Village Gossip (11 page)

Greenwood put down his fork, took a swig of his beer and commented, ‘Well, Pat, from where I’m sitting things aren’t looking too good. As I see it, Mr Fitch is bound to back old Jeremy’s decision, and that means I’m out.’

Pat protested. ‘But Dad …’

‘No “buts” about it, love, I’m for the chop. I think you haven’t realised what that means.’

Pat scooped up the last of her pudding, licked the spoon and asked, ‘What does it mean, then?’

‘Barry and me’s been having a talk and we’ve decided that I shall lose my job and with it this house. He won’t employ me any longer, he won’t be able to trust me, yer see. Teach me a lesson.’

‘What!’

‘House goes with the job, doesn’t it? Let’s hope he gives us time to find somewhere.’

‘’Fraid so, love,’ Barry replied: ‘There’s no way he’d allow me to have tenancy of this house. He’d need it for the new garden chap, it doesn’t go with my kind of job. By the looks of it we’ll be out sharpish.’

Michelle began to cry. ‘I love this house. I love it. It isn’t fair. I don’t want to move.’

Pat lent her a handkerchief and Greenwood said, ‘Come and sit on yer grandad’s knee.’ When Michelle had seated herself comfortably her grandad said, ‘It’s yer daft old grandad’s fault and I’m sorry.’

Between sniffs, Michelle said, ‘You were only being kind.’

Dean, who’d quietly been finishing his pudding while they’d been talking, remarked softly, ‘It’ll mean the end of that university scholarship old Fitch promised me.’

Pat burst into tears. ‘Dean! I never thought. Oh, God! What shall we do? Barry!’

‘Calm down, Pat. Anybody’d think we’d no money coming in. We have. You and me both. We’ll see he gets to university, don’t you fret. Don’t give it another thought, Dean. I’ll see yer all right. I shall be proud to have a son, even if he isn’t my very own, at Oxford or wherever you go. Proud. That’s what. We’ll find the money somehow for whatever yer need.’

Greenwood apologised for the hundredth time.

‘Just stop it will yer, Greenwood. You weren’t to know. Let’s face it, they do get stuff stolen day in day out and it is time they put a stop to it, and unfortunately it’s you who’s been caught out.’

Barry objected. ‘There’s no way you’ll be sweeping the streets, you with your skills. No. I won’t allow it. I reckon we’ll manage fine.’

Michelle slipped off her grandad’s knee and went to put an arm round Barry. ‘You’ll look after us all won’t you, Barry?’

‘Of course I shall. That’s one good thing about me marrying yer mother, you’ve always got me at the back of you. I shan’t let yer down.’

Michelle kissed his cheek. ‘I knew you wouldn’t. See Mum, you can stop crying now. You’d forgotten we’ve got Barry, hadn’t you?’

‘I ‘ad, yer right. I’ll take on more work with Charter-Plackett Enterprises, day and night if necessary and we shan’t go short. How long before old Fitch gets back?’

Barry sipped his tea, put down his cup and looked to Greenwood for confirmation. ‘They say Thursday after next, don’t they, if nothing holds him up?’

Greenwood nodded. ‘That’s right. Thursday before the play on the Friday.’

‘That gives us time, then.’

‘Time for what?’ Pat asked.

‘Time to take action. Remember when old Fitch tried to steal the church silver that time? We all got together and showed him we wouldn’t stand for it, didn’t we? Well, how about a bit of action culminating on Thursday? He hates things going wrong. Likes it all moving along like a well oiled machine. Well, when he gets back it won’t be a well oiled machine. It’ll be chaos.’

Pat interrupted. ‘I don’t want Jimbo getting hurt in this. It’s all money to him is the freezers.’

‘That’s as may be. But I’ll come up with something.’

Greenwood suggested he didn’t have far to look. ‘He’s got that big directors’ do day after he comes back. They’re staying the weekend, country weekend and all that jazz. They’ve got seats booked for the play.’

Michelle looked horrified. ‘You don’t mean that, Grandad? Not Mr Fitch coming to see us?’

