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  Julia dried her eyes and shivered despite the warmth of the house. Buster gently squeezed her shoulders and let go. She shivered again, “Be honest with me Buster, are we in danger or, even worse, is my family in danger?”

  Buster started gathering brown envelopes and stuffing them back into the safe, they’d been through them all. “Reckon your families quite safe, as for us I think so.”

  “You only think so.”

  Buster stopped and made eye contact. “If they just wanted to take revenge on Maria and Jeremy we’re safe. If they were after the money and our untimely arrival disturbed them before they could find the safe…”

  He put the two Vehicle Registration Documents into his back pocket and watched Julia. He’d known that the shock would hit her sometime, but now with the imminent family meal, and Simon present, was not the best time. “We’ve got to act natural, as if we really believe that Jeremy and Maria left in the helicopter.”

  She stood up and flexed her knees as he closed the safe and shut the fireplace. He reiterated his statement, “It’s important – act natural.”

  He hesitated and then tossed her one of the keys, she caught it and held onto it with a blank look on her face. He grinned, “We’re partners.”

  She tossed it back, “Then I trust you.”

  Buster pocketed the key and tapped the wall clock. “Time to go. You up to this?”

  Julia hesitated and then nodded, “But what on earth do we tell me parents, they’re going to want to know how we met – in every gruesome detail.”

  Buster took her arm and guided her towards the door, “We’ll talk on the way, but believe me we’ll keep it simple, anything else will lead to trouble.”

  Petra lay on her side with her head on Norman’s shoulder. He gave a contented sigh, “I can’t believe we just did that.”

  She pinged his ear with her forefinger, “Didn’t enjoy it then?”

  “It was wonderful.”

  She giggled, “That’s the trouble with screen kisses and handsome men, they’ve got to look realistic, but you’ve also got to control your physical metabolism or it can take over and then…”

  Norman eased himself into a more comfortable position with his arm around Petra. “But how do you do that? One minute I was just kissing you and then…”

  She tickled his chin, “And then I felt your body respond. I could have pulled away then, but I didn’t want to.”

  He swung his face to look in her eyes, “You could have really pulled away?”

  She kissed him on the tip of the nose, “In theory, but women have physical drives to you know.”

  Norman groaned, “They how on earth do you control a screen kiss?”

  “Practice,” she said, “lots of practice.”

  Norman’s face split into a wide grin, “Oh, I think I’m going to enjoy that.”

  Suddenly there was the sound of a gong from downstairs and Petra gave him a quizzical look. He sighed, “Ten minute warning.”

  Petra raised one of her well manicured eyebrows, “Didn’t ring yesterday.”

  “Yesterday it was just dinner, today it’s ceremonial. Colin’s bringing his girlfriend, so it’s going to be question time, but oh so politely.”

  They rolled out of bed and tidied themselves up. Norman checked that the coast was clear and they sneaked out of the bedroom and made for the floor below.

  Mark, from the higher landing, watched them cross the landing below towards the stairs. His bedroom was partially above Norman’s and he’d heard quite unmistakable sounds coming up through his floor. He was totally surprised at his brother’s behaviour, especially with someone like Petra who he’d only known for a couple of days. Mark only hoped that his father didn’t discover them for formal meal, or not, there’d be ructions.

  Chapter 12

  Dinner

  Sarah sat down opposite Rupert and immediately found it slightly disconcerting. Sitting at and angle to him in the lounge on settees had been fine, but here they were face to face; it was almost like a romantic meal. Rupert surveyed her from under his eyebrows, wordlessly he got up and moved chairs to be at right angles to her. Before he started to eat he hesitated, “Do you mind if I say grace?”

  “Course not.”

  He said a brief grace and they started to eat. To Sarah’s relief they ate in silence, but not the silence of strangers, more like the comfortable silence of two people who did not need to speak to convey companionship and contentment.

  Harry Flosse surveyed everyone grouped around the table, he turned to Jill, “Do you mind if we say grace?”

