The Pebblewick Chronicles - Chapter 7 - Interlude
Interlude For the next seven days, Pebblewick behaved itself. This was unusual. It was also deeply unsettling. After a week that had included a wedding, a deceased American, a bewildered French visitor being left outside my bookshop, an unexpected Japanese novel, a cryptic postcard, a man who claimed to hold conversations with gulls, and the arrival of a volunteer I had never actually volunteered to employ, I felt the village had earned a brief period of peace. Apparently, Pebblewick agreed. Monday Monday arrived with remarkable restraint. I opened The Salty Page at nine o’clock, arranged the postcards, turned the sign to OPEN , and made myself a cup of coffee. I drank it while it was still hot. Every drop. I regarded this as an omen of exceptional good fortune. Mrs Thistlewood returned shortly after half past nine, her family emergency having evidently concluded. “Anything happen while I was away?” I reflected on the question. “Quite a lot, actually.” ...