Page 27 of Forgive Not Forget

Katherine startled at the sudden movement. “I nearly squashed you. Silly cat!”

Her voice caught the attention of Anna and Abigail at the end of the drive.

Abigail noticed the cat and approached her slowly. “Hello, kitty. What’s her name?”

“Virginia,” Katherine replied proudly as she reached the group.

Abigail crouched to pet Virginia. “Strange name for a cat.”

Katherine’s mouth opened a little as Anna choked back a laugh, covering it as a cough.

“But I like it,” Abigail said, giving a nod of approval.

Katherine turned to Anna and flicked her eyebrows up. “Come on. Let’s get you home, Abi.”

“Bye, Virginia,” Abigail called back as the three of them joined the high street.

To Katherine’s relief, Virginia didn’t follow them. Although it was a safe village, on occasion, someone would speed through. She was much happier when Virginia hunted in the fields at the back of the house and the abbey, as long as she didn’t make a nuisance of herself. Anna had mentioned twice that Virginia had appeared in her office when she’d left the door open. She had made a point to shoo her out. The last thing they needed was her thinking she was welcome there and turning up in the middle of a wedding ceremony.

“Do you not have any pets, Abi?” Katherine asked.

“No,” Abigail replied, pulling her lips to one side.

Katherine looked down at the girl. “I’m sure Virginia would like to be your friend.”

Abigail looked behind her; Virginia was licking her paw at the end of the drive. It drew the smile from the girl that Katherine had hoped for.

“So, do you enjoy school?” Katherine asked.

“I love school.”

“Any particular subjects?”

“I love English the most, then history, then art.”

Katherine racked her brain for another question. She had hoped that school would have been a great conversation starter; she’d forgotten children generally answered the question asked of them, especially around those they didn’t know so well.

Anna stepped in to help her out. “Katherine used to be a doctor, you know.”

“Really? What’s the worst thing you’ve seen?”

Katherine was relieved that the girl was opening the conversation, though less impressed by her morbid fascination. It was a question she had often been asked when she was practising, and it was one she hadn’t missed. Any answer would have to be tailored to Abigail’s age.

She thought for a moment, then said, “I once had to drain a cyst on a man’s back.”

“What’s a cyst?”

“Imagine a small bag full of yucky, white-yellow goo under your skin.”

Abigail scrunched her face.

“I had to cut into it a little and squeeze out all the pus. Strangely it was quite satisfying, for him and me.”

“What’s pus made of?”

“White blood cells. Our body releases them to help fight bad things. Sometimes it goes a little wrong and they build up.”

Abigail opened her mouth to speak until a squeak behind them turned their attention to Tom braking his bike behind them. He swerved around them and hopped his bike off the curb before hightailing it down the road.