  She grinned at him showing her white teeth and smooth face, “I’m not a Hindu Mr Flosse, I’m a Christian and I would be most happy to have grace said.”

  Harry bowed his head and said a fifty second grace. Jenny then started to dish up, she first looked at Harriet, “I’ve cooked you a nut and baked bean roast, is that OK?”

  She smiled and nodded, “Yes thank you.”

  “Help yourself to vegetables, but the gravy’s made from Beef stock so you may not want it. There’s a small amount of vegetable stock in the yellow jug if you’d like something wet on your roast.”

  She then worked her way around the table; as Harriet was sitting on the same side of the table as her, and on her right, she continued anti-clockwise around the table. Down the right hand side were Jill, Colin and Julia. Across the back, Buster and Harry, and up the left hand side, Petra Norman and Mark. Finally there was Simon sitting on her left. It never occurred to her that the inhabitants of these position had taken them deliberately. Jill to be next to Harriet to not leave her isolated, Colin next to Jill so they could be close, Julia next to Buster for protection, Buster diagonally across the table from Simon so that he could surreptitiously vet him, Harry next to Buster so he could try and ascertain Buster’s intentions towards his daughter, Petra next to Norman in their newly found friendship, Mark next to Norman so that he could warn him to be careful and Simon trying to get as far away from Petra as possible as she was beginning to irritate him beyond his level of tolerance. In fact all was set and people sat correctly for a truly memorable meal.

  Harry opened the batting as he reached for one of the baked potatoes, “How long have you known my daughter then Buster?”

  Julia shot him a fearful look. Buster grinned. “Long enough to know that she’s a fabulous woman.”

  Harry added some beans to his plate, “And how are …”

  He tailed off trying to remember the names, Buster helped him out. “Maria and Jeremy? Having a long rest I expect, did you hear the helicopter yesterday?”

  Colin butted in, “I did, damn thing scared the life out of me; he was so low. I think the pilot followed the line of the railway track to find Ambrose House, he certainly flew along it on his way in. I didn’t see him leave.”

  Buster watched Simon, to all intents and purposes he was deep in discussion with Mark and in any case he didn’t register anything on his face at the mention of an helicopter. Julia decided to change the conversation, “Did I tell you that the school were going to change my contract and let the new teacher Michelle run the school hockey team?”

  Her father’s head shot up, he knew how precious the team was to Julia. “Can they do that?”

  “Apparently, and I’m down to teach RE.”

  Harry smiled, “Well that may not be too bad, better than running about in the pouring rain.”

  Julia continued to steer the conversation, first onto the weather and then to get her father to talk about the effect of the snow on the farm. She smiled to herself and considered the likelihood of her father questioning Buster further to be small. It was a shame therefore that she could not read his mind, or his intention, at some time, to steer the conversation back.

  Simon started to explain to Jenny, for the umpteenth time, why Yoga was so relaxing and Mark noted that Petra was engrossed in a cross-table conversation with Jill about computers. He nudged Norman, and said quietly, “Be careful, you could b
e running into danger.”

  Norman half turned towards him. “Pardon?”

  “You and her in your room this afternoon, for goodness sake be careful.”

  “She was only giving me an acting lesson; did you know she was an actor, she was in Stannard’s Cove for years.”

  Mark sighed, “Then it was bloody realistic acting, just don’t let dad catch you.”

  Norman gave a shifty glance across to his father. “I’m a grown man Mark.”

  “And you’re under his roof. Remember how he went mad at me when my marriage broke up? If he caught you…”

  Norman nodded, “Message received and understood.”

  Mark said quietly, “Who is this Buster guy? Julia’s never mentioned him.”

  Norman gave a slight shrug, “Search me.”

  Mark suddenly sat up, “Pardon?”

  “I said would you like a little more vegetable?” Intoned his mother. Mark and Norman immediately suppressed a grin, the message was not really ‘would you like a little more vegetable’ but a coded family message of, ‘please stop your private conversation and join in with the rest of us.’ Which, like obedient children, they dutifully did.