Grandad nodded. ‘He’s bringing the lot of ’em. Boasting, I expect, that we can attract such a big name as Hugo-the-big-I-am-Maude to the village. Fitch playing Lord of the Manor. I’ve flowers to provide for the bedrooms and that. Gardens to be looking spectacular and a tour of the glasshouses too. Me touching me cap to ’em all.’ He imitated touching his forelock. ‘He thinks!’

Barry clenched his fists and banged the table. ‘That’s it then. We’ll sabotage that.’

Pat wagged a finger at him. ‘Just a minute, I’m senior waitress that weekend. Friday dinner. Saturday lunch. Saturday dinner and Sunday lunch. Breakfasts as well. Blinking good money, it being the whole weekend. I don’t fancy losing that. Not now.’

‘Don’t worry, love, I’ll see you’re all right.’

Michelle, excited by the thought of a bit of espionage, asked what Barry proposed to do. He tapped the side of his nose, ‘Got to put my thinking cap on. Oh yes. If anyone comes up with any inspiration let me know. And not a word to anyone. This is our secret.’ He pushed back his chair. ‘Look at the time! Michelle, hurry up, you’ll be late for rehearsal. And you, Dean.’

‘None at all. It’s a mystery to me. Everyone in this village sees him and his belongings as fair game, they wouldn’t mind us having a few bits of stone and some old wreck of a table and chairs, nor them old pots, some of ’em is cracked even. It’s not someone getting back at me and Rhett, it’s deeper than that.’

‘Wish I blinking well knew who it was. I’d scratch their eyes out.’

‘Don’t fret, it’ll all come out in the wash. Mark my words. Can I leave yer with all this?’ He gestured to the washing up. ‘I’ve had double the work without Rhett, it’s nearly killed me today. The others are good lads and work hard but Rhett’s taken a lot on his shoulders and we’ve really missed him.’

‘Good lad, isn’t he?’

‘He is that. I’m going to try to get him a job in the Parks department. I still carry a bit of weight there.’

‘Do you think there might be a chance that old Fitch will tell Jeremy he’s a fool and cancel it all, and we’ll be all right?’

‘I doubt it. They stick together these folk. To save face he has to back him up, hasn’t he?’

‘I suppose so. It was me just hoping.’

‘I know, love. I know. All our bright dreams gone. Thought Michelle would follow in my footsteps. We seemed so well set up, didn’t we, all of us? Ah well. I can’t say how sor …’

Pat squeezed his arm. ‘Like Barry says, that’s enough apologising. Go and watch yer telly. Go on, off yer go.’

Jimbo, increasingly agitated because the ambience he strove so hard to maintain was being destroyed, called out, ‘Ladies! Ladies! Please.’

The main protagonists were the two Senior sisters, Mrs Jones, who was already wearing her smart mail order office tabard with Harriet’s Country Cousin Farm Produce emblazoned across the front, Linda, playing her part from behind the post office grille, Georgie Fields from the Royal Oak and Bel Tutt.

Valda Senior didn’t heed Jimbo’s request. ‘When all’s said and done, it’s an unspoken agreement that if we can score off that old Fitch we do. Whoever it was who split on Vera deserves horsewhipping. We saw, but we didn’t say a thing, did we, Thelma?’ Her sister, with pursed lips, shook her head in agreement.

Georgie, small and pretty and looking as if an argument was the last thing she wanted, tapped on the post office counter and said through the grille to Linda, ‘You ought to have more sense.’

Indignantly Linda answered, ‘It wasn’t me, I didn’t tell. All I said was that they shouldn’t expect to steal and then get away with it. That’s all. I saw ’em unloading the stuff too but I didn’t squeal. Not me.’ She folded her arms as though to emphasise her innocence.

Bel Tutt pinged the till, gave Thelma Senior her change, and said, ‘Well, if none of
us
has an inkling, who the blazes has?’

Linda, coming out from behind the grille, said forcefully, ‘In my opinion it’s someone with a grudge against Vera. That’s what’s triggered it off. When they did it, they didn’t see the consequences of it affecting you.’

