When Skies Have Fallen
Page 35
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In the final run-up to the day, Jean and Charlie alternated between attending the local church and driving up to Jean’s home parish to hear the banns being read. It only took a couple of hours to get there by car, and so Jean drove there and Charlie drove back. When it came to the wedding itself, Jean’s mother invited the four of them to stay with her for the weekend, and she could easily accommodate them: the McDowell residence made Dalton Place seem like a tiny hovel. However, the cats were now accustomed to being looked after, and everyone they knew in London was going to the wedding, so they weren’t sure what to do, until their next-door neighbour, Mrs. Greene, overheard them discussing it and offered to keep an eye on the cats for them.
“That’s very kind of you,” Jim said.
“We don’t want to put you to any trouble,” Arty countered. What he meant was he didn’t want Mrs. Greene rooting through the apartment, in case she put two and two together.
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all.” Mrs. Greene smiled and patted Arty on the arm. Keeping her hand there, she leaned closer and added, “Makes no odds to me what you do in your own home, son.” She gave his arm a squeeze and released him. “So there’s seven of the little so-and-sos, is there?”
“Er…yes,” Arty confirmed, blinking in shock.
“Right. What I’ll do is, the day before the wedding, I’ll call round. You can show me where everything is and give me a key. Bob’s your uncle.” With that, she waddled back home, went inside and shut the door.
Arty turned to Jim and stared at him, speechless. Jim laughed and slung his arm around Arty’s shoulders. “Guess so long as you ain’t causing trouble, folks around here really don’t care.”
“No,” Arty said with a doubtful frown. “I guess not.”
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