(K.T. Findlay – A
Thoughtful Woman)
Culture’s
an interesting thing. It can show up in the most unexpected ways.
Some
years ago I had the pleasure of visiting a rather beautiful area of
Atlanta called Buckhead. I’d visited downtown Cincinnati the year
before, but otherwise, this was my first visit to mainland USA and
everything was new to me. I remember my astonishment at seeing white
butter for the first time, and wondering if it had been manufactured
in a factory somewhere and someone had forgotten to add the yellow
dye.
Then it was a quick cab ride to the office, one of the few high rises
at the time and that was a revelation too. Buckhead is made up of
nice homes set on large sections, all settled into a lot of trees.
From ground level it looks like a really pretty, leafy suburb. From
several stories up it was completely different. You would have
thought you were surrounded by forest because there were almost no
houses or roads to be seen. It was just trees as far as you could
see, with the odd high rise popping up here and there.
So
when I had a day off, I went for a walk. Who wouldn’t want to go
for a walk in the woods? Well, Americans, as it turned out. Or at
least these particular local Americans.
I
took a cab to a shopping centre a few miles from the hotel, and paid
attention to the route and the way the roads were laid out, and I was
pretty confident about finding my way home again. So I had an
interesting time wandering around the mall, dazzled by the huge
variety of stuff on offer, but confined myself to buying just a few
things that would fit in my backpack.
Then
it was time to head back to the hotel, and right away there was a
problem. What do you walk on? No footpath.
“That’s
odd.” I thought. But I assumed it was just something about the main
road, so I danced my way through the traffic and headed for the
quieter suburban streets between the mall and the hotel.
Well
those quiet suburban streets were just made for walking. Gorgeous
homes, beautiful sections, and always, those wonderful, glorious,
shady trees. Happiness is. So a terrific walker’s paradise, except
for just one thing. No footpaths. At all. Of any kind. I had to make
my way via people’s lawns and walking on the road, hopping over low
walls, and always keeping an ear out for traffic coming up behind, on
the wrong side of the road of course!
I
found it all fascinating, but nowhere near as fascinating as the
doorman found me. When he spotted me walking in the far end of the
hotel’s driveway, he literally ran out to greet me, dressed in all
his gear, on a sweltering hot, muggy day.
‘What
was the cab company you came in?’ he demanded. ‘They should never
have dropped you off at the street. We’ll have them barred from the
chain!’ He really was furious.
“‘No
cab.” I explained. “I walked back from the mall. It’s not far.
Only a few miles.”
His
jaw dropped. “You walked? Seriously? All that way? But it’s
miles!”
I
shook my head. ‘Nah. It isn’t far really. Didn’t take me long
at all, at least not once I gave up looking for the foothpaths.”
‘But
we don’t have any footpaths around here.” he protested.
“I
noticed.” I grinned in reply. “But it’ll be okay tomorrow.”
“Why’s
that?” he asked.
“Because
I’ll be going out again tomorrow. There’s some stuff at the mall
I still want to buy, but I’ve got a good route now.”
“We
can get you a car sir. It’s no trouble.”
“Thanks,
but I’d rather walk.”
“No
really sir. We’d much prefer that you take a car.”
“Why?”
I asked.
He
was silent for a moment, and seemed to be struggling to find the
right words. In the end he plumped for honesty. “Because it doesn’t
look very good, a guest walking out of the hotel.”
I
compromised. “Well, okay. If it makes you feel any better, I can
take a cab.”
His
face brightened. “Thank you sir!”
I
shook his hand. “No worries. And thanks for coming out to get me. I
appreciate your concern. At least you won’t have to do it tomorrow
when I come back.”
“Sir?”
he queried. But he already knew the answer. I was going to be walking
back.
As
the elevator doors closed to take me up to my room, I glanced back at
the main entrance. He was busy in earnest conversation with the two
bellhops, who were also looking aghast in my general direction. There
was just enough time to give them a wave before the doors closed.
It
was a different world. For both of us.
A
Thoughtful Woman by K.T. Findlay
Genre: Thriller
/ Dark Humour
Standalone
first book in a series
Artist
Sally Mellors has planned the perfect revenge, but with two secret
agents on her tail, and her best friends running the police
investigation, getting away with murder is going to be
tricky...
Everybody loves Sally. She's a funny, generous, warm hearted friend, without a nasty bone in her body.
Everybody loves Sally. She's a funny, generous, warm hearted friend, without a nasty bone in her body.
Isn't
she?
Unknown
to her friends, Sally's discovered another side to herself, cool
headed and relentless, as she hunts down the three men who killed her
husband.
But
Sally's not the only one with an interest in the trio. Unknown to
her, two agents have arrived in town, urgently hunting a missing man
and his diary, which could blow their organisation apart. Their best
leads are the very men that Sally's hunting, and she's getting in the
way…
K.T.
Findlay lives on a small farm where he dovetails his writing with
fighting the blackberry and convincing the quadbike that killing its
rider isn’t a vital part of its job description.
Webpage
: www.ktfindlay.com
