Page 45 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘No, no…I don’t think I’ll be long; I just want to check on something.’
‘Something or someone?’ Corrine asked with a shrewd look.
Zoe smiled. ‘Someone.’
‘Go and check on her then,’ Corrine said. ‘If it will put your mind at rest.’
‘I’ll try to be back before the judging starts, but if I’m not, would you please apologise to them for mine and let them know I don’t plan to subject their eyes to such horrors again next year.’
Corrine smiled, and though it was warm, it was tinged with a hint of concern. Zoe hadn’t wanted to worry her, but perhaps her own vague, unknowable worries were tangible enough to spread. She grabbed her coat and headed out into the cold.
15
Zoe knocked at the front door. When there was no answer, she knocked again. This time, Emilia came to the door. It was odd to see her in less formal attire, bundled up as she was in a thick, oversized cardigan and some tracksuit bottoms. She almost didn’t look like herself.
‘Oh… Zoe… what is it?’
‘I came to see if Georgia was planning to bring something to the gingerbread contest. She’s all right, isn’t she? Only I thought she’d said she wanted to do it, and it’s about to start, so…’
‘She’s fine,’ Emilia said. ‘Tired but that’s to be expected, isn’t it?’
‘It is. So there’s nothing else? Nothing to be concerned about…?’
‘With the pregnancy? No, I don’t think so.’
‘But she’s not planning to come…Actually, I don’t suppose she’s in? I might as well ask her about it myself, hadn’t I?’
‘She’s resting.’
‘Oh. Asleep?’
Before Emilia could reply, Zoe heard noises coming from inside the house. A crashing thud, and then Georgia’s voice.With sudden alarm, she looked at Emilia. But just as she was about to rush in, thinking it must be Georgia who’d fallen, Georgia herself appeared in the hallway.
‘Em, I need you, Brett’s—Oh…hi, Zoe.’
For the first time since Zoe had reconnected with her old friend, Georgia seemed less than pleased to see her.
‘Everything all right?’ Zoe asked.
‘Yes, why shouldn’t it be?’
‘I don’t know, I just…Well, you said you were going to bake for the gingerbread house contest, and it’s today, so…’
‘I was, but I didn’t get time.’
Zoe found that hard to believe, but perhaps she was being unfair. Maybe it was a case of Georgia not having the energy – and that was understandable given how pregnant she was. Something was definitely off here, though – Zoe just knew it. And then Brett emerged from a door in the hallway, blood running down the side of his face, and Zoe gasped, causing Emilia and Georgia to turn around.
‘What happened?’ Emilia demanded.
‘I was coming to get you,’ Georgia said. ‘He fell.’
Brett was the only person who didn’t seem very concerned about his injury. Instead, he fixed a swaying stare on Zoe. ‘It’s you…’
Emilia rushed to prop him up. After sitting him on a step, she examined the cut on the side of his head that was causing all the blood.
Zoe stepped inside. ‘Can I help?’
‘No,’ Emilia said. ‘I can manage. It’s not deep.’
