It took several days for Phoebe to start feeling human again and not like a washed and wrung out old cloth. James was never far away, however she drew the line at letting him sleep in the rocking chair again all night. Even her aunt had to force him home, but he'd return bright and early usually before Phoebe had even gotten up.

Phoebe anxiously awaited news from Deborah about Kitty's birthday, each time the phone rang she would rush to answer it, only to be disappointed by cold callers. Ben kept his distance, which Phoebe wasn't quite sure how she felt about it, a little sad perhaps but also relieved in a small way as Ben did like to antagonise James. She had hoped Ben would have called round to tell her that they had found the culprit who ran them off the road, but she heard no such news.

A week went by and it was the end of August, Phoebe had thought that the summer trade should have started to wind down, but the bed and breakfast was as busy as ever. Phoebe started back slowly with her duties, her body ached and felt as if she had been beaten up by a bear, but she was grateful for being alive. The weather was changing from the heat of the summer and preparing for Autumn. The leaves on the trees were slowly turning red, and the days were becoming more grey than sunny. The sea wasn't as calm as it had been since she had first arrived, and Phoebe would fall asleep listening to it crashing against the rocks.

It was Friday and the post should have arrived by 11. Phoebe knew this because often Fred the postman would join herself and her aunt for a mug of tea during the morning before carrying on with his rounds. There wasn't much Fred didn't know about the people on his round and he would delight Phoebe and her aunt with stories of their neighbours. Fred knew who was misbehaving with who and all sorts of different pieces of supposedly secret gossip.

Phoebe sat in the kitchen with her aunt. The bed and breakfast was full of guests, it had been a particular rush that morning as every guest seemed to want something different to eat. Several of them had left straight after breakfast but there was no let-up as new guests would be arriving by 4. Rick helped out when he could with changing the bed sheets and some of the cleaning, which he was rather good at, if not a little too much of a perfectionist. The corners on the bed sheets, for instance, had to be the same length and the fold in the same place all around. Phoebe, frustrated by this, sometimes left him to it, it was easier that way.

"Fred's usually here by now, I wonder where he is?" Phoebe's aunt looked impatiently out the kitchen window, expecting to see him walking up the path.

"He's probably just got held up on the roads, he'll be here." Phoebe placed her empty mug in the sink as she spoke.

"He's never been late, been delivering our post for the last twenty years, not one day he's missed," Phoebe watched as her aunt paced the floor, she was quite worried.

"Why don't you ring the post office if you're worried, put your mind at rest." Phoebe patted her aunt on the arm, "there could be a very good explanation".

"Yes, I think I will," Her aunt left the kitchen and made her way to the telephone in the hall.

Phoebe washed up the pots left in the sink, and listened to the radio, the news came on and there was a brief statement from the police about Jackie. No one had been caught yet, but their investigation was still ongoing. Phoebe had managed to put Jackie to the back of her mind lately, what with all that happened to her and thinking about Kitty, Jackie's death had faded.

"Well, they said that Fred left at his usual time and should be here by now."

"Maybe there was an accident and the road's blocked," Phoebe offered whilst drying her hands.