Free Mad Dog Moonlight by Pauline Fisk

that allowed a tiny face to peer down. ‘What do you want?’ said a sour, unfriendly voice that MadDog recalled immediately from that time on the phone.
    â€˜I don’t want anything,’ said Aunty. ‘I’m here because you asked for me. Remember?’
    The Aged Relative’s face screwed up into a tight red ball and her eyes blinked quickly as if she was flustered.
    â€˜I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said. ‘Of course I didn’t ask for you. Why would I do that? Don’t be ridiculous.’
    She tried to hide herself behind the curtains, but Aunty wouldn’t let her, pulling them back to reveal an old woman with dyed beige hair, skin as grey as if it never saw the light of day and a grubby-looking nightdress that looked as if it hadn’t been changed for weeks. The only thing about the Aged Relative that wasn’t shabby was a handful of gold rings studded with enormous stones that looked like diamonds, emeralds and rubies.
    Mad Dog stared at them. He’d never seen such big jewels in his life. Everything else about the Aged Relative was colourless, but her rings shone like fire.
    The Aged Relative saw where Mad Dog was looking and thrust her hands under the covers. ‘What’s
he
doing here?’ she snapped. ‘And the other one. I won’t have children in my B & B. You know that. Pets, yes, but children, no. It’s all there in the brochure.’
    â€˜What brochure?’ Aunty said. She pushed the dogs away and hauled herself on to the bed to confront her mother face to face. ‘In fact, what
B
&
B
? There isn’t one that I’ve yet seen. Just some empty ruin of a house. And on that subject …’
    Before she could say any more, the Manager entered the room.
    â€˜Is there anything I can get you?’ he said, putting on a show of concern that had been completely lacking in anything he’d done so far.
    If the Aged Relative had been a princess, and he her humble servant, he couldn’t have treated her better. He cleared away a stack of plates and ordered the dogs to get off the bed. They obeyed him immediately, slinking out of the room after glaring resentfully at Aunty, Mad Dog and Elvis.
    Mad Dog expected the Manager to follow them, but he remained fussing around, and it was only when Aunty said, ‘Do you mind? I’m trying to have a private talk with my mother,’ that he finally went.
    â€˜And don’t come back,’ Aunty said, slamming the door behind him.
    â€˜You shouldn’t have done that,’ the Aged Relative said.
    â€˜And how exactly should I treat a man who’s taking advantage of my mother?’ Aunty said.
    The Aged Relative blinked again as if she was even more flustered than before. ‘You don’t understand –
walls have ears
,’ she whispered.
    Aunty laughed at that. You could see how much the Manager had got under her skin. ‘Good!’ she said. ‘Then they can hear what I have to say, which is that you bought this B & B against all our advice, which means it’s yours and no one else’s and you should take responsibility for it, not lie around in bed watching telly all the time, or whatever it is you do. I know you, Mother. I know what you’re like. When was the last time you went downstairs? The last time you checkedthe register? The last time you went into the kitchen, or ordered food for your guests, or even had any guests? When was the last time you paid your bills? Do you know what’s going on in your own house? You don’t have a clue, do you?’
    Aunty pulled out her notepad and started reading. But, like a child being scolded, the Aged Relative put her hands over her ears. Then Aunty dug out her phone to show her some of the pictures she’d taken. But the Aged Relative picked up the remote control and turned on the telly that sat at the end of her bed.
    â€˜It’s my favourite programme,’