Page 94 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

Pete followed Ned into the kitchen and tried not to stare as the pensioner opened up his fridge. To his dismay, the fridge was as empty as the fireplace in the front room. The elderly man was obviously struggling but had his pride and wasn’t going to ask for help.

Ned closed the fridge door once he’d put the milk away and turned around to find Pete studying him.

‘It’s only me,’ said Ned. ‘I don’t need much.’

‘But you do eat and drink something, I hope,’ Pete told him.

‘Can’t make it to the inn at the moment so it’s not as if I’m using much energy up, listening to the radio,’ said Ned.

Ned needed help. But he was proud and would probably refuse it if offered. So Pete decided that there didn’t need to be a question, just a statement in his next move.

‘Right,’ he said, with a firm nod. ‘Well, I’ll be back in a while.’

‘Whatever for?’ asked Ned.

‘Because otherwise I would miss your cheery smile,’ said Pete.

Which at least made Ned give him a small grunt of humour.

Pete headed out the front door with determination in his step. His first stop was back at the shop.

‘Are you getting forgetful in your old age?’ asked Josh, laughing as he stood by the till counter with Tom. ‘You bought these same things only an hour ago.’

But Pete wasn’t in the mood for banter.

‘I’ve just popped in to check on Ned,’ he told them. ‘There’s no fire in the hearth and no food in his fridge.’

Josh’s laughter came to an abrupt halt. ‘That’s not good,’ he said, frowning.

‘He’s not the only one from what we’ve heard at the hub,’ said Tom, with a sad shake of his head.

‘So I gave him our milk and bread,’ said Pete. ‘Next I’m going to grab some logs from the inn.’

‘Good idea,’ said Josh. He looked at Tom. ‘You’re good at this kind of stuff. Any more ideas?’

‘We started a list on the website for people who need help,’ said Tom. ‘A lot of the people struggling can’t afford high heating bills. So if they’ve got a safe chimney to use, then logs will definitely help. Sand or salt for the pathways too, so that they can get out if they want. Extra blankets and a decent meal would help as well.’

Pete looked at Tom for a moment. ‘A decent meal,’ he said. ‘I wonder…’

‘What?’ asked Josh.

‘Brad is trying out all these new recipes at the moment,’ said Pete. ‘I wonder if he could whip up a few more so we can hand them out.’

‘That’s a great idea,’ said Tom, beaming. ‘Hold on whilst I go and grab the numbers that we need.’

As Tom dashed out of the shop, Pete found Josh looking at him.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘I’m impressed,’ said Josh. ‘It’s a great idea.’

‘Well, I was probably overdue for one,’ said Pete, rolling his eyes.

‘Only by a decade or two,’ said his big brother, his smile softening his joke.

Tom came back into the shop with his notebook.

‘Okay,’ he said, staring down at his written notes. ‘We’ve worked out that we have just under a dozen vulnerable people or families living in the village. Around two-thirds are pensioners. The rest have young families. Unfortunately, there’s quite a few folks around here that have got hardly two pence to rub together.’