Murder in the English Department Read Online Free

in Northanger Abbey , recommended by her aunt. Nan sat on the edge of the bed, with the back of her hand to Lisa’s forehead, as she had learned from mothers in the movies.
    â€˜Mighty suspicious,’ Nan said, ‘you coming down with Bubonic Plague on Christmas day.’
    â€˜Don’t I know it,’ laughed Lisa. ‘Right after Mass, right before all the big cooking. Mom said, “Do you suppose it’s that Feminist Disease again?”’
    â€˜Feminist Disease?’ asked Nan.
    â€˜Well, you know, any time I don’t want to do housework or I ask one of the boys to share chores, Mom says, “Oh, oh, you’ve caught the Feminist Disease”.’
    Nan frowned. She had promised herself not to fight with Shirley today.
    â€˜It would never occur to her to ask Dad to help,’ said Lisa, with a mixture of affection and exasperation. ‘If there’s one reason I’ll never be a housewife, it’s the unfair domestic stuff. Of course there’s more than one reason.’
    Nan was annoyed at Lisa’s tone, although she agreed with her politics. She thought about the different choices of this new generation, about the questions she and Shirley never asked. Lisa had the clarity of their hindsight, as if she stood on their shoulders, one foot on Shirley’s and one foot on Nan’s, seeing beyond Hayward, beyond their lives to her own. But Nan didn’t resent this inheritance. If Lisa had more choices, she also had more decisions. She still had the strain of pulling away. Nan saw this tension in the taut line of her niece’s mouth.
    She took Lisa’s hand and said, ‘So if it isn’t the Bubonic Plague or the Feminist Disease, what’s happening, kid?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ said Lisa with uncharacteristic nervousness. ‘All of a sudden I felt woozy and dizzy. Nauseous. I just needed to lie down for a bit. I’m sure I’ll be fine for dinner.’
    â€˜Oooops,’ gulped Nan, ‘that reminds me, I ought to report for duty. Your mother will think I’m stuck in line at White Front or somewhere.’
    A rap sounded on the door. Nan and Lisa exchanged guilty glances.
    â€˜Come on, Mom,’ said Lisa.
    â€˜Ah, I knew I’d find you two conspiring,’ said Shirley. She hugged Nan and kissed Lisa on the forehead. A smile broadened Shirley’s wide face. When she was a girl, the kids used to tease Shirley about her buck teeth, saying that she looked like Milton Berle. As she got older and rounder, the likeness was confirmed. Shirley was as broad and settled as Nan was wiry and ‘hyper’. The only thing which marked them as sisters here was their concern for this golden child-woman in the bed. In fact, Lisa had visibly revived during the last minutes with Nan.
    â€˜Listen baby,’ Nan kissed her sister. ‘Sorry I’m late. The traffic was backed up between Gemco and the Superway something awful. Season’s Cheer and all that. I hope I haven’t absolutely charred the turkey.’
    â€˜No, don’t fret, I counted on a little leeway.’
    Of course, Nan thought, Shirley wasn’t going to scold her. Why was she so paranoid about her sister’s criticism. They hadn’t had a fight in six months. Nan knew her former therapist Annie would say that Shirley repressed her sibling rivalry. Maybe so. But Nan suspected that her sister was simply a nicer person.
    â€˜With that special warmer in the new oven,’ Shirley was saying, ‘it’s no bother at all.’
    She turned with a serious frown to Lisa. ‘I wonder if we could ask the Fairy Princess to join us for some eggnog before Christmas dinner?’
    Nan listened to the confused irritation in Shirley’s tease and watched the guilt cross Lisa’s tired face.
    â€˜Well, Mom …’
    â€˜I don’t think the child should,’ said Nan before she could remember not to interfere. Child,