Free Dark Undertakings by Rebecca Tope Page A

window. Opposite was a carpet showroom, which on a Wednesday morning might as well not have bothered to open. She could glimpse salesmen standing beside a table, waiting in vain for customers. In dark suits and with neat haircuts, they seemed like undertaker’s men to Monica. Standing like mutes, or birds of prey, just waiting for victims.She had to force herself to drag her eyes away from them.
    She jumped when someone put a hand on her shoulder from behind. Turning, she relaxed and smiled at the sight of Pauline. ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said, inspecting the face which was now on a level with hers, across the small table. Pauline’s colouring was a striking contrast to her own ash-blonde and milky-pale tones. They had established the friendship at the school gates, when Monica’s David and Pauline’s Craig had been in the same class. Craig had been almost as troublesome as David in his own way, and their mothers had found plenty in common.
    ‘Have a coffee,’ she said. ‘There’s no rush – I’ve done the registration part. It’s kind of you to keep me company.’
    ‘Didn’t you ask Philip to come as well?’
    ‘He’s got something important on at work. And David—’
    Pauline smiled. ‘David would be more of an impediment than a help. Tell me about it! Honestly, they never get any better do they? Craig’s in a dreadful state at the moment, because Susie’s trying to dump him. At least, I think that’s what’s happening. They never tell you anything, do they. But you don’t want to listen to me rabbiting on.’ She fetched coffeefrom the counter, and they sat together, as they’d done a thousand times before.
    ‘You look as if you’re coping, anyway,’ Pauline commented. ‘Not that I ever doubted you would. But it’s hard to imagine life without him.’ She shook her head. ‘Jim was quite something.’
    ‘It still doesn’t feel as if he’s really gone. Not for ever. Death’s so weird. I suppose people always feel they’re the first ever to experience its effects. And yet it’s so ordinary. It comes to us all. Oh, I’m sorry – I’m talking drivel. I can’t put it into words at all. I tried yesterday, with the boys, and just made them cross.’
    ‘It must be nice to have a daughter,’ said Pauline wistfully. ‘They always seem so much more – I don’t know – rewarding , I suppose.’
    ‘Philip’s all right. He and I are very close. And poor David can’t help it. I still think it goes back to his early years. It was all so unsettled. Compared to Philip, poor Davey had an awful time.’
    ‘Craig was forceps. Great dents in his head. Then, when his dad walked out, he got terribly disturbed. We really messed him up, between us.’ They sighed in unison.
    ‘Well, this won’t do,’ Monica regained her morning briskness, and gathered up her bag. ‘Let’s get it over with.’
    ‘It’s cremation, then, is it?’ Pauline asked, as they walked side by side down the street. The undertaker’s office was situated in a side street at the far end of the main shopping area.
    ‘I think so,’ Monica said. ‘He did say once that he hated the thought of burial. I forgot to ask the boys what they thought we should do. I don’t suppose they care much, either way.’ She spoke in jerky sentences, matching the rhythm of her step. Pauline found the pace uncomfortably fast.
    ‘They’ll ask you about stuff like hymns and flowers,’ she remarked. ‘There’ll be all sorts of decisions. I remember when my dad died—’
    ‘It’s all right,’ Monica spoke impatiently. ‘You don’t have to try and prepare me. I don’t care what happens at the funeral, quite honestly. He’s dead anyway – what difference will it make?’
    ‘Right,’ panted Pauline placatingly. ‘Anything you say. It’s just down here, isn’t it?’ Monica increased her pace and pushed open the front door of the building without waiting to see if her friend was still at her shoulder.
    After a short wait, the two