慉 woman??says Eileen.
慪es, from the pelvic bones I think the skeleton is female. Also, from the shape of the skull. I抳e sent off for DNA testing but I抦 not hopeful given the age of the bones. I抣l send you the isotope results though, if you抮e interested.?
Eileen looks pleased by this and Ruth manages to bring the conversation to an end. She抯 almost late for her meeting. At the door she thinks to ask Eileen the name of her bearded classmate.
慜h, that抯 Joe McMahon,?says Eileen. 慔e was the one who told me about the plague pits.?
Ruth does not know why this information makes her feel uneasy.
Judy and Tanya drive straight to a chip shop. Tanya will do an extra circuit of the gym tonight to compensate. Eating the comforting carbs in the fug of the car, Tanya says, 慣ina Prentice seemed more of a friend to Avril than her next-door neighbour was.?
慪ou don抰 always know your neighbours well,?says Judy. 慖 hardly ever talk to mine, though Cathbad does, of course. I抎 be hard put to tell you their names.?
慚y neighbour keeps referring to Petra as my flatmate,?says Tanya. 慔owever many times I say 搘ife?she still does it. Mind you, 搘ife?is a terrible word.?
慖t really is,?says Judy. 慖t抯 one reason why Cathbad and I haven抰 got married. I was a wife once. Never again.?
慏o you think Avril Flowers killed herself??says Tanya, licking salt off her fingers. Forbidden foods really are delicious.
慖 don抰 know,?says Judy. 慡uicide does sometimes seem to come out of the blue like that. I抳e been reading up on it. But there are some similarities that bother me. Avril went to church. Like Samantha Wilson. She worked in a library. Like Samantha Wilson.?
慙ots of old people go to church,?says Tanya. 慉nd to the library.?
慖f there抯 a pandemic, churches and libraries will shut,?says Judy. 慦hat will old people do then??
慣here won抰 be a pandemic,?says Tanya. 慖t抯 just the flu. People should take vitamin C tablets and stop complaining.?
Chapter 11
Ruth collects Kate from Sandra, the childminder who has looked after her since she was a baby, and drives home. Kate is chattering about the Year 6 trip （慦e抳e got to choose who we want in our cabin. Four people have chosen me already. I抣l need new leggings? but Ruth is worrying. The worries keep pace with the car as they cross the Saltmarsh, rather as the clouds chase across the flat marshland, turning the grass indigo blue and purple. Ruth抯 meeting on Pandemic Precautions was far from reassuring, partly because the universities have had no guidance from the government. Should they provide lessons online? But how would that work, in practice? Would all the students be confined to their rooms, only communicating electronically? That抯 not the university experience that Ruth wants for them. And what about staff, already worried about vulnerable family members and their own health?
慙ook, Mum. There抯 that lady,?says Kate.
Zoe is standing in her garden, leaning on a rake. There抯 no barrier between the two front gardens and Ruth抯 is full of bindweed and startlingly tall yellow ragwort. The third house in the row is owned by Sammy and Ed, known to Ruth as 憈he weekenders? who use it as a holiday home, though they抳e been visiting less regularly since their children grew up. They have concreted over the space at the front of their house, which they need because everyone in the family seems to own a monster jeep. The weekenders have also built an extension and landscaped the back garden. Ruth always feels that their cottage now looks embarrassed to be joined to hers. She thinks back to her mother抯 photograph. The gardens had been neat and uniform then, behind their box hedge. She really must do some research into the history of the houses.
慏oing some gardening??asks Ruth, as they get out of their car. It抯 an inane question really but she抯 still a little shy with Zoe. They had bonded over Lean Zone but Ruth hasn抰 told Zoe that she won抰 be going to any more meetings.
慖抦 just trying to clear some weeds,?says Zoe. 慖t would be nice to have some old-fashioned cottage plants here.?