Terrible Tide Read Online Free

won’t be many people out there staring at me.” She tried to laugh.
    Claudine nodded. “That’s true. Nobody will see you but Annie and Bert Walker, unless Earl Stoodley chooses to barge in and throw his weight around. Bert does the chores every night, but he never goes beyond the kitchen. Nobody does. You remember that.”
    “Not even the doctor?”
    “We don’t bother the doctor. What’s the use? All right then, Holly. I’ll phone up and tell Annie you’re coming. You go pack your belongings. And I presume you understand once you’re there, you stay. Annie needs a person who’s going to be around when she’s needed, not running back and forth to the village every time she takes the notion.”
    “I couldn’t run if I wanted to,” Holly snapped back. “Shall I take my own towels and bedding, or what?”
    At that, Claudine managed a bleak smile. I expect there’s linen at Cliff House the moths haven’t eaten yet. You’re not going to any resort hotel, you know. Cliff House was a beautiful place in its day, but it’s pretty rundown now. It’s still filled with beautiful things, though, which is why we have to be so particular about no visitors. Even relatives,” she added, with a tight-lipped glance at Fan.
    Fan shrugged. “Take it easy, Claudine. I know better than to gate-crash. Bert tells me that old housekeeper keeps Cliff House locked up like a fortress.”
    “She’d better. Don’t you ever forget, Holly. Nobody sets foot in that house except the fire brigade, God forbid, if they should ever be needed. You can’t keep Earl Stoodley out because he’s the other trustee, but don’t let him near Mrs. Parlett. He’s itching for her to die so he can start his stupid museum and get his fat face in the papers. I wouldn’t put it past him to accidentally drop a pillow over her face, or open the windows in the hope she’d catch pneumonia. And if that’s defamation of character, I couldn’t care less. You can start tomorrow morning.”
    She glanced at the door. The Howes took the hint. Once outside, Holly burst into half-hysterical giggles.
    “What have I got myself into? Is she always like that?”
    “Pretty much,” said Fan. “Did you notice how she got in a dig at me for not showing up at the Women’s Circle? I went a few times when I first came up here, but I soon saw it wasn’t going to help Roger any, so now I don’t bother.”
    Holly had other things to think of than the Women’s Circle. “What did she mean about that Earl Stoodley and his museum?”
    “Mrs. Parlett’s willed Cliff House to the town after she goes. Earl Stoodley’s got this bee in his bonnet about turning it into one of those historic homes people pay to see. He claims that’ll attract more tourists to Jugtown and be good for business. I must say it sounds reasonable to me.”
    “But would anybody actually come to see the place? Jugtown’s awfully off the beaten path.”
    “Stoodley claims the house is full of genuine antiques. Maybe you can sneak me in for a peek on Annie’s day off.”
    Fan pretended to be joking, but Holly could see sticky times coming. Having seen what Fan could do to unguarded premises, she wasn’t about to risk turning her sister-in-law loose at Cliff House. She changed the subject.
    “Why’s Mrs. Parlett leaving Cliff House to the town instead of to Claudine and her brother?”
    “Because they’ve had a big fight over something or other. Somebody at the Women’s Circle told me Claudine vowed never to darken the door again as long as Mrs. Parlett was alive. From what she said just now, I guess she meant it.”
    “So instead she sits down here and frets herself into a state because she can’t go to see Mrs. Parlett. That makes sense!”
    “Don’t kid yourself. Why should Claudine fret about what happens to Mrs. Parlett? She’s not going to get anything out of her.”
    But she did care. Fan couldn’t have noticed how close the antique dealer had come to breaking down. Fan