< previous page page_59 next page >

Page 59
run down to the car again, and no one would be the wiser.
She was on the stair, just starting to go down again, when she heard voices on the landing. There was no sense in pretending she wasn't there, so Linda turned fully around, her lips parted to explain. Instead she uttered a gasp and spread her arms just in time to catch her employer, who lunged toward her.
"My God!" Peter cried, coming around the doorway to the landing, "Are you all right, Aunt Em?"
For a moment Mrs. Bates's eyes were wide with terror, and she seemed unable to catch her breath. Linda held her, equally silent, panting with shock. The frozen tableau was broken when Peter started down the stairs. Mrs. Bates shrank away from him, closer into Linda's arms. Then, still breathing hard, she straightened up.
"Yes," she replied faintly. "I am quite all right. How fortunate that Linda was there."
"What on earth did you trip on?" Peter asked, turning and looking closely at the stair.
"Trip?" Mrs. Bates's voice quavered and she shuddered slightly. Linda would not have noticed except that she still retained a light grip on the older woman's arm. "Oh, yes," Mrs. Bates said more steadily, "I must have tripped, mustn't I?"
But there isn't anything to trip on, Linda thought, nothing at all. She must have become dizzy for a moment. Yes, that was it. Mrs. Bates

 
< previous page page_59 next page >