The Misplaced Affections of Charlotte Fforbes
Page 35
He was in the bathroom so long that Darrell began to wonder if he was ill. But then she heard the flush, and the sound of taps running, and soon enough, the bedroom door was reopened.
But instead of coming back to bed, Anselo stood in the doorway, staring at her.
‘What’s up?’ she said, and offered him a grin. ‘Is it my dodgy cooking?’
Anselo did not smile. He walked slowly over to the bed, and sat on the edge, beside her.
‘I have something to tell you,’ he said.
Darrell picked up the morning post from the mat. Amongst the bills was a postcard. She recognised it, because it was the third such that she’d received in as many weeks. On the front was an illustration of a cattle beast of the dairy variety, Darrell noted.
On the back, there was writing. It was quite neat, displaying what Darrell’s father would refer to as ‘able penmanship’.
Darrell read the writing. It said:
Here is a cow. It is a myth that they go ‘moo’. They, in fact, issue damp, stentorian bellows that remind me of my mother’s ancient ex-army acquaintances attempting to make conversation. I am a week into this degree and I suspect my next lesson is that sheep are not as white and fluffy as they are portrayed in all the picture books. A pox on children’s authors and their blatant falsehoods. Speaking of children, I am surrounded by thousands of them, all radiating tireless zeal and the aromas of Clearasil and cheap Scrumpy. I would prefer to be surrounded by you, but then you know that. Yours, ever, the aspiring Farmer Giles aka M.
The last two postcards Darrell had thrown away. But this one she took upstairs and slipped into her desk drawer, between the scrapbooks she used to compile ideas for her novels. Then she closed the drawer carefully, and went into Cosmo’s room to see if her son had woken from his morning nap.
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About the Author
Catherine Robertson was born in Wellington. She left for a while to work in San Francisco and Buckinghamshire, but is now back home. She lives in a house by the sea with her husband who sheds bicycle bits, a tan bitzer who sheds hair, a cat who sheds bits of whatever it’s just eaten and two sons who shed all of the above. Her first two novels were The Sweet Second Life of Darrell Kincaid, which has been published in German and Italian, and The Not So Perfect Life of Mo Lawrence, which has also been published in German.
Copyright
A BLACK SWAN BOOK published by Random House New Zealand, 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand
For more information about our titles go to www.randomhouse.co.nz
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand
Random House New Zealand is part of the Random House Group New York London Sydney Auckland Delhi Johannesburg
First published 2013
© 2013 Catherine Robertson
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN 978 1 77553 300 9
eISBN 978 1 77553 301 6
This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Design: Carla Sy
Cover illustration: Andreas Koerner/STOCK4B/Getty Images
Printed in New Zealand by Printlink
This publication is printed on paper pulp sourced from sustainably grown and managed forests, using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching, and printed with 100% vegetable-based inks.