‘I don’t expect much from the likes of you, Elliot Desvaux, butyou!’ Minty turns accusingly to me, and I shrink under the weight of her disapproval. ‘What do you think you were doing, spoiling my hunt?’
‘I… I…’ How do I explain I was just following Elliot and I had no idea what kind of stunt he was going to pull? ‘I think it was all just a big misunderstanding,’ I shrug. ‘Can you let him go now, please?’ I plead.
Bovis and his tweedy friends are still holding Elliot’s arms behind his back. They’ve marched us to the edge of Minty’s estate and it’s quite clear we’re being ejected. The whole event had all looked quite nice and innocent once I’d taken the time to peer around me at the candyfloss stalls, and the ice-cream van and the very obvious family atmosphere Minty had worked so hard to cultivate. I can see why Ben Fogle enjoyed the hunt so much now. I’d rather like to stay and watch the kids eating my gingerbread cookies, which had been arranged so beautifully on the refreshments stand by the entrance to the marquee.
‘I’m sorry,’ Elliot says, his brows knitted, as he struggles against the hands binding him. ‘Jude mentioned there was a hunt and I just… snapped. I assumed it was an organised hunt with hounds.’
‘After the ban?’ says Minty. ‘Onmyestate? At ten in the morning? On a summer’s day? With half the tourists in the county watching?’
‘I know, I didn’t think. But even with the Hunting Act wildlife is still being killed all over the place…’
‘Not ’ere it’s not!’ Bovis cuts in menacingly from somewhere behind Elliot. I can’t actually see him.
Minty takes over, her voice very serious and cross. ‘We haven’t hunted at Clove Lore for over forty years. My father was a wonderful huntsman, kept fifteen couple hounds at one time. But the expense was too much for the estate, and we couldn’t afford the boarding, or keep up with the roading for that matter.’
‘Roading?’ I say.
She looks at me, incredulous as usual. ‘The exercising and training.’
I silently mouth, ‘Oh, right,’ and let her carry on.
‘I wanted to do something to maintain the tradition of bringing guests onto the land, and I wanted to raise some money for the estate, so years ago now, Jowan and I cooked up the idea for the fox hunt and a family fun day.’
‘It really is a lovely idea,’ I say, regretting it immediately when Minty raises a dramatic brow at the interruption.
‘It’s important to encourage young people onto the land. I don’t want the gardens to close, too. It’s bad enough living in three small rooms in one wing of the house with the rest of my family home redeveloped into umpteen apartments and turned over to strangers.’ She looks pained at the admission. ‘With the ticket sales for the annual fox and field day and the general admission charges for garden visits all year round there’s a chance we can stay open for many years to come and, more importantly, I can keep the estate staff and their loved ones here.’
‘That’s very admirable,’ Elliot says, and Minty’s eyes snap to his.
‘Iknowwho you are, Elliot Desvaux.’ Minty rounds on him, looking up into his face fiercely. ‘I know what youdid.’
‘Wait just a minute…’ Elliot’s voice is stern and level. He’s shaking his head in frustration.
‘Minty, he didn’t rob the shop!’ I butt in. ‘It was in the paper today. It was a pair of crooks on a crime spree tour of holiday spots.’
‘I know that, I saw the newspaper,’ snaps Minty. ‘Are you going to tell her, or shall I?’ she asks Elliot.
‘What does she mean, Elliot?’ I ask, suddenly afraid. I lift Aldous into my arms and the mutt and I look between Minty and Elliot in confusion.
Elliot huffs out an angry breath and finally manages to shake off the grasp of Bovis and his mates.
‘I’lltell her,’ he storms, and the look on his face is fearsome with his fury.
‘I have to get back to the hunt.’ Minty turns to me. ‘The quartet will be striking up soon, and there’s the magician to introduce, though your friend here has already providedquiteenough entertainment already.’
Elliot huffs again and as he rakes his hair back I catch a glimpse of the silvery scar once more.
‘Shall I call Jowan and ask him to accompany you both back to the shop, make sure there’s no more funny business?’ Minty asks me.
‘I’ll be OK,’ I tell her, and she nods sharply. ‘But you can take Aldous back to Jowan. I think he sneaked into the shop earlier.’
Minty takes Aldous from my arms and turns on her heel but before she goes she calls back, ‘Oh, and your gingerbread foxes were marvellous. You are a very fine baker. Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome,’ I tell her, not letting the strangeness of this morning’s events deflect from the feeling of pride this gives me.
She smiles thinly, throws Elliot one last withering look, and leaves us. Her minions follow after her.
Elliot has the strangest look on his face – and quite a lot of gravel and dirt from having his cheek squashed into the paving stones for so long. His eyes are shining as he looks at me, and he’s actually smiling, or trying to repress a smile and it’s not working.
