“Have you ever considered boarding school?” He watched as Jonny’s daughter, the same little girl who had spent too much time with Rayah since being a baby and had absorbed some of her characteristics. A lot of her characteristics.
“For me to teach at? Some days.”
“No. For Sadie.”
Rayah tipped her head to one side and watched as Sadie made one of the boys bow before her, then present the indecent amount of sugary treats that would have no effect because she was already hyperactive enough, when it suited her.
“I think finishing school might be an option. Teach her how to have proper posture and some elocution. Then she’ll be able to begin her reign as Queen of Severton.”
“So you’re seeing what I’m seeing?” Jake glanced at Rayah who had that same evil grin on her face that she’d worn before dunking his head in their shared bath when they were kids.
“If you’re seeing a strong, confident female who’s never going to take any shit from anyone, then yes.”
Jake just nodded. He was seeing a demon incarnate, but saying that to the woman who’d helped the said demon develop that way probably wasn’t a good idea. He valued his life.
“I think your new neighbour’s lovely, by the way.”
Rayah clearly didn’t value her life.
“Lovely? That’s an interesting choice of adjective.”
“Look at you, being all Englishy-fied.” Rayah smirked. “When did you learn what an adjective was?”
Jake stilled the grumpy niggle inside him. Rayah had been irritatingly clever at school. He’d been okay; more than average, but he’d always preferred being outside, using his hands and the farm. He hadn’t wanted to go to university, but his father had told him that unless he went and did his degree in agricultural management, there wouldn’t be a job for him on the family farm.
And he’d enjoyed university. He’d actually done pretty well, both with studying and with the social side. It turned out that pretty students liked a man who wanted to be a farmer.
“At some point, every bad deed you’ve done is going to be revenged upon by that baby you’re having.” He pointed to her stomach. “I bet your labour will be painful.”
Rayah just smiled and rubbed her non-existent bump.
“I’ll have Jonny to hold my hand.”
Jake couldn’t help but screw up his nose. He’d just about come to terms with the fact that one of his best friends had married his sister: he wasn’t sure who he was most annoyed with – Jonny for putting his hands on Rayah, or Rayah for, well, making Jonny deal with her special brand of insanity for the rest of their lives.
“Don’t.”
Rayah giggled. “One day, you’ll have a special person who lets you hold her hand. Promise.” She tapped his leg a little too hard. “It could even be Lainey. She’s very pretty and she likes animals.”
“You don’t need to talk to me like I’m one of the kids that you teach.”
Rayah laughed again, her eyes focused on Sadie who looked like she might be up to something slightly more evil than normal with Mrs Wilson’s coat.
The village hall was pretty much packed. Although the town had grown over the last couple of years, the search and rescue team was still the jewel in its gin-soaked crown. Most residents who’d lived there for more than a few years had been involved in the team in some way, whether that was through being part of it over the years, fundraising, sourcing equipment or being there when they came down from the peaks needing food and hot drinks.
It took a village. This was their land, these were their mountains, and they looked after them and the people who enjoyed them, sometimes irresponsibly. Tonight, the town was out in force to look at exactly how they were going to get that helicopter that they knew was needed.
Marley Washington made her way through the gathering to the platform from which the meeting would be chaired. She was the same age as Jake; they’d been in the same class at primary school and shared some lessons in high school. She’d gone to college somewhere to study landscape gardening and now had a successful business with that, although most evenings she was singing in a bar or a club somewhere, which was her passion.
Marley had been elected as chair of the village council just before Christmas after an ingenious campaign where she’d serenaded anyone she hadn’t thought would vote for her. The council wasn’t a political affair; it was steeped in tradition (some rather weird) and decided on issues relating solely to the village. There was a fund that residents paid into each year, a non-mandatory collection, which was used to support issues that the local authority council had no responsibility for, such as the well-dressing and the other odd traditions.
“Thank you all for being here this evening.” Her voice was melodious and soothing, the slight huskiness to it giving it depth. “We’re here as a collective to look at how we can raise the rest of the money needed to fund a town helicopter. Thanks to donations, we have just over ten thousand pounds to go.”
There was a cheer that rose from the room. In just over a month, they’d made a big dent in what’d been needed.
“Tonight we want to plan how we can raise the rest of that money. We have just over six weeks to do so. I propose a gig where all proceeds from the ticket sales go to the fund.” She smiled and looked round the room, her gaze landing on Scott, Jake’s cousin who’d studied music at university and sometimes accompanied Marley when she did her folk nights at his bar.
“Seconded! We can use Jake’s summer barn.” Zack, Scott’s brother and Jake’s now ex-cousin yelled out.
