Page 47 of All Wrapped Up
‘As long as you don’t mind?’ I said to Kay, feeling a little uncertain about leaving Pixie off the lead in a public building.
‘Not at all,’ smiled Kay. ‘And don’t worry. I won’t let her out of my sight. Hayley and Molly are upstairs. I thought it would be easier for you to talk in the relative peace up there.’
‘Thanks, Kay,’ said Ash, moving off and with a quick glance at Pixie, who hadn’t noticed me stepping away, I followed on behind.
‘Do you know Molly?’ I asked him as we climbed the stairs. ‘Hayley mentioned her at the meeting in the pub, but I don’t think she was there. Is she a member of the Connelly family?’
‘She is.’ Ash nodded. ‘And she’s also the Wynthorpe witch.’
I thought I must have misheard him, but there was no opportunity to check as we were then at the top of the stairsand I could see Hayley at the far side of the empty, open space with a laptop, sketchbook and lots of papers spread out on a large table.
‘Hey, you two,’ she smiled, when she looked up and saw us.
‘I hope we haven’t kept you waiting,’ I apologised, because she looked as if she’d been there a while.
‘Not at all,’ she said. ‘I was early. Molly decided to come in with me, so we arrived a while ago. You know she’s not a fan of indoor crowds and the library has a tendency to get busy.’
I didn’t know that, of course, but it didn’t seem to be a surprise to Ash.
‘And noisy, too,’ he laughed, with a nod back to the stairs.
‘Quite.’ Hayley grinned. ‘It can be too much for her.’
‘But it’s not been too hectic this morning,’ said a soft voice behind me and I jumped. ‘Though there’s certainly a lot of energy coming out of the children’s area now.’
I quickly turned around and found a very beautiful woman, wearing a dark green cloak and with an abundance of auburn hair looking right at me. She was the ultimate pre-Raphaelite muse and I had absolutely no idea where she’d sprung from because I hadn’t seen her when we walked into the space which was completely open.
‘I wish you wouldn’t do that,’ Ash puffed, with a hand on his chest.
‘Do what?’ she said, still looking at me.
‘Manifest like that,’ he complained. ‘You almost scared me to death.’
Molly’s eyes twinkled as she switched her attention to him.
‘What a joy it would be if I could appear at will,’ she smiled. ‘If I could do that, I wouldn’t have to endure Hayley’s driving.’
‘Hey!’ Hayley objected and Ash laughed.
Molly returned her gaze to mine. I found it a little disconcerting.
‘So,’ she nodded. ‘You’re Clemmie.’
‘Yes, sorry,’ said Hayley, with a wave of her hand. ‘Clemmie, Molly. Molly, Clemmie.’
‘Hello,’ I said, feeling scrutinised and, truth be told, a little vulnerable. ‘Hi.’
‘Hello,’ Molly responded. ‘I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.’
‘As soon as I told her that you’d said Wynthorpe not being involved in the festival this year wasmeant to be,’ Hayley told me, putting air quotes around the comment, ‘her ears pricked right up.’
‘It’s always a joy to come across someone else who understands that everything in life is preordained and meant to be,’ Molly wistfully said.
Given what had occurred in my life, I wasn’t sure I did understand that, but without inferring that I’d experienced something to make me question, even resent, the idea, where enduring the traumatic bits were concerned anyway, I couldn’t express it, so kept quiet.
‘Right,’ said Hayley, who was obviously used to her friend saying that sort of thing and took it in her stride. ‘Come and tell me what you think of this lot, Clemmie.’
I went to move, but Molly stopped me by stepping close and lightly laying a hand on my arm.
