A proper talk

Back downstairs in tiny-cottage-world, Adam found his mind did a little flip and pretended to itself that what he'd seen upstairs didn't exist.

He entered the tiny kitchen. Alice was seated at the table, while Margaret was busying herself at the sink.

"Right then, young feller," said Alice. "I imagine you feel you're due an explanation - and I can hardly blame you for that. Well, sit down then - you make the place look untidy. Margaret'll make us a lovely cup of tea."

"Aye, a proper cup," she said, warming the pot with water from the kettle. "And you know what Karl Marx said -"

"Yes, dear," interrupted Alice. "Not now, eh? We've got a lot to get through - and delightful though your wit is, we can't spend all our time laughing and joking."

Ignoring Margaret's now sour-faced tea ceremony, Alice continued, "so I take it you've never heard of the Sisterhood, then? No? No reason you should, I suppose. We like to get on with things in a quiet way; we're not in the habit of drawing attention to ourselves."

"So what is this Sisterhood?" I asked. "Some kind of secret organisation like The Masons? Who are you?"

"Well love," said Margaret, pouring tea into fine china cups. "You might get a clue from the other name we call ourselves. I must say, it's the name I've always preferred."

Alice sniffed disdainfully - but Margaret continued, pointedly ignoring her.

"I always think of our little gang as The Granny Knot."



Story starts here.