The Impossible Poisoning.

Chapter 5

I woke the next morning, feeling weaker than usual. Dinner the previous night had been an awkward affair, as Felicity had spent all of it trying to get the attention of a certain someone who obviously only had eyes for Rebecca. My head was hurting as I dressed and hobbled down the stairs, following my nose towards the dining room again. Newham, Hettie, Broker and Fisher were already there, and I knew Isabel wouldn't be up until later.

"Are you alright, Allie?" Newham asked worriedly. "You look a little pale today."

"I'm fine" I assured him. "Just a little headache."

I sat down with a bit of a wobble on the chair next to him, and helped myself to toast, but I could only manage a few mouthfuls.

"You're not looking well, Allie" Hettie commented. "You're all pale, and you're barely eating."

"I'm not ill" I sighed. "People get headaches."

"Yes, but not you" Newham corrected. "I've never seen you get headaches unless you're upset or ill."

"Y-You aren't upset about a-anything, are you, Allie?" Fisher chipped in worriedly.

"Course not, Fisher!" I scoffed, trying to sound alright.

"How's your ankle, Miss Winter?" Broker asked politely. I smiled at him.

"Much better, actually, thank you" I replied. "Where are Miss Carfield and Miss Evans?" I then asked, as Hanson plodded through with more toast.

"Miss Carfield's out on an early morning ride with Mr. Debunbuns, ma'am" Hanson told us. "And Miss Evans is out in the gardens."

"Early risers" Newham commented cynically.

"Isabel still in bed, then?" Hettie asked with a smile.

"S-She won't be....er, moving for a while" Fisher explained. "That boat trip rather took it out of her."

"But she enjoyed it, though?" I cut in quickly. Fisher nodded.

"Oh, er, yes" he smiled. "She loved it."

"Stranger things have happened" Newham muttered, and we all laughed.

"Is there anything planned for today?" I then asked, looking around at the table.

"Well, not really, since Felicity didn't know we were coming" Hettie sighed.

"We could go and look round the garden?" Broker suggested. "Perhaps not the overgrown bits, obviously, but..."

"There's nothing wrong with overgrown bits!" Hettie corrected her husband, sounding insolent.

"You only say that because you don't garden, Het"  Broker replied firmly. Hettie sighed.

"You only say that because you do."

We all laughed again, and decided that we would, indeed, go and look around the garden, since really, we had literally nothing to do.

"I'm bored" I commented dryly, as Newham, Fisher and I strolled around a bed of weeds and dead hydrangeas.

"Allie-" Newham began.

"Nothing exciting's happening" I cut in. "This world is boring. My life is boring. I'm-"

"Safe, is what you are" Newham corrected firmly. "And safe is what you're going to stay, Allie."

I frowned, but I knew he was right.

"Y-You could always read, Allie" Fisher suggested. "T-The worlds in your books aren't going a-anywhere."

I smiled at him, feeling a little put out, still.

"It's probably because I'm so used to having such a crazy life" I admitted, partly trying to persuade myself that this was the case. "Normal bores me now."

"This is why you're hopeless, Allie" Newham sighed, squeezing my hand. Suddenly, my stomach seemed to lurch, and I stopped, leaning on Newham, head spinning.

"Allie?" Newham repeated, his voice high with worry as I nearly fell over.
"Maybe I am ill" I murmured weakly to myself.

Newham and Fisher grabbed me, half carrying me back inside and up to my room. They lay me on my bed, and Fisher hurried out to get someone to help.

"Allie, you're burning up!" Newham gasped worriedly, hand on my forehead as I lay.

"No" I muttered drowsily. "I'm cold..."

Fisher burst back through the door, Isabel, Hettie and Broker in tow.

"Allie!" Isabel fretted, coming to sit on my other side, gripping my clammy hand in hers.

"Rebecca's sent for a doctor" Hettie told us. "He'll be here soon."

I knew Newham was on my left and Isabel on my right, but everything else was sort of blurring. My head was hurting badly now, and my stomach was churning and threatening to bring up my breakfast. What was going...

But then I passed out.

The next thing I remembered was feeling a cool breeze on my face, and a wet cloth on my head. Someone was holding onto my hand, and I guessed by the dainty fingers that it was Hettie. I opened half an eye, and yes, it was.

"The doctor's been" she smiled soothingly. "He says you'll be alright."

I sighed, limply squeezing her hand.

"I was wondering if you wanted me to read to you" Hettie carried on. "I've got that Sedgefield Carburry you were reading on the way up here."

"Please" I murmured, and she began to read. As she did, I drifted in and out of consciousness, but then one particular part of what she read caught my attention.

"So how was it done?" William asked. "The murder, I mean."

Sedgefield looked at him, with a surprised sort of eyebrow-raise.

"How do you know I do know how it was done?" he commented, folding his arms and crossing his legs, staring bluntly at William, who sighed.

"Don't be clever with me, Sedgefield. You've been holding in giggles ever since that Inspector-person started asking questions" he pointed out. Sedgefield sniffed.

"I may have an appalling medical condition which makes one act like one is holding in laughter" he said matter-of-factly. William snorted.

"Now I know you know" he scoffed. Sedgefield nodded.

"And you'd be right to" he smiled. "Shall we go somewhere where we can't be heard?"

They wandered to a far corner of the golf course, where Sedgefield settled himself on a bench, William pacing around him.

"I reckon that, whoever it is, they've been planning this for a while"  Sedgefield began to explain. "I mean, look at the guy. He's been severely ill for some days, for heaven's sake, with headaches, dizziness, clammy pale skin, nausea and he's been passing out every day recently."

"So?" William asked bluntly. Sedgefield rolled his eyes.

"They're the symptoms of blood poisoning, Edison."

"Right" William nodded, a little sarcastically. "Blood poisoning. How could I have missed that?"

"Easily, it appears" Sedgefield remarked. William shot him a dirty look.

I stopped listening to Hettie. Headaches, dizziness, clammy skin, nausea and passing out were the symptoms of blood poisoning?

No. Surely not.

Was I being poisoned?