The guy who very possibly saved Sycamore House fromcollapsing around my ears!
A wave of embarrassed heat washes over me as I think of hisreaction to finding me swinging that sledgehammer like a maniac. I was sofurious at Eddie and full of frustration at the situation I’d found myself in. (Althoughthe satisfaction of taking out my feelings on an innocent wall was actuallyquite immense, looking back.)
But I’d really rather ‘Liam’ didn’t recognise me, so I reachdown to my bag and surreptitiously fish out my sunglasses and slide them on,all the while keeping my eye firmly on the four people chatting at the counter.
Maybe Marcus and Liam will go somewhere else for theirmeeting... oh, bugger, no... they’reordering coffees...
The menu on the table is suddenly the most fascinating thingever, although I can’t actually read it with my shades on. So I whip them offand hide behind the laminated card.
‘Sorry I’m late.’ Liam apologises to Marcus as they headover with their coffee to a table dangerously close to where I’m sitting. ‘I hada quick look at Sycamore House. That place is a disaster.’
I clamp my teeth together and glare at him from behind themenu. How dare he criticise my house like that! I mean, he’s right. But that’snot the point!
‘I’ve heard it’s getting a facelift.’ Marcus grins. ‘Theradio station’s obviously paying you far too much if you’re thinking of buyingit.’
Liam laughs. ‘You have to be joking – on several counts. No,even if I did have cash to play with, I wouldn’t be buying Sycamore House.’ Hepauses. ‘The owner’s interesting, though.’
My insides turn to water as Maddy pipes up, ‘Oh, she’s here!Lottie. She just came in.’
‘Where?’ Liam’s chair legs scrape as he turns, presumably tosee where she’s pointing, but by that time, I’m already bending low to pick upsomething imaginary from the floor on the far side of the table.
‘Well, shewasthere,’ Maddy murmurs, sounding bemused.
‘Anyway,’ Marcus says. ‘Looking forward to your firsttwo-hour stint?’
‘Yes. Sort of,’ Liam replies. ‘Although “looking forward” ismaybe not quite right. “Excited but nervous” is probably nearer the mark.Actually, I just called in at the wildlife hide in the woods for half an hour,just to calm my nerves. That place always brings my blood pressure down.’
I stare at his feet from under my table. He’s wearing veryclean grey trainers with flashes of white, and his feet are definitely on thelarge side.But thewildlife hide?
A raft of memories is suddenly floating in my head.
I’d forgotten all about the hide.
But Dad used to take Dylan and me there when we were young. Ithink he had an arrangement with the farmer whose land the hide was on. We’d sitclose together on the bench and look out of the long window at the birds andDad would tell us their names. Even now, I’m able to tell a chaffinch from abrambling, even though they’re quite similar. I never realised it was becauseof Dad all those years ago. I must have blocked it out along with all the badstuff. And there was once...yes!...we saw a family of badgers! It was dusk and we were squashed together on thebench in the hide and suddenly, an adult badger appeared, snuffling around inthe leaves right in front of us. I’d seen pictures of badgers, with their blackand white striped faces, so I knew what the animal was, and Dad squeezed ourhands and we froze because Dad had always told us that badgers had excellenthearing and any little noise – even the rustle of a jacket – would scare themoff. So we held our breath as we watched. And then, to our amazement, two cutebadger cubs came tumbling onto the scene. They were play-fighting, Dad told uslater; just having fun together. That was such a magical night. I remember wehad to write a story at school about a very special time, and I wrote about thebadgers and I got a gold star!
How could I have forgot about all that until now?
I remember we went along to the hide every time after that, Dylanand I, full of excitement at the thought of seeing them again. We evenscattered a few peanuts, thinking the food might tempt them. But we only ever sawthe badgers that one time...
‘Lottie? What on earth are you doing?’
I look up and Maddy, holding a cloth, is staring down at mein amazement. ‘I thought you’d gone. Are you okay?’
‘Yes. Yes, I’m fine.’ I cover my embarrassment with a loudand rather forced laugh as I sit up straight. ‘I was sure I’d – er – dropped mypurse because I couldn’t find it.’
‘It’s right there.’ She points. ‘In your bag.’
‘Ah, yes! So it is!’ I wriggle uncomfortably. ‘And right onthe top, too. I can’t believe I didn’t see it.’ My face feels scorching hot – fromembarrassment plus the fact that I’ve been virtually hanging upside down forthe past few minutes.
I’m aware of Marcus and Liam looking over, the latterespecially looking very surprised to see me.
Liam clears his throat. ‘It’s amazing how often I’ve huntedall over for my car keys, only to find they’re in the pocket I first checked. Imean, what’s that all about?’
Marcus nods. ‘It’s like the mystery of the single sockthat’s always missing from a load of washing.’
‘Yes, where the hell do they go?’ ponders Maddy.
‘Into an invisible black hole,’ says Liam, in a dark, spookyvoice, and everyone laughs.
