Trap for a Goose Read online

  About the Author

  Liliiana Saint Clair is an author of detective novels and an associate professor of social science. She has had over fifty scientific papers published to date on subjects such as the delinquent behavior of minors.

  She, like her heroine, has recently moved to another country and discovered for herself an amazing new world.

  Her favorite statement about herself is, “My advantage is an imagination that transports me to another world.”

  Trap for a Goose

  Liliiana Saint Clair

  Trap for a Goose

  Olympia Publishers

  London

  www.olympiapublishers.com

  OLYMPIA EBOOK EDITION

  Copyright © Liliiana Saint Clair 2019

  The right of Liliiana Saint Clair to be identified as author of

  this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All Rights Reserved

  No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication

  may be made without written permission.

  No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,

  copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions

  of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).

  Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to

  this publication may be liable to criminal

  prosecution and civil claims for damage.

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is

  available from the British Library.

  This is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, places and incidents originate from the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  First Published in 2019

  Olympia Publishers

  60 Cannon Street

  London

  EC4N 6NP

  Acknowledgements

  I want to express my gratitude to my dear man for his faith and support.

  Aluminum Anniversary

  On a rainy September evening, the Jacksons enjoyed a party at home with family and friends to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. A beautiful melody quietly played in the living room, but due to the noise from the heavy rain and lively voices, it was barely audible. The men actively debated the latest football and rugby matches, while the women shared their recipes for delicious dishes, as well as the secrets of quick weight loss. The children were overwhelmed with stormy energy and rushed through the house like a hurricane, sweeping away everything in their path. Their parents, however, tried manfully to calm them down, offering all kinds of sweets.

  Cheerful James Jackson admired his wife, Danielle, all evening and did not take his eyes off her. He charmingly courted guests and poured into their glasses a red Le Baron de Brane 2014, which was reserved for special occasions.

  Karen Henderson, Danielle Jackson’s mother, watched her gallant son-in-law with a satisfied look and rapturously repeated, ‘Wonderful couple! What a wonderful couple!’

  Danielle Jackson, trying to hide her perplexity and embarrassment from the family under the mask of an innocent coquette, laughed incessantly, chattered nonsense and nervously stroked her pet dog, Apollo. This extraordinary behaviour, however, became noticeable to her relatives and concerned father, Peter Henderson, without saying a word approached her and offered his help in the kitchen where she had escaped to prepare some hot drinks. Danielle Jackson and her father are very similar to each other and this similarity is noticed not only in terms of outward appearance, but also in their character. If her father had the desire to talk to her alone, she clearly understood that was because he harboured some worries.

  During her childhood, she and her father often made traditional afternoon tea together in the kitchen for the whole family and she was always proud of this responsibility and time with her father.

  ‘Dani, today you look especially like your grandmother. She was not only a beautiful woman but also generous.’

  ‘I know, Dad, do you miss her very much?’

  ‘I always miss her… but, I have you and Jennifer, my great grandchildren and, of course, your mother.’

  ‘Thank you, Dad.’

  ‘Dani, what sadness torments you? I’m a little worried about you. Are you happy with James?’

  ‘Yes, Dad, I guess you forgot about our anniversary dinner?’

  ‘Today you are different — happy and unhappy, experiencing joy and sadness. It worries me and your mother.’

  ‘Believe me, Dad, I’m fine.’

  ‘Hello! It’s me,’ the door opened, and Jennifer entered the room. ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘Certainly, we always need your help,’ answered her father, proudly.

  Peter Henderson gently hugged his daughters and so carefully pressed them to his heart, as if for the last time and said, ‘I’d rather leave you and go to the boys. I think that without me, you will cope with this responsibility admirably!’

  ‘We will try,’ synchronously answered the sisters.

  When her father left the kitchen, Danielle quietly asked her sister, ‘Jennifer, have you noticed that our dad has become very impressionable?’

  ‘No, Dani, I haven’t, but I certainly noticed that somehow you have changed.’

  ‘You’re right, Jennifer. I have changed and I am very happy.’

  ‘Dani, I’m glad for you that everything is well.’

  ‘I do not know about us, but I feel good,’ answered Danielle with a sigh.

  Jennifer affectionately hugged her sister and whispered softly, ‘Dani, James loves you so much. What a sad note, today is your celebration.’

  ‘Thank you, my dear, for organizing this event. You are so caring, my amazing younger sister,’ said Danielle, crying quietly.

  ‘Dani, what happened?’ asked Jennifer, worriedly.

  ‘Believe me, I’m fine and very happy. I want to tell you a little secret,’ said Danielle, excitedly.

  ‘A secret?’ repeated Jennifer.

  ‘Yes, the most significant event of my life. I’m expecting a baby,’ articulated Danielle, excitedly.

  ‘Dani, are you really saying that you are going to have a child?’

  ‘Yes, my baby.’

  Jennifer excitedly hugged her sister and said quietly, ‘I’m so glad, this is such a wonderful news. Congratulations to you and James, my dear!’

  ‘But James still doesn’t know, I’ll tell him tonight,’ Danielle said, calmly.

  ‘Dani, he will be happy!’ Jennifer said, quietly.

