“Come on.”
The pig now had a fancy red collar around her neck, with a tag, just like a dog.Juniper Sunbeam,it read. Pippa tugged at the collar to encourage her to move. Juniper chewed something green and eyed Pippa. She gave the collar another tug, but Juniper couldn’t care less.
“Juniper, you need to go home!”
She tried to nudge the pig but at the last moment Juniper moved and Pippa slipped, landing hard on her backside. Juniper munched on, unbothered.
“All right there, neighbour?” Todd called from over the fence.
“Come and get your girl!” Pippa cried back. Her trousers were covered in mud and as she struggled to her feet, she saw that Juniper had rooted up what looked like a turnip.
Todd vaulted over the fence and jogged over. He saw the churned garden and grimaced. “Sorry,” he said. “Juniper is a champion forager.”
“I think you need to feed her more,” Pippa remarked. “She was not letting me get in the way of whatever it is she’s found here.”
Todd inspected the ground, nudging it with his feet. “Looks like an old vegetable patch,” he said.
“Oh that’s right. They did use to grow veg here,” Pippa recalled. She had a vague memory of a fenced-off area covered with netting. “In fact, yes, I think one year Joan grew so many tomatoes she made Bloody Mary cocktails with them for the Summer Fair.”
“A shame it’s gone to ruin then,” Todd said as he wrestled with Juniper.
“It’ll probably get paved over at this rate,” Pippa said mournfully.
“I can’t bear the thought of some awful business taking over this beautiful place,” Todd said. “How are the viewings going?”
Pippa frowned. “I don’t know. Although, I did manage to put off this restaurant guy by making out that we had rats.”
Todd pulled a face. “You have rats?”
“No more than your average old property. I just made him think we had like, an infestation or something,” Pippa corrected gently.
Todd laughed. “Genius.” A wily expression crept across his face. “Shame you can’t make every buyer think that.”
Pippa’s face flamed. “The man of the house didn’t appreciate me saying it, but yeah, wish I could put off all buyers so easily. Maybe Wolfie would reconsider if he got no takers?”
“It’s not a bad idea, you know,” Todd agreed. He tapped his chin. “Maybe I can help you?”
“How?”
“Dunno.” Todd grinned wickedly. “But I’ll have a think. There must besomethingI can do. You know, like, be the neighbour from hell.”
“You’d do that?” Pippa asked.
“For Juniper, of course I would.” Todd patted Pippa’s shoulder. “And you, I suppose.”
“I appreciate that,” Pippa said. “Do you fancy a tea?”
“Wish I could.” Todd started to lead Juniper back towards the farm. “But I have a busy afternoon. Rain check?”
Once Todd had left, Pippa inspected the damage Juniper had wreaked. She had churned up a corner of bumpy grass at the opposite side of the garden that backed into the perimeter fence. Todd was right; the pig had unearthed a long-neglected vegetable patch. Remembering the many attempts by her mother to involve her in gardening, Pippa crouched down to try and work out what was still growing here, surviving through the neglect. Juniper had clearly found turnips and if Pippa wasn’t mistaken, she could see some small potatoes that had been unearthed during the pig’s rampage. On the other side of the patch, she recognised raspberry plants; although struggling, they had a few little berries developing and just under the soil were loose canes. Close inspection of the large leafy plants at the back revealed some courgettes hiding underneath and next to them were what looked like peas. Idly, Pippa pulled up some dandelions and some other weeds, combing her nails through the soil to make sure she’d removed all the roots. It was unexpectedly soothing; the feeling of dirt sifting past her skin, the fresh air caressing her as the gentle sun beamed down. The birdsong was riotous and, before Pippa knew it, she’d cleared a large area of weeds away, leaving the remains of the surviving plants. Bliss cascaded through Pippa as she sat back on her heels. She laughed at herself; all she’d done was pull up a few weeds! But the patch looked neat now and was it her imagination or did the plants look a little happier for it? As she inspected the leaves for bugs, Pippa realised there could be a nice project here for her. She’d never had time to get into gardening – her mum would be thrilled – and now seemed the perfect opportunity. Yes, perhaps in her spare time she could work on growing veg and tidying up the maze. Keeping busy was definitely the antidote to the sickness Alex had created.
Pippa’s phone blipped. It was Mae.
Let me in!
Her heart lifting at the thought of a surprise visit from Mae, Pippa hurried to the door and pressed the buzzer for the gates. Seconds later, Mae was strolling through the front door alongside a shiny-cheeked woman with pigtails and red-framed glasses.
“Erin?” Pippa cried, grabbing her for a hug. “I thought you were still teaching in Vietnam?”