‘That’s right. That could be it. So who’s got a grudge against poor, harmless Vera?’ Pat looked at each woman in turn, finally fixing her gaze on Mrs Jones, who flushed to the roots of her hair.

‘Don’t look at me. I’ve no grudge against anyone. Anyway, I’ve got work piling up.’ She gave Pat a haughty stare and marched into the back of the Store.

Jimbo removed his boater, wiped his bald head with a handkerchief, replaced his headgear and said, ‘Well now, having sorted that out perhaps we could get on with our shopping? Can I help anyone? Good offers on the meat counter today and tomorrow if anyone’s interested?’

The two Senior sisters ambled out, Georgie paid for her shopping and left, Linda returned to her counter and Bel Tutt waited patiently behind the till.

Disgruntled by the argument Pat said sharply, ‘I’ve really come in, Jimbo, to catch up on my dates. In the circumstances I’m willing to work whenever and wherever. Looks like we shall need the money.’ She brought a fat red diary from her bag and opened it up.

‘Come in the back. I need a break.’ He took her into his office, took off his boater and reached for his diary from the top of the filing cabinet.

Before he had found the right page, Pat, making sure the door was properly closed first, said, ‘Jimbo, did you notice that dear mother-in-law of mine didn’t say she hadn’t split? Just that she’d no grudge, that was all she said. Do yer think it might be her?’

‘I don’t suppose you’d have a word, would yer? Just for me?’ As an afterthought she added, ‘and Dad, and our Dean.’

‘With Jeremy?’

‘No, not him. He’s just a yes man. Well, yes, perhaps with him before it’s too late. Well, no, I meant with Mr Fitch really. He’s very partic’lar nowadays not to upset everybody, ever since he let Muriel Templeton persuade him to reinstate Sir Ralph as president of the cricket. If you could let him know on the quiet that the whole village is upset …’

‘Well, they’re certainly that. There’s been no other topic of conversation in here but your bad luck and Vera’s. Never known the village so worked up about anything.’

Pat frowned. ‘That’s what I’m worried about. They might take matters into their own hands. You know what they’re like. I wouldn’t want this director’s weekend messed up.’ Jimbo noticed that Pat looked as though she wished she hadn’t said that.

He put his head to one side and looked at her. ‘Do you know something I should know?’

Pat shook her head. ‘No, no, nothing. No.’

‘Because if this director’s weekend is ruined I shall want to know who’s at the bottom of it. It’s important to me that the weekend goes well. They’re all influential people with money to burn and it could mean an awful lot more business being put my way, which in turn lines your pockets as well as mine. We need to make a good impression, Pat. Right?!’

Pat nodded. ‘Of course. About these dates.’

Pat gave him a nudge. ‘You know full well you like to be at the hub of all the gossip. You can’t kid me.’

Jimbo grinned. ‘You’re right. I do.’

‘It’s good for business anyway.’

‘Right again! See you, Pat.’

‘See yer.’ As she opened the door she turned back to ask, ‘Will yer have a word?’

Jimbo nodded.

‘Bye men.’

She left him staring out of the office window. What a mess. All because Rhett wanted to please his grandmother. Like a stone thrown into a pond, the ripples were far reaching. First Vera then Rhett and now the Joneses and Greenwood Stubbs. To save his own skin he’d better have a word. That fool Jeremy wouldn’t listen, he knew that, but at least he could try.

He heard footsteps and found Harriet standing behind him.

He smiled at her. ‘Darling! How’s things?’

‘Oh, fine, if only.’

‘Mmmmm?’

Harriet ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation. ‘It’s Hugo. He’s getting me very annoyed.’

‘What’s new?’

‘I know I shouldn’t have suggested he came to stay, but I did and we’re landed with him. I told him that Caroline was off limits, but …’

‘Mmmm?’

‘I’m amazed you haven’t heard. He took her out to lunch yesterday and went all the way to The Lovers’ Knot, which you so kindly recommended, and it made her late collecting the children.’