Chapter 11
‘There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?’ As she ushered the netball team back onto the minibus, Miss Cooke nodded at Nicola, who was standing next to her.
Not so bad? She doubted whether Charlie would ever speak to her again, let alone be so inclined to do anything charitable for the villagers in the near future.
She looked towards where he was standing beside the farmyard gate, watching silently as they crammed into the vehicle.
Not that it mattered what he thought of her, and besides, he was selling the farm, anyway.
Hopefully, someone who appreciated and nurtured connections with the local community would fill his position.
‘At least you have your measurements,’ Nicola acknowledged.
‘Yes, yes. We can make a start on implementing our designs now.’ Miss Cooke smiled brightly, seemingly completely unaware of the glare Charlie was sending her way.
When the last teen had climbed into the minibus, Nicola noticed Charlie turn on his heels and walk away.
‘Right, is that everyone? Let’s have a quick headcount.’ Miss Cooke pulled herself up onto the steps of the minibus and peered inside, her index finger pointing as she counted.
Pulling open the front passenger door, Nicola took a final look towards where Charlie had been standing, eyeing them as they got ready to leave.
She really couldn’t read him. Normally, she was relatively good at measuring someone up, noticing the way they spoke, how they acted, even their stance, which gave her clues as to whether they were to be trusted, were kind, or the opposite, but she found she just couldn’t with Charlie.
She’d been certain he’d never have relented into lending his tractors and trailers and yet here he was, even if he hadn’t had much choice in the matter of Miss Cooke turning up with the Meadowfield under fourteens’ netball team, but still, he’d agreed to it.
And he’d helped her in her hour of need. She hadn’t envisioned that either.
She climbed the steps and laughed at herself. She hadn’t exactly read Nathan very well either, had she? Maybe her skills at reading people weren’t so great after all.
‘Where are Carrie and Harper?’ Miss Cooke’s shrill voice grew louder.
Nicola felt dread pooling in the bottom of her stomach.
Carrie and Harper were the girls who had sniggered at Miss Cooke earlier, and the two she’d marked as being troublesome as soon as she’d seen them messing about with some tools that had been left next to the trailer.
She looked around the farmyard, hoping they’d just been lingering somewhere chatting and hadn’t realised everyone else was now on the minibus, but the farmyard was empty. Even the hens had scarpered.
‘I think I saw them going towards the farmhouse a few minutes ago.’ One of the girls sitting closest to the door spoke up as she twizzled her dark hair around her finger.
‘You did? Why on earth didn’t you say anything?’ Miss Cooke huffed as she stepped back out of the minibus.
‘I’ll go and see if I can find them.’ Nicola climbed down out of the minibus and glanced around the farmyard again, relieved Charlie was nowhere to be seen.
If the runaways could be found and returned without him realising, he might just keep to his promise of helping the cause of the carnival.
If they couldn’t, they’d definitely be two floats down.
‘Yes, yes. Hurry up then. I’ll stay here with the others.’ Miss Cooke glanced behind her at the loaded minibus. ‘To supervise them.’
Nodding, Nicola let herself back through the gate into the farmyard and made her way in the direction of the large stone house which stood to the right.
Why on earth would the girls have come over here?
They’d been told to all stay together, and they’d been specifically instructed not to wander off.
Charlie was right, this was a working farm, not a children’s playground.
She frowned as she walked towards the back of the house.
A collection of outbuildings were clustered between the house and the field behind, as well as a row of small stone stables, unused by the looks of it, or at least not used to house horses any longer, and beyond them stood a smaller metal structured barn and a couple of wooden sheds.
The girls could be anywhere, and it would take her ages to search inside all these buildings. Glancing around her, Nicola quietly called out, ‘Carrie, Harper.’
It was no good. They wouldn’t be able to hear her. She knew that. Not unless they were super close, but if she called any louder, then she ran the risk of alerting Charlie to the fact he had two teenage girls running amok around his farm.
Making her way towards the row of stone stables, Nicola walked around the side of them, glancing behind to see if they were hiding there.
Nope, apart from a small scrapyard of various metal farming equipment having either been dumped there through disuse or perhaps awaiting repairs, there was no sign of the girls. She’d have to check inside.
Just as she was walking back out into the farmyard, she came face to face with Charlie himself.
