Previews A Poisonous Echo by Mai Griffin | Page 14

A Poisonous Echo
been there all night! He smiled, lowering his morning
paper, “Forgot something did you, Miss Hamilton?” So, he
had heard her after all!
“Oh, no... I thought so, but suddenly remembered it’s in
my weekend bag,” she laughed. “It would never do to go
to a wedding and forget the gift would it.” Ned eyed her
up and down appreciatively.
“You certainly look smashing miss if you’ll excuse the
liberty saying so. A wedding is it? Bit early though! You
got far to travel?”
It was just what she wanted – the opportunity to tell
him her plans: how she would catch up on her beauty
sleep on the train to Oxford. Nobody would expect her to
do what she really intended, take the inter-city express to
Reading with a ticket already tucked safely in her wallet...
later, after her mission was completed, she would go on
to Oxford. Ned called a taxi for her with more flattering
asides about putting the bride’s nose out of joint and she
was at last on her way – no turning back, nor indeed any
desire to do so. Elation was her only emotion.
Oblivious to the heavier traffic as they neared the
centre of town and the streets that would soon be jammed
with shoppers, commuters and tourists, Joyce day-
dreamed …envisioning herself – sophisticated, noticeable
– making conversation with the ticket-office clerk so that
he would be sure to remember her, the vision in blue,
travelling to Oxford.
She then visualised herself, as she would emerge from
the cloakroom fifteen minutes later! She planned to be in
there, out of sight, when the attendants changed shift; it
was the first critical stage. The drab, unremarkable figure
hurrying to catch a train was unlikely to be remembered
by anyone. It didn’t matter a jot if she wasn’t seen on the
Oxford route; thousands of passengers travelled
anonymously so why should anyone be asked about her
anyway?
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