Page 6 of Match Point in Crumbleton
CHAPTER 3
CATH
Well, she had to admit it—her new commute beat her old one hands down. Cath clutched her half-drunk mug of Earl Grey as she ambled up the high street, taking deep breaths of the fresh, early-morning air.
And boy, was it early, even for her!
Cath was used to hopping out of bed the moment she woke up—mainly because her old, terraced house had been on one side of the capital and the imposing white cube of the gallery had been on the other. Early mornings had been a necessary evil if she wanted to get to work on time.
Here, though? Well, she had a feeling they might become a bit of a joy instead, especially if the colours dancing at the edges of the wispy clouds were always this enchanting!
Of course, it helped that her commute was now less than a five-minute walk up the picturesque cobbles to the top of the hill.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that the moment she’d closed her new front door behind her, she’d been greeted by the tantalising scent of hot bread. Crumbleton’s baker was clearly already hard at work!
Cath hadn’t forgotten her promise to herself the previous evening. She had every intention of wandering back down the hill to grab herself a mid-morning treat. But first—she wanted to see what she’d let herself in for at the museum.
Patting her pocket, Cath double-checked that she’d remembered to pick up the ornate key that would let her into her new lair. There wasn’t really any need—it was so heavy, she could feel it weighing the side of her cardigan down, bouncing slightly with every step she took. Still, it was nice to hear the reassuring jangle as it rattled against its big, metal ring and the bunch of smaller, unlabelled keys that had come with it. Whether she’d ever figure out what they were all for was anyone’s guess!
Cath sighed and smiled as she took another sip of tea. Realistically, she should be exhausted after all the stress and heavy lifting of the day before. That couldn’t be further from the truth, though. It might be early, but she was buzzing with possibility. Sure, her new home might look like a badly played game of Jenga right now, but that didn’t matter. Give it a few days and she’d get those boxes under control.
Pausing to peer at a gorgeous display of potted orchids and spiny cactuses in the florist’s window, Cath peeped up at the sign.
Milly’s Flowers
So, this must be where Oli and Ruby had moved to. They hadn’t been exaggerating when they’d said they’d been able to transport most of their belongings by hand!
The pair of them had been so kind to her the previous evening. They’d made sure she had everything she needed, and Ruby had even insisted on helping her to make up her bed so that it was ready for her to collapse into the minute she was ready. They’d disappeared fairly promptly—clearly sensing she was so tired she could barely string a sentence together—but not before they’d promised to catch up with her over drinks down at the Dolphin and Anchor as soon as she’d settled in.
Their easy, uncomplicated welcome had made Cath feel instantly at home, and her fears about starting over again and finding new friends had melted away. Now all she had to do was get her teeth into her new job, and she’d be off to a flying start!
‘And there’s the museum!’ Cath whispered to herself.
The sight up ahead of her was quite imposing… at least at first glance. The museum was part of the higgledy-piggledy castle that crowned the top of Crumbleton’s hill. It had a creaky-looking bell tower that was something straight out of a fairytale. There were turrets and arrow slits and an impressive, iron-studded wooden door that looked like it could single-handedly hold off a marauding mob.
Cath knew better than to sink too far into the glamour of the fairytale, though. Ruth had hinted during the interview that it wasn’t just the inside of the museum that would benefit from a bit of care and attention. The outside needed quite a bit of work too—work that would take a pretty penny to complete.
Even from this distance, it was easy to spot the telltale signs that the stonework needed some serious TLC. Here and there, tufts of grass stuck out of the walls. There were patches where stones had come loose and fallen to the ground far below. A veritable forest of buddleia bushes had taken root in the resulting gaps. As pretty as the purple flowers were—wafting in the breeze several dozen feet above ground level—Cath knew the roots would be playing havoc with the ancient walls.
‘Let’s get inside!’ she murmured, not wanting to get overwhelmed by all the work that needed doing.
Cath trotted past the little antiques shop that lay between Milly’s Flowers and the museum, fishing the key out of her pocket as she went.
‘Oh!’ She came to a sudden halt.
Cath had been so caught up with inspecting the building itself that she’d managed to miss a pile of… stuff… right outside the museum entrance.
A knackered-looking sofa had been left on the cobbled pavement next to the door. Balanced on top of it was a ginormous tasselled lampshade, a brown china chicken, and what looked to be an old wooden tennis racket with loose strings.
‘And yet more boxes!’ said Cath, the words tumbling out in a desperate sort of chuckle.
There were five of them, piled on top of each other and leaning precariously against the door itself. She had no idea what all this stuff was… nor why it was there… but she was going to have to shift it out of the way if she wanted to get inside.
Cath sidled up to the stack of boxes. She didn’t want to waste time moving them out of the way one by one, so she hauled them away from the door and then leaned her full weight against the damp cardboard and pushed until the whole lot started to inch sideways.
‘There, that’ll do,’ she said, holding out her hands as she backed away, just in case of imminent collapse. ‘Sorted!’ she added triumphantly when the stack sagged ever so slightly but failed to topple over.
Straightening her shoulders and reaching back into her pocket for the key, she slotted it into the lock. This was it—her new domain! It was finally time to take a peep inside.
