Runaway Sister Read Free

her brave words had fallen into a vacuum. What was she going to do tonight? She certainly didn’t feel like going back to her flat. Steve was collecting his hi-fi, and she didn’t particularly want to watch him pack up his belongings that had accumulated there over the years.
    â€œI don’t know,” she replied slowly, “I hadn’t given it any thought until now.”
    â€œWell, I’ll tell you what you’re going to do,” said Jennie decisively. “There’s a party tonight down on Roger’s barge. Tommy Smart is leaving, as you know, and there’s been an impromptu party organized for him. So you’re coming to that with John and me.”
    â€œThanks for the thought,” said Samantha with a noticeable lackluster enthusiasm, “but I don’t think I’ll take you up on it. I’m not exactly in the party mood.”
    â€œWell, what are you going to do, then?” demanded Jennie.
    â€œI don’t know,” admitted Samantha miserably, all her previous philosophical thoughts slipping slowly down the drain along with the last gurgling remnants of the shower water.
    â€œThere you are then,” said Jennie. “I’m not taking no for an answer, you’re coming with us, so it’s no use arguing,” she added as Samantha opened her mouth to protest.
    â€œOK, I’ll come,” agreed Samantha. “I might as well face everyone in one fell swoop, then they can gossip about Steve jilting me for a couple of days and then forget all about it.” It would not be easy for her, she knew, in spite of her brave thoughts and resolutions earlier.
    Jennie stood up triumphantly; she had accomplished what she had set out to do. “Right,” she said, “when you’re dry come over to my flat in the nurses’ home, we’ll go straight from there. Although we’ll have a quick coffee and a sandwich before we go,” she added as she went through the door.
    Samantha stood up to go across to a cubicle to change when suddenly the door opened again and Jennie’s head popped round. “By the way, there’s going to be lashings of food tonight—Georgie’s organizing it, and she’s fantastic where food is concerned.” She withdrew her head, grinning widely, and was gone.
    Samantha couldn’t help laughing aloud; that was why Jennie was inclined to overweight, she loved her food and made no secret of the fact. She toweled herself dry and changed into her off-duty clothes, well-cut grey slacks and a blue and grey chunky-knit sweater. The blue in the sweater picked up the brilliant blue of her eyes, flattering her delicate coloring. She hadn’t been planning to go to a party, it was true, but luckily the clothes she had worn in that morning to work were perfectly suitable, especially for an informal party on a barge, when the night air on the canal was inclined to get chilly. Although she knew from past experience that if Roger’s previous parties were anything to go by, the interior of the barge would be crammed to overflowing. It always amazed her that the old barge managed to remain afloat.
    When she had dried her hair she tied it back loosely in a ponytail, giving her the look of a demure seventeen-year-old, rather than the twenty-seven-year-old experienced Sister midwife she was in reality.
    In no time at all she and Jennie were squashed into John’s car, speeding away from the hospital to the old canal on the outskirts of the town. It was rather a squash because John’s car was a TR7 and only a two-seater.
    â€œGood job you’re not as well endowed as Jennie here,” remarked John, giving Jennie’s knee an affectionate pat, “otherwise we should have never fitted in.”
    â€œI shouldn’t be here at all,” said Samantha; she was beginning to feel wretched again. “You know what they say, two’s company, three’s a crowd.”
    â€œWhat a