**Diary Entry 14th December**
*”Leave her here, let her die!”* I heard them say as they dumped the old woman into the snow. The fools didnt realise the boomerang would soon come flying back.
I walked towards my building, my breath fogging in the cold. The elderly ladies on the bench were chattering about the expensive car newly parked outside.
“Whose is it?” I asked.
“No idea!” one of them replied sharply. “Must belong to Mary. Folks like us dont get fancy cars turning up at their doors.”
“Only ambulances come for us!” another added with a bitter laugh.
They carried on gossiping about the council and the usual rumours. Then Mary herself appeared, the one who owned the car. She strode past without a glance at her neighbours or the vehicle parked on the lawn. I hurried inside.
“Margaret Whitmore?” A mans voice startled me in the stairwell. “Do you remember me? We spoke a few days ago. Im your nephew.”
“Oh, Edward!” I recognised him at once. “Why didnt you tell me you were coming? Is that your car on the grass?”
“Yes, mine.”
“Well, go and move it before someone keys it! What were you thinking, parking on my flowerbeds?”
He rushed outside while I went to put the kettle on. I needed to sell the flatI couldnt leave the neighbours to ruin the garden.
Years ago, my uncle used to visit with his son. Then the family drifted apart. And now, here he was, this young man. But something about Edward unsettled me. He smoked constantly, his teeth already yellowed. Still, I was glad hed come. I didnt want to deal with estate agentsbetter to give my nephew the commission. But he refused the money.
Alone in my old age, I longed to move closer to nature. Fresh air was better than trudging up four flights of stairs. The countryside had a little cottage waiting. While I still had strength, I wanted to grow my own vegetables. By autumn, a buyer appeared for the flat.
“Winters coming. Lets wait till spring to sell,” I decided, delaying the move.
“But prices will rise by then!” Edward argued. “Cold weathers the best time to check the heating. And weve got a buyer nowwhat if they back out?”
“You havent found me a home yet! Where will I live? Lets secure a place first,” I sighed. He reluctantly agreed.
Soon, Edward lined up a few cottages. The one I liked needed workpeeling wallpaper, creaky floorsbut the flats sale would cover the repairs. Edward knew construction; he promised to help.
Yet I hesitated. “Im too old for renovations. I want to walk into a home, not a project.”
“But Ill do the work!” he insisted.
Something nagged at mehis eagerness to sell the flat quickly, his push for a rushed purchase. Still, I told myself he had nothing to gain. I signed the papers on the agreed date.
The buyer and solicitor arrived promptly. Edward served tea. My chest achedthis was my home, my whole life packed into boxes. No going back now.
“All done! Time to move,” Edward announced.
“Now? Ive still got dishes in the cupboard!” I protested, but he insistedthe buyer needed the flat tonight.
We set off in his van. Exhausted, I dozed off, waking now and then to glimpses of the road, snippets of conversation.
“Margaret, can you hear me?” Edwards voice sounded distant. I couldnt answer.
“Leave her here.” The words cut through my haze. Thencold. They dropped me in the snow.
“Shell die on her own,” he added.
I understood then. The tea had been drugged. Hed swindled me. Closing my eyes, I braced for the end.
But a passing driver saw the van, the men unloading something into the woods. Suspicious, she pulled over, noted the license plate, and waited. When they left, she rushed to the spotand found me.
“Where am I?” I rasped as consciousness returned.
“We found you,” the young womanEmilysaid gently. “Do you remember how you got here?”
“Yes. My nephew. The flat sale. The tea He put something in it! Then the van, the snowhe threw me away!”
“Lets get you warm,” she murmured, rubbing my hands with cream.
“With you, I feel safe,” I whispered. “Without you, Id be gone.”
Emily and her husband called the police. An investigation began. They took me in”Youll have a roof over your head till you get your home back.”
Two weeks later, the flat was returned to me. Edward and his accomplice were arrested for fraud. Come spring, I sold it properly and bought my cottage. No renovations neededjust a garden to tend. That summer, I invited Emily and her husband for tea. Ill never forget their kindness.
