Death Is in the Air by Kate Kingsbury Read Free Book Online

Poor Clay. Doesn’t anyone know what happened to him?”
    Sam shrugged. “I saw him bail out. If he’s lucky he got picked up by the Resistance. If not, he’ll spend the rest of the war in a POW camp.”
    Tears clouded her eyes, and she blinked them back. “I’ll tell Marlene. She’ll be so sad. She really liked him.”
    “Yeah. He was a nice guy.”
    In spite of the warmth from the sun, her insides felt like they’d been dipped in ice. It could be Sam the nexttime. She couldn’t bear to think of him locked up in a prison camp. “Are you going up today?”
    “Probably.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better get going.” His gaze shifted to her face again. “Wanna meet me at the pub tonight?”
    She nodded eagerly. “I’ll try. About eight o’clock?”
    “If I can make it.”
    He’d said the words casually enough, but she knew what they meant. What he really meant was if I come back.
    Just then a shrill voice screeched from behind her, “Polly? What in the world are you doing?”
    “I’ll see you then,” Polly said hurriedly and waved her hand before spinning around.
    Violet marched toward her with a grim look on her pinched face, Polly’s discarded apron flapping in her hand.
    Polly held her breath until she heard the crunch of Sam’s footsteps gradually taper off in the distance. Violet stood waiting a few feet away, with arms crossed and a scowl as dark as thunderclouds.
    “I came out to see what all the noise was about,” Polly said, darting past the birdlike woman to the door.
    “Oh? And did your apron just happen to fall off on the way out?” The housekeeper brandished the white cloth in her face. “And how did your skirt get all bunched up like that? Your knees are showing. Blinking disgraceful, that’s what I call it.”
    “Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Polly tugged at her skirt, then snatched the offending article of clothing from Violet’s skinny hand. “I was just being polite, that’s all.”
    “Hmmph!” Violet snorted. “If you ask me, there’s entirely too much of this sort of thing going on. I knew there’d be trouble if them Yanks moved in, that I did. I warned Lady Elizabeth, but she wouldn’t listen to me, oh, no.”
    Polly tugged at the strings of her apron and tied themsecurely around her waist. “If you ask me, it’s the nosy old biddies around here what causes all the trouble.”
    “Here! Mind your tongue, my girl, or I’ll have you thrown out on your ear, so help me I will.”
    “Yeah? And who do you think will come up here and clean this house for Lady Liza then? No one, that’s who. There ain’t anyone in Sitting Marsh who’d do what I do, and that’s a fact.”
    “Really.” Violet stomped past her into the shadowed hallway. “Well, there are a good few women in North Horsham who would be only too glad to have a job like this. Especially when they get all that free time and their food thrown in.”
    “There’s not enough money in it to pay their bus fare.” Confident of her position, Polly picked up her bucket and turned her back on Violet. “So you’d better be nice to me, or I’ll leave and go work in the factory. So there.”
    “Polly.”
    She was tempted to ignore Violet’s command, but something in the older woman’s tone turned her head. “What?”
    “I’ve got something to tell you. Your sister called here this morning.”
    Alarmed, Polly turned all the way around. “Marlene? She’s all right, isn’t she? What did she call for? Is it Ma? It’s not Dad, is it?” Fear made her voice crack. “Oh, Gawd, don’t tell me it’s Dad!”
    “There’s nothing wrong with any of your family as far as I know,” Violet said crisply. “There is something you should know, though. One of the local land girls was found murdered in the woods this morning. Your sister called to warn you, and Lady Elizabeth wanted me to tell you she’ll make some arrangements to get you a lift home this evening, so you don’t have to ride