Creature Comforts. Trisha Ashley

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СКАЧАТЬ said the path wasn’t a right of way above the Spring; it ends here.’

      ‘Dan says a lot of stupid things,’ I remarked, pushing through the turnstile and setting off home. He followed suit and then fell into step beside me, squelching.

      ‘So, it wasn’t true when he said you’d killed my half-brother, Harry, drink-driving?’

      I stopped and glared at him. ‘I may have been driving, but I certainly wasn’t drunk – and it was an accident!’

      ‘Oh, well, that’s all right then,’ he said sarcastically.

      ‘Look, I don’t even remember what happened, because I had a head injury,’ I said angrily.

      ‘That’s lucky,’ he remarked. He seemed to be a very bitter and nasty person and I strongly felt I could do without his company.

      ‘Well, that’s good, coming from the son of the woman responsible for the death of my mother!’ I snapped furiously, without thinking what I was saying. ‘I bet she didn’t tell you that when she found out Debo was living at the Lodge.’

      ‘What on earth are you talking about?’ He gazed at me in astonishment. ‘My mother’s done a lot of crazy things, but at least, unlike you, she’s never killed anyone.’

      My fists clenched and goodness knew what I would have said to him next if my attention hadn’t been distracted by a sudden loud crashing noise in the bushes. A vast, black hairy creature bounded out and threw itself at me and I fell flat on my back.

      The monster landed on top of me with all four giant feet, and then started licking my face with a tongue like a sheet of wet sandpaper.

      ‘Get off, Babybelle!’ I ordered crossly, when I’d managed to gasp some air into my lungs, and tried to push her away, to no avail.

      ‘And you –’ I said to the man – ‘don’t just stand there, but this time do something useful, before she suffocates me. Haul her off!’

      Obediently, he took hold of Belle’s collar and pulled. She resisted, but eventually gave in, so he must be pretty strong. I got up gingerly, picking leaves out of my hair. ‘I’m bruised all over, you stupid creature!’

      ‘Which one of us?’ he asked, though through lips so tight he could have started a new career as a ventriloquist.

      ‘Both,’ I said shortly, then threading the belt of my jeans through her collar, I hauled Belle off towards home. She followed me like a lamb … as did Rufus Carlyle – or so I thought, until I reached the drive and turned to find he’d vanished silently, presumably up the side path.

      I tried not to wish pneumonia on him … just a teeny, but very snotty, running cold.

      Judy was standing on the drive and looked relieved when she spotted us.

      ‘Oh, you’ve got her! Debo headed up towards the house, because Sandy saw her go that way.’

      ‘The daft creature suddenly jumped on me while I was walking back and knocked me flat.’

      Babybelle took the opportunity to sit down, mostly on my feet, and pant in a pleased sort of way, as if she’d rescued me from mortal peril.

      ‘I’m bruised all over, though actually some of that was from being manhandled by Rufus Carlyle.’

      ‘What on earth do you mean?’

      ‘He thought I was drowning in the pool and rescued me. He’s a horrible man, because when he found out who I was, he said Dan had told him I’d killed his half-brother, by driving while drunk.’

      ‘That Dan Clew is poison,’ Judy said. ‘I’ll give him a piece of my mind next time I see him.’

      Debo appeared round the bend and we waved before heading for the Lodge, Babybelle plodding after us.

      ‘I told him that was rich, considering his mother had killed mine,’ I confessed to Judy. ‘I didn’t mean to, he just made me angry.’

      ‘Well … possibly that was slightly rash, considering he has the power to make our lives difficult if he wants to,’ she said, ‘but it was probably irresistible, given the provocation. And Debo’s just as likely to speak her mind when she finally meets him – you know what she’s like.’

      And it was true: Debo was prone to saying exactly what was in her head, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

      ‘Let’s not tell Debo I’ve had a run-in with him just yet,’ I suggested. ‘She looks much more cheerful now.’

      ‘She is, because she’s decided that, having carefully not touched your money for years, it’s now perfectly OK to accept it as a loan. She’s convinced she’ll be able to pay you back, though you do realise that that’s unlikely, don’t you?’

      ‘Oh, yes, and I don’t want it back. I’ve put aside enough to get the business going.’

      ‘Don’t you think you should wait till you can see Kieran again before making a final decision? I mean, if he’s worth his salt and loves you, he’ll move north, and then you might want some of the money for a house deposit after all.’

      ‘No I won’t. I never agreed to use it to buy one in Oxford in the first place, and anyway, at the moment I’m not sure I even want to see him again, let alone marry him.’

      ‘He still hasn’t rung, or anything?’

      ‘No, not even a text message to say he’s back,’ I said shortly, and she let it lie.

      Debo caught us up and after a tussle we got Belle back in her kennel, though I had a feeling she could get out again any time she liked, just by leaning on the fence till it gave way and then walking over it, much as she’d walked over me.

      I hoped I hadn’t let Rufus Carlyle walk all over me too … but on the whole, I thought that honours were so far about even.

       Chapter 7: Regeneration

      I walked down to the Hut early for Lulu’s Halfhidden Regeneration Scheme meeting, but Rita and Freddie Tompion, who ran a clock repair shop in the village, were already there, carrying out stacks of tubular metal and canvas chairs from the curtained-off storage area and arranging them in neat rows.

      It looked like they were expecting a full house.

      From the tiny church of St Mary’s next door, the strains of a small organ playing ‘Nearer, my God, to Thee’ wafted across. Jonas was giving the pedals some welly. Now he’d moved in with his daughter, Lottie, he was practically next door, so I expected he often popped in to practise. He played for the monthly service when the new young Middlemoss vicar came over, too.

      It was lovely to see Lulu again and give her a big hug – and even better that already she looked subtly different from the last time we’d met, when she was still firmly under the thumb of the increasingly jealous and controlling Guy. Cam and I had been so worried about her.

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