Beaton, M C Hamish Macbeth 11 Death Of A Nag (v1.0 HE)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.What makes ye say that?""When I first saw you, I thought you were probably usually in uniform.Got it wrong.I'm an army man myself.Forcibly retired.""Oh, those dreadful redundancies," said Miss Gunnery sympathetically."And us so soon to be at war with Russia again.""Don't say that," said Mrs.Brett, whose name turned out to be June, and her husband's, Dermott."It's been a grim-enough start.That man Harris should be shot.""You can say that again," said Dermott Brett, so June predictably did and the couple roared with laughter at their own killing wit."I don't know if I'm going to be able to bear this holiday," murmured Miss Gunnery to Hamish."Och," said Hamish, who was beginning to feel better, "I think they're a nice enough bunch of people and there's nothing like a common resentment for banding people together." He winced remembering how common resentment had turned the villagers of Lochdubh against him."Harris, you mean," said Miss Gunnery."But his voice does go on and on and it's not a very big place."They arrived at the village of Skag.It consisted of rows of stone houses, some of them thatched, built on a point.The river Skag ran on one side of the point and on the other side was the broad expanse of the North Sea.The main street was cobbled but the little side streets were not surfaced and the prevalent white sand blew everywhere, dancing in little eddies on a rising breeze."Getting fresher," said Hamish."Look there.A bit of blue sky."They walked down to the harbour and stood at the edge.The tide was coming in and the water sucked greedily at the wooden piles underneath them.Great bunches of seaweed rose and fell.Above them, the grey canopy rolled back until bright sunlight blazed down.Hamish sniffed the air."I smell fish and chips," he said, "coming from over there."They set out after him and found a small fish-and-chips shop.Hamish suggested they walk to the beach and eat their fish and chips there.They made their way with their packets past the other side of the harbour, where yachts were moored in a small basin, the rising wind humming and thrumming in the shrouds.There was a sleazy café overlooking the yacht basin, still open but empty of customers, the lights of a fruit machine winking in the gloom inside.A path led round the back of the café, past rusting abandoned cars and fridges, old sofas and broken tables, to a rise of shingle and then down to where the shingle ended and the long white beach began."You spoil that dog," said Miss Gunnery as Hamish placed a fish supper on its cardboard tray down in front of Towser.Hamish did not reply.He knew he spoilt Towser but did not like anyone to comment on the fact."Why does a woman like Doris marry a pillock like that?" asked Andrew Biggar.June Brett nudged her chubby husband playfully in the ribs."They're all saints before you marry them and then the beast comes out."Dermott Brett snarled at her and his wife shrieked with delight.Faces could be misleading, thought Hamish.June looked rather petty and mean when she was not speaking, but when she did, she became transformed into a good-natured woman.The Brett children were making sandcastles down by the water.They were remarkably well behaved.Heather, the seven-year-old, was looking after her young brother and toddling sister, making sure the little Fiona did not wander into the water.Long ribbons of white sand snaked along the harder damp surface of the sand underneath and then there came a haunting humming sound, "Whit's that?" cried Cheryl, clutching Tracey."Singing sands," said Hamish."I remember hearing there were singing sands here but I forgot about it.""It's eerie," said Miss Gunnery."In fact, the whole place is a bit odd.It never gets dark this time of year, does it, Hamish?"He shook his head, thinking that the place was indeed eerie.Because of the bank of shingle behind the beach and the flatness of the land behind, there was a feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world.He remembered the seer's prediction with a shudder and then his common sense took over.Angus had heard the gossip about his holiday and had invented death and trouble to pay Hamish back for having called him a fraud.Miss Gunnery was carefully collecting everyone's fish-and-chip-papers when Hamish heard Dermott Brett say, "He's got worse.""Who?" asked Andrew, lazily scraping in the sand for shells."Bob Harris.""You know him?" asked Hamish."Yes, he was here last year."Miss Gunnery paused in her paper-gathering."You mean you stayed here and came back!""New management," said Dermott Brett."It was owned by a couple of old biddies.They did a good tea, but their prices were quite high for a boarding-house.We weren't going to come back, because with the three kids it was coming to quite a bit.Then June saw the ad with the new cheap prices, but it said nothing about new management.""What happened to the old women who owned it?" asked Hamish, ever curious."They were the Blane sisters, the Misses Blane.Rogers said they took a small house for themselves in Skag.Might call on them, if I can find them.""So Harris is worse now?" pursued Hamish."He was bad enough last year, but in fits and starts.Didn't go on like he does now the whole time.Maybe he'll have settled down by tomorrow.Doris Harris wanted to come with us, but he ranted on at her when you were upstairs getting your dog about wasting good money on fish and chips when she had already eaten."There was a scream of delight from the Brett children [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Pokrewne