What Happens in the Alps.... T Williams A

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       Chapter 2

      After taking Karen to the bus station next morning, Annie drove back up to Janet’s lovely old bed and breakfast. Janet was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast, so Annie dumped her coat in her room and came back down in search of a coffee. Apart from Janet, the dining room was empty

      ‘Coffee?’ Janet didn’t wait for a reply. She knew Annie well by now. ‘So, what’s on the cards today?’

      ‘I’ve got a visit to the accountant first thing and then it’s into the school to see how all the work’s going.’ A series of builders, decorators and other tradesmen had been transforming the first-floor apartment into a school and seriously depleting Annie’s bank balance for the last few weeks. She was just hoping that she would have enough money to pay for all the work. Yet again, she felt a shiver of apprehension. ‘Oh, yes, and I’m probably getting a visit from Matt.’

      Janet glanced back over her shoulder, her hands occupied with the coffee machine. ‘Matt? You mean Matt Brown? We haven’t seen him for a while. Is he still living down south?’

      ‘Yes, he’s been in Florence, but he says he’s planning on moving up here.’

      ‘To Santorso?’ Annie nodded and Janet grinned at her. ‘It would be good to see Matt again. He was in Turin for years and then he moved away, but he still came up here to climb. At least up until a year or two ago. Is he still as gorgeous as ever?’

      Annie smiled back. ‘Karen certainly thought so.’ She went on to relate their chance meeting with Matt and his girlfriend. Janet was impressed when she heard about the girl from the TV.

      ‘So he’s still the same old Matt. I suppose the leopard doesn’t change his spots that easily. So why’s he moving up here?’

      Annie told her what he had said and explained about his maybe renting a room at the school from her. Thought of room rental reminded her of the ever-more pressing matter of finding somewhere to live. ‘I’m going to spend this week seriously looking and, if I haven’t found anywhere by the weekend, I’ll move out of here and back into the school.’

      ‘You could always share a flat with Matt.’ Janet’s grin was positively mischievous.

      ‘Yes, and be kept awake every night by the bedsprings in the room next door. I don’t think so, thank you.’

      ‘Well, if he’s got time, bring him up here for a coffee this afternoon. It’ll be so good to see him again.’

      When Annie got to the school around mid-morning, she found that there was now a fine new sign on the wall by the front door advertising the fact that the Santorso English Academy was on the first floor of the building. Even better, upstairs on the first-floor landing, the new illuminated sign was now hanging over the door. Even if there still wasn’t any furniture in the classrooms, at least it was looking like a school from the outside. She pressed the bell and Paolina buzzed her in.

      A light dusting of snow had fallen while she had been with the accountant. After shaking her jacket off, she hung it on a hook by the door and headed for the room marked Reception, the only properly decorated, furnished and finished room in the school at the moment. The heating in the reception area was full on and the place was boiling hot. This was no doubt because Paolina, oblivious to the weather outside, appeared to be wearing little more than a lacy top and a short summery skirt that day. Annie walked in and set her bag down on the front desk.

      She had discovered a few weeks back that Paolina’s hobby was scavenging local junk shops for old clothing that she then transformed into outfits for herself. So far, Annie had seen her in everything from a nineteenth-century ballgown to an ancient fireman’s uniform. She was a very pretty girl, in her mid-twenties, with long dark hair, and she somehow managed to carry off all but the most outrageous outfits. Today’s blouse was charming, although the moths had clearly had a go at it and either Paolina or her mum had embroidered colourful Alpine flowers over the worst of the holes.

      ‘Ciao, Paolina, how’s it going?’

      ‘Ciao, Annie. Everything’s fine. There was a phone call from a Signor Lagrange who wants to speak to you. He’ll be here in half an hour.’

      At first, the preponderance of French names everywhere had come as a surprise to Annie. Santorso was in Italy, but its roots were French, going back to the time of the Kingdom of Savoy, and many of the locals still spoke a French-based patois. Annie didn’t recognise the man’s name and she wondered what he might want.

      She changed from her lovely warm, fur-lined boots into indoor shoes and returned to her office to check her messages. There was a short text from Karen telling her she was just arriving in Geneva, and an email from her mother, asking if she was coming home for Christmas. Annie glanced at the calendar and sat back in thought. Christmas was less than a month away and she knew she had to make a decision. On the one hand she knew she should make the effort to go and see her mum, but on the other there was the fear that something terrible might happen here while she was away. СКАЧАТЬ