Looking at the car, Joe sighed. ‘It is. She’s probably come to check that we’re not at loggerheads and to make sure we haven’t mislaid any of her animals.’
‘I doubt that very much.’ Skye laughed. ‘She probably just wants to see how we’re getting on with the work and offer sage advice.’
‘We should save her walking up here and go to the yard to speak to her,’ he suggested, finishing his coffee. ‘Sorry, I should have thought to bring you one of these.’
Skye raised her hand. ‘I’m fine, thanks.’ She held up a metal bottle. ‘I usually carry this water bottle with me.’
‘You’re good,’ he said, impressed.
‘I do my best.’ She smiled. ‘I suppose I’m used to keeping hydrated in hot countries and just got into the habit of carrying water with me.’
‘Don’t come down,’ Lettie bellowed. ‘I’ll come to you.’
‘No, it’s fine,’ Joe argued, not wanting her to overexert herself.
‘I need to see the state of the crops,’ she replied. ‘Wait there for me.’
She reached them a few minutes later, slightly out of breath but seeming happy to be there. Joe and Skye accompanied Lettie as she walked along the top of the first and then the second field. They waited for her thoughts.
Lettie stopped and folded her arms. ‘I’ve just come from Uncle Leonard’s farm. He took me to visit another farmer’s field in the next parish. He’s also growing this crop and his look the same as these. He’s going to start harvesting the week after next, so I suggested he aim to do the same thing here as soon as his fields are finished.’
‘Shouldn’t they be done at the same time?’ Skye asked, presuming all crops took the same length of time to grow.
Lettie shook her head. ‘His fields were planted up a couple of weeks before mine.’
‘Was there a reason for that?’ Skye asked, looking intrigued.
‘Some of his fields are what we call cotils.’
Joe nodded. ‘Steep sloping fields facing south or west that get the winter sun. They are the tastiest ones.’ His mouth watered at the thought of those first Jersey Royals of the season.
Skye grinned. ‘That’s right. Also, Uncle Leonard’s team of farmworkers came straight here to help me after finishing planting his crop.’
‘That makes sense.’ Skye’s cheeks reddened and Joe sensed she felt embarrassed for asking the question.
Not wishing her to feel silly, Joe said, ‘I was wondering the same thing.’
He felt her look at him but kept his focus on Lettie. ‘How are you feeling?’
She shrugged. ‘I’m fine. Missing this place a bit, and Spud. I was thinking about taking him to the cottage but Brodie worried that Spud might find it a little restrictive after living on the farm.’
‘I promise you there’s no need to worry about him,’ Joe assured her. ‘We’re taking very good care of both dogs. Aren’t we, Skye?’
‘We certainly are.’
As if on cue, Spud and Derek raced outside, wagging their tails, and ran up to Lettie, nudging her thigh for a cuddle. She bent down to oblige.
‘You do look happy enough, boys,’ she said, kissing their furry heads.
Lettie stood upright and beamed at Joe and Skye. ‘I do hope you won’t be too bored with just the animals to take care of, but I couldn’t have left you to deal with the harvesting because that would be taking advantage. Anyway, I can’t tell you how grateful I am to the pair of you.’
‘I’m glad not to have to worry about the potatoes,’ Joe admitted, aware how important harvesting the crop was to island farmers.
Lettie hugged them both and thanked them again before leaving to return to Brodie’s cottage.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said to Skye as Lettie’s car disappeared down the drive. ‘We should prepare a rota rather than just agreeing who does what job.’
‘Good idea,’ she said as they began to walk back into the house. ‘I would hate for one of us to not do something presuming the other had carried out the work.’
