To The Grave Read Online Free Page A

seen by the world as their failure.  From a political standpoint their full support and their unwavering attention are secured now for the duration.”
    Mena was distracted by the arrival of the twins.  First one then the other came sliding past her like a déja-vu episode in grey socks and identical yellow candlewick dressing gowns.  They slid all the way to the foot of the stairs without registering she was there and they raced up them like stampeding elephants, slowly followed by Xavier and Manfred who both nuzzled her hand as they nonchalantly passed.
    Another clatter of pans from the kitchen forced Mena to call out, “I’ll just be a minute, Mother.”  Then she tapped on the door, turned the doorknob and stepped through into the sitting room, which was bright with dusty sunlight and suddenly full of smiles.
    Both men were standing beside a fire that by now was spitting vigorously at the brass fireguard.  A pair of knitted Christmas-stockings hung from a blackened beam and towards the window to her right, over an arrangement of floral-print furniture, a small Christmas tree looked proud despite the lack of any new ornament again this year.  The twins had been kept busy one afternoon on the lead-up to Christmas, making animals from Pop’s pipe-cleaners, but they ended up looking more like hairy caterpillars to everyone except the twins.
      Mena’s smile met Pop’s first.  He was wearing a jacket and tie: the same old comfortable tweed jacket with the sagging pockets that he wore when he made his rounds.  His smile was pinched at one corner to keep his pipe from falling out and he had a hand in one of his jacket pockets as usual, which was why they had sagged over the years.  Mena’s attention was quickly drawn to the man beside him who was beaming back at her.
    “Eddie!” she said.  She saluted him.  “Or should I call you Captain Buckley now?  Pop told us all about it.”
    Edward Buckley pulled a straight face.  He saluted back and stamped his heel.  He laughed.  “Merry Christmas, Mena.  And Eddie will do just fine as always.”
    She threw herself at him.  “I knew it was you,” she said, hugging him so tightly she thought she would crease his uniform.
    “What?  Even with the tash?”
    “It’s barely there,” Mena said.  “But very becoming an officer.”  She studied his face like he was on inspection: the tidy brown hair, which she thought a little too shiny, and the hazel eyes that co-ordinated well with the drab colour of his uniform.  “Thanks for the orange,” she added as she withdrew.
    “You’re welcome, I’m sure,” Edward said.  “Now let me get a good look at you.”  A moment later he added, “Wow!  Don’t you look pretty in that dress?  Blue always was my favourite colour and those polka dots set it off a treat.  Are they yellow or cream?”
    Mena frowned.  “They used to be white.”
    “Well, whatever colour they are, they’re my favourite, too.”
    She slapped his arm and laughed.  “You’re just saying that.”
    “I never say anything I don’t mean,” Edward said.  “I told your father I’d make it here in time for Christmas and here I am.”
    Pop leant in towards the fireplace and blew his pipe-smoke at the flue.  “And we’re glad to have you.  I only wish you could stay longer.”
    “When must you go?” Mena asked, alarmed by the suggestion that their fruit-bearing guest had to leave again so soon.
    “I might just fit in a little tea before I head back, but only if it’s early.  A car should be here for me around six.”
    “We’ll make sure of it,” Pop said.
    There was a tap at the door and Mena turned towards it as it opened, expecting to see her mother.  It was Mary; another smile to replace the one she had suddenly lost.  She looked amazing, Mena thought.  She was out of uniform, in heels, which helped, and real stockings too, she supposed.  She wore a light-grey jacket, belted at the waist and a matching skirt that