Kitty Neale 3 Book Bundle. Kitty Neale

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       Chapter Twenty-Eight

      Tommy awoke in the night, his body drenched in perspiration as coughs violently shook his body. He sat up, gasping for breath as his bedroom door was flung open. The light went on and he saw his mother in her thick blue dressing gown, wearing a ridiculous pink hairnet, but to Thomas at that moment, she appeared a ministering angel.

      As the coughing fit passed, she plumped up the pillows behind him, put his inhaler in his hand and then scurried off to return with a bottle of medicine. ‘This should help a little until I can get the doctor to you in the morning,’ she said softly.

      He dutifully swallowed the foul-tasting liquid, then croaked, ‘Thanks, Mum, but there’s no need to call the doctor.’

      ‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, laying a soft palm on his brow, ‘you’re burning up.’

      Tommy didn’t get a chance to argue because his mother hurried off again, this time returning with a bowl of water and a cloth. She bathed his brow, the cool relief feeling wonderful, and at last, exhausted, he drifted off. For the rest of the night Tommy slept fitfully, a painful cough frequently awaking him, but every time he opened his eyes he found his mother by his side.

      Morning light filled the room when Tommy became fully awake again and he blinked, shocked to see that his bedside clock showed that it was after seven thirty. He sat up, flung back the blankets, and swung his legs round to get out of bed, only to be struck by a wave of dizziness. He felt awful, shivery, yet hot, but he had to get to work.

      ‘Hold on, Mum said you’re not to get up,’ Jeremy said as he walked into the room.

      ‘I don’t think I can,’ he had to admit weakly, lying back down.

      ‘Mum’s going to ring the doctor as soon as the surgery opens.’

      Tommy struggled to sit up again. ‘I’ll have to make a call too. My foreman needs to know that I won’t be able to make it today, and though he can manage without me, I want to speak to him about a couple of urgent jobs.’

      ‘I can do that for you. Just tell me what you want this foreman of yours to do.’

      With his head swimming, Tommy doubted he could make it downstairs, so he gratefully sank back again. ‘My foreman’s name is Len Upwood,’ he said, going on to explain what work needed to be given priority.

      ‘Right, leave it to me,’ Jeremy said confidently. ‘I’ll sort everything out.’

      ‘You just need to pass on what I’ve told you to Len. He’s a good bloke and he knows what he’s doing.’

      ‘So do I, Tom. I know just what I’m doing,’ Jeremy said as he left the room.

      As far as Tommy knew, his brother knew nothing about the glass trade and he doubted he’d ever fitted a window. Still, Jeremy only had to pass on the message, so feeling that he had nothing to worry about now, Tommy relaxed, only to be hit by another fit of coughing that left him gasping for breath.

      This wasn’t a mild bout of bronchitis, Tommy worried. It was a bad one and maybe it was just as well that his mother was calling the doctor. At least a course of antibiotics would get him back on his feet, and sooner rather than later.

      Jeremy rang Len Upwood, but he wasn’t going to leave it at that. He was going to take a look at the business and after breakfast he said, ‘Mum, with Tom laid up I think I’ll drive to the unit. There’s a saying that while the cat’s away the mice will play, so I want to make sure there’s no slacking.’

      ‘All right, dear,’ she said. ‘I’m sure Thomas will appreciate that.’

      ‘Where does he keep the van keys?’

      ‘On the hall table,’ she said, ‘but have you got a licence to drive?’

      ‘Of course and I’ll see you later,’ Jeremy said, glad to get out of the house and onto the road. Of course he didn’t have a driving licence. He’d never stayed in one country long enough to get one. Thankfully his mother was too distracted by Tom and his bronchitis to realise that, and anyway, he had learned to drive. He just hadn’t passed any sort of test.

      It didn’t take Jeremy long to get a feel for the van, and soon he was pulling up outside the unit, finding only two men in sight when he went inside and asked, ‘Which one of you is Len Upwood?’

      ‘That’d be me,’ said a round-faced man of around thirty, who was in the process of cutting a sheet of glass. ‘What can I do for you?’

      ‘I’m Jeremy Frost. We spoke on the telephone earlier.’

      ‘Oh, right, you’re Tommy’s brother.’

      ‘Yes, and I’m here to make sure that things are running to schedule СКАЧАТЬ