Beware the Grey Lady.
Chapter 17
Beware the Grey Lady. Ruth thinks about those words the next morning when she watches Zoe driving off to work, dressed in blue scrubs. She and Kate are on their own now, with only Flint for protection. Ruth waves from the window, remembering her parents?next-door neighbour, Mrs Grantham, who was housebound by some mysterious illness. Mrs Grantham was always at the window when Ruth returned from school. 慡he likes to see you,?Ruth抯 mother used to say, and Ruth would always wave cheerfully before dismissing the lonely figure from her mind. After only a day of lockdown, Ruth is turning into Mrs Grantham.
Ruth is pathetically grateful when the postman knocks at the door with a delivery. It抯 an Amazon parcel from Simon. Ruth usually tries to avoid ordering from the online retailer, preferring to shop at local bookshops, but there is something very comforting about being sent a book. It shows that her brother is thinking about her. Maybe it抯 a crime novel, something by Ian Rankin or Val McDermid? Fictional murder is oddly soothing in troubled times. Ruth tears open the cardboard. Government Conspiracies and How to Spot Them. Hmmm.
Kate is having a Zoom lesson. Ruth admires the way that the Year 6 teacher, Mrs Obuya, manages to make grammar both interesting and entertaining. Ruth herself, despite having a PhD, has no idea what a 慺ronted adverbial phrase?is. But online lessons mean that Kate needs the laptop, so Ruth can抰 do any of her own work. Ruth抯 scheduled lectures take priority, of course, but she doesn抰 want Kate to miss any face-to-face teaching, especially when these sessions are so rare. Maybe she should buy another laptop but she doesn抰 like the thought of Kate having her own computer. Besides, Ruth has already felt the disastrous pull of online shopping. PayPal doesn抰 seem like real money, but she has to be careful. She is lucky to be in full-time employment and not furloughed but who knows what the future holds for unfashionable universities teaching unfashionable subjects?
Ruth doesn抰 like using her phone for confidential university business, so her options seem to be reading Simon抯 book about faked moon landings, doing some housework or continuing her research into the history of the house. She goes into the garden to call Janet.
慖 was just about to send you an email,?says Janet. 慣his is all a bit scary, isn抰 it??
慖t doesn抰 seem real,?says Ruth. 慦ords like pandemic and lockdown belong in a science fiction novel.?
慜r a history book,?says Janet. 慖 keep thinking how it must have felt during the plague in Norwich. There were people called 搆eepers? appointed to make sure residents stayed in their houses. They used to carry red wands, about a metre long, to encourage others to keep their distance. There were 搘atchers?too.?
慡ocial distancing,?says Ruth. She wants to stop Janet before she goes any deeper into the fourteenth century. 慖抳e been thinking of doing some research into my house. That抯 why I sent you the email.?
慦hat抯 brought this on??says Janet.
慖 found a picture of the cottages in the sixties,?says Ruth. 慖t made me think.?
慞ictures are very important artefacts,?says Janet. 慪ou live on New Road, don抰 you??
慪es.?
慖抳e got a great picture of those cottages from the nineteen hundreds. I抣l email it. Otherwise it抯 best to work backwards in time. Look at street directories and electoral registers. The 1939 register is particularly good because there wasn抰 one during the war. Also try searching via address in newspaper archives. I抣l send a link.?
慣hanks so much,?says Ruth.
慛o problem. I抦 at a bit of a loose end. There抯 no teaching work and all the tourist attractions have closed. And, to cap it all, I抦 having to move house.?
慉re you??says Ruth. 慣hat sounds very stressful.?
慚y lease is up,?says Janet. 慉nd my landlord is being rather intransigent. But I抦 sure I抣l find somewhere.?
Ruth thinks that her friend is being very resilient. She抎 hate to move house in the middle of a pandemic. It makes her feel very grateful for her four walls, whatever mysteries they are hiding.