Page 47 of Forgive Not Forget
She screamed.
“Out, get out, quick. It’s in the duvet!”
Anna moved at speeds Katherine had never witnessed before. With quick foresight she scooped up their phones and grabbed her house keys before matching Anna’s speed and direction. They gave the tent a good twenty-metre clearance before stopping.
“Home?” Anna suggested.
Katherine couldn’t help laughing. “I thought you’d never ask!”
CHAPTER19
Two faces peered into the tent the following morning to find Virginia curled up in the centre of the duvet pile.
“Charming, Virginia! Did you deliver a mouse just so you could have the bed to yourself?” Katherine said. “Don’t you even think about pulling that one at home.”
The cat opened one eye and then closed it again.
They stood up and reassessed the situation. “We’ll have to get her out,” Anna said. “The abbey will open soon; we can’t leave the tent up.”
“We’ll do just that. It will still deter vandals, regardless of there being two middle-aged women hiding in it.”
Anna drew her lips down and nodded. “You might be on to something there.” Half a night in a tent was enough to remind her why camping was best left to those under twenty.
“I’m not just a pretty face.” Katherine winked.
Anna wasn’t going to argue with her on that. “So where do we think the mouse went?”
“I’ll take a guess: in her stomach.”
Anna scrunched her face. “Eww!”
“She’ll have to come out, though,” Katherine said. “I’m not leaving everything in it.”
Anna quickly replied, “In you go then.”
“Me?” Katherine rested her hands on her hips. “All this was your idea, may I remind you!”
She had a point, but there was still no way Anna was going in there. She didn’t want to risk stepping on a mouse carcass.
“She wouldn’t be asleep if there was a mouse in there, would she? I’m sure it’s fine.”
Anna wasn’t going to fall for that. “If you’re so sure, in you go.”
“Oh, fine then.” Katherine knelt and crawled into the tent.
Anna couldn’t help herself. She drank in Katherine’s rear end as it hung out of the tent.
“You better not be staring at my backside, Miss Walker.”
“Nope, not at all,” Anna lied through her smirk. She continued watching as it wiggled. “Any sign of a mouse?” she asked, leaning down just as something shot from the tent. She stepped back, nearly tripping over a guide rope. “Virginia!”
“No, doesn’t appear to be,” Katherine replied as she reversed out of the tent, clutching the duvets. “Unless it’s caught up in this lot. You’ll have to get the rest.”
Anna packed up the rucksack, scooped up the picnic basket and pillows as quick as she could, and took them outside for a thorough inspection.
“Let’s take this to the house,” Katherine suggested. “We’ll have to deal with it when we get back later.”
* * *