  Rupert sighed and sat back, “I haven’t eaten lamb like that for years.”

  Sarah sniffed and stacked the plates, “Probably a bit tough as it had been frozen for half a lifetime.”

  A look of horror crossed Rupert’s clean shaven face, “I didn’t mean…”

  Sarah laid a hand on his shoulder, “I know I was only joking.”

  Rupert grinned like a schoolboy and stood up to follow Sarah into the kitchen and watch her heat the tinned custard. She placed the saucepan on the Aga and started to stir. “Actually I haven’t eaten real lamb in a long time either. Goodness knows where they get the stuff the canteen at Norwich calls lamb, could be zebra for all I know. And on Sundays I usually survive on sandwiches.”

  “Sandwiches?”

  She glanced at him and offered a smile, “I like to go walking on a Sunday. I go to church and then catch a train somewhere, anywhere, and walk.”

  Rupert nodded, “Get the train for free.”

  “Some inter-company agreement, it’s the one and only perk of the job.”

  Rupert’s eyes took on their faraway look. “I used to walk on the moors, people say that they’re all the same, but it’s just not true.”

  Sarah lifted the saucepan to stop it boiling over. “He who hath eyes let them see.”

  They moved back and ate their strudel in silence, each remembering the walks they had done and the views they had seen.

  “Is it right that you were in the army? Asked Harry, as he offered Buster some more carrots and suffering a black look from Jenny in the process.

  “Yes and no,” replied Buster. Yes I was in the army, but not as a squaddie, I was a civilian driver, used to driver one of those multi-wheeled tank transporters.

  Despite her reluctance to take part in an interrogation, Jenny joined in. “Why did you join?”

  “Didn’t really, it sort of happened. I worked for a company that moved large loads, you know boats and ship’s propellers, that sort of thing. When the Middle-East conflict broke out the army wanted all of its own drivers out there and gave my company a contract to supply drivers. I spent just over three years driving across Europe and Egypt.”

  Harry frowned, “Thought they shipped tanks by rail for long distances.”

  Buster shrugged, “I just drove the lorries, left the economics up to the logistics boys.”

  Julia said, quietly, “Why did you leave?”

  He smiled at her, “Conflict came to an abrupt end and the Army no longer needed us. Once I got back home my company didn’t need me either and paid me off and I used my lump sum as investment collateral and haven’t looked back.”

  Harry opened his mouth, but Jenny got in first with “Anyone for more meat?” And his opportunity passed.

  “Suffolk,” said Rupert, “the pathway from Felixstowe Ferry northwards up the coast. Much underrated county Suffolk, it may not have any significant hills, but it’s got wide open skies, beautiful fauna, friendly pubs and a bird population to die for.”

  Sarah shook her head, “Never walked in Suffolk. For me my best walk was from Grassmere to Skipton. It was beautiful weather, sunny, but not to hot, the birds were singing, the scenery breathtaking and the air pure.”

  They sat in silence, each savouring the memory of their best walk. After a little while Rupert suddenly came to. “Coffee?”

  Sarah nodded, “Have you walked much around here?”

  Rupert paused on his journey through the door, “Actually no, cycled a lot though. In the summer I try to cycle round the parishes, you meet more people that way. The old motorbike is a bit noisy.”

  “Motorbike?”

  “Aerial Arrow 250cc two-stroke. A genuine British bike with genuine oils drips and periodic unreliability, still it is over forty years old.”

  “Not a car driver then?”

  He shook his head, “I had the motorbike and Anna had the…” he paused for a second, “Anna had the car until she crashed, I never replaced it – never saw the need.”

  Sarah tried to be nonchalant, “I haven’t got a car either. I’ve got one of those electrically assisted pedal cycles. Cheap to run, insurance is less than £10 a year and I can use cycle paths.”

