Death in a Far Country by Patricia Hall Read Free Book Online

way impinged on his entrenched opinions about United, its new chairman and members of the old guard to whom he felt that he owed favours.
    She had enjoyed her lunch with Jenna, and had begun to think that she understood why she had taken up part-time residence with her mother in Broadley while they both took time to come to terms with the loss of Sam and Jenna took stock of her newly inherited position as chief shareholderof the club. The latter was not a job any of her co-directors hoped she would keep for long, Jenna had admitted with a faintly satisfied smile. She reckoned she knew of at least two groups – one of existing directors and one of people with no apparent connection to Bradfield at all – who seemed determined to buy her out if they possibly could. But if Laura was reading Jenna Heywood correctly, she guessed that sort of challenge would only make her the more determined to do her own thing, as soon as she had taken time to reflect on exactly what that might be.
    ‘What my dad was really worried about was that some outsider would buy the club and then just asset strip it,’ Jenna had said quietly, after a few glasses of wine had evidently made her more forthcoming than she had been at first. ‘The stadium site, so close to the town centre, is worth a fortune, and if you didn’t want to build a replacement you could just flog it off for redevelopment and pocket the profit. I really don’t want the bastards to do that. United was part of my life when I was a kid. Going to the match on a Saturday afternoon was the highlight of my week until I went away to uni. And I still kept it up whenever I was at home. It was one of the few things that my dad and I had in common. And I know it’s part of the lives of the fans in just the same way. It’s still a family thing here, isn’t it? Passed on from generation to generation. I know the big clubs have moved into a different financial dimension, but it’s not like that at United. So it’s struggling? I think I can fix that. And I’m certainly going to give it a try.’
    ‘But it’s not just a question of money is it?’ Laura had asked. ‘You have to keep the club in the League to survive as well, don’t you? Isn’t that a much harder nut to crack?’
    ‘You mean do I know enough about the game to make it a success?’ Jenna had come back quickly. Laura shrugged.
    ‘My father had a lot of faith in the new manager, and he signed the Nigerian player, Okigbo, who’s certainly turned out to be very good. So we’ll have to see, won’t we? Why don’t you come to the Chelsea game on Saturday and see how we get on? Be my guest. You never know, we may give the commentators a surprise. Stranger things have happened in the Cup.’
    ‘Why not? Thanks,’ Laura had said, carried along by Jenna’s obvious enthusiasm and well aware that Bradfield was in a state of hysterical excitement over the forthcoming David and Goliath clash, with gold and blue favours and pictures of the so-far unexpectedly victorious local team appearing in every shop window.
    Still considering her final paragraph, she was suddenly aware of a presence behind her shoulder and turned to find Tony Holloway unashamedly reading what she had written on her screen.
    ‘Tony, I’m not after your job, you know. This is just a profile of a woman taking on an unusual role.’
    ‘It’ll be very unusual if she runs the club into the ground,’ Holloway grumbled, still reading. ‘She rates Minelli, does she? I’m not sure I do. I think old Sam made a mistake with him.’
    ‘Well, she’s hardly going to announce that she thinks he’s a waste of space in a piece like this, is she?’ Laura countered. ‘This is pretty innocuous stuff. I’ve no doubt you’ll be the first to know when she runs into difficulties, as I’m sure she may do. She says herself it’s going to be a tough call, and from what you say it doesn’t look as if anyone’s going to give heran easy ride at the club, or in