‘You’d better go, Daphne,’ said Fraser failing to hide a smirk.
Liv followed the sound of the tray being unburdened and found herself in a lovely room, high ceilings, recently decorated, two complete and sparkly chandeliers with a number of tables and chairs but only one with a tablecloth.
‘Here you go, Daphne. Porridge with salt or sugar followed by a morning roll.’
‘A morning roll, I should be so lucky,’ said Liv with a chuckle but Effie was frowning at her.
‘Youarelucky because there’s your morning roll.’ Effie pointed at the plate.
Liv looked at the white roll and what looked to be something square inside it. ‘What’s in it?’ she asked.
‘Lorne sausage,’ said Effie. ‘You’ll like it, Daphne. Trust me.’
‘Actually, hang on,’ said Liv. ‘I’m pretty sure my name’s not Daphne.’ Effie looked disappointed and for a moment she thought about what Fraser had said about being kind to Effie but even if she was only going to be there for a couple more hours she wasn’t sure she could stand being called Daphne. Perhaps she could lure Effie down another route. ‘I think my name might be something beginning with L.’
‘Ooh I love guessing games. Lucy, Lottie, Lewis, Lesley?’ said Effie excitedly taking up the challenge.
‘Nope. Maybe not something that obvious.’
‘Lettuce, Lego, Ladle, Leaf?’ Effie was frowning hard with the effort. ‘Lurpak?’
Okay, this wasn’t going quite how she’d hoped. ‘I don’t think so. Something like Liz maybe?’ suggested Liv, hoping Effie would land on the right answer.
Effie scowled at her. ‘People called Liz are usually horrid and unkind.’
‘Okay, not Liz. Maybe um… Liv?’ She looked hopefully at Effie.
‘No, I don’t think so; that’s not even a name,’ she said with a giggle. ‘Tea or coffee, Daphne?’
Effie returned with a pot of tea, took the seat opposite Liv and watched her eat her breakfast. Liv found she was ravenous but when she thought about it she’d not had a proper meal the previous day, assuming she didn’t count all the packets of crisps she’d consumed. She chose to have sugar on the porridge because salt was just plain weird and the roll was surprisingly delicious even if the sausage was square. All washed down with a cup of builder’s tea. Liv felt ready to face the day.
‘Good?’ asked Effie.
‘Yeah. Great. Thanks. What was the crumbly stuff on the top of the square sausage?’
‘That’s haggis.’
Liv froze. ‘And what is that exactly?’
‘It’s a mixture and it includes Fraser’s secret mix of spices and herbs. Along with onions, oats, suet and sheep’s pluck.’
‘Sheep’s pluck? What? Something that’s been plucked from a sheep? Like wool?’ She asked the question, unsure whether she wanted to hear the reply.
‘No silly. It’s things from inside the sheep. Usually, lungs, liver, heart, tongue. And it’s encased in the sheep’s stomach,’ said Effie happily.
Liv gagged as she went through the ingredients. ‘Oh my life, I’m Hannibal Lecter.’
‘Anything else to eat?’ asked Effie.
Liv held up her hand like a stop sign. ‘No. Thank you.’
‘My pleasure. It’s what I make every morning for my granny, Dolly.’
‘Then she’s very lucky,’ said Liv. Effie began loading the tray up. ‘Effie, do you think you could help me with something?’ asked Liv.
‘I’d love to. What do you need? Map, supplies, headtorch?’
Liv blinked; it was hard to keep on her own thought path when Effie seemed keen to take her down a weird and wonderful one of her own. ‘I was thinking that it’s likely I would be the sort of person who would have a mobile phone. But there wasn’t one in my pocket. I’m wondering if I may have dropped it when I had the run-in with the cow. Would you help me look around for it, please?’