Stopping in her tracks, she dug her hands into her pockets in the vain attempt to look as though she was – what?
Casually snooping. She had no idea, but the longer she could prevent him realising that Carrie and Harper had done exactly the opposite of what he had instructed, the better.
Mirroring her, Charlie crossed his arms and harrumphed, his eyebrows raised in question.
Trying to keep her expression neutral, Nicola glanced behind her, buying her some time to think of a suitable excuse.
‘She’s already told me. That mayoress of yours.’ Charlie’s jaw flexed. ‘I saw the minibus was still parked up so went to find out why.’
‘She has?’ Nicola blinked.
‘She has, so I’m going to assume they’re not hiding behind the stables.’
‘Nope. They’re not behind there.’ Pulling her hands from her pockets, she scraped her hair back into a quick ponytail, glad she had the habit of wearing a hairband bracelet-style.
‘I’ll find them, though. Don’t worry, you can go back to your…
umm, farming and I’ll make sure they get on the minibus. ’
‘Just like you did the first time around?’ He tilted his head, eyeing her.
‘Well, no.’ Nicola sighed. She knew she’d be the one to take the blame. ‘It wasn’t my fault they decided to run off. They’re probably just exploring or have gone on a little walk or something.’
He shook his head. ‘I specifically said I didn’t want children running around the farm unsupervised. It’s not safe. They could be anywhere by now and doing anything.’
‘They won’t be. They’re thirteen, fourteen.’ She shrugged. She wasn’t sure, but they were around that age. ‘They’re old enough to know not to touch anything they shouldn’t.’
‘Just like they’re old enough to follow instructions, you mean?’
She flared her nostrils. She wanted to be here as much as he wanted to participate in the carnival preparations. She didn’t ask for this to happen and, ultimately, she wasn’t responsible for the girls having run off.
Stepping around him, she pulled open the first stable door, peering inside. The space was lit by the setting sun streaming in through a small window but all it illuminated was more farming paraphernalia. No netball players. Stepping back outside, she pulled the door firmly shut.
‘Don’t they have mobiles you could ring? I thought all teenagers had one permanently glued to their palms nowadays?’ He followed her towards the middle door of the stable block.
‘I don’t know. Maybe, go and ask Miss Cooke.
They’re part of her netball team, after all.
I don’t have anything to do with them.’ She pushed the door before ramming it with her shoulder as it stuck.
She hadn’t noticed any mobiles on the minibus, but even if they did have one, would Miss Cooke have their phone numbers?
Pushing against the door again, it finally gave way, and she half fell inside, quickly reaching out her hand to steady herself.
‘That might be worth a shot, mightn’t it?
Rather than wandering aimlessly around the farm.
’ He held the door open for her as she walked further inside as he continued, sarcasm lacing his words, ‘It might take a while to cover two hundred acres of farmland. Might even take us up until the day of the carnival.’
Turning to face him, Nicola wiped cobwebs from her face as she tried to stop herself from shouting at him. ‘Yes, good idea. Go and ask her.’
‘Maybe I will.’ He waited until she’d escaped the spiderweb-filled stable and closed the door behind her.
‘Good.’ Anything to take him away from her for a while.
Yes, this wasn’t a great situation, but it wasn’t the end of the world either.
Pulling up the edge of her T-shirt sleeve, she wiped her face again and shuddered.
She felt as though she had a million spiders crawling across her skin.
If she’d been with anyone else, she’d have asked them if she had any on her, but not him.
‘Hold on.’ Stepping forward, Charlie closed the small gap between them.
She paused as he reached his hand out towards her, brushing his fingers against the skin of her forehead. As soon as he’d stepped back again, she scrubbed her forehead, raking her fingers through her hair. ‘What was it? Was it a spider? Have I walked into a nest or something?’
His lips twitched with a smile. ‘It was just a web.’
‘Are you sure?’ She looked at him wide-eyed. Mice she could cope with. She didn’t mind trapping and releasing a hundred mice from her cottage, but spiders? They were a whole different story. Eight spindly legs. She shuddered again.
‘I’m sure.’ Relenting, he broke into a grin, his eyes dancing with the same unreadable expression he’d had when he’d taken her home.
‘Are you laughing at me?’ She continued to brush her arms. He was, wasn’t he? He was laughing at her.