  ‘Oh, sure!’ Dani replied, absently.

  ‘Dani, soon all the guests will join us in the kitchen for a cup of tea or coffee, so we need to…’ Jennifer did not have time to finish her sentence, as the door opened, and James appeared on the threshold.

  ‘Girls, we are bored without your presence! It seems to me that our parents and Lisa are impatient for their coffee and will not wait any longer,’ said James, mysteriously.

  ‘James, it’s so amazing that you came to help us,’ said Jennifer, mockingly. ‘We need male power.’

  ‘You know that I’m a real gentleman,’ said James in a contented voice.

  ‘Okay, gentleman, here, you have a tray with cups and saucers, and I will carry the most important menu item — dessert, of course — if Dani does not mind,’ Jennifer said playfully, and handed the tray to James.

  ‘I’m not against your plan,’ said Danielle, thoughtfully.

  James, tray in hand, approaches his wife and in a soft and gentle voice says, ‘My gorgeous, Dani, I missed being in the living presence of your beautiful green eyes.’

  ‘James, you’l
l drop the tray and all the cups now,’ said Danielle, irritably. ‘Please, guests are waiting for dessert.’

  ‘Okay! Don’t worry, dear, I’m leaving. Apollo, to me,’ an offended James replied, and quietly left the room.

  ‘Dani, what’s wrong with you? Does he love you? You will have a child together and that was so unfair,’ expressed an alarmed Jennifer.

  ‘Yes, I hurt him unjustly. You’re right, as always, my ideal sister and happy wife,’ answered Danielle, with a fierce voice.

  ‘Dear, I’ll go to the living room and you try to calm down,’ said Jennifer, quietly. ‘You must take care of yourself. By the way, Apollo is not moving away from your side. It seems that he prefers the calm of the kitchen to noisy company.’

  ‘You’re right, today is special. I’m sorry, my dear, I’m all on my nerves,’ said Danielle, sobbing.

  ‘This is your pregnancy. Everything will be fine, you’ll see,’ said Jennifer wearily as she left the kitchen.

  In the living room, the party continued with a lively and relaxed conversation between the guests, while the children ran, jumped and ate their sweets.

  Karen Henderson approached Jennifer and asked quietly, ‘Jenny, what has happened to your husband? He sits so modestly on the couch like a poor relative and drinks his beer alone.’

  ‘Oh, Mummy, there is nothing surprising in that. He enjoys his drink in silent isolation and will not grace us with his chatter,’ answered Jennifer Davidson, nervously.

  ‘Oh, yes, my girl, you’re right, but don’t worry. If you don’t mind now, I’ll go and talk to our snobs! Ha, ha, ha,’ said Karen Henderson, mockingly.

  Jennifer Davidson smiled, hugged her mother and said quietly, ‘I do not mind but it seems to me that you are too severe on our relatives.’

  Karen Henderson smiled in response to her daughter, took a cup of tea and went to sit on the sofa next to Fiona Jackson.

  ‘Fiona, do you plan to fly to Spain in the near future?’ asks Karen Henderson in an angelic voice. ‘Probably, there is still warmth, sunshine and the inviting sea to enjoy. I would also like to purchase a property there, although my husband isn’t ready yet to make a decision.’

  ‘Yes, we are missing our second home and plan to fly to Spain at the end of October then return home for Christmas,’ said Fiona Jackson, politely. ‘I hope that James and Danielle will have the opportunity to fly out to join us for a few days.’

  ‘Yes, that is a really good idea,’ said Karen Henderson, happily. ‘My girls work very hard, especially Jennifer. James is a caring husband, but Craig is only interested in football and beer after work. Their boys, however, are clever and this is all down to the qualities of my daughter — she is a real teacher.’

  Fiona Jackson, with undisguised irony, looked at these clever boys and their friends who were so noisy in the living room, as well as their mothers, not noticing this disgrace, who were calmly chatting among themselves on all sorts of topics.

  Noticing the grin in Fiona’s eyes, Karen Henderson looked at her watch and called out to her daughter in a caring voice, ‘Jennifer, I think it’s time for the children to go to bed.’ Karen Henderson reminded with care, ‘It’s nine p.m. in the evening, we have a regime.’

  ‘Oh, you’re right! We also need to be going home. My Sarah is already sleeping on the couch, and Andy and the boys haven’t broken anything yet, it is better for us to go home now,’ said a smiling Lisa.

  ‘Look at the children, they are very satisfied with their lot. It seems to me that they are not yet ready to sleep, rather we will disconnect them from their fun too early,’ said Fiona.

  Suddenly, a furious cry came from the kitchen, which silenced everyone present.

  ‘You are a brazen liar! I’ll kill you; you deserve to die!’ James said furiously and slammed the door.

  ‘Richard, that was our son, James. What happened in there?’ said Fiona, anxiously. ‘Dear, catch up with him! There’s a downpour outside…’

  New Emotions and Old Dreams

  Kristin Smith, like a lark, loves the early morning. Her day begins at half past six, while her family is still enjoying blissful sleep. After a night of rain, there is a warm and sunny September morning which is so rare for Scotland, she is still in bed listening to the noisy chirping of birds and pensively watching her sleeping husband, who traditionally wakes up to the irritable ring of the radio alarm clock.