  Rupert gave a half nod and wandered into the kitchen. Sarah had been worried that he’d really slipped back into life as it was with Anna. Clean shave, laying the table for three and all that, however, she was now convinced, following his Anna remark, that wasn’t the case and she wondered if she was causing him more harm than good. Besides, the contents of her back pocket continued to niggle her.

  Jenny, completely innocently, turned to Simon, “What did you do before you became a Yoga instructor?”

  Buster waited for the reply. Simon chewed his mouthful of food before replying. “I ran some line-dancing and aerobics courses.”

  Buster listened with half an ear to the conversation, after observing Simon during the meal he was pretty sure about two things; firstly the guy was after a fast buck where he could make it and secondly that he probably was not a killer unless there was a vast profit in it for him or he needed to protect his skin. Buster half turned to Julia and said in a voice only she could hear, “I’d rather you didn’t sleep here tonight.”

  Julia raised an eyebrow, “This is my home?”

  Buster nodded in agreement, but his concerned face gave another message. Julia licked her lips, just how was she going to tell her parents that she’d rather sleep at Ambrose House without them thinking she was sleeping with Buster?

  Jenny smiled at Harriet, “Is that OK for you dear?”

  “Yes thank you.”

  Jenny watched as Harriet manoeuvred the cabbage towards the edge of her plate. “Do you like living here, must be a change from London?”

  Harriet finished her food before replying, “Most of the time. The school’s better, but I miss my friends.” She paused and before adding decisively, “But mum’s happy up here because she’s near Colin and if she’s happy it’s the right place to be; wish we had a garden though, we used to grow sunflowers every summer.”

  Jenny nodded and made a mental note to talk to Henry about letting Harriet grow some sunflowers along the edge of the field behind their house. “You go up to Brandon High this year? Julia teaches there.”

  Harriet gave an apprehensive nod, “They took us to look round. They said that I couldn’t learn Hindi and I’d have to learn French, I hate French.”

  Jenny, only half concentrating as she was trying to determine if everybody had finished eating, replied, “Why do you want to learn Hindi?”

  Harriet shot her a withering look, “Because it’s the language of my ancestors and when we go on holiday to India I want to speak the proper language and be a real Indian and not a visitor.”

  Jenny, still only half concentrating, replied casually, “Oh, wh
en do you intend to go to India.”

  Harriet put down her fork, “When Colin and mum get married of course, he’s promised her a honeymoon in India and said that he wouldn’t believe in taking mum there without taking me.”

  Jenny’s full attention returned with a startle, “Married?”

  Harriet nodded seriously, “Of course, they’re Christians and it would be wrong for them to just live together, that’s why mums in the cottage and Colin is over here.”

  For the first time Jenny realised that Colin hadn’t invited Jill to tea as a prospective girl-friend, but as his prospective wife.

  Sarah laid her coffee cup to one side and stretched her bare feet out towards the fire. Rupert had been lost in his own thoughts for nearly half an hour. She said quietly, “Tell me about Anna.”

  He turned his sunken eyes onto her, “It’s a long story and I’m sure that you’re not interested.”

  To her surprise she replied, “Its part of your story, so I am interested,” and then wondered why she would ever say such a thing.

  He gave a shallow smile, “If you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure.”

  He placed his mug on the floor, “Don’t know where to begin really. She was always a wild child, not naughty, but pushing the boundaries. You know, if there was a child who wanted to wear a nose-stud at school, and be the first to do so, it would be Anna.” He suddenly smiled, “You should have seen the trouble she caused when she dyed her hair pillar-box red and wore a skin tight dress the day she started sixth form.”

  He leant forward and poked the fire in the stove, “Rather lost touch when I went to Yorkshire and moving here didn’t help either. Then one day she rang me up. Said she needed a rest in the country and sounded so desperate that I invited her up for the weekend. She was a mess, not her sort of programmed stylish mess, but a real mess.” He screwed his eyes up, “She was hooked on drugs, any drugs, heroin, cocaine, tranquillisers, anything and she smelt dreadful.”