慣hirteen more today.?
慣hat抯 still not that many though, is it??
慣here抣l be more,?says Jo, with what Nelson thinks of as ghoulish relish.
慖t抯 just flu though, isn抰 it??
慞eople die of flu,?said Jo. 慠emember the Spanish flu??
慖抦 not that old.?He knows Jo wants him to retire but this is ridiculous. Wasn抰 the Spanish flu just after the First World War?
慖 think we ought to be prepared,?says Jo. 慖抦 calling a meeting on Monday.?
Jo loves meetings. Nelson bets that she抣l conduct this one in a full hazmat suit, complete with Darth Vader mask. He thinks she抯 overreacting but he can抰 really say so.
慖抣l be there,?he says.
慉nd we should tell everyone to carry hand sanitiser with them. I抳e ordered extra.?
Hand sanitiser. Jesus wept.
慖抳e been thinking about the Gaywood suicide,?he says. 慡omething抯 not quite right about it.?He explains about the microwave meal.
慚aybe she just forgot to eat,?says Jo. 慖 often do.?
One of the many differences between them.
慡o I think we抳e got enough ingredients to make our own bread for several weeks. We can grow potatoes, leeks and carrots in the garden. I wonder if we should get some hens??
Judy looks at the jars of flour and yeast in the pantry. When they bought the cottage, she hadn抰 even known what the little room off the kitchen was for. But Cathbad, she realises, was always secretly prepared for the apocalypse.
慏o you really think it抣l come to that??she says. 慡hops running out of things? There have only been a couple of cases in the UK.?
慞eople always panic about food,?says Cathbad. 慒ood and loo paper.?They get their lavatory paper specially delivered from an ethically sourced company. Judy approves in principle but she wishes the boxes weren抰 labelled 慦ho Gives A Crap??
慉re you panicking??she asks.
慛o,?says Cathbad. 態ut I like to be prepared.?And he does look quite happy, humming under his breath as he sorts jars of pasta. But all the same, despite the everyday noises of Michael playing the piano, Miranda watching TV and Thing, their bull terrier, whining gently from the hallway, Judy feels slightly jolted. Could this coronavirus thing be more serious than everyone thinks? She抯 not a catastrophist but she does trust Cathbad抯 instincts.
慡uper Jo has called a meeting for Monday,?she says.
慓ood for Jo,?says Cathbad. 慦hat does Nelson say??
慔e says,?Judy consults her phone. 憮Jesus wept. What a lot of fuss about nothing.敀
慖抦 afraid Nelson is wrong this time,?says Cathbad. 慖抦 going to put a circle of protection around the house.?
慣hings must be serious,?says Judy. She means it lightly but Cathbad says, almost to himself, 慖 just hope it抣l be enough.?
Chapter 3
Cathy has to go home for her low-calorie meal, but Jack offers to stay and babysit Kate while Ruth is out. 慦e抣l get fish and chips,?he says. Kate looks delighted.
慣hank you,?says Ruth. 慖抣l drive you home when I get back.?It抯 a good excuse not to drink.
Alison says they抮e meeting in a pub in Blackheath. 慣here抣l be a few people from our year. Paul Edwards. Dave Rutherford. Kelly Prentis. Kelly Sutherland as was.?
慖s Fatima coming??
慡he said she抎 try but I think it抯 hard. With work and the kids.?
Fatima was the third of their triumvirate at school. Ruth vaguely recognises the male names but she definitely remembers Kelly Sutherland, who was the acknowledged queen of their year, cool and fashionable with a boyfriend who waited for her outside the school gates on a motorbike. Ruth doesn抰 think they ever exchanged more than two words together. Also, she still can抰 understand why women change their names when they get married.