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“The man outside. Have you seen him before?”
Mr Gregory dutifully turned to look out of the window. “Who?”
Sophia pointed to the man across the road only to gasp to find nobody there. She glanced up and down the street, but there was no sign of him.
“It doesn’t matter,” she murmured vaguely. Worried about who he was and why he had been watching her, Sophia absently paid for her purchases and left the shop.
“Yoo-hoo, Miss Carney? Oh, I say, Miss Carney?”
Sophia groaned at the high pitched sound of Mabel’s voice. Although she liked the woman, at the moment Sophia just wanted to get back to the relative safety of Delilah’s house so she could think over what had happened.
Still, that was no reason for Sophia to snub the lovely elderly lady. With that in mind, she adopted an overly bright smile and waited for the woman to reach her.
It is surprising just how spritely an elderly lady could be when she had a piece of juicy gossip to impart, Sophia mused but then immediately felt uncharitable for doing so.
“I am so glad I caught you,” Mabel gushed.
“Good morning, Miss Harvell,” Sophia said politely.
“Have you heard the news?”
“About Tabitha? Yes, I am afraid so,” Sophia replied sadly.
“It is a shame isn’t it? Such a waste of a young life, I say,” Mabel reported.
“Have you heard something else then?”
“Pardon?”
“Well, I heard she had gone missing. Have they found her then?” Sophia was starting to grow concerned that the gossip she had heard in the butcher’s shop hadn’t been as accurate as she had first thought.
“Oh, well, I am not sure, but it is most unusual. It is so very unlike Tabitha to just vanish like that and well, these things never end in a nice way do they?”
Sophia was shocked. There was nothing to say that Tabitha hadn’t fallen down a rabbit hole and got her foot caught or something, yet according to Mabel, reports of her demise were inevitable.
“Well, I think it is best not to jump to conclusions. It's hard to say what has happened to her until they find her. It is best to just wait and see,” Sophia replied carefully.
She wasn’t going to be drawn into Mabel’s tattle-tailing, and knew she had to be careful what she said or else it could be misconstrued and would be repeated, most probably out of context.
“Good morning, Miss Carney, Miss Harvell,” Jeb said smoothly as he stopped beside Sophia. “How are you both this beautiful morning?”
Sophia closed her eyes on a silent prayer that the flurry of awareness deep in the pit of her stomach didn’t show on her flushed cheeks, and nodded politely.
“Have you heard anything?” Mabel began without preamble. “I hear your father has sent the labourers out to help with the search.”
“No, nothing yet, Miss Harvell,” Jeb replied. “That is why I was passing through the village. Seeing as you are here, I would be relieved if you would give me the pleasure of escorting you home. I think that it would be best not to wander around the village on your own for the time being. You too, Miss Carney.” He lifted a hand up when Miss Harvell began to look flustered. “I am not suggesting that anybody is in any danger, but it is better to be safe than sorry is it not?”
Sophia wanted to take her leave, but then remembered the man who had been staring at her moments earlier. While it seemed that he had vanished for now, the thought that he might re-appear made her strangely reluctant to take her leave of Jeb’s reassuring solidity. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him about the man who had been staring at her but, given Mabel’s tendency to fret, decided to wait until she could speak with Jeb a little more privately.
“Oh, well, I was going to the butcher’s shop for some meat for Friday. We are having a tea, you know. I do hope you are both joining us?” Mabel gushed, and quickly launched into a list of the cakes she would be offering.
“Of course, both Delilah and I are looking forward to it,” Sophia replied once Jeb had accepted the invitation on behalf of his father. “You must tell us if there is anything we can bring.”
“Why nothing. Not at all. Of course, we wouldn’t expect you to contribute. No, that would never do,” Mabel replied, quite put out at the notion.
“I know my father was quite beside himself at the thought of taking tea with you,” Jeb replied smoothly and mentally apologised to his father for the fabrication.
His father’s actual response had been to groan, put his head in his hands, and declare that he would prefer to have his eyelashes plucked out.
