The Lake House

She went back into the kitchen and opened the drawer where kept a tatty copy of the Yellow Pages. It was four years old and she wondered if any of the plumbers were still in business, but she had to try something. She didn’t own a computer or a mobile phone. She hated technology. Her television was ancient and she rarely watched it, instead preferring to spend her time upstairs in her bedroom, which was at the opposite end of the house to the cellar. She would listen to her records and read her books, but most of the time was spent looking out of her window at the lake, watching the boats and wondering if Joseph would ever come home.

She picked the advert with the biggest writing and hoped that they would answer the phone. Carefully pressing the numbers on the keypad, she was delighted to hear a man’s voice answer, ‘Crawford’s Plumbing Services.’

‘Good morning, I wonder if you could help me? My drains are blocked. Well, there is an awful smell so I think they are. I don’t actually know for sure. Would you be able to send someone out to take a look at them as soon as possible?’

‘We could get someone out to you by four o’clock today if that’s any good?’

‘Today, oh yes, please. That would be wonderful, but can you tell me if your men work in teams?’

‘I’m not sure what you mean by a team, love; we have six staff and if there is a job that is big then yes we send in a team, but if it’s just blocked drains then it won’t need more than one.’

‘I’m afraid I can only let them into the cellar if there are at least two of them. It’s a rule of the house that no one can go down there alone.’

‘I’ll try my best to send two of the lads over but I can’t guarantee it. It depends how busy we are.’

‘If you don’t send two then I’m afraid I won’t be able to let anyone down there; I will of course pay for them both.’

‘Look, I’ll send two of them over as soon as I can. We’ll sort something out.’

‘Thank you.’

Martha replaced the receiver and felt her heart slow just a little. She couldn’t be responsible for what would happen if anyone was to go down there alone and didn’t come back up. She didn’t want another missing person on her conscience; it was getting too much to bear.

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