‘Sorry. I’m not.’ He ran his palm across his face. ‘Or at least I’m not anymore.’
‘Well… thanks.’ She rolled her eyes at him. What a gentleman.
Marching towards the final stable door, she ripped it open and flourished her arm to indicate he should go through.
‘Your turn.’
‘Fine.’ Peering inside, he shook his head before closing the door again.
Slumping her shoulders, she sighed. ‘Where are they?’
‘I don’t know, but one thing I do know for certain is that I’m quickly regretting my decision to bow to your demands.’ He began striding away.
‘Hey, hang on. What do you mean, my demands? I’m not the one running the carnival.
In fact, I only had the one job, and that was to convince you to agree to letting the community hub,’ she emphasised these words to reiterate the fact she wasn’t closely involved with the big event, ‘borrow the use of your tractors and trailers. That was all.’
‘But here you are.’ Stopping short, he turned to face her, the expression on his face slipping back into the usual grumpy frown she was used to seeing.
‘Yes, here I am because I’m a decent human being who happens to want to help the local community.’ She drew a breath. ‘This is not in my job description.’
‘It’s not in mine either.’ He grumbled as he resumed walking.
‘I know, I know.’ She jogged to catch up with him. ‘I understand you’ve got better things to be doing than running around after AWOL teenagers. You must have a lot of settling in to do, working things out and all that.’
‘Not settling in. No. I’m selling the place, remember?’
‘Ah, yes, of course.’ Why had she said settling in? Of course, he was just getting the farm ready to sell. He’d already told her that. ‘When are you hoping to get it on the market?’
Stopping, he looked at her, his eyes meeting hers. ‘Why? Are you going to make me an offer?’
‘Er… no. I was just wondering.’ She frowned. She’d just been trying to make conversation, that was all. And, of course, trying dismally to appease him, hoping the girls would just show up of their own accord and they could all get out of his way. She’d forgotten he was going to sell.
‘That’s a shame.’ There was that sarcasm again. He began walking once more. ‘It’d be a lot sooner if I didn’t have to spend my time running around the farm looking for kids you were supposed to be in charge of.’
‘I wasn’t…’ Nicola let her voice trail off. What was the point in repeating herself?
Her attention was caught by Miss Cooke hurrying towards them, arms waving in the air.
‘Please tell us you’ve found them.’ Charlie growled as Miss Cooke reached them.
‘Yes, yes, disaster averted. Carrie and Harper have returned.’ Miss Cooke held her side as she filled her lungs.
‘And dare I ask what they’ve been doing all this time?’ Raising an eyebrow, Charlie glanced towards Nicola before looking back at the mayoress.
‘Just walking. They said they got a little lost.’
‘Well, I don’t want them coming here again. If they can’t respect my land, then they have no business returning.’ Charlie led the way through the farmyard and held the gate open for them.
‘I don’t think banishing them is called for. They just got lost, that’s all.’ Miss Cooke pulled out a bunch of keys from her handbag as she walked through the gateway.
‘They broke the rules. I can’t have children on my farm who are going to run wild around all the farming equipment. My insurance wouldn’t cover me if anything happened to them.’ He nodded to Nicola to go through.
Walking past him towards the minibus, she kept her gaze forward. She had to admit he did have a point.
‘Give them one more chance. They’ve learned their lesson now and if they go off again, then you can banish them. Just let them join the rest of the team when we come to attach all the decorations we make.’ Miss Cooke pulled open the driver’s door.
Charlie sighed audibly as he closed the gate behind them. ‘Whatever, but they’re your responsibility.’
‘Yes, yes. Thank you.’ Miss Cooke closed the driver’s door.
‘Thanks. Bye.’ Nicola watched as he gave a small terse nod before she joined Miss Cooke in the minibus.
Shifting the gearstick into reverse, Miss Cooke studied the rear-view mirror. ‘I’m not sure where he’s got his impossible nature from, but it definitely isn’t from his dear uncle.’
‘Hmm.’ Nicola looked out of the window and watched as Charlie turned his back on them and disappeared into the barn. She traced her index finger over her forehead where, minutes earlier, Charlie had brushed his fingers against her skin as he’d wiped away the cobweb. Yes, he was rather impossible.