Creature Comforts. Trisha Ashley
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morning, the courtyard was full of old wrought-iron gates, fountains, wheelbarrows and even bits of ancient farm machinery.’
‘What’s this Rufus Carlyle like?’ I asked her.
‘I don’t really know. He’s always called at dusk, like a vampire. A bit brusque, deepish voice, quite tall, late thirties.’
‘Fliss must have had her fling with Baz a couple of years before he and I became an item, if Rufus is his,’ Debo said. ‘I wouldn’t have looked at him if I’d known she’d got there first.’
‘According to that newspaper article, it was only a brief encounter in a storage cupboard at a well-known restaurant,’ Judy said.
‘She certainly put it about a bit,’ Debo said disparagingly.
‘So did you,’ pointed out her friend with brutal honesty.
‘I had relationships – one at a time – and I was fond of them all,’ Debo said indignantly. ‘I still am and they’re all still good friends. That’s what makes Baz’s betrayal over the will so much worse – and I don’t think I could bear it if Fliss moved in to Sweetwell, too.’
‘Oh, I shouldn’t think she will. I’m sure she has her own place in London and that must be much more her scene. In fact, she said Halfhidden was Hicksville and she couldn’t imagine how we could stand living here,’ Judy said.
‘Good, because I’d have to kill her if she did move in. Where could we hide the body?’
‘We’d think of somewhere,’ Judy said.
Debo sighed and said gloomily, ‘I don’t think any son of Fliss Gambol can possibly be nice. And moving my sign without asking, then complaining about the kennels just shows you what he’s going to be like.’
‘I expect Dan Clew has been poisoning his mind against us,’ Judy said, turning to me. ‘That man’s been all bitterness and bile since he made that heavy pass at Debo and she turned him down in no uncertain terms.’
‘As if!’ Debo said scathingly.
‘After the accident, he took against me, too,’ I said. ‘Remember how he told me when I got back from Daisy’s not to try to contact Simon, when the thought hadn’t even entered my head?’
‘He got the wrong end of the stick,’ Debo said. ‘It was Simon who tried to contact you when you were still in hospital, but you weren’t well enough at the time. And then afterwards, Dan sent him to stay with his sister in Durham till his college term started.’
‘You never mentioned that before,’ I said, staring at her. ‘I wonder what he wanted to see me about.’
‘I think he blamed himself for not realising his drink had been spiked that night, but of course it wasn’t his fault,’ Judy said. ‘He was distraught after the accident, so I suppose you can’t really blame Dan for trying to protect his son, in his own misguided way.’
‘Simon was always a nice boy, so his mother must have been lovely, because he can’t have got his good nature from Dan,’ Debo said.
‘Is Dan still going round with a shotgun under his arm, pretending he’s the estate manager?’ I asked.
‘Yes, darling,’ Debo said, ‘but don’t worry because it’s unloaded. He knew Baz would have sacked him instantly if he attempted to shoot even a rabbit on his land, because he was only easy-going up to a point.’
‘Dan’s a horrible man,’ I said, taking another slice of cake. There is something perfect about the union of coffee icing and walnut halves …
Debo suddenly sat up straighter. ‘What if this Rufus isn’t like Baz and thinks Dan ought to shoot any loose dogs running round on his property?’
Judy thought about it. ‘Oh, I don’t think so. He seemed all right really.’
‘Maybe it would be an idea to invite him to tea and try to win him over to our side?’ suggested Debo cunningly.
‘Good idea! I can stuff him full of fairy cakes to sweeten him up, and you can exert your charms on him,’ agreed Judy. ‘He must have some of Baz’s genes, so it might just work.’
‘True, and I expect once we’ve had a chance to explain what we’re doing, he’ll understand how vital it is to rescue these poor dogs,’ agreed Debo, brightening up in her usual mercurial way. ‘Maybe he’ll even help support our work.’
‘I think we’d better get to know him a little before suggesting anything like that,’ Judy cautioned her. ‘And there are bound to be some changes. Tom’s worried that he’ll want to alter the way things have always been at the Lady Spring.’
‘We’ll just have to wait and see,’ I said. ‘Meanwhile, you said you had a huge financial crisis, Debo.’
‘We certainly do,’ Judy said grimly. ‘I’ve only just found out the half of it.’
‘The thing is, that when Baz promised to leave me the Lodge, I sort of borrowed some money against it,’ Debo confessed. ‘It was when I had that enormous vet’s bill for Benjy, though we had to try the operation, and then afterwards the pills cost hundreds a month … And in the end the poor old boy died, though we had a lovely few extra months with him.’
‘I don’t think borrowing against a house that wasn’t actually yours was a good idea,’ I said with restraint.
‘I know, but I’d got behind with Sandy’s wages and then the suppliers said they wouldn’t send me any more dog food until I’d paid the bill in full for the last lot …’
‘And now we keep getting final demands from the electricity company, plus we ran out of oil for the central heating in February,’ put in Judy.
‘I thought you’d turned if off a bit early this year!’
‘Luckily it’s been quite warm, except in the evenings,’ Judy said.
‘I managed to get a couple of donations from friends to tide us over, but I suppose I am in a bit of a hole,’ Debo admitted.
‘You can say that again,’ I said. ‘How much do you need?’
I whistled when she told me. ‘It’s just as well I’m going to be around from now on and I’ll bail you out with what remains of the money my father left me. It should clear the major outstanding debts, at least. That’s a start.’
‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Judy said firmly. ‘Debo’s made sure your money was safe all these years, to give you something to start you off when you settled down.’
‘That’s right. I’ll just have to squeeze my friends a bit harder and maybe take more work when it’s offered, even if I do hate going away so much,’ Debo said. ‘That legacy was for you, to start your own business, or buy a place of your own. Didn’t you tell me that Kieran wanted you to use it as a deposit on your first home together?’
‘That was never going to happen and I’ve told him so. We’ve had a few arguments lately and … well, I’ve made up my mind that I’m staying here, in Halfhidden,’ I told them. ‘I’ve already bought the first stock and I can start my business in a small way in the studio and then, when it takes off, buy a place of my own. So you see, I don’t need the rest of that money.’
‘But … what about Kieran? I mean, you were going to get married and although I know you didn’t take to his parents—’ Judy began.
‘Understatement of the year,’ I said, and then told them what had brought me home earlier than expected, and my resolution to face the past and forge a new future here in Halfhidden.
‘That Douglas man sounds like a complete tosser,’ Debo said critically. ‘And as to Kieran’s mother – well, Judy and I were planning the sweetest little economy wedding in the Halfhidden church, with a tent on the Green for the reception.