Free (4/13) Battles at Thrush Green by Miss Read Page A

called upon to request that seven pounds of oats and the same of bran be delivered within the next week. And it might be as well to call at the ladies' outfitters to see if their plated lisle stockings had arrived.
    After that, she was free to keep her luncheon engagement with the Misses Lovelock, three silver-haired old sisters whose lavender-and-old-lace exteriors hid unplumbed depths of venom and avarice. Their Georgian house fronted the main street, which gave them an excellent vantage point for noting die activities of the Lulling inhabitants. Any one of the Lovelock sisters could inform you, without hesitation, of any peccadilloes extant in the neighbourhood. Dotty looked forward to her visit.
    Halfway along the High Street Dotty stopped, as she had so often done, outside the draper's, and prepared to alight. A short procession of vehicles, which had accumulated behind her slower-moving one, swerved out to pass her, the drivers muttering blasphemies under their breath. Dotty was blissfully unconscious of her unpopularity, and was about to open the door into the pathway of an unwary lorry driver, when a young policeman appeared.
    'Can't stop here, ma'am,' he said politely.
    'Why not?' demanded Dotty. 'I have before. Besides, I have to call at the draper's.'
    'Sorry, ma'am. Double yellow lines.'
    'And what, pray, do they signify?'
    The young policeman drew in his breath sharply, but otherwise remained unmoved. He had had a spell of duty in the city of Oxford, and dealt daily there with eccentric academics of both sexes. He recognised Dotty as one of the same ilk.
    'No parking allowed.'
    'Well, it's a great nuisance. I have a luncheon engagement at that house over there.'
    'Sorry, ma'am. No waiting here at all. Try the car park behind the Corn Exchange. You can leave it there safely for two or three hours.'
    'Very well, very well! I suppose I must do as you say, officer. What's your name?'
    'John Darwin. Four-two-four-six-nine-police-constable-stationed-at-Lulling, ma'am.'
    'Darwin? Interesting. Any relation to the great Charles?'
    'Not so far as I know, ma'am. No Charles'es in our lot.'
    He beckoned on a line of traffic, and then bent to address Dotty once more.
    'This is just a caution, ma'am. Don't park by yellow lines. Take the car straight to the car park. You'll find it's simpler for everyone.'
    'Thank you, Mr Darwin. As a law-abiding citizen I shall obey you without any further delay.'
    She let in the clutch, bounded forward, and vanished in a series of jerks and minor explosions round the bend to the car park.
    'One born every minute,' said P.C. Darwin to himself.

    The luncheon party was a great success. Bertha, Ada and Violet owned many beautiful things, some inherited, some acquired by years of genteel begging from those not well-acquainted with the predatory ladies of Lulling, and a few – a very few – bought over the years.
    The meal was served on a fine drum table. The four chairs drawn up to it were of Hepplewhite design with shield backs. The silver gleamed, the linen and lace cloth was like some gigantic snowflake. Nothing could be faulted, except the food. What little there was, was passable. The sad fact was that the parsimonious Misses Lovelock never supplied enough.
    Four wafer-thin slices of ham were flanked by four small sausage rolls. The sprig of parsley decorating this dish was delightfully fresh. The salad, which accompanied the meat dish, consisted of a few wisps of mustard and cress, one tomato cut into four, and half a hard-boiled egg chopped small.
    For the gluttonous, there was provided another small dish, of exquisite Meissen, which bore four slices of cold beetroot and four pickled onions.
    The paucity of the food did not dismay Dotty in the least. Used as she was to standing in her kitchen with an apple in her hand at lunchtime, the present spread seemed positively lavish.
    Ada helped her guest to one slice of ham, one sausage roll and the sprig of parsley, and invited her to help