Bishop's Road Read Online Free PDF Page B

was one. They follow the list to the letter until they reach fresh vegetables and then it’s a bit of this and a bit of that, green leafy things that neither has tasted but they smell so very good and since Eve will pay for the extras with her own money, and Mrs. Miflin will be abed for a few days, they decide there’s no harm in a little change.
    At home they are greeted by Ruth in a mood. Mrs. Miflin is still in the tub looking like a prune but her left leg is swelling up fast and she may have broken something.
    â€œOh dear,” says Eve. “She must have hit the floor harder than we thought. I guess there’s nothing for it but to get her to the hospital.”
    â€œWell, better you than me trying to convince her of that. I’ve been running back and forth since you left the house and I’ve had enough of it. I’m going to my room to finish this damned letter.And there’s about fifty yards of chicken wire in the kitchen that some freak dropped off. Said he’s a cousin of Judy’s though I wouldn’t claim him too loud if I were you, girl. Someone should get it out of there. I don’t have time for any more of this crap, damn it.”
    In the end an ambulance takes the sorry Mrs. Miflin away, Eve and Ginny Mustard following on foot to sit with her until she’s seen to. By the time they find her in the maze of halls she has been wrapped in a cast from thigh to toe and is none too happy. The doctor tells her there’s no point in even thinking about crutches for a couple of weeks and she’ll be in plaster until September. With instructions, “Off to bed with you and stay there, take these for the pain, put this on the burns,” but without telling her how to get ointment under a cast, he rushes away to mend someone else. Eve calls a taxi and Ginny Mustard wheels Mrs. Miflin to it, hoping Judy is at home to haul the victim up over the stairs when they get there.
    She is and she does and once the poor old soul is settled in her bed Eve calls a meeting of the household to discuss the situation and enlist everyone’s help. She has a pen and a notebook and reading glasses perched on the end of her nose and looks for all the world as though she knows what she’s doing. Which is more than can be said for the others. Things don’t happen around here. For all except Judy, every day, every month, is pretty much like the one that came before and reruns can be expected next year and the year after and the year after that. Each knows what the other will say or do at any given time. Maggie has never spoken and hides in her room if she hears so much as a dog bark. Ginny Mustard eats and wanders and when she does talk she’s all over the place and no one remembers the last time she made sense. Ruth is bitchy and scowling when things don’t go her way and since they don’t know what her way might be, they mostly ignore her. Eve walks softly but apparently carries a bigger stickthan they would have known if it weren’t for Mrs. Miflin’s misfortune. And Judy - well they haven’t really taken a good look at that girl yet but at first glance she’s trouble. Something hovering about her and shining through her eyes all the time puts them on edge and if it were possible Maggie would clutch her shoebox even tighter when she comes around.
    With Mrs. Miflin’s assistance, Eve has compiled a list of everything that goes into being a success in the landlady department. Ruth must argue for a few minutes that someone should be hired to look after the place - they are paying good money and shouldn’t have to work their asses off in the bargain. Ginny Mustard surprises them with “You’re on welfare, Ruth. It’s not your good money.” To which Ruth responds, “Little snip. What the hell do you know about it?” though the fact that she under-stood an entire sentence from Ginny Mustard keeps her awake later.
    Truth is, only