25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘ H ow was it?’
When I walked into the kitchen, Harry was on her hands and knees laying mouse traps. ‘Good, although I’m not sure Beryl trusts me. She still hasn’t left me alone in the shop and I’ve been there for weeks now.’
Harry looked at me and laughed. ‘You don’t think she’s going to be in her flat watching TV with her feet up, do you?’
‘She said her joints were playing up and she needed a rest when she employed me.’
Harry laughed again. ‘A rest from the work, maybe, not a rest from the gossip. She’ll be there with you every day, mark my words. Beryl prides herself on knowing everything about everyone. She wouldn’t risk missing out on any tidbits of information. She’s all right, just watch what you say around her.’
‘I think it’s too late for that. MI5 missed a trick. She would have made an excellent spy with her cuddly old lady act. She had me spilling my life story in under five minutes. Anyway, how are the preparations going?’
‘Great. Maggie’s made a hundred cupcakes and Stephan is currently in the lounge blowing up balloons.’
‘What would you like me to do?’
‘I thought we could lay an Easter egg hunt through the woods. Seb’s going to make a start after lunch. Could you help him?’
‘Sure. What’s the prize?’
‘The winner gets to name and adopt one of the lambs. Obviously it will stay here, but their prize will include visiting rights.’
‘That’s a lovely idea, but what will happen when the time comes for the lamb to… you know… end up as someone’s roast dinner?’
‘We’ll keep the winning lamb as a breeder. That way, it will avoid a sticky end.’
‘I see you’ve thought of everything. Where’s Seb?’
‘Fixing a leak in my annexe. Go and find him if you like.’
As I walked through to the annexe, my newly formed business mind whirred with the possibilities the planned open day would afford us. The entire school had been invited up to the farm for the afternoon. Not only would it be an excellent test run for future events, it would give me a great piece of evidence for the funding bid I was writing. A proven track record was one requirement for the lengthy form.
I paused at the door to Harry’s annexe. Although not out of bounds, since arriving at Lowen Farm I’d realised how much Harry must need something of her own, so had never invaded her space. Although I knew she wasn’t there, I knocked on the door anyway.
‘Come in. Oh, hi, Liv.’ Seb was up on a ladder, fiddling with a light fitting. ‘How was work?’
‘Good. I heard all about the war Carol is raging on cats in her garden and Mavis’s naughty neighbours have been at it again.’
‘Crikey, I don’t know where they get the energy.’
‘What are you doing?’
‘Water’s leaking through this light fitting and I don’t know why. What Harry needs is a professional, but she can’t afford to call one out, so I’m trying to do a bodge job with the help of my assistant Google.’
‘Good luck. Harry said she wants us to lay an Easter egg hunt in the woods.’
‘Yeah. Just give me a second to get this sorted and we can get started. Harry’s already written out the clues and there’s a chocolate egg to go with each one. All we have to do is hide them.’
‘Sounds easy enough.’
‘Hmm,’ said Seb, frowning in concentration as his hand felt around in the ceiling cavity. As his arm reached further, his T-shirt lifted, exposing a flat stomach toned from manual labour rather than the gym. I tore my eyes away, not wanting to be mistaken for one of the peevs Beryl was so fond of discussing.
‘This place is different from what I was expecting,’ I said, looking around Harry’s domain.
‘What were you expecting?’
‘I don’t know, something a little more chaotic, maybe?’
‘That’s the last thing Harry needs with all she has to juggle and keep in her head.’
‘True.’
Harry’s living room was sparse, but in a cool Scandi way. The walls were painted white, and rather than carpet, stripped wooden boards covered the floor. A small bookshelf sat beside a wicker high-backed armchair, but other than the books, the room was free from clutter of any kind.
‘Are these Harry’s grandparents?’ I asked, picking up the only framed photograph in the room.
‘Yeah, they were an amazing couple. I didn’t know them all that well, but we came to visit them a couple of times. They left big shoes to fill. It’s no wonder Harry feels the pressure to work so hard. Right, I think I’ve done all I can here. I’m going to have to go up onto the roof, as I suspect that’s where the problem lies, but not today. We’ve got an Easter egg hunt to lay.’
As Seb climbed down the ladder, his foot slipped. I watched in horror as in what felt like slow motion, he lost his balance, his arms flailing above him as he landed flat on his back on the wooden floor.
‘Oh my God.’ I rushed over to where he lay groaning. His eyes were closed, and I held his face in my hands. ‘Seb? Can you hear me?’
His eyes opened, and a smile tugged at his lips. He pierced me with that stare, and I removed my hands from his face before they could turn clammy. ‘Are you badly hurt?’
Seb winced. ‘The only thing I’ve hurt is my pride… and my bum.’
‘Ah, right, well, I’m not sure there’s much I can do for bruised bottoms.’ I held out a hand, and he took it, letting me pull him until he was sitting inches from me. ‘At least you didn’t have far to fall,’ I said, trying to break through the thick air between us. The annexe felt suddenly stuffy, like all the oxygen had been sucked out.
With a cough, Seb broke eye contact and turned towards the ladder. ‘I shouldn’t have taken my boots off. It’s a rooky error, climbing a ladder in socks, but my boots were covered in mud.’
‘Don’t worry about it, as long as you’re all right, that’s the main thing. Come on, let’s get that trail laid before sixty children arrive demanding chocolate.’