A little amble

I’m writing another short story, inspired by eight answers from a random Octordle – a word puzzle where you have to guess eight random words. The words I found which I’m going to include in the story are

• fully
  amble
  flier
  brine
  weigh
  hefty
  venom
  zesty

Here is the first part:

I don’t know why I agreed to go for ‘a little amble’, as she put it, well, I do, I couldn’t think of  a realistic way out of it. When you’ve been brought up to be polite and well-mannered, it sneaks up on you and you agree to things because it would seem rude not to.

“Let’s go for a little amble, lovely, see what the river’s doing, if it’s still a river that is, not a lake.”

Lovely. A perfectly harmless endearment, but so artificial and false coming from her.

“i’ll just change my shoes, get my coat,” I replied, my heart sinking.

“Want to be be fully prepared for anything,” she replied – I waited for the dig about being in the Guides, but Matty appeared in the doorway asking what we were up to.

“Sarah and I are going out for a walk, trying to walk off some of those extra pounds we must have put on after that lunch. I think I must weigh a couple more stone than I did this morning!”

“It’s hellish wet and muddy out there and I wouldn’t be surprised if more rain is on its way. I’d stay in if I were you,” he spoke in a cheery way but it occurred to me that he didn’t like her much. I didn’t know him that well – not surprising since I’d only met him a couple of days ago. “You don’t want to go out, Sarah, do you!”

“Thankfully you’re not me!” Ada replied with some venom. Gosh, some families! “Come on, Sarah, get your boots on, let’s go!”

It was somehow a bit odd, her insistence, his attitude to her. I was somehow being argued over. I judged that giving into Ada and going out would be easier than agreeing with Matty.

How on earth had I ended up here? Well, in fact it was quite straightforward – my cousin had, on finding out that I was going to be alone at New Year with no plans, invited me to stay with friends of hers. The friends were an older couple, and among their many guests accommodated in their massive house was Ada who was a niece or cousin or something, and Matty who was the boyfriend of someone else.
This would have been fine except my cousin’s house was burgled and she departed without telling me so I was stranded.

I was so fed up with living on my own, that the friendly houseful was preferable to going home – even if I had been able. I was unable to leave, as was everyone else by the torrential rain which had flooded the environs. There was a reason the house was named Tump House as it stood, unbreached by the flood, but  marooned on its own little hillock.

Part the next, tomorrow!