A Brush with Death: A Penny Brannigan Mystery - By Elizabeth J. Duncan Page 0,21
bit.” She brightened. “What colour should we have today? Do you know, I fancy something with a little drama!”
“So tell me about your friend from the post office,” Penny asked conversationally. “What will the two of you be getting up to, then?”
“We’re going to Llandudno to shop and have a nice tea at Badgers,” Mrs. Lloyd replied. “And then, as tonight is my regular bridge game, she’ll make up the table, since one of our players has not been very well of late.”
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that. I hope she’ll be better soon. Still, it’s nice that your friend can stand in.”
“Yes, it is,” Mrs. Lloyd agreed. “And independent women like you have a lot to thank my friend for.”
“We do?”
“Oh, yes.” Mrs. Lloyd nodded. “Bunny, well, we call her Bunny because she was always so quick on her rounds, but her real name is Mavis. Anyway, Bunny was one of the first lady post office van drivers in this area. All over the valley in her van, she was, with the deliveries. And always right on time, too. Had to be, see. Had to show the powers that be that women could do the job just as well as the men. So it was women like her, in all kinds of jobs, that made it possible for your generation to do the things you’ve done.”
Mrs. Lloyd’s eyes slid over to the rack of nail polishes. “What colour did we decide on today? Or did we? I’d like something with some depth to it.” She pointed to a bright red. “How about that one?”
“I don’t think you want that one,” Penny said. “It’s got that shimmer in it that you don’t like.”
“Oh, right. Well, something else then, but the same kind of colour.”
Penny got up, selected three from the shelf, and offered them to Mrs. Lloyd. “How about one of these?” She held one up. “This one will look very nice on you.”
Mrs. Lloyd turned the bottle over and read the name.
“Deer Valley Spice. Well, I have no idea what that means, but it’s just what I had in mind!”
Just before six on Friday evening an unmarked police car drove slowly along the lane leading to Penny’s cottage. It pulled up outside the front door and Bethan got out. She walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and pulled out a large whiteboard. Carrying it to one side, she picked her way carefully along the path that led to the front door. Leaning the board up against the building, she returned to the car and a few moments later set down an oversized envelope beside the whiteboard. Then she rang the doorbell.
Her face broke into a wide grin when Penny, one hand outstretched, opened the door to her.
“Come in, come in,” Penny greeted her. “Here, let me give you a hand with those things.” She put her hand on the envelope. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in here. I haven’t been able to think of anything else all day!”
She led Bethan into the sitting room and invited her to sit down.
“Victoria’s making us something really special for our tea, and it shouldn’t be long.”
Bethan smiled as she looked around the room. Much of the clutter was gone, and Penny had rearranged the furniture to open up the space. Penny pointed to a blank wall where two large easels had been set up.
“I thought you couid put your whiteboard on them, if they’re sturdy enough,” she said. “What do you think?”
“Hmm. I think that arrangement will work for tonight,” Bethan said, “but if you want to keep the board up and we really start working with it, we might need to make it more secure so we can write on it and tape things to it.”
Penny nodded eagerly and then turned as Victoria emerged from the kitchen, wearing a large white apron with a tea towel draped over her shoulder.
“Hi, Bethan, love,” she said warmly. “It’s so nice to see you again. Has Penny offered you a drink yet?”
“No, not yet,” replied Bethan, “but I’m sure she was just about to. I’ll just have a tonic water or a ginger ale, please.”
“Right you are,” said Penny. “Are you on duty?”
“We couldn’t really decide that. I don’t think so, but it feels like it. Anyway, I have to drive back to Llandudno tonight, so from that point of view, have to give the wine a miss. This time.”