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thought occurred to me, and so I walked on up the darkly dripping drive and
discovered Sister Bernadette at the drive entrance, sitting on a section of
broken wall beside the gates, looking out over the semicircle of weed-covered
tarmac, holding a furled umbrella.
*
Sister Bernadette was wrapped up well but still looked cold. She was gazing
the other way, at the road, as
I approached.
'Sister Bernadette,' I said.
She jumped up, snagging the umbrella in overhead branches. 'Oh! Is. I
didn't-' she said, sounding flustered. She looked up, then pulled down on the
brolly, creating her own tiny but drenching rainstorm as the leaves and
branches above dropped their load of moisture on her. She hauled again, but
the entangled brolly was stuck fast and she tore its fabric. 'Oh! Bugger!'
she said, then looked horrified. 'Oh, pardon.' She blushed, pushing a hand
through her damp, disturbed red hair and then pulling again at the umbrella.
'Let me help you with that,' I said, and unhooked the offending implement from
the branches.
She brushed some water off her face and head and nodded to me as she folded
the umbrella. 'Thank you,'
she said. She looked around. 'Wet, isn't it?'
'A bit showery,' I agreed. I looked at the sky. 'Seems to be going off now.'
I sat down on the broken wall. She looked as though she was going to sit down
too for a moment, but then didn't.
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all
She took a deep breath, and moved her shoulders as though they were tired,
staring down at me with a broad, false smile. 'Are you going for a walk?' she
asked.
I shrugged. 'Just wandering,' I said, and sat back, drawing one leg up until I
could wedge my boot heel on the rock. Bernadette looked alarmed.
'Oh, I see,' she said.
'And you?' I asked.
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'I'm waiting for the delivery van which is bringing the fireworks for the
Festival,' she said quickly.
'Ah. I see.' I rested my back against the stones behind me. 'I'll give you a
hand.'
'Oh, no!' she said, her voice high with stress but a smile still fixed on her
face. 'No; no need for that,' she said, and then laughed. 'No; the van might
be a long time yet; I'd rather do it myself, really I would.' She nodded
emphatically, her rosy face shining with moisture. 'Actually, truth be told,
Is, I'm quite enjoying the feeling of being alone. Gives you time to think.
Gives you time to contemplate. Things. It does.'
'Oh,' I said, pleasantly. 'Would you rather I left?'
'Ah, Jesus, I'm - pardon me - I'm not saying that, Isis.'
'Good,' I smiled. 'So; Sister Bernadette. How have you been, anyway?'
'What?' she said, glancing wildly at the road as a truck went past heading
west, and then staring back at me. 'Ah, sorry?'
'I was just asking you how you were.'
'Ah, fine. And yourself?'
'Well,' I said, crossing my arms. 'I was fine, too, really, until yesterday.
Everything seemed to be going well, apart from the problem of finding Cousin
Morag& ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself& ' I said, smiling.
Bernadette's smile became even broader and even shallower than it had been.
'Ah,' she said. 'But you don't want to be bothering yourself telling-'
'& I got down to Edinburgh without any problems,' I said. 'The inner-tube
worked very well, as I was telling Brother Indra earlier. The worst bit of
the river journey was probably going down the weir, you
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all know; the bit where the river becomes tidal& ' I said, settling back even
more comfortably.
I took my time. Bernadette stood looking at me with a smile so broad and
stretched you could see right through it to the terror underneath, while her
wide, round eyes moved desperately around like a pair of caged animals seeking
escape. The sound of a larger vehicle approaching on the road brought an even
tauter look to her face, and produced a sort of tic in her head as she tried
to look at me and watch the road at the same time, while her gaze flicked back
and forth with impressive speed, like somebody desperately trying to signal No
with their eyes.
After a while, however, I think a degree of resignation crept in; a glazed
expression settled over Sister
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