Freeing Grace Read Online Free PDF Page B

the mat, don’t they? She wouldn’t let him anywhere near her because she was in her nightie, so he made her a cup of tea and sat down with his back to her. And do you know how long the ambulance took to arrive?’
    Leila shook her head, hypnotised.
    Dora paused for dramatic effect. ‘Two hours.’
    ‘No!’
    Dora nodded, happily outraged. ‘Two. You wouldn’t believe it, would you? He had to sit there with his eyes averted for the whole time. Would’ve been quicker to take her on his milk float, as I told him in no uncertain terms. Well, she’s not too bad now, considering. They’ve put her in a—’
    ‘I’ll ask David to call in. Which ward?’
    ‘I wanted to talk to you about her medication, seeing as you’re a pharmacist yourself. Because I’m not happy. I said to that doctor—’
    ‘Dreadful! Dreadful. Really, Dora, it’s appalling, but I’m sure they’re doing all they can. I’ll tell David, he’ll visit her. Only I must go now because I’ve got people coming and the house is in such a state.’
    Even to her own ears Leila sounded hysterical, but Dora appeared unconcerned. She replaced her glasses and began to slide the bottles into carrier bags.
    ‘Looks like you’re planning on sinking a battleship. Should’ve had the Chilean red. We’ve got it on offer, look. It’s a lovely wine, that. You’d save . . . er . . . two, four . . . just a minute . . . you’d save about five pounds on this lot. D’you want to swap?’
    Oh, God.
    ‘No thanks, Dora. Honestly. Must go!’ Leila giggled slightly wildly, handing over her credit card. ‘Got the rector coming. Mustn’t keep him waiting.’
    Dora ran the card through the machine, glanced at the printout, then leaned over the counter, beckoning conspiratorially.
    ‘Sorry, my love,’ she whispered ear-splittingly, while all the other customers fell silent and pretended not to listen. ‘Transaction declined.’
    Six forty-eight. Leila had cleared a mound of ecclesiastical junk mail off the dining-room table—the overflow from David’s study—and halfheartedly waltzed a vacuum cleaner around the floor. She’d answered the telephone four times, slammed a casserole into the oven and sent a text asking David to drop in at the off-licence to settle up with Dora.
    Which was when the doorbell rang. Insanely jolly, that doorbell. Ping— pong !
    Can’t be them. Just can’t be. Not yet.
    The caller obviously liked the bell. Pingpongpingpong. Ping — PONG !
    Leila wrenched at the door, peered suspiciously out and then smiled. A solid, olive-skinned child in leggings and a red-spotted tunic was just settling herself on the step. She had dark hair in a lustrous plait, all the way to her waist, and a large gap where one of her front teeth had recently been. And she was sniffling. The neighbours’ daughter, six years old and already lonely. Her parents were Greek. They owned a restaurant and worked longer hours than anyone should have to.
    ‘Jacinta!’ Leila crouched down beside her. ‘What’s up?’
    The girl stuck out her bottom lip. She was clutching a box, about four inches across. It was pink and heart-shaped, and it had a red bow on the top. She held it out, unsmiling.
    ‘For me?’ Leila took the box.
    ‘It’s Angel,’ whispered Jacinta.
    ‘Thank you, sweetheart. It’s an angel, is it? Did you make this at school?’
    ‘No. It’s Angel.’
    ‘Okay.’ Expecting an angel-shaped chocolate, or perhaps a winged doll, Leila lifted the lid and peered in. Nestling in black tissue paper, glaring glassily up at her with a shining eye, lay a vivid orange goldfish. Leila nearly dropped the box.
    ‘Gosh! It’s um . . . Oh, I see. Did your fish die?’
    Jacinta nodded. ‘I found her in the tank. Floating on the top. Upside down.’
    Leila stared down at the creature, mesmerised by its wide-awake eye. You’d think it was alive. Its body was still bright, but the long, wispy tail curled a little.
    ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’
    ‘She looked