Death at Scarlet Leaf.

Chapter 6

I woke about seven, but didn't even think about moving from my room until at least eleven, when I saw the cart containing the people leaving for the Inquest going down the drive. Rubbing my face to try and hide the obvious fact I had been crying, I poked my head out of my door to find my riding habit sitting washed and pressed at my doorstep. I smiled. Alice really was too good to me. Quickly, I put it on, did my hair neatly, grabbed my boots and hurried out into the hall.

"You're going riding again?"

I paused and stood up straighter, not turning around.

"Yes, but not for long. I'll be back to the stables by three, Lieutenant." I replied.

Newham, for that was who it was, sighed behind me.

"You're spending an awful lot of time out of the house at the moment, Miss Winter" he commented. I took a deep breath, still not turning around.

"Over the last few days" I began "I've found out an awful lot, and I've said things which, maybe, under normal circumstances, I might not have said. I guess I'm just a coward, really. I just don't want to face the music."

Leaving him to ponder over that, I waked quickly to the stables. Heliotrope was waiting eagerly for me again, and I mounted up and set off to Orton. I had made my decision.

Half an hour's trot later, I arrived at Orton. I realized I hadn't eaten, and got myself another sandwich and a little tart from the shop I had visited yesterday. I was sitting eating it when I saw Fisher coming down the road. He waved, and I smiled as he dismounted and sat next to me.

"Are you still up for, er, riding?" he asked, and I sighed.

"Honestly, I don't think I can. Fisher, I really am sorry. Thank you for asking and everything, but I'm needed at Scarlet Leaf right now. Maybe another time" I added, as I remounted Heliotrope.

"Oh, er, of course. Yes, maybe-maybe another time" Fisher stammered, a little put out.

"I really am sorry, Fisher" I repeated.

"It-it's no bother, Miss Winter. J-just a little day out, it doesn't matter" were the last words I heard him say before I rode away. That had been hard, but I was sure I was doing the right thing, I decided, as I rode back to Scarlet Leaf a slightly longer route. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the worst was over. Not yet, anyway.

I think Heliotrope was a bit annoyed that our ride hadn't lasted longer, but I had decided to spend the rest of the day in the house. After putting my first black dress on again, I took my sewing, First Class Murder and the next book in the series, Closed Doors, downstairs to the sitting room, but finding it far too hot, I relocated to the pine clearing. The shade was very cooling, and I must have been sitting there for absolutely ages. I finished First Class Murder and started on Closed Doors. This time, Sedgefield and William are among wedding guests staying at a hotel, and the bride's father is found dead in a locked guest room three floors up from his own. From just reading that, I had two methods almost immediately. I looked up for a second and sighed. If only my own case was more to do with the method than the man. It was a shame, really, or I might have had a better chance at solving it. Unfortunately, I could still only really answer three and a third of my original eleven questions, and by the looks of things I wasn't going to get any further. Still, I sighed, as I reluctantly put down my book and picked up my sewing, I wasn't exactly on any time limit. I could keep going at it until my dying day if that was to be the case. Unfortunately, I wasn't concentrating on what I was sewing, and jabbed my finger with the needle. I cursed as a little berry of blood billowed out of my fingertip, and, putting my sewing carefully down on the bench, went to find something to bandage it with. There was nobody about when I entered the hallway, and I headed up the stairs to get a handkerchief to stop the blood, which by now was slowly dripping down my finger. Yuck.