The Donaldson Case by Diana Xarissa

She gave her sister a quick hug.   “Why don’t you go and lie down for an
hour or two before the guests arrive?” she suggested.   “I’ll do some work in the library where
I’ll hear the door if they arrive early.”
    Joan shook her
head.   “I’ve had too much coffee
now,” she said with a small laugh.   “I’m just hoping the guests have an early night.”
    “I’ll stay up
with them,” Janet said quickly.   “You can have an early night, regardless.”
    “We’ll see,”
Joan replied.
    Joan nearly
always insisted on doing most of the work for the bed and breakfast, and Janet
knew that was because Joan was the one who’d wanted to buy Doveby House in the first place.   For the
most part, Janet was happy to let her sister do the lion’s share of the
cooking, cleaning, and sitting up late with the guests, but now she felt guilty
as she looked at her sister’s tired face.   She didn’t argue, but she was determined that Joan was going to have an
early night.
    “Are you still
hoping our guests might do some artwork for us?” Janet asked.
    “It would be
wonderful,” Joan said.   “But after
our previous experiences with guests, I’m not getting my hopes up.”
    Janet
nodded.    It was best not to
have any expectations of guests.   That way they wouldn’t be disappointed.
    After an early
lunch that was also a late breakfast for Janet, the sisters did a last minute
tidy up of the house.   Janet
vacuumed down the centre of each room while Joan
dusted and plumped pillows.   They
were seated in front of the telly , trying not to
watch the clock, when someone knocked.
    Joan rushed to
the door, while Janet followed at a more leisurely pace.
    “Welcome to Doveby House,” Joan said.
    Janet reached
the door and added her own welcome while she took a good look at the new
arrivals.
    “I’m Fred,”
the man with long blonde hair and a ring through his nose said.   He nodded at the girl next to him.   “This is Molly.”
    Molly’s head
was shaved and she also had a ring through her nose.   “Hey,” she said quietly.
    Joan stepped
back to let the couple in.   Fred
dragged a large suitcase in behind him.   He was very thin, in skin-tight jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better
days.   Janet wondered if he could
actually lift the case that looked very heavy.  
    Molly was very
slender as well and was wearing an almost identical outfit, except her T-shirt
had long sleeves.   Janet could see
various tattoos on Fred’s arms and she wondered if Molly also had some.   There was no polite way to ask, of
course.
    “You have your
choice of two guest rooms,” Joan said.   “I would suggest the larger one, but you can choose.”
    “We’ll have to
see which one feels right,” Molly told her seriously.   “We’re creative.   The energy has to be right.”
    “Yes, well, if
you’d like to follow me, I’ll show you the rooms,” Joan replied.
    Janet followed
the trio up the stairs.   Fred
half-carried and half-dragged the case along as they went, bumping it up the
stairs.   Joan opened both guest
rooms and let the couple inspect them.
    “This one,”
Fred said after several minutes.   He
pointed to the east room.   “It feels
better.”
    “Of course,”
Joan murmured, handing him the key.   She locked up the west room.   “We’ll just leave you to freshen up,” she said.   “I’ll put the kettle on if you’d like
some tea in a short while.”
    “Great,” Molly
muttered.   “We’ll be down.”
    In the kitchen,
Joan looked at Janet and shrugged.   “They seem nice, I suppose,” she said hesitantly.
    “I’ve never
met artists before,” Janet whispered.   “They’re sort of what I expected and sort of not.”
    “I know what
you mean,” Joan replied.
    It wasn’t long
before the couple joined them in the kitchen.   Joan quickly made the tea and set out a
large plate of biscuits.
    “So you’re
both artists,” she said once everyone was settled in.
    “We