LITMIR.BIZ

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to him?’ I ask, laughing when Basil lets out a disgruntled growl and then hunkers down as if in disgrace. ‘And what is that horrendous pong?’ I quickly place my hand over my nose before leaning in closer to the honeysuckle, hoping to catch a whiff of its glorious scent to take away Basil’s noxious one.

      ‘Err, this little rascal decided to leg it across Pete’s newly ploughed field after spotting a brace of pheasants on the horizon, and then found a pile of fresh fox poo in the hedgerow and thought it would be a brilliant idea to roll around in it. And he’s ruined my new Converse – I bought them especially to wear in this warm dry weather – but then I had to chase after him.’ She waggles her left foot up in the air to show me the once lovely lilac trainers with polka-dot ribbons that are now a mottled mud colour. ‘His recall skills certainly need working on!’

      ‘Hmm, no wonder he’s skulking.’

      ‘Indeed. And so he should. Next time I won’t bother going after him; he can fend for himself in the Tindledale woods for all I care. I’d like to see how he’d cope having to forage around for wild mushrooms, berries and the odd dead mouse to live on.’ Sybs lets out a long huff of air, pretending to be cross, but all of us villagers know just how much she adores Basil, even if he is the cheekiest dog in Tindledale, and probably all of the surrounding villages too.

      ‘Awww, but he still looks so cute,’ I say, giving Basil a tickle under the chin, deftly avoiding the tarry mess on the side of his neck.

      ‘Oh, don’t be fooled by those “butter-wouldn’t-melt” eyes; he’s a little devil dog sometimes, and so greedy too – you know, he snaffled a whole pizza from the kitchen counter last week. I turned my back for a moment and it was gone. Still frozen. I had only just taken it out of the freezer.’

      ‘Wow! That’s impressive, but tell me – how did he reach a paw up to the kitchen counter to swipe the pizza?’ I ask, intrigued.

      ‘Oh, you won’t believe the stunts he can perform,’ Sybs says, exasperated. ‘He only hopped up on the footstool that I use to reach into the back of my cupboards – Ben spotted him performing the same trick only the day before.’ Sybs shakes her head again. ‘The footstool has since been removed, I hasten to add.’

      I smile. ‘I bet he regretted it soon after. I imagine his stomach was arctic.’ Basil does another feeble groan by way of agreement.

      ‘Yes, and he slept for hours afterwards, comatose from the cheese and carb overload, no doubt.’

      ‘So, talking of injuries and ailments, how is Dr Ben, that gorgeous boyfriend of yours?’

      ‘Ahh, Ben is as lovely as ever. And as busy as ever! It’s funny, though – since we started living together, we seem to see less of each other than ever before,’ she sighs. ‘There’s no time off for a village GP – you know how it is. He can’t even go into the Duck & Puddle for a pint after surgery hours without being fawned over by his patients, all wanting to buy him a thank-you drink for sorting out their illness, or ask his advice on a whole range of medical issues.’ Sybs laughs and shrugs. ‘But I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ she beams.

      ‘Well, it’s lovely seeing you so happy.’

      ‘Thanks Meg. And I truly am very happy – it’s wonderful how things work out in life sometimes,’ she says in a dreamy, faraway voice.

      ‘Sure is. And you know what, it’s always been that way, with the village GP being mobbed whenever he sets foot outside the surgery,’ I grin, resting my elbows on the top of the stable door. ‘As a child, I remember Dr Ben’s uncle, Dr Donnelly, getting the exact same treatment from the villagers, pardon the pun.’ We both laugh.

      ‘Sooo, how’s Hettie getting on after her fall last week?’ I ask, pulling off my cardy and pushing up the sleeves of my navy striped Breton top – the sun is really warm today. Not that I’m complaining, I love this weather, but jeans with long wellies and too many layers really isn’t suitable, but then there was a definite nip in the air this morning when I took my tea and toasted crumpets down to the end of the garden, to sit on the old tree stump beside the magnolia bush and draw in the breathtaking, lemony-vanilla-scented view across the stream that runs down the side of my cottage.

      ‘You heard about it then?’ Sybs sighs. Hettie used to run the House of Haberdashery down the lane on the outskirts of the village, before it became too much for her, so Sybil manages it now, while Hettie takes a back seat in her oast house next door. But Hettie is eighty-something, so I reckon she’s earned a bit of a rest.

      ‘Of course,’ I wink, and then quickly add, ‘you know how it is around these here parts,’ in a silly voice, exaggerating my country burr. Sybs giggles.

      ‘Hmm, I certainly do! News sure does travel fast, and everyone knows your business … before you even do yourself, sometimes.’

      ‘Yep. Good or bad, that’s the Tindledale way I’m afraid.’ I shake my head.

      ‘And I rather like it,’ she nods firmly.

      ‘You do?’ I lift my eyebrows in surprise. ‘It used to drive me nuts when I was growing up, as a teenager especially; it was really stifling at times. And even now, I sometimes hear stuff about my pupils’ parents that I really wished I hadn’t.’ I pull a face, thinking about the time when I overheard Amelia Fisher’s mother in the playground, gossiping to her mate about the new family, the Cavendishes, who bought the big farmhouse over on the outskirts of the Blackwood Farm Estate – how Mr Cavendish is a ‘right dish’ and sooooo charming, but how much of a shame it is that he’s hardly ever around – maybe that’s why his wife seems so sad, because they sure as hell wouldn’t be if they were married to him. Good looks, lots of money – clearly every woman’s dream, apparently! And Mrs Cavendish has little to complain about when she clearly has it all – perfect, tall, slim body; shiny hair with expensive highlights, and a recently refurbished home ‘like something out of Hello! magazine it is, with its acre of land’, and ‘what does she do all day?’ It had taken all my willpower to walk away and not to threaten to put them in detention or something, as I imagine Mrs Cavendish is probably a bit lonely in that big house all on her own while her husband works away – I do wonder sometimes if detention wouldn’t be more effective for the parents instead of the children in my school.

      ‘But better that than nobody caring, or looking out for each other,’ Sybs says.

      ‘That’s true,’ I agree, thinking of my next-door neighbours, Gabe and Vicky, in the middle, and then Pam, Dr Ben’s receptionist, on the other end of our little row of three Pear Tree Cottages. They are more like friends than just people I live next to, as are so many of the people in the village.

      ‘And if Hettie had lived alone in a bigger community, she could well have gone unnoticed for days after her fall.’

      ‘I imagine so,’ I nod. ‘So what happened then? Is Hettie OK?’

      ‘Yes, she’s fine. It turns out the fall wasn’t anywhere near as bad as we all feared, but Ben did have to give her a telling off …’ Sybs’ forehead creases.

      ‘Oh?’ I frown too.

      ‘You know how fiercely independent Hettie is,’ Sybs continues, and I nod in agreement, remembering all the times I’ve tried to help her and she’s politely refused. ‘Yes, apparently she was standing on a chair, in her slippers, trying to reach her favourite blanket from the top shelf of the airing cupboard, when she toppled over and fell down on to her left hip. Luckily, her hall carpet cushioned the fall and she suffered some minor bruising and not a fractured pelvis.’ Sybs shakes her head.

      ‘Oh dear, but thankfully it wasn’t far worse. I can’t imagine her coping at all if she had to lie around in a hospital bed for any length of time.’ We both smile and shake our heads.

      ‘Absolutely not, Hettie would hate that. Anyway, I’ll let her know that you were asking after her.’

      ‘Thanks, Sybs. I’ll pop down and see her soon. I take it she won’t be running her cross-stitch

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