Page 24 of A Very Bookish Murder (Ally McKinley Mystery #3)
NINETEEN
Ally’s guests at the B&B were enchanted when she told them the news later that morning.
Even Penelope was impressed. ‘My God, they’re big for twins!’ she boomed. ‘Mine were only three-and-a-half and four-and-a-half pounds, although they’re thundering great chaps now!’
‘And you helped to deliver the earl’s babies?’ Millie asked Ally.
‘Ross did much more than I did,’ Ally said, ‘but then he’s had plenty of practice! Insists that one birth is pretty much the same as another, except that humans are a lot noisier!’
‘George and I have never been lucky enough to have children,’ Brigitte said with a sigh.
‘We’ve enjoyed trying though,’ George confirmed, munching on a sausage.
Brigitte turned to Millie. ‘I can’t remember if you told us if you had children or not?’
Millie buttered some toast. ‘I have a daughter,’ she said but offered no further information and so the conversation turned to names.
There followed many ooohs and aaahs as Ally told them about Kenneth James and William Alan.
‘So what titles do they have?’ George asked. ‘Earlets?’
Ally laughed. ‘What a brilliant idea! No, for the moment they’ll just be addressed as “the Honourable”.’
Brigitte sniffed. ‘The English, they have these strange titles.’
‘You could get deported for saying things like that,’ shouted Penelope. ‘Don’t forget that you’re in Scotland now, madame!’
‘Ooh, sorry… I really meant the English language !’ Brigitte said, placing a manicured finger across her lips.
Ally escaped to the kitchen while the conversation carried on around the subject of the aristocracy and their titles, Penelope enlightening them with her superior knowledge.
If the women were enthralled with the news, Morag was rendered speechless for a matter of minutes after her arrival. Ally had never seen her struck dumb before.
‘ What ?’ Morag asked when she finally regained her voice. ‘You and Ross were there when she was havin’ the bairns?’
‘We were,’ Ally confirmed.
‘Oh my! Just wait till I tell Murdo!’ She looked hopefully at the door, but there was as yet no sign of the postman. ‘Ah, now that’ll be why the earl had the flag flyin’ up on the castle this mornin’.’
‘Yes,’ Ally agreed and gave her a brief account of the night’s events.
‘So the earl’s missus had two boys! Well, well!’ She paused for a moment before adding, ‘Ye couldnae make it up.’ She seemed to be trying to assimilate this stupendous event before filling the kettle. ‘I’m goin’ to be needin’ a cup of tea before I start. Two boys, eh?’
‘Two big boys, considering they’re twins and they were a bit early,’ Ally said.
‘Oh my! Our Gordon was more than ten pounds, and it near killed me,’ Morag said.
Ally had heard all this before and knew it to be the prelude to a long summary of each of the births of her own brood.
‘Yes,’ Ally said quickly, ‘I remember you telling me, Morag. Anyway, both babies are healthy, and one is going to be called Kenneth James Sinclair and the other William Alan Sinclair.’
‘And they’ll be the heirs?’ Morag asked, pronouncing it as ‘hairs’.
‘They will indeed. Kenneth was the first to be born, so I suppose he’ll be the heir.’
‘What’s that ye say?’
‘He’ll be the next earl. And little William will be the spare.’
Morag sat down with a mug of tea. ‘Are they still in there?’ she asked, nodding in the direction of the dining room.
‘I think Brigitte and George have gone out somewhere,’ Ally replied, ‘but the other two are still in there.’
Morag looked at the door again. ‘Och, I wish Murdo would hurry up cos I cannae wait to tell him!’
‘Well, it’s not exactly unexpected, is it? I thought everyone in the village knew she was expecting twins.’
‘Aye, she was the size of a house,’ said Morag before rushing to the window to see her husband’s little red van pulling up outside.
As Murdo came in and laid a couple of letters on the table, he said to his wife, ‘Well, ye’ll have heard the news then?’
Morag scowled. ‘How did ye know?’ She appeared crestfallen at not being able to impart this news herself.
‘Aye, when I got to the shop this mornin’ Queenie knew all about it, cos Mrs Fraser was there on the doorstep when Queenie opened up the shop.’
I just bet she was , Ally thought.
‘And I hear that yersel’ and the vet was there before the ambulance,’ Murdo added, turning to Ally.
‘We were indeed,’ Ally confirmed, ‘but just to support Hamish really because Magda was doing fine. She seems to be designed for childbearing.’
‘Two wee lads!’ said Murdo. ‘Fancy that! Well, I never!’
Ally could hear Penelope and Millie going upstairs, and headed into the dining room to clear up, leaving Morag and Murdo to it.
Shortly after all her guests had set off for the day, Ally was greatly surprised to receive a visit from Morwenna. She ushered her into the kitchen.
