A Village Feud Read Free

he’d gone Grandmama sat in the easy chair too outfaced to begin unpacking. It wasn’t easy, this grandmother business, you weren’t quite sure where you fitted in. Nothing felt easy in this life at the moment, especially after her row with her lodger. All Anna had said was, ‘I’ve two more jumpers waiting to go in the airing cupboard. Sorry. Were you wanting to air the sheets? Got to go, or I shall be late and you know what they’re like in Little Derehams if you’re late.’
    Grandmama thought, I should never have flown off the handle. She’d been foolish. Was it really she who said, ‘You’re a damn nuisance. You’ve lived on your own far too long. This cottage is small, and though I enjoy the idea of someone coming in and out I do not like the idea of every possible space being taken up with your belongings. The same day every week when I need the airing cupboard to air the sheets before I change the beds, your belongings are spread out over the airing cupboard shelves as though there’s no one else living in the house. Well, you’ll damn well have cold sheets on your bed and good luck to you.’
    She put a hand to her forehead, full of shame. To a rector, too. She wouldn’t have said that to Peter had he been lodging with her. Oh, no. She’d have said, ‘Leave it with me, I’ll see to them, off you go.’ What was it about Anna which angered her so much? It was only the little things really, although there was that time when Anna had left a ball point pen on the carpet and it had bled an intense cloud-shaped patch of black ink, which showed up something cruel on her cream carpet. That couldn’t be described as little considering how much it cost for that specialist to get it out. Still Anna did offer to pay him herself. Foolishly, she had refused her offer and then, when she found out how much it would cost, regretted her kindness. But that was nothing compared to the row they’d had this morning. All the little niggles had surfaced one after another and by the time she’d finished Katharine was exhausted and Anna on the verge of tears.
    Pacing about her tiny kitchen, she had said, ‘I wouldn’t mind if you kept the kitchen tidy but you don’t. I do the meals for the two of us so what it is you do to make such a mess I really can’t think. Well,’ Grandmama had drawn in a deep breath, ‘you stay here and I shall go to Jimbo’s. He’s got plenty of room now there’s only Fran at home, and I’ll leave you to live here. It’s by far the simplest solution. I’ll be gone when you get back. Make sure you have your key.’
    Anna was appalled. ‘I can’t be put in the position of turning you out of your own home. Please, don’t go. I’ll go.’
    ‘And where exactly will you go, eh? There’s not many people I can think of who would feel comfortable living with a rector.’
    Now Anna felt like an alien from outer space. ‘You’re right, there aren’t.’
    ‘Therefore I will go. There’s nothing more to be said.’ Grandmama had flung herself up the stairs, steaming with temper and not daring to say another word because she knew she would go clean over the top and she had her reputation to think about. She was so out of breath when she got to the top of the stairs she couldn’t have spoken a word to save her life.
    Anyway, she’d gone and done it and here she was, bowed but not beaten. She opened the wardrobe door and realized there weren’t nearly enough hangers. She called over the banisters, ‘Harriet! Have you any coat-hangers, dear, there certainly are not enough in here.’
    ‘I’ll get you some more. Just a minute.’
    Harriet, clutching a bundle of hangers she’d unearthed in Fin’s room, found Katherine sitting on the end of Fergus’s bed, looking like a puppet whose puppeteer had let go of her strings.
    ‘Look, here we are. If that isn’t enough I’ll get some more. I see you’ve put your trinkets on that shelf. They look nice on there.’
    ‘Hardly trinkets, my