Read Online Killed in Cornwall by Janie Bolitho - Free Book Online Page A

window, drinking coffee as the sun rose higher. Sometimes, as the purple clouds of night turned into day, there would be overlapping layers of pink cloud which turned gold as theyspread over the bay. Not so that morning. In a clear sky a half disc of red pushed slowly up from the horizon, its mirror image reflected in the water. As it rose higher, the full globe gradually becoming visible, its reflection took on the shape of a cone with golden ripples which elongated as the earth moved a few more degrees towards the sun. I must paint that, she thought, although with the changes coming so rapidly it would be difficult to capture. Rose inhaled deeply to fight off the nervousness she felt. Yes, it was wonderful to be having another exhibition but she was secretly afraid of adverse criticism; she still did not have the confidence to ride it out and trust her own instincts.
    By six-thirty she was on her way and enjoying the experience of an almost empty road. Now and then she overtook a slow moving farm vehicle or an early bus but it wasn’t until she reached Liskeard that commuter traffic, such as it was, began to build up.
    With each mile her confidence grew. She was not the only artist exhibiting, she wasn’t that renowned. Yet. And Geoff Carter, who seemed to know everyone in the art world, would be there to make introductions, and, as old as she was, she would be grateful for the presence of her parents.
    She arrived at the hotel where she had booked a room, relieved that it had parking spaces, and found Evelyn and Arthur Forbes already there. Too excited to eat, Rose picked at the lunch they insisted upon buying, then they window-shopped in the city centre.
    ‘We never expected to have a famous daughter,’ Arthur said when they returned to the hotel to allow her mother a chance to rest before changing for the evening.
    Rose laughed. ‘Hardly that.’
    ‘But you will be,’ he said with certainty.
    The evening passed so quickly Rose could hardly believed it had happened.
    ‘You’ve sold one already,’ Geoff Carter told her with a grin as he came over to rescue her from a viewer who was monopolising her.
    ‘Which one?’
    ‘The Zennor one.’
    Rose nodded. Landscape with Sea, she had finally called it. No title had seemed apt until she realised that what might seem unimaginative was the best description of all. And it was the second most expensive. The exhibition was due to run for a month, maybe more would sell.
    Empty wine glasses, paper plates and screwed up serviettes littered the tables. The crowd wasthinning out. One or two had come for the free food and drink, others were there out of sheer curiosity but the core consisted of art lovers who were either genuinely interested in new work or who were hoping to make a purchase.
    ‘Can I buy you dinner?’ Geoff asked, the invitation obviously including her parents.
    Rose was hungry now, she had ignored the buffet, being too busy talking to eat. ‘Mum? Dad?’
    ‘That’s very kind of you, but we’ll split the bill,’ Arthur told him with a knowing smile for his daughter. Rose ignored it. She wasn’t interested in Geoff in that way.
    They found a surprisingly good restaurant and enjoyed a leisurely meal with decent wine. Rose felt a sense of anticlimax and wondered why she had allowed herself to feel so nervous. Tomorrow she would be home again and a new round of work awaited her.
    They took a taxi back to the hotel. Rose kissed her parents goodnight and went to bed, relieved that their presence meant she had not had to fight off Geoff’s advances and with the knowledge that she would sleep well that night.
    Evelyn and Arthur set off immediately after a late breakfast. Evelyn was pale and looked as ifshe hadn’t slept well. ‘We’ll make an early start as your mother’s not feeling a hundred per cent,’ Arthur said as he kissed his daughter goodbye. ‘I expect we’ve overdone it a bit. Anyway, we’ll ring to let you know we’ve arrived home safely.