‘Gosh, I’m so sorry.’ I bent to help the friend lift Maggieto a standing position. ‘Are you okay? Shall I call an ambulance?’
‘An ambulance?’ Maggie peered at me, seeming confused.
‘Yes, we should get you to hospital,’ fussed her friend,linking her arm. ‘You might have hurt yourself when you fell.’
‘Can I have my tea now, Agnes? And some cake?’ Maggie suddenlycaught sight of the flowers scattered on the road and her face fell. She staredat them mournfully, and her friend said, ‘Never mind. We’ll get you some morelilies. I promise.’
‘Are you sure we shouldn’t call for help?’ I murmuredanxiously to Agnes. ‘I’msosorry about this.’
Agnes gave her head a quick shake. ‘I saw what happened,love, and it wasn’t your fault. Maggie just walked out without looking.’ Shesighed, looking worriedly at her friend. ‘Come on. We’d better get you inside.I’ll put the kettle on and make you some hot, sweet tea.’
She steered her friend to the side of the road, Maggielooking cheered at the prospect of tea and cake.
‘She seems fine.’ Agnes looked over her shoulder at me.‘I’ll look after her. Don’t worry.’
‘Are yousure?’ I glanced along the road. I could seeRosemary’s blue car at the head of the little queue waiting to move past theroadworks. The lights were obviously still at red.But any moment now...
‘Yes, absolutely. You get yourselves away.’ Agnes peeredinto the car, smiling at Rachel and Poppy in the back seat. ‘Maggie will befine with me.’ She squeezed her friend’s arm. ‘Won’t you, love?’
‘Okay. Well, if you’re sure.’
I still wasn’t certain myself. But Maggie seemed to havesuffered no ill-effects when she fell, and Agnes was there to look after her.But still, I hesitated, wondering if I should call for an ambulance anyway,just to be on the safe side.
My heart lurched as I saw the little queue of cars in thedistance begin to move away from the traffic lights.
If we didn’t go now, Rosemary would catch up with us.Then all my efforts to get Rachel and Poppy away from Darren would have been invain...
My mind made up, I called, ‘Take care,’ to Agnes and sheturned on the garden path and gave me a little wave. Then I jumped in the car,slammed the door and drove away.
When I glanced in the mirror, Rachel and Poppy were leaningtogether, eyes wide, staring back at me.
‘It’s okay.’ I tried to reassure them with a smile.‘Everything’s fine.’
But who was I kidding? The situation was very far from‘fine’.
We raced away from Rosemary along the narrow lanes, and finallyI caught a glimpse of a green gate up ahead. Sunshine Cottage! The gate hadbeen opened and there was a car parked just inside.
I slowed down and drove in, swerving the car to the right onthe gravel, parking behind a hedge. As I got out, the cottage owner, who wascalled Iris, emerged from the other car and before I walked over to talk to her,I just had time – as she reached inside to retrieve her handbag – to peer overthe hedge and see Rosemary’s blue Fiesta sail right past the gate.
We seemed to have thrown her off at last.
But as soon as Iris had shown us round the cottage, handedover the keys and driven off, I nipped straight out and moved the car, parkingit at the back of the cottage, out of sight.
When I went back inside, Rachel and Poppy were sitting closetogether on the two-seater sofa in the living room, looking as exhausted as Ifelt. I couldn’t get the image of Maggie out of my head – when she stared rightin at me as I handled the emergency stop.
Sighing, I sank onto a chair. It was hard, not exactlycomfortable, but I was just grateful to have found the place. At least we couldall relax now. After an early night, we’d be fresher in the morning and readyto plan our next move.
Poppy yawned. ‘Can we put the TV on?’
Rachel reached for the remote and sighed. ‘I don’t know howthis thing works. It’s different to ours.’
‘I’ll do it,’ said Poppy, and within seconds she wasflicking through the channels. Rachel and I exchanged a weary smile.
Poppy turned. ‘Oh, Auntie Enzie, there’s a voice message foryou.’ She reached into her jeans pocket.
Our smiles slipped. ‘Give that phone to me!’ Rachel gasped.‘I thought I told you it needed to be switched off!’
‘Sorry, Mummy.’
