AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 23
After breakfast the following day, Holly covered her dragon painting in bubble wrap for transportation to Booth Farm. It was a fine day, but she did not want to run the risk of the painting becoming wet in any unexpected downpour. Trixy stayed at Holly’s heel as she carried the painting to her van then the little dog jumped up to the passenger seat, settling herself as Holly drove the short distance to the farm.
Once they arrived at Booth Farm, Holly gave Trixy a treat for behaving herself. Trixy trotted ahead as they walked around the back of the house to the kitchen entrance. When Holly reached the door, it swung open and Mitch stood before her with a broad smile. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt. Holly took a deep breath, then slowly released the air from her lungs.
Mitch stepped to one side and motioned her to come in.‘Where is it, then?’ he asked.
‘Oh yes, the painting. It’s in the van.’
‘I’ll fetch it – is it locked?’
Holly shook her head.
Mitch nodded towards the inside of his house. ‘I’m clearing out the rooms – I’ve got stuff everywhere and it’s a bit of a hazard. It might be safer if you stay in the kitchen.’
‘I’ll make us coffee.’
Mitch’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his back pocket. ‘I’ve got to take this. I’ll bring the painting in afterwards.’ He walked outside, pressing his phone to his ear.
Holly filled the kettle at the sink and clicked it on. Listening to the sound of the water boiling, she realised Trixy had become unusually quiet. She scanned the kitchen to find her gone.
Holly heard yapping from further inside the house. ‘Trixy,’ she called.
With visions of the dog overturning piles of precariously stacked items she followed the sound of her bark. Standing at the kitchen door, Holly peered around the corner, the small corridor was empty of clutter. Seeing a door open with light shining out and the distant sound of the pitter patter of Trixy’s paws from that direction, she decided to retrieve her. She took a deep breath and walked along the corridor passing the guest room she had stayed in on the night of the fire, towards the open door. Once inside, she found the room was dimly-lit but at the far end was a conservatory, full of plants – she could smell them from where she stood.
‘Wow,’ she said aloud. ‘I wasn’t expecting this.’
There was a wide and full, floor-to-ceiling bookcase with a ladder on a runner. The wooden floor was covered in part by an old paisley rug. Her gaze stopped when it reached the fireplace. Above it was a painting of a woman wearing a long flowing floral dress ? the hair was the same as her own and the eyes, hers also. Holly put her hand to her throat and gasped, blood whooshed through her ears, her mouth agape.Why has he got a painting of me?she thought. Trixy jumped up at her. Scooping her up, Holly walked towards the portrait. It appeared not to have been painted recently, indeed it was aged. She puffed air out and shook her head, as she realised it was Granny Ivy.But why is it here?she thought.
Holly hurried back to the kitchen with Trixy in her arms, as Mitch opened the back door and walked in with her dragon painting in his hands. Trixy jumped to the floor and ran over to him.
Mitch placed the painting up against the wall and frowned. ‘You okay?’
Holly’s face burned red. ‘Yes. I couldn’t find the coffee?’
He pointed to a large tin on the worktop withcoffeewritten on it. ‘Didn’t look too far then?’ he chuckled.
Holly shook a little as she spooned the instant coffee into mugs then filled them with boiling water. Why would Sid be given the painting unless they were close? It would mean her Mum might not have told her the whole truth when she said that the relationship between Sid and Ivy had been a one-sided infatuation.
Mitch picked up one of the mugs of coffee. ‘You’re quiet. Are you okay?’
Holly took a sip of coffee and felt her hand shake. The painting she had seen of Ivy was so large, it was as if she had seen her Granny’s ghost staring at her. ‘So, when’s the funeral?’
‘Next Wednesday.’
‘And he’s being laid to rest in the church grounds?’ Holly sipped her hot drink.
‘Yes. I …’ Mitch coughed. ‘Maybe we should talk about our families.’
‘In what respect?’
‘About Sid and Ivy.’
Holly bit her lip. While she wanted to find out the details, she still felt a bit shaky having just seen Ivy’s portrait and preferred to hear it from Val.‘It’s all water under the bridge. Did you know my Granny Ivy was the last to be buried up at the church?’ Holly took a deep breath. ‘She died giving birth to my Mum.’
Mitch nodded.
‘They ran out of space. So my grandad and parents were cremated and the ashes scattered over the family plot.’ Holly took a sip of her coffee. ‘So Sid’s being cremated is he?’
