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I turn to him. ‘Dominic?’
‘I am a Maasai warrior,’ he says proudly. ‘It is my job to protect the village. That is what I was doing.’
The policemen raise their eyebrows.
‘He is,’ I confirm sheepishly. ‘He only arrived in England yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to explain the official Neighbourhood Watch Scheme to him yet.’
‘It quite startled one of the ladies in particular,’ one of the policemen says. He checks his notebook. ‘Mrs Peterman. Gave her a bit of a turn.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I say to him. ‘I’ll take Dominic around the village today, introduce him to people.’
‘I think by now they’ll already know who he is,’ the policeman offers.
I’m sure if Mrs Peterman was involved then she will have made sure that they do. I can just imagine Dominic hopping over her yew hedge in his red shuka and not much else. That’ll be a tale that spreads like wildfire.
‘I have apologised to the lady, Janie,’ he says. ‘A Maasai warrior must dedicate his life to achieving harmony with his people. I thought that I was doing a good thing.’
‘I’m sure you were.’
‘Once the local villains hear that there’s a Maasai warrior protecting your village, I’m sure the burglary rate will drop off quite significantly,’ the policeman observes. ‘Well, Miss, Mr Ole Nangon, we’ll be leaving you.’
‘You’re not charging Dominic with anything?’
‘No,’ the officer says. ‘No charge. Mrs Peterman was happy to see it all as a simple misunderstanding. We’re just very happy to have a good story to take back to the station on a quiet Sunday morning.’ He laughs in spite of himself. ‘Wait ‘til we tell the lads.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t go frightening the villagers, young man,’ the policeman warns. He tips his hat to us and then they both head back down the garden path, leaving Dominic in my tender loving care.
‘Oh, Dominic,’ I say when we’ve waved them away. ‘I’ll have to instruct you in the niceties of our village life. I don’t want you getting arrested.’
‘I just want to belong,’ Dominic says. ‘I want to be an English gentleman and to make you proud of me.’
‘I’m very proud of you just as you are,’ I tell him.
‘I think that I frightened the policemen just a little bit,’ he confides.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Then, ‘You don’t need to protect us here. There are no lions in Nashley, Dominic. No wild animals at all.’
‘No?’
‘Not unless you count Archie.’
We burst into laughter and giggle like children until tears run from our eyes.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
I shoehorn Dominic into Mike’s clothes. It’s a bit of a disaster. Despite Mike having a fairly average frame, the sleeves of the jumper stop halfway down Dominic’s forearms. The jeans could nearly accommodate another person around the waist and they also stop way short of his ankles. The shoes go nowhere near his feet, neither do the socks. He looks like some terrible mutation of a trainspotter.
It’s almost ten o’clock and the shops will be opening soon. If we dash into the city there’s a shop called Tall Boys there and I’m sure they’ll be able to accommodate Dominic’s clothing requirements. Plus it would be better if no one saw him dressed like this, but if he goes just in his shuka not only is he likely to die of cold, he could well frighten people too.
‘Let’s go,’ I say to Dominic when he’s finished his second bowl of porridge. As we head to the door, I notice that we’re not alone. ‘Archie can’t come with us.’
‘No?’ Dominic lifts him from his shoulders. ‘Stay, cat.’
Archie backchats in protest and slinks off to shred the sofa in revenge.
‘I’m going to have to change this cat’s name to Archibald the Affable. He’s a reformed character since you arrived. I can’t believe how he’s taken to you. He normally doesn’t like anyone,’ I say. ‘Really, he doesn’t. Even the post office have given him an ASBO because he claws the postman through the letterbox.’
‘ASBO?’
‘Anti-Social Behaviour Order. If he keeps doing it, they won’t deliver my post any more.’
‘They are frightened of a cat?’ Dominic finds this hilarious.
‘He only just tolerates Mike because he spends so much time at my house and also looks after Archie when I’m away.’
‘You and Mike are very close,’ Dominic notes.
‘As friends,’ I say. ‘That’s all.’
