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‘If you want to stay in here, then that’s no problem.’ The barman pointed to a large table set in the window. ‘If you’d rather sit out back in the beer garden, it might not be so easy.’
Cam hadn’t realised there was a beer garden. Though the windows were open, it was a bit stuffy in the bar. ‘Do you want to try out back?’ he asked the others.
‘We’ll go and see,’ Ed volunteered. ‘If we find a space, I’ll bag it and Cass can nip back in and let you know.’
‘Good plan. What are you drinking?’
It took a bit of friendly arguing with Barnie over who was going to buy the first round, which Iain, the man behind the bar who turned out to be the landlord, found highly amusing. By the time he’d pulled three pints and sorted out a gin and tonic for Cassie, Cam and Barnie were still bickering about it. ‘How about I open you a tab and you can sort it out later?’ he suggested.
‘Thanks. Do you need a credit card for that?’ Barnie opened his wallet.
Iain snorted. ‘It’s not like I don’t know where to find you if you skip out without paying, is it? Your dig’s the talk of the village.’
Cam supposed he should’ve expected they would be the focus of attention. He remembered the mess up at the site after the break-in and wondered if it was possible someone in the village was responsible. ‘I hope we aren’t causing too much disruption for anyone.’ He kept his tone casual, but it wouldn’t do any harm to scope out the general feeling.
‘Nobody’s said so, although a couple of folks mentioned getting stuck in the traffic the other day behind that big wagon when it took a wrong turn.’
‘Yeah, we had an issue with one of the site cabins and had to get it swapped out.’ As Declan had suspected, the contractor had wanted to take back the damaged cabin and the only time they’d been able to do the swap was mid-morning. ‘I hadn’t realised the driver got lost, though.’
Iain shrugged. ‘When you live in the countryside, you get used to stuff like that. If it’s not a tractor, it’s a bloody lorry driver following his sat nav rather than using a bit of common sense. People parking here, there and everywhere doesn’t help much either.’
He sounded complacent rather than irritated, but Cam still felt bad. ‘We got lost the first time we visited,’ he admitted. ‘But at least we were only in a car and the roads were quiet.’
‘Don’t fret yourself about it,’ Iain said, offering him one of the pints he’d just pulled. ‘We got him round the loop of the village green and pointed in the right direction.’ He grinned at Cam. ‘And I for one am grateful for the extra business you and your team are sending my way.’
Cassie waved from the door to the beer garden so, after thanking Iain again, Cam and Barnie collected their drinks and a couple of menus and followed her outside. The first thing Cam noticed was the heady scent of the bright pink roses as they passed beneath a trellised walkway. The second was the buzz of chatter and laughter. He stepped out into the evening sunshine to find the garden was much larger than he’d been expecting. Picnic-style benches were set at reasonable distances apart with large umbrellas overhead to keep off the sun from those who wished to avoid it. Ed was at a table in the corner and had just finished putting the umbrella up when they reached him. Cam handed him his spare pint before climbing over the bench seat opposite and sitting down. ‘It’s nice out here,’ he observed, looking around. More roses covered the Cotswold stone rear wall, these a paler shade of pink than the ones on the trellis.
‘It’s lovely,’ Cassie agreed. ‘Good idea of yours.’ She raised her glass and clinked it against Barnie’s. ‘What do you want to do about food? Did you find out what time the kitchen shuts?’
Cam hadn’t thought to ask so he picked up the menu and scanned it quickly. ‘It says here they serve evening meals until nine, so there’s no rush unless you’re starving?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m fine if everyone else is. Let’s wait and see if Hope and Rhys decide to join us.’
Cam had only said the pair were busy with chores around the estate so might not make it and the others had accepted that. Having taken a sip of his beer, he set it down and folded his arms on the table. ‘So, how did you get on?’ He knew he’d set them a hell of a task and spending a hot day cooped up in the old baron’s library couldn’t have been much fun, so he hadn’t wanted to press for an update. Still, they’d let him chatter on about how the site work was going without a word as to their progress in the archives, which seemed a bit odd, even if they didn’t have anything much to report.
He watched as the three of them exchanged a look of what could only be described as amused satisfaction. Barnie checked his watch then dug into his pocket and laid a pound coin on the table. ‘I make that half an hour, so I’m out as I said he wouldn’t last longer than five minutes.’
Cassie reached across and picked up the money then held out her palm to her husband. ‘I said twenty minutes, so I’m the closest.’ She wiggled her fingers. ‘Come on, cough up.’
Grumbling, Ed took a pound out of his pocket and dropped it next to Barnie’s coin. ‘You let me down, Cam. I said you’d hold out for at least an hour.’
‘Ha bloody ha.’ Cam mock-scowled at them. ‘You were willing to let me stew for an hour before any of you said anything, and here was me feeling bad that you’d been sweltering inside all afternoon.’
‘Oh, it was quite nice, actually. With the windows open, we managed to generate a pleasant breeze.’ Cassie paused to take a sip of her G&T. ‘Besides, once Barnie found the garden plans and we got stuck into unlucky number thirteen’s diary then I didn’t notice much else.’
‘Unlucky number… you mean the thirteenth baron?’ Cam sat up straight. ‘You found something? Tell me!’
His friends burst out laughing and Cam had to grind his teeth while they got themselves under control. ‘Ed? Mate? Come on, I expect this of these two, but you’ve always been the sensible one.’
Ed grinned. ‘Sorry, we shouldn’t tease you, but it was too good an opportunity to miss. As Cass said, we found the plans for the garden—’
‘I found the plans for the garden,’ Barnie cut in with a triumphant smile. ‘Two sets, in fact, dated less than two years apart. The gardens still resemble much of what was on the later plans.’ He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket and shoved it across to Cam. ‘It’s a bit rubbish as I had to try and shrink it down on the photocopier, but you’ll get the idea.’
Unfolding the A4 square, Cam had to stare at the blurry copy for a few moments before he could start to make sense of it. It didn’t help that the original document had yellowed with age, making the sketchy drawing that much harder to decipher. ‘It looks like a cloister?’
Barnie nodded. ‘Remember when garden follies were all the rage in the eighteenth century? It looks like the baron decided to remodel the gardens and build one of his own.’ He tapped a faint scrawl underneath the drawing. ‘I’m not sure if you can read it on the copy but on the original plans, it’s called the Abbot’s Walk.’
Cam’s head shot up at that. ‘Abbot’s? Are you sure it says Abbot’s?’
