The broken window

There was something not quite right about the window. It looked as if someone had forced it open. Freda leaned back and rubbed her head, she looked around her, nothing seemed to have been touched. Her precious keyboard was in the corner of the room with her music and pile of notes next to it. What was she not seeing? the handle looked broken, she then realised that this could be seen as a broken window.

Rex, her Labrador, sat looking up at her, his big eyes pleading it wasn’t me. She realised then that it had been opened from the inside and the possible culprit was the animal who she loved the most. Was this something that Labradors do? Open windows? She wasn’t sure but what was the other explanation?

It had been a long afternoon, which she had spent with her best friend Ruby and new boyfriend Mark. She was pleased that Ruby had found someone that appeared to really care about her. The afternoon had ended with her feeling drained and she had fallen asleep on the settee.  When she woke she now found herself under a blanket with the window broken.

Putting her feet on the floor now and pushing herself up, she was hungry and thirsty. Looking at the clock she could see it was now 6.30, she wondered what time she had fallen asleep.

* * * * *

A walk in the woods

It had been a good afternoon and the three of us had enjoyed a walk in the woods, enjoying the surroundings. Mark had jumped in the wet leaves and Freda had laughed at Rex enjoying the mud. The fresh air was something we all needed, time to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

This was the third time that Mark had come to visit, and we had quickly become close. He is easy to talk to and we both like being outdoors. He also enjoys my music and has a great sense of humour.

Today I had felt a sense of happiness that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Everyone was getting on and we were laughing like we had known each other for years. Freda was relaxed, which was nice to see, she had let Mark into her world quicker then I had expected. Mark seemed to have accepted that Freda was my friend and he had accepted that I didn’t want to exclude her.

Our relationship is still very young, but I’m hopeful, especially as our day did not end in quite the way we thought it would. I’m thankful that Freda had fallen asleep and she must have needed it as she slept through this afternoon’s incident. Seeing how tired she was, I had put a blanket over her and let her sleep.

The intruder

We had decided to take Rex for a walk around the block, leaving Freda in peace for a while. This had seemed like a good plan until we returned and found a blue jean covered leg disappearing out of the window behind her. We hadn’t been gone long but someone must have been watching us leave.

Mark had immediately ran outside to chase after him, but the intruder had outrun him. He came back in, panting,
“Is the Police station nearby?”
“It’s about five minutes up the road”.
“Right, Freda should be safe if we leave Rex here. Let’s walk to the police station and tell someone, we might not be taken seriously on 999.”
I was too shocked to argue, if we hadn’t come back when we had done, anything could have happened. Looking at the window, it had been forced open, but at least there should be prints. I glanced at Freda still peacefully sleeping.

Leaving Freda

“Should we leave her a note?”
“I think it would scare her, we need to tell her in person. For now, if she wakes the window will just be a confusing mystery. We won’t be long and hopefully the police will come back with us.”
I nodded, he did make sense. I was fearful of leaving her, but I knew that Rex would see off an intruder if they came back. Freda’s pile of sheet music now caught my eye, I wondered if for any reason someone was wanting to steal that. She was good, but why would anyone break in to steal her material? If it was for her music, I suspected he was a local who had heard us playing in the pub.

A walk to the police station

I realised the sooner we went, the sooner we would be back, but I wanted to just phone them, Mark was already stood on the garden path and there was no stopping him. He had decided that we needed to walk to the station so that’s where we were going. I didn’t want to argue with him, I sighed, looking at Freda lying there vulnerable. Mark was right, Rex would look after her. Turning around, I walked out of the door and shut it behind me. I glanced at the metal around the lock, I couldn’t see evidence of it being forced but an expert would have skillfully picked the lock.

“Come on Ruby, let’s go.”
“Okay, I’m coming.”
I followed him down the path and we walked quietly to the station. I struggled for things to say, I was worried, and my mind kept thinking of Freda and the broken window.

* * * * *

‘Baby Blue’

Freda sat in her kitchen drinking her tea, thoughts of the previous week playing her music in the ‘Red Lion’. Remembering the dark haired man with a pony tail staring at her, he had made her nervous. She had thought nothing more of it then, but now she thought more about the broken window.

Pushing her chair back with a loud screech across the kitchen floor, she now picked up her mug wanting to check her music sheets. Walking into her lounge, Rex followed tail wagging. With a purpose now she put down her mug on her coffee table and dragged her music on to the floor.

The song she had been singing had been a sad one called ‘Baby Blue’. She was not surprised to find the sheet music missing. She quietly cursed, she could remember the song and it could be rewritten but it had now been stolen. Freda feared that he would sell it, and then she would hear it being sung by someone else one day on the radio.

She looked at the broken window, feeling hot, sweaty and physically sick, she could feel the tears pricking her eyes. Rubbing them she was surprised to see a police car pull up outside. Then relieved when she saw Ruby and Mark get out of the back. Ten minutes later she was sat at her kitchen table telling a police woman about the man in the pub.  Mark had already described the man that he chased, tall with a pony tail that swung as he ran.

* * * * *

The change in the day

Our day had gone from a lovely happy afternoon walk in the woods, to Freda being robbed of ’Baby Blue’ whilst she slept. I was annoyed with myself because if we hadn’t left her today then she wouldn’t have been burgled. Unfortunate for him that he hadn’t broken in earlier when we were in the woods. Freda would not have a broken window with him escaping as we had walked in. However, Mark would not have been able to corroborate Freda’s description of him.

This really had been a turn of events. I had enjoyed singing ‘Baby Blue’ and I hoped and prayed that the police found him and the music. I wondered who he was, why did he want it? And was that song actually worth something? Maybe as Ruby and Freda, we could be a success, maybe we were destined for more than singing in pubs.

Mark took my hand,

“We need to find ‘Baby Blue’, we can’t let anyone else have it’.
“Don’t worry, we will find him, we have your descriptions and we’ve taken prints. He picked your door lock, you might want to consider changing it. Here is some information on locks.”

Fixing the door lock and window

The police man passed me a leaflet, I thanked him and put it on the table, grateful but amused at the leaflet about locks. They then left and we were now alone again.
“Don’t worry about the window and door lock Freda, I’ll fix it for you before I go home tomorrow”.

We both looked at him, both feeling grateful that he was here to save the day and wow what a day it had been.

For more see – Singing, our reflections and a first date (part 6 of Ruby and Freda, this is part 7)

Written for Grammys Grid – Short story sentence prompt – There was something not quite right about the window. It looked as if…