CHAPTER SIX
I shone my phone light into the face of a woman, who was looking as shocked as I was.
‘Oh, my goodness! Do you live here? I thought the house was empty,’ she gasped. ‘Sorry. I do apologise if I scared you. I’m looking for my dog.’
‘No, no. I mean, no, you didn’t scare me. Well, you did . But I probably scared you just as much.’
‘Mungo? Mungo!’ she called, shining a torch into the distance. ‘Where on earth are you?’
At that moment, a dog barked and came trotting out of the gloom towards us.
‘Good boy.’ The woman stooped to scratch his head, and I felt myself relax. Dog-owners generally weren’t deranged serial killers, were they? So it was probably quite safe to stand here and chat to this woman in the middle of nowhere.
‘Mungo was freaked out by some boys on quad bikes driving away up the lane,’ she explained. ‘They were making such a noise.’
‘Oh, yes. They were roaring around the field when I arrived.’
‘So this is your house?’
‘Yes, we’ve just bought it.’
‘Oh, how lovely.’
I chuckled. ‘Well, not entirely. But hopefully it will be once we’ve had the work done.’
‘Is it really bad inside?’ She peered curiously over the hedge.
‘Well, quite run-down. But I’ve fallen in love with it, so...’ I gave a hopeless shrug.
She looked wistful. ‘Yes. Houses can do that to you. My car’s parked in a lay-by up there,’ she explained, clipping on Mungo’s lead as she talked. ‘I was looking for somewhere to walk him but I left it too late and then it got dark and he ran off. I got a little disorientated in the dark.’
‘Are you new to the area, then?’
‘Yes. We used to live in London, didn’t we, Mungo?’ She bent and made a fuss of the little dog. ‘I ran a successful company there for twenty years.’
‘Right.’ She didn’t seem old enough for that. Late thirties, maybe?
‘But just lately, I’ve been craving the peace and quiet of the countryside. And then, of course, I rescued Mungo from the shelter and realised I could do with a garden for him. So... here we are. We’re renting at the moment on a short lease while I look for a property to buy.’
‘Well, I can definitely vouch for Sunnybrook being lovely,’ I offered. ‘We’re renting a house close to the village green.’
‘Sunnybrook does seem gorgeous,’ she agreed. ‘I’ve been looking at properties for sale around this area and I saw your house on a website.’
‘Oh. They mustn’t have got around to removing the advert after the sale went through.’
She smiled. ‘That’s why I drove up this way for Mungo’s walk, actually. To get a glimpse of your house. Not realising, of course, that it was no longer on the market.’
‘Well, I’m sure you’ll find a house that needs far less work than this one,’ I said cheerfully, with a nod over the hedge. ‘Between you and me, I am starting to wonder what on earth we’ve taken on.’ (It wasn’t true, really. I just wanted to make this nice woman feel better about coming to look at a house that was already sold and having a wasted trip.)
She smiled. ‘I suppose something we can move straight into would be better.’
‘Is it you and your . . . partner?’
‘Oh, no. By “we” I meant me and Mungo. Yes, somewhere in a pretty village with some handy shops and a nice café would be just the ticket.’
I chuckled. ‘I actually run the Little Duck Pond Café in Sunnybrook.’
‘Ooh, a café! I always think that must be such a lovely, relaxing sort of thing to do.’
‘It would be altogether more relaxing if I didn’t have a bakery and a glamping site to look after as well,’ I joked.
‘Gosh, you must be busy.’
An owl hooted above us. Was it the same one? Mungo growled and started pulling on his lead, at which point his owner decided it was time to go.
‘But it was lovely to meet you,’ she said. ‘My name’s Rhona, by the way.’
‘Ellie.’ We did a swift hand-shake as Rhona, laughing, was pulled away by Mungo. ‘Nice to meet you, too.’
She waved as they walked off down the lane.
‘Pop into the café some time!’ I called after her, thinking it must be hard moving to an area and not knowing anyone.
‘I might just do that,’ she called back, as she disappeared into the gloom.