Read Charlotte Boyett-Compo- Windspectre for Free Online Page B

Opening the door, she was for a moment completely baffled at the sight of two men in brown coveralls who stood there—one with a clipboard in hand and the other with a bored, annoyed look on his beefy face.
    "Miss Kaisand?" clipboard man inquired.
    "Yes," she answered.
    "We have your stuff," he told her.
    "Oh," she said. "Right."
    "I'll start bringing it in," bored man mumbled after giving her a look of disdain.
    Clipboard man asked her where she wanted everything put and considering her belongings—her entire arsenal of possessions—were in cardboard boxes, she asked him to stack them in the dining room.
    "Okay," he said and handed her the clipboard. "Just check off the box numbers as we give them to you and initial it on the form. I'll go help Hank."
    Cathleen nodded, too out of it to do anything else. Taking the clipboard to the sofa, she sat down heavily, running a hand through her hair, and wishing she could crawl up on the sofa and go back to sleep.
    It took all of her energy reserve to tick off the box numbers as the moving men brought them in. Just writing the little CK beside the numbers seem to take every bit of concentration she had. The form wavered before her eyes and by the time clipboard man came over to get the clipboard, she was yawning and striving valiantly to keep her eyes open.
    "You ought to get to bed, ma'am," clipboard man said as he handed her the carbon copy of the form. "You look kinda done in."
    Cathleen had difficulty lifting her head to look up at him. "I will. Thanks."
    She asked him to hand her her purse so she could tip him, but he said that had already been taken care of. Tapping a finger to the side of his head in salute, he left, closing the door gently behind him.
    For a long moment Cathleen just sat there with no vigor left in her to get up. Her copy of the form was clutched in her hand and she gazed down at it as though she had no idea what it was. Finally dredging up enough energy to lay the form aside and push herself up, she stumbled into the bathroom, thinking a cool washcloth would help revive her.
    The bathroom was the loveliest thing about the apartment to her. Done in soft shades of mauve and celadon green, it was soothing to the eyes and yet opulent in a way that made her feel good. Dark green towels and washcloths had been provided for her and she took one cloth from the wicker shelf wall unit beside the vanity and turned on the water in the sink to wet it.
    Gazing up at her reflection in the mirror, Cathleen was shocked to see how fuzzy her vision had become. Her face appeared a bit hazy, slightly unclear and she blinked several times to try to clear her eyes. Yet still there was a wavering outline around her and her image was not as distinct as it normally was. It looked muted, the edges too blurry.
    "You need a good night's rest, lady," she muttered to herself as she wrung out the washcloth to run its cooling surface over her face.
    The water felt invigorating and it helped to revive her a bit. She still stumbled as she made her way into the bedroom. She was relieved to see her overnight bag lying on the bed and made her way over to it, opening it to retrieve her night gown.
    After removing her rumpled suit, donning the gown and laying her overnighter on the overstuffed wing chair beside the closet, Cathleen checked to make sure her other suit was hanging in the closet. Relieved that it was, she pulled the covers back and crawled into her new bed, scooting down beneath the cool sheets.
    She was deeply asleep before the clock somewhere in her new apartment chimed two in the afternoon.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Cathleen slept like the dead all through the afternoon and night and early morning, waking just after four a.m. with a splitting headache she knew was a result of hunger. She'd had no food at all the day before and her stomach rumbled as she flung the covers back and got up, her head spinning.
    Reaching for the phone, she picked up the receiver and