  Kristin Smith very rarely violates her usual morning routine, which is not only responsible and enthusiastic, but also sets her up for a good day. Today, however, she just lies aloof in bed and sadly watches this device until the bell finally rings. This device, which stands firmly on the bedside table, was inherited by her husband from his father and has served the family faithfully for more than fifty years, longer than most people’s relationships.

  Kristin looked at this device with horror and thoughts raced through her mind, ‘It’s scary to think that this mechanism could outlast us too. Oh, God forbid. Already this, I will not allow it. Throw it out! No, better to give it away.’

  For a moment, she realized that her husband had been awake for a long time and was watching her with anxiety, although he also guessed what doubts were tormenting her. He gently hugged her and asked, ‘Darling, are you feeling well?’

  ‘Oh, yeah.’

  ‘So, what thoughts torment you? Are things so serious that you’ve canceled your run in this sunny weather?’

  ‘You are mistaken, everything is fine with me — the birds are chirping, and the sun is shining brightly,’ said a dull and sad voice. She gently freed herself from his embrace, kissed his cheek and said, ‘I guess I’ll go and take a morning shower. After all, life is wonderful!’

  When she was leaving the bedroom, her husband’s gaze followed her. He understood perfectly well what was troubling her. After the death of his mother eight months ago, they decided to move to his native nest in Scotland.

  ‘It will be better for Christopher because he wants to study at Cambridge,’ he suggested at the time. Certainly, that was Cameron Smith’s desire.

  When Kristin heard the voice of the news reader after her shower, she laughed and said, ‘Bravo, I was lucky! I missed the call of this stupid mechanism, now you can go and make coffee.’

  The coffee ritual in her life was as much a philosophical pursuit as a way of providing an invigorating drink. The process of making coffee in traditional pots, the magical aroma and richness of taste dissolved Kristin into her own world, where she could comprehend the beautiful. Kristin, enjoying and reflecting in her cozy and warm kitchen-dining room over a porcelain cup of coffee, did not notice that her husband was already sitting nearby and smilingly looking after her.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you,’ Cameron said in a guilty voice.

  ‘Oh, no, it’s okay, breakfast is ready, oatmeal is waiting for us,’ Kristin answered, smiling.

  ‘After a night of heavy rain, the weather is so good this morning and you have missed your run. Even more bad news, sorry, my dear, but when I finish work at five this evening, our plan to play tennis also looks doomed. Unfortunately, the evening will be wet again, although the meteorologists promise us a sunny Friday tomorrow without rain,’ Cameron said.

  Kristin, with a sly hint to her normal beautiful smile, replied, ‘My dear, after breakfast I will go for a run, a little grocery shopping trip and then study English.’

  ‘That’s fine, I’m glad you will be busy. I looked through my email, nothing special,’ Cameron said.

  ‘It is warm and good here but in Florida there is a hurricane again, many areas have been affected,’ said Kristin, with a sigh, looking through the previous evening’s newspaper.

  ‘My dear, are you ready to continue your coffee enjoyment?’ Cameron asked.

  ‘You know, I’m always ready,’ answered Kristin, smiling.

  After living eighteen years in France, Cameron became a coffee lover. In his native Scotland, he had been a committed tea drinker. Now, over the years,
usually after oatmeal porridge, he always brews coffee during a, now traditional, British-French breakfast. As a true Frenchwoman, Kristin loves to enjoy coffee with cheese or a croissant.

  After seeing her husband off to work, Kristin stood in the hallway in front of the mirror for several minutes and thought about her career break until her inner voice reminded her, all your worries are as minor as you think. You will say that you have put a halt to your career, wasted all the years of hard work and energy that led to the achievement of your professional goals. However, look around and think that life is so priceless, take care of the magnificent things that you have. So, enjoy this long holiday and enjoy the new life strategy.

  Kristin was born in south eastern France in the historic city of Lyon to a French-Armenian family. Her father, as a true Frenchman, was able to impress people beautifully and gallantly. For a long time, he worked as a chef in a restaurant and managed to convey to his daughter a taste for refined cuisine. Kristin’s mother worked as an art historian and as a real Armenian woman, was able to reveal and nurture in her child the features of kindness and sincerity. These two ancient and strong bloodlines bred a woman with a French appearance and beautiful big eyes, but with an oriental, Armenian temperament.

  Kristin and her husband met nineteen years ago during a conference for young scientists at the Sorbonne University. The humble Briton with a gentlemanly persona immediately attracted the attention of Kristin. Seeing his kind and gentle eyes, she realized that it was he who would become her husband. Her insight did not deceive, these two different temperaments compensated for each other and the couple was also united by common interests and views on art.

  It has been eight months since they moved from France to Scotland and the small town of St Andrews. After the death of her mother-in-law, her husband offered to return to his family nest. When Kristin first visited this small medieval city, it fascinated her at first sight, to the extent that she fell in love with its old streets, small coloured houses, kindhearted citizens and the powerful and magical North Sea.