Small Town Christmas (Some Very English Murders Book 6) Read Online Free Page B

are both a pair of
bullies. You can tell they are twins.”
    “Thanks, Jared.” They stood together and watched as Cath
tried to steer Clive towards the door. Halfway there, he turned and stabbed his
finger towards them all.
    “I came here to engage in a reasonable conversation,” he
said, in blatant contradiction to his actual actions. He had done no such
thing. “I am disappointed to have been treated like this! You’re a clique, and
it’s toxic. No good will come of this!”
    “For goodness’ sake, Clive!” Linda cried in exasperation.
    “I’m telling it like it is. Telling it like it is! Someone
needs to. It strikes me that there ought to be a bit more transparency with
this sort of thing. Corrupt, that’s what it is. You give the jobs to people you
know, regardless of their competency. That’s what’s wrong with the government
today!” He waved the poster in evidence.
    “We share the jobs amongst volunteers!” Penny shouted, but
Jared laid a hand on her arm and urged her to stay still.
    “Ignore him,” he said. “Let Cath deal with it.”
    “He winds me up,” Penny muttered.
    Cath finally managed to get Clive to leave the hall. Penny
was still fuming, and as she looked around, she could see that everyone else
was angry and unsettled too.
    She wanted to go and ask Linda what the problem was with
her brother, but one look at Linda’s face told Penny that it would be a foolish
question and likely to lead to more fighting.
    Mary was not so perceptive, and said something to Linda
that made Linda frown, hiss and throw her hands in the air. She gathered up her
things, and announced, “That is it! I’ve had enough! That Clive … I am done. Once and for all, you mark my words.”
    No one tried to stop her when she stamped out of the hall.
Hopefully, that meant she was resigning from the committee. Penny felt a little
bad for thinking that.
    Penny turned to Jared and she was surprised to see that his
face was grey and angry, too. He had sounded so calm when talking to her. “Are
you okay?” she asked. She always tended to feel protective of him.
    “Yes, yes,” he said. “He winds everyone up, not just you.
Men like that…” He tailed off, and bit his lip. He glared at the exit. “I’m
going to go. I can’t be doing with this. It’s not my scene. I’m supposed to
avoid stress. My blood pressure, you know.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” It made sense; he seemed
fragile.
    “It’s okay. But I need to clear my head. Otherwise …”
    “Take care,” she said.
    “You too. Especially you,” he said, with a thin
smile.
    As Jared left, the others began to pack up their things.
There was a feeling of stilted frustration in the air. Penny checked her phone
and walked to the exit, finding herself in step with Mary.
    “I am so mad,” she told Mary. “I want to run after that man
and give him a real piece of my mind.”
    “Don’t we all,” Mary said. “But it is best to leave it.”
    “I know, I know.” Penny waved goodbye to everyone but found
it hard to smile. She walked briskly across town, but her simmering annoyance
was keeping her warm. She found herself brooding about Clive and the way he’d
ruined the festive feelings for everyone. They’d all been so keen to talk about
the Christmas markets, and to plan the events for the kids, and organise the
choir and the grotto and everything. Then one man’s petty grievances destroyed
it all for everyone.
    She walked quickly and decided she’d take Kali for a walk
when she got home. She went the back ways, wanting to avoid seeing anyone. The
only figure she did see was Haydn, and that was from a distance, as he left a
terraced house and headed up the street away from her. The house was in some
disrepair, and certainly didn’t look lived in, with its blank, dark curtain-less
windows and damaged front door. There was a skip outside, half-full of rubbish
and broken tiles.
    She was glad she didn’t have to face him. She’d had