Mai Griffin
recognised it as an excuse to banish the TV and encourage her to
stay out of the way while Maud entertained downstairs.
They had several friends in common. The bridge-club
members came to play twice every week – four tables. One of
the sessions used to be held at Sarah Grey’s before she sold up
the family home and moved in with her daughter. Norma had
loved going there. Sarah was fascinating. It was whispered that
she was a medium, a genuine psychic, and Norma was sure Maud
knew the truth even though she refused to discuss it.
Norma often tried to broach the subject with Sarah herself,
eager to discuss her own experiences, but it was difficult to
introduce the topic with others present, especially the Vicar’s
wife who took over, loudly, whenever anything touching on
religious dogma was mentioned! Elsie aired her opinions as if
they were unassailable facts and, brooking no argument,
dismissed psychic phenomena out of hand ...the vicar would not
approve.
Over coffee, during a break in play some weeks ago, Norma
had managed to tell Sarah how enthralled she was by the
supernatural, adding that she, too, could sometimes foretell
events, although she’d never actually seen or heard a ghost.
She’d hoped for an admission that Sarah could do both, but Sarah
merely smiled politely and said that such senses often took years
to develop so she need not give up hope. Maud stopped any
further discussion by commenting how often one thought of
someone then bumped into him or her in the street!
Why would Maud never concede that her predictions were
more reliable than those casual impressions experienced by most
people? It didn’t matter how often Norma confronted her with
the validity of the predictions, Maud flatly refused to believe in
her, or them, and made a point of interfering whenever she
wanted to talk to Sarah. It was sheer jealousy; Maud wanted to
keep Sarah to herself. Norma determined that today would be
different. Somehow she would contrive to have a private word
with Sarah. As she came to this decision the doorbell chimed ...it
was later than she thought!
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