Twenties Girl (Page 16)
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 118
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 119
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 120
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 121
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 122
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 123
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 124
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 125
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 126
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 127
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 128
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 129
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 130
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 131
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 132
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 133
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 134
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 135
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 136
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 137
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 138
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 139
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 140
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 141
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 142
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 143
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 144
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 145
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 146
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 147
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 148
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 149
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 150
- Page 150
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 151
- Page 151
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 152
- Page 152
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 153
- Page 153
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 154
- Page 154
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 155
- Page 155
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 156
- Page 156
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 157
- Page 157
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 158
- Page 158
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 159
- Page 159
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 160
- Page 160
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 161
- Page 161
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 162
- Page 162
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 163
- Page 163
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 164
- Page 164
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 165
- Page 165
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 166
- Page 166
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 167
- Page 167
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 168
- Page 168
- Page 168
Twenties Girl(16)
Author: Sophie Kinsella
“‘They might arrest me,’” Sadie echoes mockingly. She’s perched on the window ledge again. “Have you never been arrested before?”
“Of course I haven’t!” I goggle at her. “Have you?”
“Several times!” she says airily. “The first time was for dancing in the village fountain one night. It was too funny.” She starts to giggle. “We had some mock handcuffs, you know, as part of a fancy dress costume, and while the policeman was hauling me out of the pond, my friend Bunty locked her handcuffs round him as a lark. He was livid!”
She’s in paroxysms of laughter by now. God, she’s annoying.
“I’m sure it was hilarious.” I shoot her a baleful look. “But, personally, I’d rather not go to jail and catch some hideous disease, thank you.”
“Well, you wouldn’t have to if you had a better story.” Her laughter stops. “I’ve never seen such a ninny. You weren’t credible or consistent. At this rate they won’t even proceed with the investigation. We won’t have any time.”
“Time for what?”
“Time to find my necklace , of course.”
I drop my head down on the table with a clunk. She doesn’t give up, does she?
“Look,” I say at last, raising my head an inch. “Why do you need this necklace so badly? Why this one particular necklace? Was it a present or something?”
For a moment she’s silent, her eyes distant. The only movement in the room is her feet, swinging rhythmically back and forth.
“It was a present from my parents for my twenty-first birthday,” she says at last. “I was happy when I wore it.”
“Well, that’s nice,” I say. “But-”
“I had it all my life. I wore it all my life.” She sounds suddenly agitated. “No matter what else I lost, I kept that. It’s the most important thing I ever had. I need it.”
She’s fidgeting with her hands, her face tilted down so all I can see is the corner of her chin. She’s so thin and pale, she looks like a drooping flower. I feel a pang of sympathy for her, and am about to say, “Of course I’ll find your necklace,” when she yawns elaborately, stretching her skinny arms above her head, and says, “This is too dull. I wish we could go to a nightclub.”
I glare at her, all my sympathy gone. Is this the gratitude I get?
“If you’re so bored,” I say, “we can go and finish your funeral if you like.”
Sadie claps a hand over her mouth and gasps. “You wouldn’t.”
“I might.”
A knock at the door interrupts us, and a jolly-looking woman in a dark shirt and trousers puts her head around it. “Lara Lington?”
An hour later, I’ve finished giving my so-called “statement.” I’ve never had such a traumatic experience in my life. What a shambles.
First I forgot the name of the nursing home. Then I got my timings all wrong and had to convince the policewoman it had taken me five minutes to walk half a mile. I ended up saying I was training to be a professional speed walker. Just thinking about it makes me cringey and hot. There’s no way she believed me. I mean, do I look like a professional speed walker?
Then I said I’d been to my friend Linda’s before visiting the pub. I don’t even have a friend called Linda; I just didn’t want to mention any of my real friends. She wanted Linda’s surname, and I blurted out “Davies” before I could stop myself.
Of course, I’d read it off the top of the form. She was DC Davies.
At least I didn’t say “Keyser Söze.”
To her credit, the policewoman didn’t flicker. Nor did she say whether they would proceed with the case. She just thanked me politely and found me the number of a cab firm.
I’ll probably go to jail now. Great. All I need.
I glower at Sadie, who’s lying full length on the desk, staring up at the ceiling. It really didn’t help having her in my ear the whole time, constantly correcting me and adding suggestions and reminiscing about the time two policemen tried to stop her and Bunty “racing their motors over the fields” and couldn’t catch up with them; it was “ too funny.”
“You’re welcome,” I say. “Again.”
“Thank you.” Sadie’s voice drifts idly over.
“Right, well.” I pick up my bag. “I’m off.”
In one quick movement, Sadie sits up. “You won’t forget my necklace, will you?”
“I doubt I will, my entire life.” I roll my eyes. “However hard I try.”
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 118
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 119
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 120
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 121
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 122
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 123
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 124
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 125
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 126
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 127
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 128
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 129
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 130
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 131
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 132
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 133
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 134
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 135
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 136
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 137
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 138
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 139
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 140
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 141
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 142
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 143
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 144
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 145
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 146
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 147
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 148
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 149
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 150
- Page 150
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 151
- Page 151
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 152
- Page 152
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 153
- Page 153
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 154
- Page 154
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 155
- Page 155
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 156
- Page 156
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 157
- Page 157
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 158
- Page 158
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 159
- Page 159
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 160
- Page 160
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 161
- Page 161
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 162
- Page 162
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 163
- Page 163
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 164
- Page 164
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 165
- Page 165
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 166
- Page 166
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 167
- Page 167
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 168
- Page 168
- Page 168