From the bed next door, a frail but loud voice piped up in regal fashion: ‘Fire in the common room! Summon the staff and fetch the corgis immediately!’
THIRTY-EIGHT
Thom and Sennen arrived back at the farm just before three. The air still carried a faint tang of smoke, though the blackened remains of the Cosy Café marquee and the surrounding earth were mostly cold and still. Rita was standing at the back door, balanced on her crutches.
‘How is she?’
‘Hilarious as usual.’ Thom smiled. ‘Her left hand is burnt but her spirits are high. We left her with a nurse checking her blood pressure, but I reckon she’ll be home tomorrow; you know what a strong old bird she is. I’ve already called in to tell work I’m taking some time out, so I’m happy to get her, whenever.’
‘Thanks, darling, that means a lot to meandyour sister.’ Rita put her hand on his arm. ‘Did you get to talk to Poppy?’
Thom looked sheepish. ‘Yep, I think I underrated just how strong she is too, but I said my bit.’
Rita squeezed his arm. ‘Well, I’m not proud of you for what you did but at least you managed to make some kind of peace, from your side, anyway.’
Sennen scoured the courtyard for the Defender. ‘Where’s Jago?’
‘Lower fields. One of his fences came down and a ewe’s got herself tangled up. He said he’d come back as soon as he could with Stan and the trailer so we can get literally everything cleared and off site before the big day.’
‘See, he is a good ’un, Mum.’ Sennen smiled.
‘Yes, he said he would sort out sawdust for the blackened area, too, so at least it doesn’t look like we’ve had a fire.’
‘That’s a great plan.’ Thom nodded, then quizzed, ‘I’m surprised Teo and Zenya aren’t here?’
Rita chipped in. ‘They were so shattered, they’ve sorted the animals and I’ve given them the rest of the day off.’ She could see the worry on Sennen’s face. ‘Tomorrow we are all action stations, promise.’ Rita sighed. ‘Right, I could be standing here all day waiting for this fire bloke; let’s go in, shall we?’
They moved inside, the familiarity of the farmhouse kitchen wrapping around them like a comfort blanket. The kettle went on automatically. Some habits survived everything.
Sennen and Thom then exchanged a look, the kind that said,You start, without anyone having to say it.
Rita clocked it immediately. ‘What’s up?’
‘Granny said she saw someone,’ Sennen began. ‘Last night. Out by the barns.’
Rita’s forehead crinkled. ‘Saw someone how?’
‘On the cameras.’
‘She was very clear in what she said.’ Thom sighed. ‘Andthen the stupid old goose went out on her own to investigate. Hence her being in the café when the fire started by the sound of it.’
‘Oh my God.’ Rita was wide-eyed. ‘Deliberately started, you mean. Who? Why on earth?’
‘Let me do the tea, Mum; you sit down,’ Sennen ordered.
Thom helped his mum onto her chair where she placed her crutches carefully down next to her. ‘Get the security feed up onmy laptop can you please, Thom,’ Rita instructed whilst putting tea bags in her favourite glass teapot.
They gathered around the kitchen table whilst Thom began to scroll through the footage from the night of the fire. The image flickered into life, grainy but clear enough. ‘This one,’ Thom said, tapping the screen. ‘This was the camera on the side of the Nook. I noticed earlier. It’s gone. Melted casing. Wires burned clean through. But thankfully, the barn one is still there.’
He swiped to the next feed. The barn door camera. The image flickered into life, grainy but clear enough. The image steadied, and there it was. A figure moving across the yard, a scarf pulled high over their face, hood up despite the mild night. The same scarf Rita remembered seeing on the Ring doorbell footage when Hilda was away, looping, and familiar in a way that made her skin prickle.
The figure paused, just for a second, as if listening. Then they walked on.
They watched in silence as the person moved closer to the barn, then towards the Cosy Café. The figure went out of sight and was lost but Thom fast-forwarded the footage and ten minutes later they suddenly broke into a run across the screen.
‘Thom, go to the archive footage. It’s definitely the same person.’
Thom scrolled through dates then leaned closer to the screen. ‘Shit, good spot, Mum. It’s the way they move.’ He pointed at the screen slowly. ‘See it?’