Morwenna looked around. ‘Gosh, this is nice.’
‘Thank you. Do have a seat. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?’
‘Tea would be lovely,’ Morwenna replied. ‘No sugar, just milk, please.’ She sank into an armchair and began fussing a tail-wagging Flora. ‘I love your dog! I hope I haven’t come at an awkward time?’
‘Not at all,’ said Ally, curious to know what on earth had brought her here. ‘Morag, my cleaner, will be down for her cup of tea shortly, but otherwise I’m not expecting anyone to call. Do you mind if I load the dishwasher?’
Morwenna shook her head. ‘Of course not. The reason I’m here is because I wanted to ask if there was any chance I could move into one of your rooms for the last few days, before we all leave after the funeral on Sunday morning?’
Ally was taken by surprise. ‘Aren’t you happy at the Craigmonie?’
‘Oh, the Craigmonie’s fine, but it’s just that I’m a bit lonely now that Della’s gone.’
‘What about Laura?’
Morwenna pulled a face. ‘She insisted on having her own room, and I don’t know why because she’s never there.
I’ve no idea what she does or where she goes because she’s not very communicative and never invites me along.
It would be nice to have some company in the evenings and at breakfast in the morning. ’
Ally handed her a mug of tea. ‘Well, both Millie and Penelope have occupancy of twin-bedded rooms so you could ask them if they’d be prepared to share, I suppose.
They’ve paid individually for the rest of this week so you’d have to settle that with them.
’ Ally paused. ‘So you’ve no idea where Laura goes to? ’
Morwenna shook her head. ‘None at all. Normally I’d just pack up, leave early and go home, but, like the others, I want to stay for the funeral.’ She sipped her tea. ‘I think I told you that Jodi stole my then-husband years ago?’
‘Yes, you did.’
‘And she soon got rid of him. He’s never got over it, but I did.
I left him and went on to find happiness again, but we kept in touch.
Sadly, he’s now in a hospice in Swansea with only a short time to live, and I called in to see him on my way up here.
What he really wanted was a visit from Jodi before he died, and that’s one of the reasons I came to Locharran, to try to persuade her to visit him one last time. ’
Ally sat down opposite her. ‘I did wonder why you had chosen to come on a course run by a woman who broke up your marriage.’
‘I promised Tom I’d do everything I could. I tried writing to her but never got any reply. I thought that if I got to know her a bit on the course, and talked to her face to face, then maybe she’d agree.’
‘Well, that’s not going to happen now, is it?’ Ally replied. ‘But it was very kind-hearted of you to try.’
‘No, it won’t happen now, but, as you say, at least I tried,’ Morwenna said.
‘Anyway, Tom heard all about her death via the media, of course, and now he wants me to video the funeral, so he can say his farewells in private, he says.’ She raised her eyes to heaven.
‘I know that sounds a bit strange and creepy, but that’s what he wants.
We were happy for the years we had together, and he’s the father of my only child, and he’s generously supported her every inch of the way over the years.
I’m still fond of the old fool and can hardly deny him this last request, so I’m here until Sunday. ’
Ally had no reason to doubt her. Morwenna was a pleasant, friendly woman and incredibly loyal to her stupid, straying ex-husband. She wondered briefly who Morwenna might end up sharing with for the last three nights – Penelope or Millie? If they agreed.
As she got up to leave, Ally wondered if she should have warned her about Penelope’s snoring.
Ally wished fervently that she didn’t have to visit the shop this particular morning, knowing full well that the place would be buzzing with the news and she was likely to be interrogated.
But she did need several items, and so there was nothing else for it but to wander down there and face Queenie.
She finally got there after she’d cleared everything away and Morag had finished the cleaning, had had more tea and made more remarks such as ‘My, my!’ and ‘Well, I never!’
As she pushed open the door of the shop, Ally was aware that the place really was buzzing, with groups of women gossiping in the aisles, and they all looked round with great interest when Ally appeared.
‘We’ve been hearin’ about you!’ Queenie greeted her.
‘Yes, I daresay you have,’ Ally said.
‘Ye saw them two wee lads born then,’ Queenie added. ‘With the vet !’
Ally nodded as she delved into the chiller cabinet for some bacon.
‘Aye well, the vet would’ve seen a few births in his time!’ said an elderly woman with a red coat and a red nose who Ally hadn’t seen before. ‘He was awful good with our Betty when she had her twins, ye know?’
Ally wondered who on earth Betty could be? This woman’s daughter? ‘Who’s Betty?’ Ally asked. ‘Your daughter?’
‘No, no, the cow !’ said the woman with the red nose. ‘Betty had an awful bad time calving that year, but Mr Patterson was bloody marvellous! The first one, Bella, was breech. The earl’s babies weren’t breech, were they?’