Page 14 of Secret Paths

“I brought spare socks for later.”

“Very sensible.”

“What else did you expect from me,” she shrugs.

“You say that as though I do not recognise sensible when I see it.”

“You once tried to fix your bathroom tap with a YouTube video and a butter knife.”

“It worked.”

“You flooded the downstairs loo.”

“Temporarily.”

Mandy smiles.

The lane opens into a field. The grass is wet enough to soak the hems of everyone’s trousers. Ahead of us, Bernard stops beside a hedge and begins sniffing at one particular patch with the solemn attention of a detective at a crime scene.

Mrs Higgins waits.

Bernard keeps sniffing.

“Has he found something?” Mandy asks.

“A smell,” Mrs Higgins replies.

“That’s… vague.”

“It is Bernard. The mystery is part of the experience.”

She considers that. “Fair.”

We pass through a kissing gate and follow the path around the back of Market Street. The bank comes into view through a gap in the hedge.

The closure notice is still taped inside the window.

A smiling woman holding a phone. Blue lettering about digital support. A cheery little promise that customers can bank in ways that suit them.

I have read it enough times since Thursday to know every word.

Mandy slows beside me.

“That is your branch.”

“Was.”

She turns her head.

I keep walking.

“Peter?”

I shove my hands into my jacket pockets.

“They’re closing it.”

Her face changes.