Free Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie Page A

it? No, indeed.' He laughed again.
    'What a splendid joke,' said Tuppence kindly.
    Isaac laughed again.
    'It's about time,' he said, 'you thought of putting some vegetables in, isn't it? You know, if you want to get your broad beans on in good time you ought to put 'em in and prepare for the peas. And what about some early lettuce? Tom Thumbs now? Beautiful lettuce, those, small but crisp as anything.'
    'I suppose you've done a lot of gardening work round here. I don't mean just this house, but a lot of places.'
    'Ah yes, I've done odd jobbing, you know. I used to come along to most of the houses. Some of the gardeners they had weren't any good at all and I'd usually come in and help at certain times or other. Had a bit of an accident here once, you know. Mistake about vegetables. Before my time - but I heard about it.'
    'Something about foxglove leaves, wasn't it?' said Tuppence.
    'Ah, fancy you having heard of that already. That was a long time ago, too. Yes, several was taken ill with it. One of them died. At least so I heard. That was only hearsay. Old pal of mine told me that.'
    'I think it was the Frow Line,' said Tuppence.
    'What, the Frow Line as died? Well, I never heard that.'
    'Well, perhaps I'm wrong,' said Tuppence. 'Supposing you take Truelove,' she said, 'or whatever this thing's called, and put it on the hill in the place where that child, Pamela, used to take it down the hill - if the hill is still there.'
    'Well, of course the hill is still there. What do you think? It's all grass still, but be careful now. I don't know how much of Truelove is rusted away. I'll have a bit of a clean-up on it first, shall I?'
    'That's right,' said Tuppence, 'and then you can think of a list of vegetables that we ought to be getting on with.'
    'Ah well, I'll be careful you don't get foxglove and spinach planted together. Shouldn't like to hear that something happened to you when you've just got into a new house. Nice place here if you can just have a little money to spend on it.'
    'Thank you very much,' said Tuppence.
    'And I'll just see to that there Truelove so as it won't break down under you. It's very old but you'd be surprised the way some old things work. Why, I knew a cousin of mine the other day and he got out an old bicycle. You wouldn't think it would go - nobody had ridden it for about forty years. But it went all right with a bit of oil. Ah, it's wonderful what a bit of oil can do.'

Postern of Fate

Chapter 3
    SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS BEFORE BREAKFAST
    'What on earth -' said Tommy.
    He was used to finding Tuppence in unlikely spots when he returned to the house, but on this occasion he was more startled than usual.
    Inside the house there was no trace of her, although outside there was a very slight patter of rain. It occurred to him that she might be engrossed in some portion of the garden, and he went out to see if this might be the case. And it was then that he remarked, 'What on earth -'
    'Hullo, Tommy,' said Tuppence, 'you're back a bit earlier than I thought you would be.'
    'What is that thing?'
    'You mean Truelove?'
    'What did you say?'
    'I said Truelove,' said Tuppence, 'that's the name of it.'
    'Are you trying to go for a ride on it - it's much too small for you.'
    'Well, of course it is. It's a child's sort of thing - what you had, I suppose, before you had fairy-cycles, or whatever one had in my youth.'
    'It doesn't really go, does it?' asked Tommy.
    'Well, not exactly,' said Tuppence, 'but, you see, you take it up to the top of the hill and then it - well, its wheels turn of their own accord, you see, and because of the hill you go down.'
    'And crash at the bottom, I suppose. Is that what you've been doing?'
    'Not at all,' said Tuppence. 'You brake it with your feet. Would you like me to give you a demonstration?'
    'I don't think so,' said Tommy. 'It's beginning to rain rather harder. I just wanted to know why you - well, why you're doing it. I mean, it can't be very enjoyable, can it?'
    'Actually,' said