The Skeleton Garden Read Online Free PDF Page B

parents, but seemed a mere shadow to Pru. Always on his computer, he mostly talked of battling intergalactic enemies. Smart—he had graduated early. He was meant to take a gap year—usually reserved for travel—but had stayed home and made no university plans as of yet. Pru rarely saw him laugh. The Barnes household valued its serious nature.
    “And so, if they are well, what is it?”
    Christopher gave a tiny nod. “It’s Orlando. There’s been an…incident.”
    My God,
police vocabulary.
“What has he done?”
    Before answering, Christopher swirled his wine and looked into his glass at the resulting whirlpool. “Right, well, he hacked into someone’s private email account and posted the correspondence on that person’s public website.”
    “Oh, no. Who? Why?”
    “A businessman in Plymouth,” Christopher said, raising an eyebrow. “Claire didn’t go into details—she struggled to get that much out.” He didn’t speak for a moment, but watched Pru, his eyes holding some silent question. “She’s asked for our help.”
    “Do you know someone in the police department in Plymouth?”
    Christopher shook his head. “The man isn’t pressing charges, apparently. They’ve reached an agreement and have decided that Orlando could do with a change of scenery.” Silence again. The fire popped. Pru waited. “Claire asked if he could come and stay with us for a while.”
    Pru grabbed his hand as she saw their carefree weekends drain away. “Of course he can stay—he’s family.” Family events made life take unexpected turns; now that she actually had one, she must get accustomed to that.
    Christopher kissed her hand and smiled. “Claire hoped that we could keep him occupied. Maybe I can find something for him to do at the Romsey station. Nothing involving the computer, however—that’s strictly off-limits.”
    “Did you tell her yes?”
    “Not without talking with you.”
    “Ring her back right now and tell her we would be delighted to have Orlando stay for…did she say how long?”
    “A couple of weeks, perhaps?” Christopher asked.
    “Oh, that’s nothing,” Pru said, a bit relieved. “Find out when he can arrive.”
    Pink ears again. “They could bring him over tomorrow. Claire has a conference for one of her charities in Manchester starting Monday, and Tommy is off to Oslo. They didn’t want to leave him on his own.”
    A teenager at loose ends, no wonder he got himself in trouble, Pru thought. She stood and pulled on Christopher’s hand. “We’ll have to be proper from now on, and eat in the dining room. Let’s bring our dinner in here by the fire tonight,” she said. “We can make a plan. Do you think he’d like the corner bedroom down the hall from us?”
    Christopher responded to her tug, but instead of following, gathered her up in his arms. “You certainly didn’t ask for this.”
    She smiled. “Yes, of course I asked for it.”
    —
    By Sunday afternoon, Pru and Christopher had tidied up and set out the tea things. No need to make up Orlando’s bedroom, because Evelyn kept everything at the ready, as if a large house party were expected down from London at any moment. Pru still felt the need to participate, however, and so she had fluffed the bed pillows.
    “What will you have him do at the station?” Pru asked, walking over to the window to admire the geometric plantings of leeks and chard. They had chosen the bedroom above the kitchen for Orlando, and the view included the small walled garden. One end would be transformed into the new herb garden.
    “Filing, errands…although I won’t be in the station most of the day so I can’t keep an eye on him, but I’ll ask the desk sergeant to take charge.”
    Pru turned away from the display of vegetables. “Hang on. You don’t need to find a job for Orlando in Romsey,” she said, hands on her hips. “He can work in the garden with me.”
    A look of relief flashed on Christopher’s face, followed by doubt. “He