7 Sorrow on Sunday Read Online Free

said. The stable thieves had fallen straight into her lap! How lucky that Floss had earache. Lois knew she must ask more questions, and on the pretext of claiming Mrs. B was in shock and mustn’t be left for a while, she made her a cup of tea with plenty of sugar. It seemed that the Battersbys had heard nothing in the night. But then, the walls were thick, the curtains were heavy drapes which would shut out sound, and the stables stood a way off from the house. The Colonel was a little deaf, though he denied it hotly, and Blanche always slept with the bedcovers pulled up over her ears.
    “What time did the Colonel go to the stables?” Lois asked gently.
    “After breakfast. About eight o’clock. Never a lie-in for us!” Blanche seemed to be recovering, and even managed a small smile.
    “No damage to the horses?”
    “No, thank God. I immediately thought of those wicked people who cut horses, but ours were just frightened. And they
were
frightened, Mrs. Meade. Very jumpy and nervous.”
    “Do you think it had been in the early morning, then? Not long before you got up?” Lois knew very little about horses.
    Blanche shook her head. “Difficult to say. If something upsets them, they take a long while to settle down.”
    The sound of the Colonel’s car returning sent Blanche scuttling upstairs, and Lois quickly rinsed out the cups and put them away. She was on her way to start on the bedrooms when he came storming into the hall. “Ah!” he said. “Mrs. Meade. Just the person. You go to lots of houses in the village, don’t you? Can you throw any light on this tragic business?” He seemed confident that she knew all about it.
    Lois shook her head. “I am sorry for you, and for the horses,” she said. “But I only know there’s been rumours about stable thefts, and my husband actually saw a strangermaking off with a saddle on one of the farms where he was working. He chased, but didn’t catch him. The farmer was out, but when he came back, he didn’t seem too bothered. Didn’t want the police told. So Derek hasn’t done nothing about it.”
    “Send your husband to see me,” the Colonel said. Lois frowned.
    “I’ll ask him,” she said, “but he’s very busy just now. I must get on,” she added, and went upstairs, aware of a boiling Colonel behind her. But he said no more, and so she started work.
    *   *   *
    “W HERE HAVE YOU BEEN, DEAR?” B LANCHE SAID TENTATIVELY at lunch.
    “When? Been here for hours.” The Colonel’s appetite had not been affected by the disaster, and he lined up peas and carrots as if they were on parade, in order to dismiss them with relish.
    “But earlier,” persisted Blanche. “You went out in the car.”
    “Ah, that. Just went into the village to find Darren. Thought he might know something.”
    “You didn’t frighten him, I hope, dear,” Blanche said.
    “Frighten him? Of course not! In any case, he wasn’t there. The neighbour said he’d gone shopping with his mother on the bus to Tresham. I’ll talk to him later. He comes here tomorrow, doesn’t he? I’ll leave it until then. See what the police say first.”
    Blanche stood up suddenly. “Horace! It’s them. The police have just driven in. Shall I go to the door?”
    “Certainly not. I’ll go at once. Trust them to come at lunchtime.” He strode out of the room, and Blanche heard the front door open and then loud voices. Well, one loud voice and two reasonable ones. She heard them go into the drawing room, and the door shut behind them. So that’s that. I might as well creep to the kitchen and wash up, she thought.
    But she misjudged the police. After a while, Horacecame steaming back in, and said, “Come along, Blanche. They want to talk to you, though I can’t think why. It was I who discovered the burglary, after all. Still, they insist, so come now. And take that apron off! They’ll think you’re the scullery maid! What was that?” he added sharply.
    “Nothing,” said Blanche,