Page 26 of A Very Bookish Murder
It was a beautiful calm, sunny evening, and Ally did what she always did when she needed to be on her own and do some thinking.
‘Come on, Flora,’ she called. ‘Let’s have a walk to Loch Soular.’
Flora was doing well with two walks in one day, but she wagged her tail furiously in anticipation. She loved the twenty-minute walk to the little loch, running through the moorland heather and sniffing hopefully at every rabbit hole, and then digging in the muddy sand that surrounded the loch. Ally had learned the hard way, by falling flat on her face in the heather, to avoid the entrances to these rabbit warrens, and now took a stick with her to test the ground ahead. She was delighted to see clumps of fresh green grass pushing up in between the heather. Summer was almost here.
As they approached Loch Soular, Flora began to bark excitedly, which generally meant that there was someone around. Ally sighed, her thoughts of peaceful contemplation vanishing in the breeze. There was a swimmer in the loch, doing a steady, powerful crawl to the far end, then turning round and swimming all the way back towards where Ally was standing.Whoever it was, they were a strong swimmer and, not only that, Ally thought, the water must still be icy after the long, bitter winter.
‘Nice loch,’ Millie remarked nonchalantly as she stepped ashore, wiping water from her eyes. Her sturdy body was encased in a plain, black, no-nonsense swimsuit, the kind used by serious swimmers, and her skin was very pink.
‘Millie!’ Ally exclaimed. ‘You are one magnificent swimmer! And that water must besocold!’
Millie rubbed her nose. ‘Yeah, well, I like cold-water swimming, and this is no worse than most at this time of year.’ She wandered across to where she’d placed a large beach towel behind a boulder, wrapped it round and began to dry herself.
Ally waited until Millie, still wrapped in the towel, settled herself down on the boulder. She might be small and mousy, but, my goodness, couldn’t she swim!
‘My parents chucked me into the pool as a baby,’ Millie said with a grin, ‘and I think it’s fair to say that I’ve probably swum most days since. I was on the list for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, you know, but didn’t quite make it.’
‘I wish my parents had done that,’ Ally remarked ruefully, ‘because I was much older when I learned to swim and I’ve never been really confident in water.’ She watched as Millie dug a T-shirt out of a bag. ‘I’m pleased that you ladies are staying on for an extra week.’
Millie nodded. ‘We all agreed. None of us has anything special to go back for.’ She looked intensely at Ally. ‘Writing is quite a solitary occupation, and it’s nice to mix with other women who feel the same.’ She looked around. ‘Just look at this scenery! And that magical castle up there! So we came to write, but I think we’re staying on as tourists.’
‘I couldn’t be more delighted,’ Ally said truthfully. She waited for a moment, then said, ‘So, there’s no one at home to object to your plan?’
Millie was towelling her hair. ‘No.’
Ally wondered how to get her to open up a little. ‘That’s good in a way, isn’t it? It means you can do what you like.’
‘It does,’ Millie agreed.
This was her first chance to try to extract some information from Millie, but she wasn’t being particularly forthcoming.
Ally tried again. ‘You’re not married then?’
‘I was.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Ally said, feeling a little guilty. ‘I didn’t mean to pry.’
‘That’s OK,’ said Millie but offered no further information.
Ally tried hard to think of something to draw this woman out. ‘So, have you enjoyed the course, apart obviously from Jodi’s murder?’
Millie patted Flora’s head. ‘Yes, I’ve quite enjoyed the week. It’s been interesting to say the least.’
‘And you’re OK sharing a room with Joyce?’
‘Joyce is all right. She’s been giving me some good advice because she’s the only one of us to have four short stories published,’ Millie replied.
‘And then there’s Penelope,’ Ally said, wondering if she might be overdoing it.
‘God, she’s so posh and soloud!’ Millie exclaimed. ‘Andbossy!’
Ally laughed. ‘It takes all types.’
‘You’ve got them all here.’ Millie looked around. ‘Do you think anyone can see me if I get out of this swimsuit and get into my clothes?’
‘I don’t think they can,’ Ally replied, turning around diplomatically and looking in the opposite direction.
Ally and Millie, with Flora romping ahead, walked back to the malthouse together, but Millie wasn’t giving away any personal information. They spoke about the scenery, the view, dogs and the weather. Millie wasn’t nearly as forthcoming as the others and was plainly a more private person. Somehow or other, Ally was going to need to find a way to befriend her, if possible, and try to discover what made this little woman tick.
