The Silent Touch of Shadows by Christina Courtenay Read Free Book Online

outside.
    The landlord puffed out his chest in indignation, his beetle brows almost meeting in the middle as he fixed her with a malevolent look. ‘There’s nothing wrong with the heating, Ms Grantham, it’s working perfectly downstairs. If you’ve broken any radiators, it’s up to you to have them seen to.’
    ‘But   …’
    ‘And if you don’t like it here, you’re welcome to leave at any time. In fact, that’s what I came to say. I want you gone by next week because my son needs a place to kip for a while. You’re nothing but trouble anyhow. You and that noisy kid of yours.’
    ‘What? You can’t do that. The contract said we have rented this flat until the end of this month. If you wanted to change it you’d have to give one month’s notice in writing.’
    ‘Well maybe I did write to you. Perhaps the letter got lost?’ He smirked, looking pleased with himself for coming up with that little lie. ‘I’ll give you a copy.’
    Melissa narrowed her eyes at him, anger finally getting the better of her. ‘Now you listen to me, Mr Donne. I’ll be very happy to leave this disgusting hovel, but I’m not going for another three weeks and if you try anything, I’ll get on to my solicitor.’ She slammed the door in his face, restraining the urge to shove the self-important little man down the stairs.
    ‘The nerve of the man!’ Righteous indignation sustained her as far as the kitchen, then despair hit her with full force. ‘Shit, shit, shit   …’ She banged a fist into the nearest cupboard door, but regretted it the instant pain streaked up her arm. She sank onto one of the two rickety bar stools which served as kitchen chairs and slumped over the counter, her head cradled on top of her arms. What am I going to do?
    This was the third flat she’d rented in two years and something always seemed to go wrong. It was difficult to find properties within walking distance of Jolie’s school. She didn’t have much hope of finding another, especially at such short notice. In fact, it would be downright impossible. If they were staying in London, they needed to be close enough so that Jolie could walk back on her own on the days Melissa worked away from home.
    But were they staying in London? Melissa still couldn’t make up her mind.
    Heaving a sigh, she stared out of the grimy window, which overlooked a railway track and the back of a windowless building. Filthy bricks, covered with graffiti, stretched as far as the eye could see; a thoroughly depressing sight and one she definitely wouldn’t miss. She thought she must be mad to hesitate for even a fraction of a second, but she still felt there was something strange about her great-aunt’s sudden offer. Not to mention her timely appearance in Melissa’s life. It was simply too good to be true.
    A train rumbled by, causing the house to shake as if in an earthquake, but she barely noticed any longer. Instead she wondered idly how the graffiti-artists managed to get up so high to do their paintings. Surely it wasn’t possible to bring a ladder onto a busy railway and paint away without anyone noticing?
    Trying her best to put all thoughts of her problems firmly out of her mind for the moment, she thought that now she was awake, she might as well stay up and get on with some work. She’d had a breakthrough on one of the family trees yesterday and needed to write up her notes. First things first, though. She went to ask Jolie what she’d like for breakfast.
    ‘Shh, I’ll miss the end of the programme,’ was the reply.
    Melissa opened her mouth to tell Jolie off for being so rude, then decided it wasn’t worth the effort. She didn’t want to start the weekend on bad terms and lately Jolie had become very difficult and moody, even more so since the visit to Ashleigh. Melissa supposed it was the onset of puberty, but it was definitely another thing she could do without right now. ‘Fine, get your own breakfast then,’ was all she said.
    She headed back