Beyond the Sunset by Anna Jacobs Page B

classes with Leo by his side every minute? Or get into conversation with people? He’d seen how they avoided Leo, especially the women.
    This was not going to be an easy journey.
    After breakfast Alice asked Dot to sit with her at the dining table. ‘We need to go through the accounts for the food you’ve received.’
    The young maid looked at her in surprise. ‘But I don’t deal with the money, miss. It’s Mr Prebble you need to speak to.’
    ‘I just want to check a few things, so that I can change the order from now on.’
    Dot’s face cleared. ‘Oh. I see, miss.’ She took the chair next to Alice.
    She was soon frowning as she read painstakingly through the lists, one finger tracing each word as she sounded it out. ‘I think these are someone else’s accounts, miss. I’ve never had no biscuits, nor no ham neither. Not that I’m complaining. I’ve et well enough. And the weights are different. I don’t get that much flour and sugar.’
    ‘Tell me exactly which items are different.’
    Dot went through it again, saying how much she received each week, and Alice noted the amounts down.
    ‘Perhaps these aren’t the right lists, miss?’
    ‘I’ll check with the lawyer. Don’t mention it to Prebble in case you’re right. We don’t want to upset him over a simple mistake, do we?’
    ‘No, we don’t, miss. He can be a bit sharp-like sometimes.’
    ‘Can he? Well, he’d better not get sharp with me. Now, please carry on with your work, Dot. I have to go out for a while. I’ll bring back something for dinner.’
    ‘Not from the shop?’
    ‘There’s a market in town today, isn’t there? Some things will be cheaper there, and certainly fresher.’
    ‘Ye-es. But Mr Prebble won’t be best pleased. He says the shop’s paying my wages, so it’s only fair for me to buy everything from them. He sends out to the greengrocer’s if I want fruit and vegetables. I mostly don’t bother.’
    ‘Just tell him I’ve taken over dealing with food from now on, and I like to eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, the fresher the better.’ She fixed Dot with a firm glance, the one she’d used to quell unruly pupils.
    ‘Very well, miss.’
    She sounded so relieved that Alice stared at her. ‘Are you afraid of him?’
    Dot wriggled. ‘Not afraid, exactly. But I wouldn’t like to upset him.’
    ‘From now on, you should be more concerned about upsetting me than Prebble. But I hope you won’t be afraid of me.’
    ‘No, miss. I was afraid of Mrs Blake sometimes when she acted strange, but I like working for you, because you talk to me and tell me things and I know where I stand. It got a bit lonely when I was here on my own and I kept thinking I heard noises downstairs at night. It was just my imagination, though, because nothing was ever taken.’ Dot beamed at her as she stood up. ‘I’ll do the living room while you’re out, shall I?’
    What a nice willing girl she was, Alice thought as she went to put on her bonnet. She walked slowly along the main street to the lawyer’s rooms with the accounts in her shopping basket, glad the storm had blown over. There was no warmth in the January sun, but its cheerful brightness still made you feel better.
    Mr Dawson showed her straight in to see Mr Featherworth and stayed with them. When Alice explained what she’d found out, the lawyer made little distressed sounds and didn’t seem to know what to do.
    The clerk bent over the lists. ‘Not a lot taken each week, but it’ll mount up. And if Miss Blair hadn’t noticed anything, no one would be any the wiser.’
    ‘Perhaps there’s some explanation?’
    Ralph fixed his employer with a stern gaze. ‘If there is, sir, we need to hear it.’
    As Alice walked along to the market, she hoped Prebble would be dismissed. She didn’t like the thought that he had a key to the whole building, which meant he had easy access to where she was living. She’d have felt better if there was a door that locked between the living