Kitty Neale 3 Book Bundle. Kitty Neale

      ‘Look at that nosey lot,’ Mabel commented as they hurried outside. ‘They can’t wait to find out what’s going on.’

      If it hadn’t been such a tragic and traumatic event, Phyllis might have laughed at the irony. Mabel was worse than any of them, but her words proved to be correct when Daphne Cole hurried up to them. ‘What’s going on? Is Winnie all right?’

      Neither had time to answer because the ambulance men had left the vehicle, and Phyllis urged them inside, unaware that Mabel firmly closed the door behind them, leaving Daphne hovering outside.

      Amy was still inside, pale faced and Phyllis now wished that she’d kept her daughter away. She stood beside her while the ambulance men quickly checked Winnie, expecting them to confirm what she and Mabel already knew.

      Instead, one of them said, ‘I think I can feel a weak pulse.’

      ‘Right, let’s get her into the ambulance,’ the other one said, before turning swiftly from Winnie to ask, ‘Are you relatives?’

      ‘No, we’re just neighbours,’ Phyllis said, finding her voice. ‘I … I’ve been looking after Win … Mrs … Mrs Morrison.’

      ‘Has she got any relatives?’ he asked as they managed to lower Winnie onto a stretcher.

      ‘Yes, a daughter, but she lives in Devon.’

      ‘Right then, you’ll need to come with us. Once we get Mrs Morrison to hospital, they might need to know a bit about her medical history.’

      ‘I don’t think I can tell them much, but I still want to come,’ Phyllis said. Winnie was still alive and she didn’t want to leave her.

      Moments later she was following the ambulance men outside again, but not before saying, ‘Amy, tell your dad what’s happened. I’ll see you when I get back. Thanks for your help, Mabel.’

      With that Phyllis climbed into the ambulance, inwardly praying that Winnie was going to be all right. Guilt swamped her. She’d noticed that Winnie had been quieter than usual that day, her food hardly touched, but she had been so tired herself she hadn’t made a fuss when Winnie said she was fine.

      Now it looked like Winnie was at death’s door, and Phyllis feared it was her fault.

      Amy left Winnie’s house with Mabel and locked the door. She saw Carol with her mother and they rushed up to her. Mrs Povis though just huffed and hurried into her own house, for once seeming to relish keeping what she knew to herself.

      ‘Amy, is Winnie all right?’ Daphne asked.

      ‘My … my mum said she … died.’

      ‘Oh, poor Winnie, but come on, you’re shivering. Let’s get you home,’ Daphne said.

      Amy found herself ushered into her own house, and urged onto a chair while Daphne said gently, ‘No wonder you look so pale. It’s never easy to see anyone who has passed away.’

      ‘No … no … Mum was wrong. Mrs Morrison’s alive. The ambulance men found a weak pulse.’

      ‘Did they? Well, that’s good news,’ Daphne said.

      ‘You still look a bit shaky though, Amy,’ said Carol.

      ‘I … I’ll be all right. It was just a bit of a shock seeing her like that, and well … I … I really thought she was dead.’

      The door opened and Daphne said, ‘Here’s your dad now.’

      ‘What’s going on?’ Stan said, looking worried as he surveyed the scene.

      ‘Winnie has been taken ill, but we’ll leave Amy to tell you all about it,’ Daphne said. ‘Come on, Carol.’

      ‘Bye, Amy,’ Carol said, giving her a hug. ‘See you in the morning.’

      ‘Yes, all right,’ Amy said, and with her dad waiting expectantly, she told him all that had happened.

      He listened, then said, ‘If Winnie was that bad, I can’t see her making it.’

      ‘Oh, Dad, don’t say that.’

      ‘Facts are facts. What hospital did they take her to?’

      ‘I don’t know. It all happened so quickly and I didn’t think to ask.’

      ‘Whichever one it is, let’s hope your mum isn’t there half the night.’

      Amy hoped so too, but by midnight there was still no sign of her mum. ‘I wonder why she isn’t home yet,’ she said, stifling a yawn.

      ‘Go to bed, love,’ her dad said. ‘I’ll wait up for your mum.’

      There was a knock on the door and Amy jumped up to answer it. ‘Mum!’ she exclaimed as her mother staggered in, looking exhausted and close to tears. ‘What’s wrong?’

      ‘I was flippin’ stranded and I’m worn out,’ she said, heading for the fire and flopping onto a chair.

      ‘What do you mean? How did you get stranded?’ Stan asked.

      ‘I didn’t have any money for the fare home so I had to walk.’

      ‘Oh Mum, I should have realised that you hadn’t taken your purse,’ Amy cried, appalled that it hadn’t even crossed her mind.

      ‘It wouldn’t have made any difference if you had. There’s nothing in it,’ she said bitterly.

      There was a moment of silence, but then Stan said, ‘You should have told someone at the hospital, one of the nurses or something. They might have been able to sort something out.’

      ‘I was in too much of a state to think. I sat around for ages, but then they came to tell me that Winnie had passed away soon after we got there. I was then bombarded with questions. They wanted information about her next of kin too, and all I could tell them was her daughter’s married name and that she lived in Devon, Tiverton I think. After that, all I wanted was to get out of there and come home.’

      ‘Oh, Mum, you must be really upset,’ Amy said.

      ‘Yes, I am, but make me a hot drink, love, cocoa if there’s any left, and then we should all go to bed. I’ve got to be up at five in the morning.’

      Amy went through to the kitchen, wishing as always that her mum didn’t have to get up so early to go out cleaning. She had said that her purse was empty, but her dad, as always, had enough money in his pocket to go to the pub. She made the drink, took it to the living room, tight lipped with indignation on her mother’s behalf as she found herself blurting out, ‘Here you are, Mum. It isn’t right that you had to walk all that way, not when some people have got money for booze.’

      There was a moment’s silence and then her dad asked, ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

      Amy couldn’t believe she’d spoken out like that, and hastily kissed her mother on the cheek. ‘I’m going to bed. Goodnight, Mum,’ she said, her dad’s question unanswered as she turned on her heels and hurried upstairs.

      They were quiet for a minute or two after Amy left the room, but then Stan said, ‘I don’t know what’s come over Amy, but I suppose that was aimed at me.’

      Phyllis’s reply was clipped. ‘She shouldn’t have said that, but if the cap fits, wear it.’

      ‘Now listen here, I give you a fair whack of my wages.’

      Phyllis gulped down her cocoa and then rose to her feet, only saying, ‘Not now, Stan. I’m tired and I’m going to bed.’

      With that she went upstairs, and confused, Stan locked up before following her. He found Phyllis already in bed, the room so cold that he quickly threw off his clothes to climb in beside her, and said, ‘I don’t know why you’re being funny with me. How was I supposed to know that you didn’t have the fare home?’

      ‘I didn’t